By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

It started calmly enough with a handful of officials, scattered by the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, gathered at city hall for the April 6 city council meeting.

There was a public hearing on the proposed 2020-21 budget, with provisions made for residents to be heard if they chose to call in. The hearing opened at 7:17 p.m. and, after there were no takers, it closed at 7:19 p.m.

A lengthy discussion ensued as the council meeting began. And when all was said and done, aldermen voted 7-3 to adopt the budget for 2020-21.

Voting yes for approval on second and final reading of the ordinance were aldermen Michael McGee, Tom Porter, Tom Ratcliffe, Dan Snow, Clayton Stevens, Daniel Arevalo, and George Crawford. Dissenting were aldermen Marsha Freeman, Ric Brereton, and Wendy Frank.

That was the third – and final – motion council considered that night on the road to its decision.

The first amendment, from Alderman Brereton, called for 2020-21 raises to be eliminated.

Immediately after the motion was made City Attorney Mike Drella asked, “What salaries are you talking about?”

“Non-union,” Brereton replied.

Later, it was explained that such action would affect 20 of the city’s 150 employees because 130 of them have union contracts. And Attorney Drella said to keep in mind that salaries of the 130 cannot by law be reduced.

“So, Mr. Brereton, are you proposing that we punish 20 employees who are non-union?” Mayor Mike Chamberlain asked. “That’s not going to save any money.”

There were periodic problems that night with microphone use in the remote setting, and some voices being distorted to the point they were difficult to understand. After pointing that the only voice he could clearly hear was that of the attorney, Alderman Crawford said he disagreed with Alderman Brereton. “Why should those (20) employees stand for no raises when police and fire do (get raises)?” he asked. “That’s not right.”

“Then we renegotiate the contract,” Brereton replied.

But Crawford countered, “You’re lucky we got a contract as good as we did.”

And the mayor said the only way a union contract can be renegotiated is if both sides agree, adding that what Brereton was proposing would not happen.

Still, Alderman Frank said she didn’t believe the 20 workers in question were being punished.

Crawford again disagreed. He pointed out how one of them currently was the Superintendent of Streets and Superintendent of the Water Department, plus one other department. He replaced two people, the alderman said, and wasn’t making anywhere near as much money as the three combined. Firefighters and police officers got raises and he added, “We’re going to get through this just fine.”

Alderman Snow agreed the budget should be approved as is. If the 20 employees, mostly administrators, don’t get raises “they will start moving on and we’ll be in a world of hurt,” he stressed. “I think we get a lot of bang for our buck. Employees across the city, both union and non-union, give us great service.”

The motion to eliminate the 20 salary increases failed, 6-4.

Voting yes were aldermen Frank, Freeman, McGee, and Brereton. Voting no were aldermen Crawford, Porter, Ratcliffe, Snow, Stevens, and Arevalo.

Back to committee?

Before the vote to abolish some raises, it was suggested that action on the budget be referred back to committee for more discussion. That possibility, which led to a second motion a while later, was questioned by Mayor Chamberlain. He asked Attorney Drella for confirmation that the matter could not be reconsidered by committee.

The attorney answered: “We are required by law to pass this budget by the first meeting in May, which is May 4.”

“I think this is a bad idea,” Crawford said of returning the issue to committee. “It doesn’t make sense to try and change all this at the last minute. You people are going to wind up like we were 1 1/2 years ago, when we had a special meeting to pass the tax levy so we could actually get the money from the county.”

He said raises are part of the cost of doing business. “City administration is a business,” he said. “The rhetoric sounds really great but you’re not making sound decisions.”

The motion to refer consideration of the budget back to committee failed, 8-2.

Support came from aldermen Frank and Brereton, with opposition from aldermen Freeman, Porter, Arevalo, Crawford, McGee, Ratcliffe, Snow, and Stevens.

Finance director

Earlier, before delving into the budget agenda item, the mayor asked Budget and Finance Director Becky Tobin to recap her recent re-examination of the proposed spending plan “trying to figure out how we’re going to deal with this (coronavirus) crisis.

First she directed her comments to the aldermen, saying, “One question you probably are asking is whether we should be making any adjustments to our budget before passing the ordinance.”

She answered that question in this way: “There are so many unknowns and what-if scenarios. It’s really way too early to put together any educated assumptions at this point. I do not recommend making any adjustments as far as the COVID-19 virus is concerned. Any changes I would make right now would be assumptions.

“Even if we approve the budget as it is, you as aldermen can still have all the department heads come back to you for any of the capital expenditures that are in the budget. You can require that there be no new hiring and then, at a later date, three months, six months from now, they can come back to you and make that request, if it is appropriate at that time.

“Just because you’re putting something in the budget doesn’t mean it has to be spent.”

Drella took it one step further, reminder aldermen that the administration has no authority to proceed with capital projects or new hires without coming to council for approval. But routine expenditures that have been through the budget process, such as office supplies or vehicle fuel, may be made.

Of approving the budget that night, he said, “It’s much more difficult to amend a budget later than to pass a budget now. Amending it later would require a two-thirds vote of council. On top of that, you’re supposed to identify increased revenues to justify that expenditure. Now, a budget is just a plan for the coming year. The expenditures would still have to come back to city council, to be approved by you.”

 

 

 
 
 
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