11/14/06 Council Meeting

[OakParkSpartan]

Biggest news... A reduction in the surcharge for garbage, from 3% to 2%.  The savings per household, per month  should be....drumroll please...$.20. 

Yes, you read that right...twenty pennies per month. 

Being the charitable guy I am, I told the owner of OOT that I would pledge my windfall to a certain bartender at OOT...her daughter.

I hope Vanessa knows how to handle this massive amount of cash.

The only question is should I give her a nickel every week, two dimes a month, or just pay the whole year with nine quarters, a dime and a nickel?

Cheers,
Brian

PS. Oh, and Erickson was his usual self.  Reportedly there was a staredown between #8 and a city employee.  Weird.

[Berwyn Patsy]

Oh, was the stare down between #8 and Sam Canino?  Sam was sitting directly in the row in back of me next to his boss, and silly me thought Erikson was staring at me.  Erickson did get things moving and forwarded some items, since he had a family committment and had to leave by 9:30 P.M. His parting shot upon leaving was, you have to admit humorous.  He grabbed his microphone and growled into it (like the terminator) and said"I'll be back", directed to the audience.
Lets just make this an infromal re cap today.  Boy, I miss you Scoon!!
With all that went on I kept thinking about how petty,bitter, and angry they are at each other.  It is so unfair for the rest of us, including city employees.  The insults, faces and out rage were displayed more then a few times by Nona, Erickson and Phelan.   Atleast it was done quitely, actually the Mayor seemed more composed then the others.
O.K. enough about personality disorders next city business.
I am just going to randomly choose what was interesting to me and ramble on.
Georges thread here can continue, it was referred to be deferred to come back in 2 weeks?
A new Jewelery store located at 6823 Stanley was awarded $7,000.00 in TIF.
A proclamation was read for our Soccor team.  That was cool, and our team appeared to be excited and proud. This was probably the best  part of the meeting.
Erickson wanted G2 on the agenda to go to the legal dept, for review.  This was in regards to the Deputy city clerk position,
so some one could distinguish it as being a union or non-union position.  The Mayor said something about making an error before and wanting to avoid that again, Erickson then made some comment?  Help me here guys??
Tony Burtucca (SP?) for renew position of assistant city attorney was eliminated and now the Mayor wants to draft an ordinance to reinstate it. 
Jim and Scott gave a presentation to the council regarding a new state of the arts telephone system to be used city wide.  Good presentation by both, by the way.  The council sent it on some where for further review.
The same boys, worked with a fellow who designed the Forest Park City website, and got some ideas on a new site for the city of Berwyn.  More exciting then our web site now.  Sounded good to me.  Pricing was just under 10 grand, so the Mayor really did not need the approval of council.  This did not go over big with the council.  The council according to Nona, is sick of not being informed of anything ahead of time.  The out come was Jim and Scott could continue to look into it, but the council insisted on having a look at the project too.
Erickson called for the cell phone records of Jean Marie Hajer??  Wonder what he thinks he's going to find?
On the agenda I3 by Chapman, Pr-Groups Study and hiring of new consultants/Dept heads.  She wants the Council to approve all hirings before the Mayor can do any appointments.
Approval of Holiday Decorations was deffered for 2 weeks for further study by Nona in regards to style and cost.
Vince Comella was awarded a $3 thousand dollar bonus every year for his extra duties he took on after the last director left.
I am sure I missed a whole lot more.  I think to many items were either defered/referred, sent here to there, no wonder nothing much is accomplished, and for the obvious reasons of the council and Mayor trying to win thier personal battles with each other.  In the mean time VERY IMPORTANT  issues such as RAT infestation are being ignored and put back and forth in studies and committees.  How ridiculous is this?

[scoon]

Thanks Patsy and Brian,

With all that went on I kept thinking about how petty,bitter, and angry they are at each other.  It is so unfair for the rest of us, including city employees.  The insults, faces and out rage were displayed more then a few times by Nona, Erickson and Phelan.   Atleast it was done quitely, actually the Mayor seemed more composed then the others.

This is exactly why I stayed home to nurse a cold and not attend the meeting, and I didn't miss it for a second. 

I guess we can start calling Nona the human rain delay?

Patsy, you are so right when you say that too many things are deferred or referred to committees so that they can inspect every detail of what The Mayor is doing.

Remodeling City Hall is one thing and I was very against that happening without Council's knowledge, especially after the majority voted against it...  but a website?  An effing website?

Not a single one of the Alderman is a web designer.  Certainly not Joel Erickson...  just take a look at berwynfirst.com, you'll see that it's pedestrian at best.  Hell, none of them even work in IT!  So what could they possibly lend to the design process other than making sure the site doesn't contain the color purple on it?

And we all know that's why they want to see it.

It's this stonewalling that's going to run them right out of office in '08 and if I'm still living here, which is seriously in doubt right now, I'll be leading the charge.

Anyone have more?  If everyone is ok with me using their notes, I'll compile them and put together a little recap on the community news site later today or tomorrow.

[Berwyn Patsy]

Oh, the depot district is losing some parking revenue, since the meters off of Harlem on Windsor were sawed off and stolen about 2 months ago, never to be replaced as yet.  Suggestions for 2 hour parking signs only were O.K,ed until meters could be purchased.  No mention of costs on this. Some of us thought this should be put in a "study" might save the city money for parking meterrs and installment.  2 hour parkin notice versus parking meters??  What do you think?

[OakParkSpartan]

In defense of Nona, speaking with her afterwards, she acknowledge the last bunch who should be making design decisions was the council.  I felt better for that.

The Comella "Bonus" should probably be more appropriately worded a stipend.  After the former head of PW  left, he went for additional training and took on additional responsibilities.   The stipend is to compensate him for these additional duties.  Because it is a stipend, it is not subject to annual wage increases ie. it will remain at $3000 in perpetuity.

As far as the clerk position, apparently the power to hire a deputy/assistant/whatever clerk is in question.  The Clerk is an elected official, and may have the power to  hire people to carry out the official duties of the office (which is exactly the point of contention...who can hire?  Mayor or the Clerk).

The Bertucca thing struck me as odd...We pay  Sterk and Odelson (which had no ties to the Shaugnessy admin...considered a Good thing, I think)...now  we are hiring BACK a guy who had ties to the previous administration (Which  is now apparently also a GOOD thing)...not sure why  it is being done.

The cell phone witch hunt would  appear to be related to events related to the remodeling of city hall.  I'd suggest people attend Joel's  next Administration meeting.  I'll be there, it  should be interesting.

Some controversy over the hiring of the new Director of Neighborhood Affairs (aka Blight Department).  Not sure how many people  applied/interviewed for the position.   Ald Lovero  commented that the person's only qualification was a college degree.  Rumor has it there's also a bit of "who you know" going on here...Personally I think the person hired needs to be strong in 1) Understanding what contributes  to making a community look blighted; 2) Strong organizational skills, in particular experience with tracking trouble tickets (because that is really what we are tracking...a problem, and want to see it through to resolution); 3) Strong skills in prioritization and goal setting for employees...in particular standardization of what is blight and what should  take priority.    Personally, I think a position supervising the Mayor's father is a no win situation to be placed in.

There were monies transfered from one account to another ($1.5 million).  There seems to be some confusion whether these are revenues or whether these are monies acquired during the refinancing which was  undertaken earlier this year (think of it in terms of a cash out re-fi of your mortgage...you needed to borrow 1 million, but instead borrowed 2 million to meet  some other obligations).  Supposedly we are in the black, or the red, depending upon who we speak with. 

A bit of discussion on the parking  meters along Windsor which  were sawn off the mounting poles.  PW will be ordering more to replace  them.

Did  anyone else raise an eyebrow when the payables were announced as $4.4 Million??   Must be  a bond or fund payment due.  Hopefully we didn't have more plumbing or remodeling bills come in...

Three new police officers were hired.   They are lateral transfers, so 30 days  of training and  then they are on their own.

A request for 3 new probationary officers off the list was refered to budget.  They would be hired in 2007 and start at the Chicago Police Academy around Jan  14.

A request for a Deputy Fire Chief wasn't(?) approved.  Somehow I don't think our staffing in the Fire Department is in line with how other communities do it.   I am NOT speaking of the guys fighting the fires, but rather the administration of the BFD.

Lots of discussion about the insourcing of the parking  ticket department.  Apparently we are trying to do with 1 full time and 1 part time staff member what was being done with 4 people under previous contract  holder.   It struck me odd that all of the conversation was in terms of Part Time and Full time...Not one mention of FTE or headcount ie. 4 part time people working half time is 2 FTE, which would be radically different  staffing than 4 people working 8 hours, or say 32...need to compare apples to apples folks.   Basic management skills.

The  PAR consulting group recommendation I think was deferred...My impression from the Administration meeting was that the brains of that group had no clue what he was going to get for $14,000 in consulting fees.  The rate  is $100 per hour, which seems dirt cheap.  That is 140 hours of work, one person basically for 3.5 weeks...You are NOT going to get an indepth analysis of the city for that kind of $$'s.   And yes, I have worked with a consultancy, and understand exactly how the game is played.  We will get a lot of boilerplate, with Berwyn filled in at the appropriate blanks.  But if it helps guide Joel, it is a good thing.  He seems to be under the impression they are going to recommend firing  a bunch of people and replacing them with a city manager. 

Also,  Ben (#5) requested a study to be perfomed by a traffic engineering company to evaluate alternating one  way streets on the East-West streets in the 5th ward.  Cul-de-Sacs at Lombard too.  Ramos said he didn't want them in  his ward.  It was pointed out his ward is the second, not the fifth.  Preparation, gotta love it.

Cheers,
Brian

[Bear]

Oh, the depot district is losing some parking revenue, since the meters off of Harlem on Windsor were sawed off and stolen about 2 months ago, never to be replaced as yet.  Suggestions for 2 hour parking signs only were O.K,ed until meters could be purchased.  No mention of costs on this. Some of us thought this should be put in a "study" might save the city money for parking meterrs and installment.  2 hour parkin notice versus parking meters??  What do you think?

I think Cool Hand Luke did it.

[P-PANTHER a/k/a La Pantera]

Two points Brian,

#1 is the assistant city attorney proposal one to bring back the position OR the individual (hence position also)?

#2 Who proposed the creation of deputy fire chief position? I thought one of the first acts of this administration was to eliminate the police and fire deputy positions comically created by Der Fuhrer?

[OakParkSpartan]

Two points Brian,

#1 is the assistant city attorney proposal one to bring back the position OR the individual (hence position also)?

#2 Who proposed the creation of deputy fire chief position? I thought one of the first acts of this administration was to eliminate the police and fire deputy positions comically created by Der Fuhrer?

#1  Yes, the position must be recreated, because it was eliminated as one of the first acts of the new council.  And yes, it is for the same individual (Bertucca).

#2  I am not certain, but I think it might have been the Chief.  I don't think it is actually a creation of the position, but rather an additional deputy chief.  If I understand it correctly, the Deputy Chiefs are NOT adminstrators, but regular fire fighters performing a different role.  Scoon, can you help me here?  I think that leaves us with one full time adminstrator in the FD, which is the chief.  That seems woefully understaffed to me.

Cheers,
Brian

[scoon]

In defense of Nona, speaking with her afterwards, she acknowledge the last bunch who should be making design decisions was the council.  I felt better for that.

I'm glad to hear that also.  And I didn't mean to single her out in regards to the design, I realize that more than one person is needed to carry a motion. 

Thanks for the recap Brian.

#2 Who proposed the creation of deputy fire chief position? I thought one of the first acts of this administration was to eliminate the police and fire deputy positions comically created by Der Fuhrer?

The BFD currently has three Deputy Fire chiefs, one is assigned to each of the three shifts and is the commander until the Chief takes over.  The DC will more than likely be the first on the scene (his vehicle is slightly faster than the engines or trucks) to direct operations at an incident.  In addition to this, they also handle the admin duties of their shift while not on the street.

The Chief then handles the overall admin of the department and will take over as incident commander as needed.

As we have engines or trucks responding from 2 or 3 stations, in addition to other cities, someone needs to coordinate this effort, so I'm not sure that I'd call the position "comical".

Now the issue may be trying to make an interim DC permanent...  or maybe a fourth DC all together.  I don't know.  --  But I do know that the DCs are in on their off days quite a bit to take care of stuff, especially after a busy day. 

[P-PANTHER a/k/a La Pantera]

#1 I don't get this one at all. You eliminate a position and then bring back the position and person who previously filled it? Especially an individual who isn't affiliated with Odelson? Anthony Bertucca is a really good guy, so why let him go in the first place if you're simply going to bring him back? Was it his political ties, job performance, or taxpayer savings that led to his dismissal initially? Because if its any of the above, then the current action to bring him back  makes absolutely no sense.

2. Seems to me a big bone of contention election time was the bloated and unnecessary salaries of the "deputies". Any info on what this will cost Joe Taxpayer, and what if any need there was for this position. Seems like we're going back to square one.

[Berwyn Patsy]

Refresh my memory on the status of where or what happened to the Fire Chiefs request for 2 badly needed defibrillators at the cost of $12,000 each?   Now this is an important issue that should not be kept in a committee for long. 
Having an ICD (implanted chest device) myself, I would like to know our ambulances are equipped to the fullest.

[Bear]

....Having an ICD (implanted chest device) myself,.....

Only one?...I thought they did those in pairs.

[Berwyn Patsy]

Boy, did I set myself up for that one!!  Your one sick fellow Bear.  LOL

[OakParkSpartan]

I thought they agreed to it, after a bit of chastising for not including it in the budget if they knew it was going to be  needed.  Apparently the ambulance revenues will cover the cost.

[dukesdad]

Parking meters! Most towns quit putting in parking meters 15 years ago. I suppose, given all the other crap going on this is a small thing, but isn't anyone there keeping up with the times (dumb question)!

[OakParkSpartan]

Are you talking about the doo-hickey's where you walk down, pay, then walk back and put the receipt in the window?   I find those to personally be a pain in the ass, but I like it from a management standpoint   :-) .

Cheers,
Brian

[dukesdad]

Yep!

[Bonster]

Personally I think the person hired needs to be strong in
1) Understanding what contributes  to making a community look blighted;
2) Strong organizational skills, in particular experience with tracking trouble tickets (because that is really what we are tracking...a problem, and want to see it through to resolution);
3) Strong skills in prioritization and goal setting for employees...in particular standardization of what is blight and what should  take priority.

Is it really that involved?
1) eyes + corrective lenses
2) Following up on your work is learned in elementary school.
3) High school education with a bit of managment (Burger King) background.  Maybe some basic construction work (summer jobs) to disseminate what's basic (chipped paint) versus serious structural issues (garage ready to fall over).

If you're looking at the overall view of the city, you could shoot for something higher, say a city planner, but this town is lacking the most basic of blight enforcement, and heavy on the unnecessary.  Oh!  I forgot there's an ordinance banning common sense.

I see what you're looking for, though, in terms of credibility at the position.

[OakParkSpartan]

It isn't that involved Bonster, but look around, we don't seem to be getting it right.

I think most people can learn  quickly what is and is not blight.  And as this is a supervisory position, I don't think you need to be that well versed in construction (yes, folks will say I am wrong, but you can rely upon the Building  Dept  if there are severe problems.).

Cheers,
Brian

[Berwyn Patsy]

So, who is Tony Burtucca?  Doesn't he have a brother who also was connected to the city way back?  Did he handle Insurance for the city?  Don't mind me I may be dreaming again!!