In split vote, Niles council approves recovery plan

NILES — A less-than-pleased city council, with one member absent, approved the sixth amended version of the financial recovery plan from fiscal emergency by a 4-2 vote.

Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia, the plan’s author, was not there to see it pass this afternoon, however.

Scarnecchia fell at home overnight, said Service Director Ed Stredney. The mayor was released from a hospital this morning after treatment.

“It was nothing major, nothing’s broken, but he’s pretty sore,” Stredney said.

The city’s state-appointed fiscal supervisors had to approve Scarnecchia’s recovery plan, which must contain positive general-fund balances for five years, according to state law. The document will be presented to the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission, which meets Wednesday.

Councilmen Frank Pezzano, D-1st, and Ryan McNaughton, D-at large, were the two dissenters. Pezzano declined to comment after his vote, while McNaughton, who previously said he could not support a plan that does not resolve the city’s Wellness Center debt, held to his word.

“We’re going to be here again in the future when things come down the pike,” he said after the brief meeting. “I want to see long-term solutions.”

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com