Columnist James Ingram
Cash-poor East St. Louis is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, according to the former executive director of Financial Advisory Authority, with the anticipation of major layoffs in the very near future.
Ken Gearheart, ex-chief of the State-sponsored FAA (which provides financial oversight for ESL) blames the financial crisis on poor financial management and a refusal to implement and adhere to long range financial planning.
One recent news report in the Belleville News-Democrat revealed that, despite two extensions, ESL City leadership has failed to submit a balanced budget, according to current FAA Executive Director Patrice Rencher.
The problem is massive. After a court-ordered judgment of $900,000, in pay increases and retroactive pay to ESL police officers, and the recent implementation of bi-monthly unpaid furloughs and holidays for over 100 City employees, ESL still finds itself running a $2.7 million deficit.
Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. blames it in part on a decrease in gaming revenues from the Casino Queen. The City initially anticipated $10.7 million in gaming revenues but, now is projected to only receive $9.8 million.
Many City employees are outraged that Parks, who earns $50,000 for a part-time job (including a $9,600 expense account) and City Manager Robert Betts, who earns $90,408, are not taking pay cuts or furlough days. Now that is truly living “Life more abundantly.”
Whatever happened to leading by example? During Parks’ mayoral campaign he constantly berated then-mayor Carl Officer for receiving full-time pay for part-time work. Yet Parks has opted to hang onto his loot, despite participating in decisions to furlough and lay-off other City employees.
And what about Betts? That’s $90,408 per year for someone who can’t even submit a balanced budget? ESL leadership should be the first to feel the budget axe if they expect City employees to respect their decisions to lay off employees who earn far less.
In an effort to bring the budget in line, Parks and City officials initially submitted a budget which included the layoff of 11 firefighters, with two firefighter positions remaining vacant. Parks’ rationale was that the City can no longer afford to honor the firefighters’ union contract, which calls for a total of 58 firefighters. He even told TV reporters that “We believe the City can remain safe with these layoffs.”
But how can we knock Parks since he volunteered to give up $800 of his $9,600 expense account? That will surely take a big chunk out of the $2.7 million deficit.
Betts has declared, “We have no intentions of filing for bankruptcy.” Apparently, Betts plans to use the services of magician David Copperfield in order to balance ESL’s budget.
Thank God for the Financial Advisory Authority. Last week the FAA, following protests by the firefighters union, sent Parks and the gang back to the drawing board by rejecting the firefighter layoffs, forcing ESL officials to submit a more balanced plan for layoffs.
No one said that this will be an easy process, but if Parks and company are going to wield the layoff axe, then maybe the city manager could give up some of his $90,000 per-year salary. Surely he wouldn’t starve on, say, $70,000 per year. Perhaps Parks could lay off his sister, brother-in-law and cousin, who were hired upon his inauguration.
The bottom line is that if the process is going to be a respectable one, then cuts must not be selective, but across the board, with a combination of layoffs, reduced hours and furloughs. In short, EVERYONE in ESL city government must feel the pain.
Yes, East Boogie is financially broke; but it’s the bankruptcy of character, ethics and integrity on the part of ESL leadership that is the most appalling aspect of this crisis.