New Castle working on financial stability

The council president said he would like more updates on the group's work.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Work to get New Castle back on firm financial footing has begun.
Coordinators appointed by the state have met with officials and employees to start mapping out how the state will proceed to get the city out of Act 47, the state's designation for communities in financial distress.
Mayor Wayne Alexander said the coordinators are mostly in a fact-gathering phase at this point.
"These were very efficient and professional people. I'm very pleased with them," he said.
City council President Rob Ratkovich, however, said he is not pleased.
"I've got to hear things from the employees. Council has been given no map of how this thing will go," he said.
Ratkovich said he did attend the first meetings with the group, but was hoping for more information as they went along.
Fred Reddig, director of the governor's center for local government, said he and about eight or nine people from the two companies designated by the state as recovery coordinators came to the city building in mid-February to meet with officials and start on the plan.
While work has begun, there is very little to report at this time, he said.
He agrees with the mayor that they are now in the information gathering stage.
Time for a plan
Reddig noted that New Castle is financially stable because of a tax anticipation note taken out last year by the city. The fact that there isn't an imminent danger of not having cash will allow time to formulate a financial recovery plan for the city deficit, he said.
City officials have said the deficit is more than 2 million.
The Pittsburgh law firm of Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & amp; Mellott of Pittsburgh and Public Financial Management of Philadelphia are overseeing the recovery process.
Reddig said the state is still finalizing contracts with both companies. This hasn't stopped them from starting work.
While this process continues, the average citizen won't be affected, Reddig said.
"One of our key concerns is that we maintain the basic services," he said.