You would have thought that a church revival was taking place at East St. Louis City Hall, recently, amid shouts of joy by City Councilman Roy Mosley Sr. at Mayor Alvin Parks’ announcement that the city had fully repaid $21 million in bonds issued 20 years ago to save the city from bankruptcy.
Attended by city leaders and dignitaries (including Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee and former Mayor Debra Powell), Parks’ news that the city had retired their bond debt a year early was welcome news to a struggling community with little to celebrate in recent years.
That news also means the end of the state-appointed East St. Louis Financial Advisory Authority (FAA), which has overseen ESL’s spending since 1990.
Jennifer Wilson, operations director for the FAA, confirmed the news, stating that “we will be abolished by the end of the year.”
However, East Boogie, given its pile of unpaid bills, diminished revenue from the Casino Queen (which provides approximately 50 percent of ESL’s revenues) may still be in a world of trouble despite the jubilation of Mayor Parks and his minions.
At a recent FAA meeting, the auditing firm of E.C. Ortiz Co. reported that while ESL has about $17 million available, it still needs to pay about $44 million in liabilities, leaving a $28 million deficit.
According to E.C. Ortiz auditor Ryan Gadia, the city must avoid spending more than it earns in 2013 and 2014.
Gadia’s report also described the City of ESL as having “lacked proper controls” in a multitude of areas including TIF loans, Community Development Block Grants, ESL Public Library and ESL Board of Election Commissioners.
In addition, Gadia’s report described inadequate policies and procedures for monitoring any related party transactions and potential conflicts of interest (to avoid nepotism, favoritism, etc.).
The report even described seven purchases of $10,000 or more which were done without competitive bidding, as well as six purchases of more than $500 but less than $10,000 that were made without getting three quotes from prospective vendors.
And, to make matters worse, the city failed to submit required financial information to the Illinois Office of the Comptroller in a timely manner and, as a result, received a letter of delinquency from the comptroller as recently as 2013.
In short, ESL’s financial house is still a hot mess, despite Mayor Parks’ implications that the city is some financial paragon of virtue.
That is why I predict, regrettably, that within one year citizens will be begging for the FAA to return to East St. Louis.
Recall that it was the FAA that prevented Mayor Parks from laying off 16 ESL firefighters back in September, forcing the city to negotiate a deal which ultimately kept all 53 firefighters on the job.
It was the FAA that forced ESL to belatedly submit balanced budgets, devoid of nepotism, unnecessary personnel or excessive increases in salary.
I can vividly recall when the financial oversight panel was removed from ESL School District 189 and how quickly that board resumed its reckless pattern of nepotism-driven hiring and spending, forcing the school district back into a deep financial rut.
In fact, East St. Louis City Hall is already an amalgamation of the children, spouses and extended family of those who are elected. And with a 42 percent poverty rate in the city of ESL, it’s not hard to predict that this trend will continue. I hope that I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
