Published: August 22, 2008 10:21 pm      

Officials clash over WorkForce cuts

State proposes moving services to Beckley office

LEWISBURG — A pair of state lawmakers and a county commissioner are upset over proposed plans by WorkForce West Virginia officials to downsize services at the Greenbrier Valley Unemployment and Job Service offices.

State officials say major cuts in federal funds coupled with a decrease in traffic at the office are to blame, but they add services to residents will still be maintained at high levels.

WorkForce West Virginia coordinates state and federal funding and administratively oversees local unemployment and job service offices, along with several other duties, and is under the direction of executive director Ronald E. Radcliff.

Delegate Tom Campbell, D-Greenbrier, and Delegate Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier, met Tuesday with concerned county WorkForce officials and Steve Pilato, a regional representative of the governor’s office, but both lawmakers said many questions about the possible relocation of the offices from Fairlea to the Beckley area remained murky.

“We have never really gotten an entirely consistent story from the people in charge of the state WorkForce West Virginia in Mr. Radcliff’s office,” Canterbury said Thursday. “First they said they were going to close the building, but then they sent a letter out assuring everyone that the local WorkForce building would remain open. But the fact remains there has been some confusion as to what is supposed to happen with this office.”

The Greenbrier County WorkForce West Virginia office, which also serves Pocahontas and Monroe counties, has already undergone a reduction in staff, Canterbury said, and office space has been reduced from more than 2,000 square feet to 749 square feet.

“I have personally tried to contact Mr. Radcliff to inform him there are other options than moving these services to Beckley,” Canterbury said. “Their office seemed responsive initially, but there’s been no further contact. Dealing with Mr. Radcliff has been frustrating. To me, it’s been very hard to get a straight story out of the WorkForce offices in Charleston.”

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WorkForce assistant to the executive director Beth Carenbauer said substantial federal funding cuts combined with changes in service needs have resulted in the consolidation of four of 17 local offices. Carenbauer said the final decision to consolidate the offices were made by Radcliff. The New Martinsville, Point Pleasant and Williamson offices were also targeted for consolidation, she said.

“We are not closing the Greenbrier office. Federal funding from the Department of Labor has decreased by 52 percent in recent years,” Carenbauer said by phone Friday. “Due to the decline in federal funds and following local WorkForce Investment Boards’ decisions about locations of comprehensive one-stop offices, WorkForce West Virginia was forced to make changes in our operations and how we serve our customers.”

Carenbauer said no WorkForce employees have been laid off in the past year as a result of the budget cuts and services will “not be eliminated at the Greenbrier Valley office.” Carenbauer said all five employees at the Greenbrier office were technically transferred to the Beckley office July 1, but a 60-day transition period is now in place.

“Phase one will have all staff on location at the Greenbrier office five days a week through Sept. 1. Then the staff will be reduced from five employees to three employees, with two employees working in the Beckley office,” she said. “In November the staff at the Greenbrier office will be reduced to two people and the office will be open only on Wednesdays and Thursdays.”

When asked how cost effective it was to pay rent for office space that would be closed three days a week, Carenbauer said many factors were considered during the process.

“Because there are still cost savings by reducing the amount of space that was formerly needed. We are looking at the best use of staff for heavier traffic offices and what is the best manner in utilizing our resources.”

Carenbauer was unable to immediately produce traffic volume data for all 17 state offices or cost-savings figures for the Greenbrier office. She said systematic reviews of the number of customers and “any shift in customer demand” would make WorkForce officials “immediately revisit” the option of regular hours at the Greenbrier office.

“These decisions will be customer-driven,” she said “We understand how difficult these decisions are on those who are working at the Greenbrier office, but we are being very sensitive to our customer base. It’s customer service that will dictate.”

Carenbauer said a news release was issued June 19 to one Lewisburg newspaper about the downsizing of the Greenbrier Valley office. The Register-Herald received the news release only after requests were made to the state Department of Commerce.

Carenbauer said recent technological improvements have allowed customers to use services without having to physically travel to their offices.

“We are making every effort to educate folks about alternative delivery of services by phone, mail and the Internet,” she said.

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Campbell was also irritated at the recent turn of events and believes the offices should remain fully open.

“It’s been confusing and I’ve been getting mixed messages from the state WorkForce office. It’s my understanding that WorkForce wants to move the office to Beckley. The main reason I have been given is that there have been cutbacks in federal funding,” Campbell said Thursday. “It will make it very hard on the citizens if indeed they are moved.”

Campbell said given the “huge geographic area” of the three counties involved, residents would be burdened by traveling to Beckley for services, especially those seeking employment.

Campbell and Canterbury said they invited Pilato to the hour and a half meeting so a report could be sent to Gov. Joe Manchin.

“I took down all the information and I will be forwarding that information to the governor’s senior staff,” Pilato told The Register-Herald Thursday.

Canterbury said Radcliff’s office has “dropped the ball” and believes Manchin “is not aware of the impact this will have on Greenbrier County.”

County Commissioner Betty Crookshanks said cost-effective office space is available to the agency at the Rahall Business and Technology Center through the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corp. Those offices are located near Greenbrier Valley Airport.

“I have communicated this to Mr. Radcliff and I have also mentioned this to Gov. Manchin,” Crookshanks said Thursday. “The citizens of Greenbrier County need to have these offices stay here.”

— E-mail: cgiggenbach@register-herald.com