Quartzsite Town Council tables decision on four-day staff work week after split public comments

The Quartzsite Town Council on Monday moved to table a decision about whether to return town staff to a five-day work week, sending the item back to management for more data after a lengthy public debate that split residents, vendors and town employees.

The item prompted sharply different accounts of how the town’s current schedule — four 10-hour days for many staff — affects service and tax compliance. "I oppose moving to a 5 day work week," said LaDonna, who identified herself as a vendor board member and full-time resident, saying she routinely makes herself available to vendors seven days a week and has helped more than 117 vendors this year obtain state TPT (transaction privilege tax) numbers. Her remarks directly challenged earlier comments, which had suggested vendor access suffered under the four-day model.

The town’s senior finance clerk, Christina Tanski, provided numerical context. "Sixty percent of our current employees were hired with the understanding of a 4 day work week," she told the council, and said many employees commute long distances — in some cases 50 miles each way — making a schedule change costly for staff. Tanski also noted the town is currently open about 44 hours a week and that a move to an 8 a.m.–5 p.m., five-day schedule would increase staffing hours by roughly one hour while potentially prompting employee turnover.

Public works history surfaced in the discussion: Emmett Brancroft told the council the public works department has operated on four-10s for 17 years, and other speakers described operational vulnerabilities in single-person departments such as utilities and building inspection. Jewel Raspberry Elam, coordinator for the Quartzsite Community Center, said after-school programs that run roughly 2:30–5:30 p.m. align with a Monday–Thursday school calendar and warned that shifting hours could create overtime or require additional hires.

Council members debated middle-ground options including seasonal schedules, staggered shifts, and carving out specific functions (for example, utilities or permitting) for five-day coverage while retaining four-day schedules elsewhere. Several council members said the town’s small size, long staff commutes and competition from neighboring jurisdictions that also offer four-day schedules complicated the choice.

Faced with those trade-offs, the council voted to table the matter and directed management to return with more detailed information on which services require five-day coverage and counts of business performed before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. The chair said staff should be given two meetings to prepare the requested analysis; the motion — made by council member Consuelo and seconded by council member Verkad — carried without a recorded division. The council then took a short break.

What happens next: management will compile the requested service and transaction data and present it to the council in the period the council specified (two meetings), after which the body may revisit whether to adopt a five-day schedule for specified departments.