This time, Kevin Johnson had permission to roam City Hall.
The Sacramento mayor-elect met for more than 30 minutes Wednesday with outgoing Mayor Heather Fargo in her office, then took a floor-by-floor tour of City Hall with members of his transition team.
Johnson described his chat with the mayor as cordial and even flashed his temporary identification card to reporters, making a lighthearted reference to his after-hours – and unauthorized – tour of the building a week before the election.
It was the first time Johnson and Fargo spent significant time together since the election. And it appears they are in agreement that the worsening financial situation is the most pressing issue facing the city.
"It's going to be tough," Fargo said following the meeting. "We know we have a certain deficit and we've already made a lot of cuts, so the next couple of years are going to be difficult for no matter who is here."
The city is projecting shortfalls to total $140 million over the next four years.
Johnson said he is still searching for a third-party auditor to examine the city budget and is getting a handle not only on how the city stands today, but on how the situation will change next year and five years into the future.
He said meetings such as the one with Fargo and those he has had with nearly every member of the City Council have helped in that process.
"We have to put our differences aside and come together and rally around how we move this city forward," he said. "And I think people are ready to do that."
In terms of managing the dire budget situation, city officials have begun examining their largest expense: labor. According to the current city budget, more than 70 percent of the general fund goes to labor costs such as salaries and health benefits.
In a cost-saving measure, about 900 nonunion city employees will already begin taking one unpaid day off a month on Jan. 1, and City Manager Ray Kerridge indicated at a City Council meeting last month he'd like to see represented employees consider the move as well.
Among the other ideas being floated as the city prepares to open negotiations with the unions as early as next month are cutting off cost-of-living raises and offering voluntary buyouts to all city workers.
Top city officials met with their chief negotiator in a closed session during last Thursday's City Council meeting "to discuss matters pertaining to negotiations with recognized employee organizations," according to the meeting's agenda.
Police union chief Brent Meyer said he has not heard from city officials about reopening labor talks.
He said officers gave up some incentives in 2005 when they agreed to take annual 5 percent raises and that the union is "expecting those raises for 2009."
According to the city budget, cost-of-living increases and other pay raises will account for about $20 million this fiscal year.
The idea of slashing cost-of-living adjustments was brought up last month during a tense City Council meeting detailing service cuts to the Police Department.
City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond suggested the city could "suspend the cost-of-living raises that we got July 1 starting January 1 (2009)."
"We could just go ahead and just eliminate some people, because you never think it's going to be you," Hammond said during the meeting. "But it might be easier to just go back to how you were living before July 1. I mean really. And in this economy, there are just a lot of people out here who aren't working at all. So it's just food for thought."
Fargo said the city should begin negotiating with the unions – or face tough decisions.
"Otherwise," she said, "we're probably looking at a lot of layoffs and reductions in service."
Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.