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Panel OKs fifth revision of Niles recovery plan
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
Despite some reservations, the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission unanimously approved the city’s latest amended recovery plan from fiscal emergency – the fifth such revision.
“You have demonstrated quite a bit of progress since the emergency was declared,” said Quentin Potter, commission chairman. However, Potter and several other commission members are concerned about one of the plan’s key elements – the leasing of the financially troubled Wellness Center.
The city hopes to lease the building for $240,000 annually for three years with an option by the tenant for a three-year renewal. John Davis, a commission member, was skeptical about finding a tenant and questioned Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia as to the level or probability of success from low to high.
“If it’s low, then it shouldn’t be in the plan,” said Davis, who earlier this month in an interview with The Vindicator called for the mayor’s resignation after council rejected his fourth revision to the plan.
“I would say it is a high probability,” the mayor promptly responded.
Council later in the evening unanimously approved an ordinance to seek bids for the lease, a process that will last five weeks. The lease would cover the annual payment on the loan, that financed the center and the tenant would be responsible for all payroll associated with the building.
Another plan component is elimination of jobs through attrition. Potter described the lease and attrition plans as risky and questioned the mayor about an alternative if they fall short.
Scarnecchia said he has been working on a “Plan B” but has declined to publicly discuss his options. The city should know by early February if there are no bids.
“If it falls through, our expectation will be the mayor will have a plan,” the chairman said. “Immediate action will have to be taken if [the lease and attrition] do not work out.”
“It had better be very, very quickly,” said Robert Marino, council president and commission member who has often criticized Scarnecchia’s responses. “I expect this to be carried out with fidelity and have no reservations about expressing my [dissatisfaction] if it is not.”
Another ongoing budget busting problem has been overtime. Statistics provided by Tim Lintner, one of the fiscal supervisors, reveal that as of the end of November, overtime in the water department had increased by nearly 91 percent, and in the light department, by 76 percent. Police overtime was up by 37 percent.
“Overtime exceeded 1,000 hours for one pay period citywide,” he reported to the apparent surprise of several commission members. “We hope to present [a statistical report] on what is overtime for, need or for choice,” Lintner said.
The city has a policy in which employees can work overtime for two hours if they choose, even if it is not an emergency. “Most overtime is emergency overtime,” Safety Service Director James DePasquale told the commission. Davis was critical.
“If you offer me O-T at time-and-a-half, it would be hard not to accept,” he said, calling the existing overtime policy “alarming.”
The commission’s next meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 26.