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Mayor Sabonjian addresses $6.5 million deficit - fedupinwaukegan - 06-12-2009
Mayor addresses $6.5M deficit
Sabonjian draws on all workers to find deficit solution
Comments
June 12, 2009
By JIM NEWTON <!-- e --><a href="mailto:jnewton@scn1.com">jnewton@scn1.com</a><!-- e -->
City employees of every department from the mayor's office on down will be involved in helping to address a $6.5 million budget deficit, Mayor Robert Sabonjian said.
"Everybody will hopefully be working together," Sabonjian said. "We're trying to find some way of closing the gap, and we hope to get to that point without laying people off."
As to rumors that layoffs are imminent for the Police Department, Sabonjian said he couldn't discuss specifics of negotiations beyond his hopes to avoid involuntary terminations. He said some employees are already taking advantage of early retirement incentives that weer recently approved and expressed hope that the program would help stabilize the situation.
"It took us eight to 10 years to get here (into the current deficit), and it's going to take some time to get out," Sabonjian said.
Sabonjian singled out legal fees and the past belief that a casino would bail the city out of its financial problems as factors in the current situation.
"I think people would be stunned to hear that we spent $3.4 million on legal fees last year," he said.
The mayor said restructuring the city's legal representation would help address that problem and noted that the lawsuit between the city and lakefront industries has been put on hold, possibly on a permanent basis.
Sabonjian said federal dollars can still be used to finish the Waukegan Harbor cleanup and that the city and its lakefront industries can work as partners in the redevelopment process.
The mayor also said he believes the city should have more aggressively sought additional commercial tenants for Fountain Square when the economic climate was right, instead of reserving space for a casino that has never materialized.
He said the city has rejoined the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and will continue to aggressively pursue economic redevelopment in the downtown, lakefront and Fountain Square areas.
Other issues Sabonjian raised during an interview on his first weeks in office:
⢠Sabonjian said politics is being eliminated from the workings of city government and added that there could be some administrative changes coming that could include open job postings and job searches for key city posts.
"Politics does not run City Hall any more," he said. "There is a clear chain of command. Changes are coming. New people will be coming in. We want people who have management experience and can produce long-term planning and five-year budgets."
⢠The mayor said the Genesee Theatre will soon begin showing movies again on a regular basis, and said he hopes first-run films can eventually become part of the program. He said a new projector and Dolby surround sound system for the theater makes such a plan realistic.
⢠Partisan elections in Waukegan could soon become a thing of the past, Sabonjian asserted.
He said he expects to see a binding referendum on the elimination of partisan elections in the near future, perhaps by the 2010 election cycle.
He said that initiative would require a grass-roots petition drive to place the question on the ballot and expressed confidence that such an effort would be successful and help bring Waukegan in line with most municipalities on that issue.
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Mayor addresses $6.5M deficit
Sabonjian draws on all workers to find deficit solution
Comments
June 12, 2009
By JIM NEWTON <!-- e --><a href="mailto:jnewton@scn1.com">jnewton@scn1.com</a><!-- e -->
City employees of every department from the mayor's office on down will be involved in helping to address a $6.5 million budget deficit, Mayor Robert Sabonjian said.
"Everybody will hopefully be working together," Sabonjian said. "We're trying to find some way of closing the gap, and we hope to get to that point without laying people off."
» Click to enlarge image
Sabonjian
As to rumors that layoffs are imminent for the Police Department, Sabonjian said he couldn't discuss specifics of negotiations beyond his hopes to avoid involuntary terminations. He said some employees are already taking advantage of early retirement incentives that weer recently approved and expressed hope that the program would help stabilize the situation.
"It took us eight to 10 years to get here (into the current deficit), and it's going to take some time to get out," Sabonjian said.
Sabonjian singled out legal fees and the past belief that a casino would bail the city out of its financial problems as factors in the current situation.
"I think people would be stunned to hear that we spent $3.4 million on legal fees last year," he said.
The mayor said restructuring the city's legal representation would help address that problem and noted that the lawsuit between the city and lakefront industries has been put on hold, possibly on a permanent basis.
Sabonjian said federal dollars can still be used to finish the Waukegan Harbor cleanup and that the city and its lakefront industries can work as partners in the redevelopment process.
The mayor also said he believes the city should have more aggressively sought additional commercial tenants for Fountain Square when the economic climate was right, instead of reserving space for a casino that has never materialized.
He said the city has rejoined the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and will continue to aggressively pursue economic redevelopment in the downtown, lakefront and Fountain Square areas.
Other issues Sabonjian raised during an interview on his first weeks in office:
⢠Sabonjian said politics is being eliminated from the workings of city government and added that there could be some administrative changes coming that could include open job postings and job searches for key city posts.
"Politics does not run City Hall any more," he said. "There is a clear chain of command. Changes are coming. New people will be coming in. We want people who have management experience and can produce long-term planning and five-year budgets."
⢠The mayor said the Genesee Theatre will soon begin showing movies again on a regular basis, and said he hopes first-run films can eventually become part of the program. He said a new projector and Dolby surround sound system for the theater makes such a plan realistic.
⢠Partisan elections in Waukegan could soon become a thing of the past, Sabonjian asserted.
He said he expects to see a binding referendum on the elimination of partisan elections in the near future, perhaps by the 2010 election cycle.
He said that initiative would require a grass-roots petition drive to place the question on the ballot and expressed confidence that such an effort would be successful and help bring Waukegan in line with most municipalities on that issue.