Cut, yes, but cooperate and share pain

One refrain of which we all must be tiring after, lo, these many years of this interminable economic downturn is this: “We need to make painful cuts.” We do. In many places, especially at the local government level, we have. In many others, especially at the state and national level but unfortunately even still close to home, we need to make more.

But weary though we may be, we just can’t escape the relentless arithmetic of economic crisis, nor can we assume that the pain in those “painful cuts” will be endured solely by someone else. The sad truths of the prolonged ardor of righting the ship of government spending are that it is a dreadfully slow process and, especially where government services are concerned, it involves every one of us. The important thing now is in how we adapt to these two dictums, and a case in Cook County is providing what, at the outset at least, is an illustration of how to deal with them positively.

The issue — isn’t it always? — is saving money. Cook County has approved a budget that will save nearly $2 million a year by closing satellite courthouses on weekends. On its face, it seems a reasonable plan, and from the county’s perspective, it clearly has merits. Staffing a courthouse for a full day to accommodate an uncertain and inconsistent workload is an expensive proposition.

But, as the community police departments affected by the decision point out, the workload is still there. And now, they have to accommodate it — either by paying overtime and transportation costs to haul suspects to bond hearings at the main courthouse at 26th and California streets in Chicago or by paying the costs of housing suspects all weekend.

Though the prospect has been on the table for at least a year, the departments can hardly be faulted for complaining of the appearance that the county is not saving money so much as shifting the burden of the expense onto them. And they, too, as they are quick and reasonable to point out, are struggling with dwindling resources and unremitting demands.

The situation might set the stage for a classic confrontation of wills, but so far, the rhetoric has been tempered with reason.

“We’re not in this to argue, or to get into any power match,” says Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel, “but is there another alternative?”

There may be. There are certainly options to discuss. Perhaps some strategic courthouses can be kept open. Perhaps video technology can be used more effectively. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle previously has shown herself willing to listen to reason. Hopefully, Chief Judge Timothy Evans shares that trait and, in the spirit of “open communications” that Weitzel invokes, will help find a middle ground here as well.

Of course, the implication of the term “middle ground” is that everyone may have to give something up, may have to assume some burden. Sadly, there is pain enough to go around these days. But recognizing that, we can minimize what we all have to endure to get through it.