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Niles mayor, council to discuss financial recovery plan tonight
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia, under fire from council over his latest version of the financial recovery plan, will have what is described as “a roundtable” session this evening to discuss changes to the document.
The mayor originally called for a special council meeting, but changed it to a roundtable after one council member and the council president said they could not attend. That means no action can be taken other than discussions.
The mayor offered to change the date of the meeting, but council members said nothing doing.
“We definitely need to have that meeting now,” said Steve Papalas, D-at large, who has criticized Scarnecchia’s latest effort. Papalas is among those who will not attend the roundtable because he teaches a university class at that time.
Scarnecchia had submitted his amended plan to council Friday, but as The Vindicator reported Saturday, council members were vehemently dissatisfied. Barry Steffey, D-4th, finance chairman, called it “an architect for fiscal failure.”
“This plan was approved by the state auditors, and the budget was balanced,” Scarnecchia complained during the council meeting Wednesday, but Giovanne Merlo, the city auditor, provided perspective about what the mayor’s latest version lacks.
“It doesn’t address capital outlays [such as] police, the fire department and [the city] building,” Merlo said. “It moves those outlays to 2018 and those need to be addressed.”
“The recovery plan dictates survival of the city,” said Robert Marino, council president, as he reiterated a warning he told the newspaper Saturday. “If we don’t have the plan by [the fiscal commission meeting] Dec. 21, I will move for the 85 percent rule and everyone here knows how serious that is.”
The rule, which the commission can enact, cuts general fund spending by 15 percent. The likely results are layoffs and service cuts. The commission has been overseeing fiscal spending since the state auditor placed Niles in fiscal emergency in October 2014.
“Capital projects are what we want,” Marino said, directing his comments to the mayor. “Kicking the can down the road has to stop.”
Merlo said the ongoing delay has kept him from fulfilling one of his most important responsibilities.
“I can’t present a 2017 budget to city council without a recovery plan,” he said. “I’m on hold.”
Council will eventually have to schedule a special meeting to vote on whatever version is worked out before submitting it to the fiscal commission by the deadline.
Before the meeting, a representative of the state treasurer’s office welcomed Niles to ohiocheckbook.com, the website where the city’s financial transactions can be accessed by the general public.
Niles becomes the 10th Trumbull County community to put its finances on the website.