Dear Editor,

The Fortuna City Council recently voted to eliminate the position of Public Works Technician as well as three other positions. With the exception of two of these positions, the positions are vacant.

The purpose of this letter is to point out the fact that the elimination of the Public Works Technician means that a 20-year plus employee of the city will be losing a job. Hans Koster who has faithfully served the city for 25-years will find himself out of a job come October.

Many Fortuna citizens may not know who Hans is by name, but will recognize him as the “face” of the Public Works Department. He is the one who has faithfully been called upon to set up traffic control for special events such as the Rodeo events, Redwood AutoXpo, and all the other special events which Fortuna is known for.

The city staff has commented that this is not a performance issue, but just a means of cutting costs to the city. It sounds like to me, that the city is discriminating against a long-time employee because of his age. There are other jobs that Hans could be a valuable asset to, and his knowledge of special events in the city cannot be replaced by anyone. This is not the way to treat a long-time faithful employee.

I have worked on many special events with Hans, and I urge Fortuna citizens to contact City Council members and ask them to stop this unnecessary forced retirement.

Steve Rogers

retired Sergeant

Fortuna Police Department