Rama wants two more consultants amid cutdown on casuals

WHILE cutting down on casual employees, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants  two more consultants to help him run City Hall operations.

One of them was former councilor Edwin Jagmoc whom Rama wanted to be his consultant on public services and barangay affairs.

Jagmoc used to be a member of the administration Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).

Rama left the BO-PK after a falling out with the party’s founder, former mayor and now Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district last year.  Rama declined to name the second consultant.

City Hall consultants need City Council confirmation for their appointments.

The city government now has 40 consultants of which eight are with the mayor’s office. Their contracts are renewable every six months.

Rama used to have 10 consultants but the council didn’t renew the contracts of Leonardo Tiu and Paul Hubahib for the second half of 2011.

The mayor hired Tiu as a casual employee instead but Hubahib refused the same offer.

Asked if consultants will undergo a performance evaluation before the renewal of their service contract, Rama said he personally oversees their performance evaluation.

“I have a list of those who don’t pose problems,” said Rama.

The mayor’s office is evaluating the performance of over 100 casual employees.

Rama admitted that politics is one of the considerations in their rehiring, saying he cannot work with people he cannot trust.

The over 100 casual workers subject to performance evaluation have been asked to report to the office of the mayor since Monday for their interview.

The mayor’s interview committee include his cousin and Basak barangay captain George Rama, secretary to the mayor Belinda Navasquez, his consultant Eugene Elizalde and chief of staff Philip Zafra.

Questions asked during the interview include the employee’s residence and the number of years of stay in their barangay.

“That is executive prerogative,” he said when asked about the interview questions.

Rama said these questions are asked to give him “a better picture of who are the people in City Hall.” Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac