Des Plaines restores senior center funding

Members of the Des Plaines City Council backed away Monday night from one 2009 budget cut that raised the ire of senior citizens and postponed until December 15 a vote on the city's entire budget because another cut had raised the ire of union employees.

Letter and phone campaigns, along with a show of force at the meeting, had their intended effect on the elected officials.

The aldermen voted unanimously to reinstate $40,000 worth of funding to the Des Plaines Senior Center which had been cut in the bare-bones budget that the council asked City Manager Jason Bajor to prepare in light of current economic conditions.

Fifth Ward Alderman Carla Brookman praised the seniors for taking the initiative to buy a shopping center where they can rent out storefronts to subsidize senior activities.

Most neighboring communities including Arlington Heights, Palatine, Mount Prospect and Park Ridge subsidize their senior centers much more generously than Des Plaines does, she added.

In response to questioning by Eighth Ward Alderman Rosemary Argus, Senior Center Director Sharon Smith explained that the city money would be used for many diverse services to the city's seniors including financial, legal and nutritional counseling, tax and veterans assistance, daily meals and health screenings.

The dispute over the much larger $980,000 personnel cut in the budget could not be so easily resolved.

"I hate to cut good, loyal employees' jobs," Alderman Brookman said. "There aren't many jobs available out there. How are they going to put food on their tables? How are they going to pay their mortgages? Many of these employees are Des Plaines residents."

"The unions have told us that they want some input into the decision-making," added Third Ward Alderman Laura Murphy. "I think that we should delay the vote on this to allow the city manager time to meet with the unions and get their ideas."

"If the unions have any ideas, we could certainly take them under advisement, but this is not just a cyclical problem that we can afford to ride out for a year or two," City Manager Jason Bajor said.

"We have structural problems and that comes down to cutting salaries and benefits. We have a problem that took many years to develop and it has come home to roost," Bajor said.

He said that expecting the unions to come up with quick solutions and suggestions was unrealistic. Bargaining with the unions could easily drag into the second quarter of 2009, "creating a very troubling economic window for the city."

"I'm not sure that we could manage the city's budget with that big question mark out there," he told Council members.

"If I had a big red Easy button I'd be pushing it right now," Bajor said. "But I don't have an answer for you."

"We are maintaining all essential city services with this budget, but there is a human toll - the equivalent of 12 full-time positions," he said.

Mayor Tony Arredia issued a challenge to the unions that they sit down with city management and see if their members would be willing to "take something less than we agreed to until the city gets back on its feet."

"We will offer the unions this chance to save us $980,000 in some other way," he continued. "If they can't, they can't. On December 15 the Council will have to vote one way or another."

At least one resident, Mike Pesola, felt that the council's cuts were not going deep enough.

"You have to make the hard decisions. You have got to seriously slash the budget. You people are the only ones who can do it," Pesola said. "Instead of buying new cars, fix the ones we have. That's what you have to do in hard times."