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Lack of progress on city finances sparks call for Niles mayor to quit
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
In the wake of city council’s negative reaction to Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia’s latest financial recovery plan, a member of the commission that oversees city spending has called for the mayor to resign.
“After one year, we are going backwards, and this mayor has no solutions,” John Davis told The Vindicator Saturday. “He is ineffective.”
The newspaper reported Saturday that the mayor, who took office last January, admitted his latest plan will not get Niles out from under fiscal emergency where it has been since October 2014. The Financial Planning and Supervision Commission had ordered Scarnecchia to produce a revised plan before its Dec. 21 meeting that would accomplish that very task.
State law requires a recovery plan to project positive balances in the general fund for five years.
Davis, an outspoken critic of the administration’s handling of the fiscal crisis, said the mayor’s admission to The Vindicator was the last straw.
“This is hard for me because we have been friends all our lives, but I have an obligation through the state to the commission,” he said. “We don’t have the leadership we need.”
Scarnecchia emphatically ruled out resigning when contacted Saturday night.
“Heaven sakes, no,” he responded. “We have a job to do.”
The mayor said he does not understand council’s negative response to his amended plan.
“I’m surprised by their actions,” he said. “I thought we were making headway, and I don’t know what they’re looking for.”
Fremont Camerino, commission member and former long-time council president, said he is not about to ask the mayor to resign, but wants answers.
“I want to talk to him first to see his feelings, said Camerino, who is frustrated with Scarnecchia’s inability to develop a workable plan as required by state law.
“He is just wasting time,” Camerino said.
Scarnecchia said his plan fell short due to unsettled union contracts, uncertainly over the financial situation and the ongoing deficit of the city’s Wellness Center. The rationale did not sit well with Camerino.
The unions and mayor have to work this out, and if they can’t, then both parties should resign,” Camerino said. “They’ve got to settle those contracts.”
The mayor’s amended plan has to be approved by city council at Wednesday’s meeting before it can be submitted to the commission, but it may never get to a vote. The finance committee has to clear legislation before council can vote, but finance Chairman Barry Steffey, D-4th, said he will not sponsor the legislation, calling it a blueprint “for fiscal failure.”
Several other council members voiced similar criticisms.
Without a plan, the commission would have nothing to review, contrary to its dictates, and its response could come in the form of retribution. State law authorizes the commission to implement the “85-percent rule,” which cuts general fund expenditures by 15 percent. Council President Robert Marino, who serves on the commission with Scarnecchia, said he will ask the commission to implement the rule that is likely to result in layoffs and service cuts if the mayor cannot produce a plan that complies with state law and is approved by state auditors before Dec. 21.
“The mayor could have used a scalpel and he chose not to, so my only option is a chain saw,” Marino said. The council president said he does not agree Scarnecchia should resign.
Davis said he will support Marino’s 85-percent rule initiative.
“Absolutely, I’m in favor of it,” he said. “I don’t think we can get out of this mess without it and unfortunately there’s going to be pain.”