07-07-2009, 09:59 PM
We went the meeting last night as well. So many highlights... Could I respectfully ask what Margaret was talking about; the old tennis shoe in the closet, don't throw it out, replace it with a $100,000 one... 
The mom with the child spoke very well. It was all better than Kabuki theater. Went down and heard Sheriff Curran speak as well. Quite a day in Waukegan -reminded me of a summer day three years ago... some of us were there.
This was in the paper today if you missed it;
Waukegan facing economic crisis
July 7, 2009
When I assumed the office of mayor of Waukegan on May 4, 2009, I knew that the city was in severe financial difficulty. The extent of that problem has become more apparent every day since then.
The revenue the city receives through sales tax and from the state has fallen steadily since December of last year. Our revenue difficulties mirror those being experienced around the nation. There are few, if any, bodies of government or private corporations that are not experiencing the same problems we are.
The most recent figures for unemployment in Waukegan show us at 11.2 percent. It was at 14 percent just four months ago, according to a recent tracking poll published by Economagic, a Web-based tracking service. This reduction is more than likely the normal seasonal adjustment when summer jobs come on line and people are temporarily employed for the warmer months.
Annual economic growth is at a negative 6 percent and there are no indications of improvement any time soon. The city had only one permit issued for a new home in the last 30 days. Commercial development is almost completely stalled as well. These are figures that indicate our community is dire economic straits.
So the question is, where do we go from here? Like major corporations and other bodies of government, we are taking measures to bring our budget into the black. That means cutting costs wherever possible, and that must include addressing the issue of salaries.
When we first began the process of culling through the budget line by line, we realized we were at a $6 million dollar differential. With the help of Ald. Pat Needham and Larry TenPas, as well as department heads and Ray Vukovich, director of governmental services, we have reduced that to around $3 million. We have taken every suggestion offered by our employees and the unions into consideration and implemented them whenever possible.
Cuts or changes have included removal of car allowances; delaying or stopping infrastructure projects; instituting payment of a percentage of insurance costs by all employees and elected officials; cuts in support of not-for-profit organizations; delays in purchasing of equipment and vehicles; and cuts in salaries of management personnel. Everything is on the table; there are no sacred cows in this process.
We are fighting to reduce the enormous legal costs the city has incurred in past years. Last year, we paid out $3.2 million in legal fees. The city just took out a $10 million loan to pay off a legal settlement that could have been resolved for $2 million.
Over $900,000 has been spent on a lawsuit against the businesses on our lakefront in an effort to prevent the dredging of the harbor and to drive them from our harbor. The work the suit was attempting to stop will be done, including the cleanup of the OMC North Plant site, and will cost our community nothing. It will be fully funded by the EPA and the IEPA under the Superfund Mandate.
To combat these aforementioned legal costs, a plan has been put forward to our aldermen that can cut legal fees by $500,000 in the first year, over $1 million in the second and more in succeeding years. This is a crucial step in solving the budgeting problems we are faced with.
From the very beginning, we have taken an open book approach to our negotiations with our various unions. We have provided every bit of information available to them so they could see for themselves our situation. From the beginning I have told our employees that it would eventually come down to salary reductions, layoffs or furloughs to get us through this crisis.
I have never gone into this process with the mindset that the city would be laying off police, fire or any other personnel. I always believed that the unions would review the same economic information we have seen and come to the same conclusion that they would have to give something back in order to keep their numbers at peak levels. So far, they have not accepted this solution, but I am hoping that in the end a bargain can be reached that will allow the city to keep our safety personnel at full strength with some reduction in salaries until we get through this economic crisis in a year or two.
This problem cannot be solved without the cooperation of everyone involved. As mayor, I will continue to work to find a solution that will protect the safety of our residents, maintain the fiscal responsibility I have to the people of Waukegan and continue the excellent levels of service that the city of Waukegan has provided the people for generations.
Robert Sabonjian is mayor of Waukegan
MY TURN/ROBERT SABONJIAN
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/opinions/letters/1654165,5_4_WA07_MAYORLET_S1-090707.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... 07.article</a><!-- m -->
The mom with the child spoke very well. It was all better than Kabuki theater. Went down and heard Sheriff Curran speak as well. Quite a day in Waukegan -reminded me of a summer day three years ago... some of us were there.This was in the paper today if you missed it;
Waukegan facing economic crisis
July 7, 2009
When I assumed the office of mayor of Waukegan on May 4, 2009, I knew that the city was in severe financial difficulty. The extent of that problem has become more apparent every day since then.
The revenue the city receives through sales tax and from the state has fallen steadily since December of last year. Our revenue difficulties mirror those being experienced around the nation. There are few, if any, bodies of government or private corporations that are not experiencing the same problems we are.
The most recent figures for unemployment in Waukegan show us at 11.2 percent. It was at 14 percent just four months ago, according to a recent tracking poll published by Economagic, a Web-based tracking service. This reduction is more than likely the normal seasonal adjustment when summer jobs come on line and people are temporarily employed for the warmer months.
Annual economic growth is at a negative 6 percent and there are no indications of improvement any time soon. The city had only one permit issued for a new home in the last 30 days. Commercial development is almost completely stalled as well. These are figures that indicate our community is dire economic straits.
So the question is, where do we go from here? Like major corporations and other bodies of government, we are taking measures to bring our budget into the black. That means cutting costs wherever possible, and that must include addressing the issue of salaries.
When we first began the process of culling through the budget line by line, we realized we were at a $6 million dollar differential. With the help of Ald. Pat Needham and Larry TenPas, as well as department heads and Ray Vukovich, director of governmental services, we have reduced that to around $3 million. We have taken every suggestion offered by our employees and the unions into consideration and implemented them whenever possible.
Cuts or changes have included removal of car allowances; delaying or stopping infrastructure projects; instituting payment of a percentage of insurance costs by all employees and elected officials; cuts in support of not-for-profit organizations; delays in purchasing of equipment and vehicles; and cuts in salaries of management personnel. Everything is on the table; there are no sacred cows in this process.
We are fighting to reduce the enormous legal costs the city has incurred in past years. Last year, we paid out $3.2 million in legal fees. The city just took out a $10 million loan to pay off a legal settlement that could have been resolved for $2 million.
Over $900,000 has been spent on a lawsuit against the businesses on our lakefront in an effort to prevent the dredging of the harbor and to drive them from our harbor. The work the suit was attempting to stop will be done, including the cleanup of the OMC North Plant site, and will cost our community nothing. It will be fully funded by the EPA and the IEPA under the Superfund Mandate.
To combat these aforementioned legal costs, a plan has been put forward to our aldermen that can cut legal fees by $500,000 in the first year, over $1 million in the second and more in succeeding years. This is a crucial step in solving the budgeting problems we are faced with.
From the very beginning, we have taken an open book approach to our negotiations with our various unions. We have provided every bit of information available to them so they could see for themselves our situation. From the beginning I have told our employees that it would eventually come down to salary reductions, layoffs or furloughs to get us through this crisis.
I have never gone into this process with the mindset that the city would be laying off police, fire or any other personnel. I always believed that the unions would review the same economic information we have seen and come to the same conclusion that they would have to give something back in order to keep their numbers at peak levels. So far, they have not accepted this solution, but I am hoping that in the end a bargain can be reached that will allow the city to keep our safety personnel at full strength with some reduction in salaries until we get through this economic crisis in a year or two.
This problem cannot be solved without the cooperation of everyone involved. As mayor, I will continue to work to find a solution that will protect the safety of our residents, maintain the fiscal responsibility I have to the people of Waukegan and continue the excellent levels of service that the city of Waukegan has provided the people for generations.
Robert Sabonjian is mayor of Waukegan
MY TURN/ROBERT SABONJIAN
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/opinions/letters/1654165,5_4_WA07_MAYORLET_S1-090707.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... 07.article</a><!-- m -->