HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES-2011-10-29-2011ity of
EvaCnston
CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 29, 2011
ROLL CALL — PRESENT: Alderman Wilson Alderman Rainey
Alderman Holmes Alderman Burrus
Alderman Tendam Alderman Fiske
Alderman Grover Alderman Braithwaite
A quorum was present
ABSENT: Alderman Wynne
PRESIDING: Mayor Elizabeth B. Tisdahl
A SPECIAL MEETING of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Tisdahl
Saturday, October 29, 2011, 9:10 a.m. in the Council Chamber for the purpose of
conducting a FY2012 Budget Discussion and Consideration.
CITIZEN COMMENT
Efrain Berrocal (Schubert Ave, Chicago) and Kathy Whyte (Brown Ave., Evanston) bofl
City of Evanston employees., spoke on the elimination of their positions.
Seth Green (Wesley Ave.) spoke on behalf of the Y.O.U. board and staff. He told Council
they appreciate the support in the current budget for Human Services and that they hope
it is maintained.
Torn Fischl (Leonard St.) spoke of his support for police and fire officials and their
pension funds.
Junad Rizki (Sheridan Rd) expressed his concern over the 8% property tax increase,
money being spent frivolously, money being spent on consultants for studies that staff
should be able to conduct, yard waste stickers and more.
Jim Mizell (Grove St.) volunteer / producer with Evanston Community Media Center
spoke on the topic of EC'TV and the franchise agreement and changes that will be
proposed.
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Wendy Pollock (Oak Ave) voiced her opinion on the proposed cuts and the impact it will
have on the quality of life in Evanston. She opposes the outsourcing of vital jobs,
particularly in the Department of Forestry and is concerned about public safety issues,
citizen requests, snow removal, etc. She mentioned the fact that the City won the
Governor's award for sustainability efforts. She is glad to see the City's commitment to
environmental issues but reminded Council that trees are a major part of that and must be
taken care of.
Mike Vasilko (Reese Ave.) said he was here to advocate a real economic development
plan that includes the support of local businesses as well as a general focus on new ideas
for sources of tax revenue that prevents the need to raise property taxes or layoff city
workers.
Henry Bayer (Chase Ave, Chicago) is the executive director, AFSCME Council 31 which
is the collective bargaining representative for many City of Evanston employees. He
came to testify against the privatization of some parks and forestry department jobs.
Considering the many job functions performed by these employees, including helping
with snow removal, he believes the elimination of these positions would hurt the City,
especially in the coming winter. He pointed out that citizen input on Engage Evanston
had privatizing services very low on the list of ways to deal with the budget. He urged
Council to not lay off people who are providing a vital service.
City Manager Bobkiewicz now called upon Marty Lyons for his presentation.
Mr. Lyons stated the presentation on the proposed capital improvement plan would
include projects to be carried over, new capital projects, debt service and a summary with
an upcoming budget schedule. He also told Council that all of the directors responsible
for the projects were present should anyone have any questions.
Throughout the lengthy presentation of proposed projects listed under various funds, the
aldermen and Mayor Tisdahl had numerous questions that were answered by Mr. Lyons,
Mr. Gaynor, Ms. Robinson, Mr. Stoneback and Mr. Bobkiewicz.
Once the presentation was finished, Mayor Tisdahl called on aldermen who had questions
about various sections of the Budget. Some questions were answered right away while
other questions will be answered by staff at a later date.
Regarding the debt service, Alderman Burrus expressed her desire to keep the debt to $5
million. Alderman Wilson agreed and thought it best to keep it at a more manageable
level. City Manager Bobkiewicz said it would help him to know if all of Council is in
agreement of $5 million and if so, staff would come up with a proposal on how to get
there.
Alderman Rainey asked for clarification: is it GO bond debt or total new debt? Mr.
Bobkiewicz responded that it is his understanding it is GO Bond Debt. Mr. Lyons
explained that the $5 million is not an arbitrary number and that when you look at the
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debt table we are retiring $6 million - $8 million of GO debt each year so our goal is to
stay below the amount we are retiring so we continue to cut into the total outstanding.
All agreed to the $5 million.
Alderman Rainey, citing the memo from staff (pages 50-53) regarding their opposition to
eliminating the four (4) Parks/Forestry positions and the one (1) Secretary position,
wished to make a motion to restore those positions. She stated that as a resident, she did
not want to be without the services these positions provide. Mr. Bobkiewicz explained
that if Council votes to put those positions back, then we would need an additional
$204,000 in revenue or other cuts taken in order to budget.
Alderman Rainey made a motion to restore to the budget, the four (4) Parks & Forestry
workers (at $140,000) plus the secretary position ($64,000) and it was seconded.
Several aldermen spoke on the motion and asked for some clarifications.
Alderman Holmes made a motion to amend Alderman Rainey's motion to add back the
Parks and Forestry positions, the Secretary II position, the Technical Support Specialist I
position, and the Parking Manager position. Alderman Rainey seconded.
Several aldermen spoke on the motion and asked for some clarifications.
Alderman Holmes' motion failed on Roll Call 3 ayes, 5 nays.
Alderman Rainey's motion failed on Roll Call 2 ayes, 6 nays.
Mr. Bobkiewicz went over the upcoming budget schedule reminding Council that the
next meeting would be November 14th with citizen comment, and a special meeting
scheduled for Wednesday, November 16th. He told Council that if they needed more
time, they just need to tell him. He is hopeful, that Council will adopt the budget on
November 28th. Alderman Holmes asked that the meeting on the 161h start at 6:00 p.m.
It was agreed.
Motion was made and seconded to adjourn. All were in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 12:00 noon.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine Autwell, Deputy City Clerk
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