Earlier this month the city council briefly considered shutting government doors on Fridays and extending hours Monday through Thursday - or perhaps closing every other Friday - but the body voted 5-2 Monday to drop the idea entirely because it would hamper customer service and probably would not even conserve that much energy, council members said.

"It doesn't seem to me that we'll save energy if we're open two hours longer each day and not open one day," Councilman Dion Bracco said. "The only real savings will be in the employees' fuel bills."

Councilman Peter Arellano shirked at the idea of a Monday holiday coinciding with a Friday off, leaving only three days for residents to visit City Hall. Councilwoman Cat Tucker added that she was more interested in docking a tenth of employees' pay and using the "9-80" plan, which entails working 80 hours across nine days and then taking every other Friday off.

"If we get to that point, then I'll consider it, but now I'm considering the customer service part of this," Tucker said.

Councilmen Craig Gartman and Bob Dillon voted against the motion that would have directed staff to research the pros and cons of different schedules further. Staff did not have much concrete information to provide Monday night, but an outspoken Gartman pointed to the fact that Utah recently adopted an alternative schedule across the entire state. Closing for one complete day cuts utilities costs and also gives residents more time before and after work to visit City Hall Monday through Thursday, he said.

"The entire state of Utah did this. It makes sense," Gartman said. "These are not just guesses. There are actual numbers."

Gartman referred partially to City Administrator Tom Haglund's projection based on other cities that have implemented denser schedules. Haglund predicted earlier this month that an alternative work week would save the city up to 25 percent in energy costs, or about $36,000 a year, according to city figures. He added that it would also help Gilroy satisfy air quality quotas.

For Gilroy, this would mean removing 145 employees from the road and turning off the air conditioning system at the 30,215-square-foot City Hall building one more day a week. Gilroy already has a "few employees here and there" operating on alternative schedules, according to Human Resources Director LeeAnn McPhillips. Nearby, the city of Tracy in San Joaquin County, with a population of about 83,000, has used the 9-80 format for the past 12 years, according to one administrative assistant.

But Monday evening Councilman Perry Woodward, a real estate lawyer, shared his own private sector insights on the issue.

"In 2001, my law firm tried this, and it was very popular with the employees, but it was hard to get rid of and difficult to un-do," Woodward said. Without a compelling reason, Woodward added that it would be hard to support a new schedule unless it included further cost-cutting measures such as Tucker's idea to take every other Friday off along with a 10 percent reduction in pay. That could save the city more than $1 million depending on who took the cuts.

Environmental Programs Assistant Leslie Wilcox, a member of the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, said earlier this month that she would love to have a more compact work week.

"I would love the council to adopt this policy for both personal and environmental reasons. Personally, I would love a three day weekend" to run errands or visit the doctor, Wilcox said. "Financially, not commuting an extra day during the week (from San Jose) would save me money. And environmentally, not commuting an extra day would reduce my emissions contribution."

But for those with children who enjoy the city's "family friendly" environment, the work week issue spans beyond dollars and pollution.

"I know for me it would be an adjustment because I have a 4-year-old bound for kindergarten, so I would have to change my day care arrangements," Revenue Officer Irma Navarro, a member of the Gilroy Management Association, said earlier this month. "But I end up working long hours anyway. Changing hours is just the buzz right now."

McPhillips, the city's human resources director, reiterated many of the pros and cons from employees' perspectives Monday night.

"Most of the employee groups view alternative schedules as positive," she said. "It keeps employees staying with a particular agency or company because they become used to a particular schedule."

Morgan Hill tried something slightly different in the early 1990s after lay-offs, but the city returned to a normal schedule after residents complained, according to City Manager Ed Tewes. The city closed on Fridays, but the remaining employees still worked behind locked doors to catch up with paperwork and phone calls, Tewes said.

Down south, the board of supervisors for Riverside County east of Los Angeles - which has a population of nearly 2,000,000 people - voted last month to shift more county employees to work-from-home positions and four-day work weeks, according to county records.

$540,018 - City's electricity bill for 07-08

$121,724 - Portion for City Hall and old police building (future City Hall territory)

$105,005 - Natural gas bill for 07-08

$23,669 - Portion for City Hall and old police building

Source: City of Gilroy, Finance Department

Chris Bone Chris Bone covers City Hall for The Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or e-mail him at cbone@gilroydispatch.com.