Story posted Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Eliminate 38
City To Lay Off Employees From Nearly Every Department
By TODD WESSELL Journal & Topics Editor
Thirty-eight city of Des Plaines jobs ranging from police officers to maintenance workers will not be funded in the city's 2010 budget, aldermen decided last week.
The decision to eliminate the jobs primarily through either early retirement incentives or layoffs, was made to help plug a $5.2 million total 2010 city deficit. The job eliminations will save the city approximately $3 million per year. That, along with likely increases in property taxes and various fees will allow the city to manage its finances and $100 million-plus budget as it heads into a new year.
Aldermen approved the reduction in force last Thursday during a special city council meeting and after a two-hour gathering behind closed doors in city hall. The city currently employs approximately 350 people.
Specifically approved were:
* elimination of the assistant city attorney position, now held by Ray Bartel, as well as the director and secretary of the Health and Human Services Division. This effectively eliminates the department that provided a variety of social services to certain residents in need like the elderly.
* elimination of the senior planner and intermediate clerk of the Community and Economic Development Department.
* elimination of six firefighter/paramedic jobs. These six positions manned the department's fourth ambulance, which will be put out of service.
* elimination of 12 positions in the police department: the canine officer, two patrol officers, a Community Action Team officer, two Traffic Unit officers, two records clerks, the department's court liaison, a Tactical Unit officer, a detective and secretary.
* elimination of 15 positions in the public works department: 11 crew leaders and maintenance operators, two water plant operators, one mechanic, one senior clerk.
Left unresolved at last Thursday's meeting was city funding for the history center, the public library and the fire department's fire prevention bureau. As reported exclusively in the Journal & Topics Newspapers several weeks ago, the city is strongly considering privatizing the bureau in order to save money. The bureau, manned by sworn fire officers, conducts inspections and safety visits. Proponents of the change say the city would be better served if bureau duties were handled by non-sworn personnel such as retired firefighters.
Sources in the city said resolving the issue of privatizing the fire prevention bureau could take as long as six months to complete primarily because of fire union contract issues and how many current fire department employees will take early retirement buyouts.
Councilmen are scheduled to meet again on the proposed budget tomorrow (Thursday) night in city hall where the history center and library budget will be discussed. City Manager Jason Bajor's 2010 city budget proposes no funding for the history center. Last year the city gave the center $166,000.
As for the library, aldermen have insisted that the library board revisit its proposed budget figures in an effort to further trim costs. The library has agreed to do that even though in recent weeks they have learned that functions the city has performed for the library have been eliminated. That has forced the library to allocate money that it hasn't had to spend in previous years.
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