King County takes its first furlough day

King County takes its first furlough day

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Story Published: Jan 2, 2009 at 5:53 PM PDT

Story Updated: Jan 2, 2009 at 6:09 PM PDT

By Bryan Johnson

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KING COUNTY, Wash. -- For many, Friday was the first work day of the new year. But for most county workers, it was a day off without pay.

Friday was the first in a string of so-called furlough days the county is imposing on its employees in order to save $15 million to help balance the county budget.

And on the first furlough day, the county was hardly open government. One little sign, pink for embarrassment, read "furlough day," "building closed."

The sign was news to a steady stream of people looking for a variety of things.

"I came down to get a birth certificate so we can get passports to leave the country," said Norma Ocek. "We are going to do that Monday."

Fil Morales had come to the county building in downtown Seattle from Renton, hoping to get a car license.

"For nothing," he said.

The courthouse was open. That's the home of the courts and the county council. I thought maybe on a nice quiet furlough day, I'd find our elected officials catching up on their work.

But I was wrong.

And a sign on the prosecutor's office indicated no prosecutors would be in court on Friday.

But the state Supreme Court ordered the courts to stay open. I found Judge David Christie catching up on paper work and decisions. But with no prosecutors and no defense attorneys on hand, there was no real business. That worries the judge.

"We have a lot of work that's piling up that's not getting done and we have to figure out a way to keep up with it as best we can," he said.

Back at the administration building, Michael Pugh and Allison Reynolds walked hand in hand. They both had the day off and wanted to get a marriage license. It wasn't meant to be.

But the couple didn't take that as a sign or a warning. They'll be back. In plenty of time to get a license for their Valentine's Day wedding.

The next scheduled furlough day for King County is Feb. 13. The county will schedule as many days as possible around other holidays so the county can turn off its lights and heating systems for consecutive days.

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