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Niles recovery plan passes in split vote
By Jordan Cohen
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 Tuesday, however.
Scarnecchia fell at home overnight, said Service Director Ed Stredney. The mayor was released from a hospital Tuesday 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 today.
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.”
The latest version was required after the city was unable to lease the Wellness Center, which would have saved $160,000 annually according to the previous version. The general fund has been covering the center’s debt.
Councilwoman Linda Marchese, D-3rd, who admitted she was not enthusiastic about the mayor’s latest offering, voted in favor, saying she wanted to give Scarnecchia a chance.
“We’ve been struck in quicksand, and we’re trying to get out,” she said. “We are top heavy and we need to make some changes.”
Marchese, however, would not identify the positions she feels should be eliminated.
“The plan is achievable and can always be amended,” said Barry Steffey, D-4th, council finance chairman, as he explained why he voted yes. “There is no end plan until we get there.”
Steffey acknowledged another change, the seventh, is likely within several months because Niles faces a major expenditure. The city is waiting for a report on costs to repair its 14 municipal buildings. Those future cash outlays will have to be covered in a future version and reviewed by state auditors.
Scarnecchia also had to scale back a street-resurfacing program that would have been funded by two additional $5 license plate taxes. No council member supported the proposal, so the general and street department funds will have to cover the costs the remainder of this year. The two taxes were removed from the latest version of the recovery plan.
“We seem to be in a holding pattern,” McNaughton complained. “We’ve got to get moving.”