Last week, the City Council took a fairly unusual step: it actually made some cuts to Mayor Domenic Sarno’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget.
By law, the Council has the power to make cuts (but not additions) to a mayor’s proposed budget. Typically, however, while councilors might engage in some griping or grandstanding about the mayoral budget, they usually rubber-stamp it in the end. So it was somewhat surprising to see councilors actually take their scissors to the mayor’s budget plan—although the amount of cuts they made ($2.7 million, out of a total budget proposal of $544.9 million) hardly warrants the level of self-congratulation they indulged in after the vote.
Today, Sarno took a swing back at the Council, releasing a report that, in a letter signed by the mayor and Lee Erdmann, the city’s chief finance officer, purports to help them “fully [understand] the implications of the reductions.”
While addressed to the councilors, the report is obviously intended for a larger—and voting—audience; as the letter notes, the report offers “details of the impacts that the public will see and feel.”
Among those “impacts” (and oh, I hate when the word’s used that way — but I digress):
• The Police Department will have to lay off four recently hired cadets, which “will mean more police officers off of the streets to fill the duties and functions that a Cadet would normally perform.” The SPD will also not have the funds for “an adequate supply of crime prevention supplies including DNA test kits, gunshot residue tests, blood and saliva tests, and fingerprint kits.”
• “Street maintenance functions will be reduced to pothole patching, street sweeping, and asphalt-patching of concrete sidewalks.” Street paving will only happen if the state picks up the check, and the city’s bulk waste and household hazardous waste programs will be eliminated.
• The elimination of City Hall’s CitiStat program will result in three lay-offs, and kill the “Continuous Improvement Springfield” program, “which has targeted $1.3 million in hard and soft savings in FY12.”
• The Police, Parks and Public Works departments “will be unable to provide extra support through staffing and materials for special events as they have provided in the past.”
“Unfortunately, the Council did not allow the administration or the department heads to discuss the ramifications of the cuts that were voted on nor were we made aware of the cuts prior to the meeting to be able to speak to the impacts,” the letter chides.
No sooner had Sarno released the report than mayoral challenger Antonette Pepe responded with a press release calling the budget cuts necessary, and dismissing the mayor’s “doom and gloom” report.
“The sky is not falling,” said Pepe, who insists the cuts made by the Council shouldn’t affect services or cause more layoffs. She also reiterated both her earlier contention that the city could save money by eliminating from the budget funds for positions that remain unfilled, and her criticism of the high salary paid to Sarno’s chief of staff, Denise Jordan.
“This is not a time for photo-ops with the same song and dance we get yearly from the Mayor,” Pepe said. “ Today’s press conference demonstrates the Mayor’s inability to collaborate with the city council. The city council’s job is not to give Mr. Sarno a blank check but to do their due diligence. … This is the tax payers’ money and they trust us to spend it judiciously.”
In addition, Pepe criticized Sarno for seeking to use $10.5 million in reserve funds to balance next year’s budget. “The city will need the reserves to help with the tornado relief efforts,” she said. “We can’t afford to waste those funds on fiscally irresponsible spending.”
Meanwhile, the third major candidate in this fall’s mayor’s race, Council President Jose Tosado, today ended his self-imposed month-long campaign hiatus, in the wake of the June 1 tornado. Tosado opted not to weigh in on the budget battle, but instead sent out a press release praising “residents, city employees and neighbors from throughout the region for helping Springfield with the recovery process” after the tornado. He also included a list of vaguely worded proposals to “strengthen the city.”
The list includes: offering unspecified “incentives designed specifically for teachers, police officers, firefighters and artists to live downtown”; providing all residents and business with high-speed Internet service; improving energy efficiency in the city; and increasing the city’s tax base “by creating a mixed-income housing planning [sic] to restore neighborhood stability.”
“This has been a tragic month for our city, and it has also been a time of affirming our collective grace, compassion, uncommon heroism and devotion to our city,” Tosado said. “Now is the moment for us to imagine the possibilities for our great city. And that’s exactly why we need a City Hall that is inclusive, transparent, and accountable to all residents.”
