Wilmington City Council Steps Up to Try to Control the City’s Costs
The last city budget process highlighted once again the difficulty of using that fast-track process to start implementing some budget discipline within the city’s operations. Indeed, that budget not only raised the property taxes of city residents, but also left the city with a surplus – a surplus that no one understands its purpose. There were multiple problems brought up during the hearings – the number of vacant but budgeted positions, the fact that the city isn’t paying its portion of the water and sewer bill, and the fact that the budget largely ignored the WEFAC finding that the city’s financial difficulty can’t be resolved by taxing its way out of it. On top of that, city residents really pushed back on city council people over the passage of that tax increase. To respond to this, City Council is finally exercising its prerogatives as the body that approves spending, to start pulling spending back. This week they started with the staffing at the Fire Department, and they promise to look at all City Departments with an eye to reduce funding for vacant positions and look for better efficiencies.
So here’s what happened this week:
- On Monday, July 7th, there was a joint Finance Committee and Public Safety Committee meeting, where two major ordnances were discussed: 1) Require the WPD and WFD Chiefs to brief the City Council 4 times a year on staffing levels and issues, plus require them to come before Council when their authorized strength gets to 95% to start recruitment of a new Academy; 2) Delete 7 vacant positions in the WFD and remove the budget for those positions from the WFD 2015 budget. This was a fractious meeting (and seriously, the next major joint Finance meeting needs to have leadership other than Mike Brown), where the Chief of Staff and other city employees walked out because the Fire Chief wasn’t first up to speak. Still both ordnances passed the committees and went to the full Council on Thursday.
- On Thursday, July 10th, the Wilmington City Council passed both of those ordnances to law. The vote was 8-5, not a veto-proof majority. Apparently Sam Prado promised a YES vote to Theo Gregory and then changed his mind at the last minute. He says that he was made a deal by the Williams Administration for something, but won’t say what. Prado also voted for the tax increases, even though majorities of the people he represents (including me) were quite opposed. The other NO votes were Justin Wright, Trippi Congo, Sherry Dorsey-Walker and Bob Williams. Justin Wright keeps telling the Council that they need to start with cost reductions in their own staff – which is a fine idea. Except that when the City Council was discussing the idea of reducing the number of City Council people to save costs a few years ago, Wright was a firm NO on that idea, so he’s flip-flopping on cost reductions in his own group. Dorsey-Walker and Williams aren’t especially interested in cost control – both are pretty well captured by the attitude in WPD and WFD that they deserve all of the city’s money. In any event, both bills await Mayor Williams’ approval.
- During the discussion of these ordnances, Theo Gregory read out a piece from the WFD Chief’s Blog:
If not I suggest you find out ASAP and give them a call (302-576-2140)! Better yet come out on Monday July 7th at 5pm to City Council Chambers and express your views about these cuts! These are your representatives in government and they speak for you! Dont allow them to misrepresent your wishes with their own agendas! Come out and speak for yourselves!
On the other hand, if you believe in what they are doing than I will have no choice but to believe that those Council Persons who believe the City of Wilmington should cut firefighter jobs and close fire engines actually do represent you and your council districts wishes and intentions. In doing so, all of those Council districts will be the districts that we will be forced to consider reducing coverage in!
You could hear a pin drop after this was read out – and Chief Goode’s piece was widely considered to be a targeted threat to the districts of the Councilmembers who voted to delete these positions and associated budget.
Unacceptable behavior from a public official. And one who is making the argument for public safety while specifically threatening the safety of the people he is sworn to protect. But this has been pretty standard for this discussion – several of these positions have been vacant for months and there isn’t an academy in sight. Yet the only time that anyone sounded the alarm about public safety around these vacant positions was when they were about to be defunded. If these positions were crucial to public safety, I would imagine that they would get them filled or perhaps they would have told the public they were at risk sooner. Remember that in pretty much any budget (and it works this way in the private sector too), funded vacant positions can act as a slush fund of sorts. You have the money, you just aren’t paying for a person that it is meant to. So you can use it to pay for overtime, for equipment, for maintenance, or other items that don’t need council approval. Still, plenty of council members found this behavior indefensible.
One of the things that Bud Freel brought out in the committee meeting was the WFD’s own data re: response times. The Chief presented that data in the last budget hearing, responding to the impact to response times while the rolling bypass (taking one piece of equipment off line for a day and cycling that stand down through the various engine companies) was in effect. Bud noted that the Chief reported a response time of 2 minutes 40 (or 45 – this is from memory) seconds when the rolling bypass started. That response time is now down to 2 minutes, 20 seconds. If response time is an indicator of either safety or efficiency, then this looks pretty good to me. And no one at the WFD has presented any data that shows how this metric might be improved with the funds from the additional 7 people. Also remember that this ordnance does not lay off anyone. It just elminates currently vacant positions. The last administration conducted a study on how to achieve some cost reductions from the WFD, how to increase safety and in whether the WFD should get into the ambulance business. The recommendations of this report were reasonable (full disclosure, I was one of the citizens called to participate in the Community Focus Group), and yet were ignored by the Williams Administration.
Speaking for myself, I’m very glad that Bud Freel and Theo Gregory are taking WEFAC seriously and getting focused n the City’s budget issues in a way that doesn’t avoid the tough issues. I’m hoping that Mayor Williams doesn’t run away from this difficult issue and signs the ordnances. It is well past time for his administration to pay attention to the city’s structural budget issues.
Tags: Budget, City of Wilmington, Featured, Wilmington City Council
The seven firefighters positions are not vacant they are being filled with overtime. The city fire department can’t hire until manning drops to 95% per city charter. The same requirement as the Police Department which has 18 vacant positions being filled with overtime. One thing to remember is the Brown, Gregory and Freel are against your safety. As you can see by the other ordinance that was entered that same night allowing 70 notice with public hearing for a zoning change but only 8 days notice with no public hearings for Public Safety cuts.
Wilmington now has an active TEA Party led by M. Brown Sr, Gregory, Freel, Walsh, Shabazz, Chukwuocha, D. Brown, and Cabera.
And this is the kind of bluster that the WFD is posting up pretty much everywhere. Wonder what the WFD will say when the city is too broke to pay their pensions? Because that is a real risk.
I hear the bluster in bobsmith’s post, but, is he accurate that the positions have been filled by using overtime? I am concerned that the most significant cuts in the budget do seem to be coming from public safety.
To, AQC the Chief of the fire department was not even allowed to speak at last public safety meeting by M. Brown Sr, Gregory, or Freel. It was so bad that the Chief of Staff of the city of Wilmington walked out of the meeting do the Chief not being allowed to speak. Also on another note to everyone else concerning pensions both Bud Freel and Loretta Walsh are going to be receiving to three pensions not to shabby if you ask me.
@AQC,I don’t know about the overtime claim. But I do know that the WPD gets an overtime allocation in the budget. But I doubt all of those positions are being covered by overtime. Still this is the *first* department up for review. The plan is for all of them to be reviewed and adjusted.
Cassandra, according to Bud Freel’s statements at city council on 04-07-2011 there was a study done on city council to reduce it size which was quickly vote on not to reduce. The study done on the fire department in 2012 was for the minimum protection required. So since city council’s review was done first in 2011 maybe they should be leaders and lead by example. Of course remember Freel and Walsh both voted to reduce council both knowing that their positions would be secured because Walsh always is top vote getter for the At-Large Spot and Steve Martelli was not running in the 8th district. It is really amazing how Politicians want to cut jobs after securing the safety of theirs.
Cassandra since you are a community leader are okay with minimum protection for the citizens of Wilmington? Or would you want at least the current level of protection for our citizens. Everyone for some reason forgets there were two studies done on the fire department the other one which the 8 Politicians on city council never wanted open discussion on which shows the Fire Department is under staffed.
Remember 8 days to reduce your safety with no public meetings to her your voice on the matter. 70 days notice with public meetings to her your voice on a zoning issue. Think about it this is a personal attack by certain Politicians using their power for their own agenda to endanger the citizens of Wilmington.
Also look at the ordinance again the cut the fire department 447,000 and out of that money 100,000 of it is going to look at the Finance Department and Public Works Department for cuts BUT not City Council still taking care of themselves.
I don’t believe that the citizens of Wilmington have minimum fire protection, as the Chief’s own response time data shows.
You can make this about the politicians involved, but the fact is that just increasing the city’s costs without taking into account that there are fewer people in the city and tax revenues are not going to keep up with those increased costs is a path to becoming Detroit. Where the city’s pensions were drastically reduced. What happens to your (currently underfunded) pension when the city goes bankrupt? I’m glad that there is someone paying attention to the long term financial situation for the city. That’s an agenda I can get behind.
Have unfilled positions been cut from other departments?
Not yet, AQC. As I noted above, the plan is to scrutinize each department — one by one — in the coming weeks and make adjustments.
Cassandra, you may have miss read my last post the purpose of the RFP for the Berkshire study was to provide the minimum fire protection for the citizens of Wilmington.
The RFP for the Berkshire Study was to get someone to make a study of the WFD and make suggestions for operational efficiencies and improvements. The actual study did just that.
Recall that this study came about because the WFD was screaming about the Baker-implemented rolling bypasses AND they were insisting on starting up their own EMT service (rather than continue to use St. Francis). This study not only suggested further cost saving ideas, it also recommended against the city starting their own EMT service and it suggested:
This wasn’t about minimum protection (as anyone who can read can see), it is about maintaining protection and improving operations by using fewer taxpayer resources.
I’m not claiming that this report is the gospel, either. But I do note that there are people who have been trying to pay better attention to how taxpayer money gets spent and there are others who are just spinning up scare tactics to make sure that they are first in line at the trough.
Cassandra, The RFP from the city stated MINIMUM that would not be listed in the finial report. Have you even read the other study? I see in the study you posted that they want to increase the Firefighters hours to 48 so is the city going to pay them overtime for the additional 8 hours work? Also remember City Council after refusing to reduce their positions in 2011 added I believe 7 more people and over 500,000 dollar to their budget right at the end of the Baker ADM. Before the new ADM took office.
I also read the full blog from the Wilmington Fire Chief which you only posted a small part. I see that stations that would have the rolling bypass are stations 2,4,5 and 6. I know station 6 is on 3rd and Union street so that would be closed and that station is in Williams, and Prado district and I think part of Dorsey-Walker districts and they voted against the ordinance. So that would shoot holes in the letter Gregory read, but he is a Lawyer and Politician. I know station 4 is at 22 & Tattnall streets and that is Congo’s district and he also voted against the ordinance. So I guess Gregory miss spoke / lied or only spoke part of the truth, but he is a lawyer and Politician and he will also be getting three pensions. I did love when he said “I do not want this to become a metropolitan government” But then again if we did become a metro gov, he would lose his position and all of his power.
I did hear one council member also mention pays raises at the last meeting, but of course they would also be entitled to the same raises.
I think the rule is that when you start making stuff up its time to stop arguing.
Cassandra, never let the facts get in the way of a good story. But the (RFP) Request For Proposal requesting bids sent out by the city for survey had the minimum requirement listed at least five times in it. This wording would not appear in the Berkshire report. They are two separate documents. You might want to contact who ever is feeding the wrong information and demand they provide you with the actual RFP seeing is believing. Not arguing or making up stuff. Remember certain people on city council have a personal issue against some people on the Fire Department and are using their positions to carry this out. Maybe as a community leader you should call for and investigation of those members on City Council.
Your problem is that you have no facts. The RFP for the Berkshire Report is a sideshow here and has not one thing to do with the effort to control the city’s costs. If it was germaine to anything, you folks would have made sure I had a copy — it isn’t as though you don’t know how to reach me.
Cassandra, Spoken like a true politician and not a community leader. Maybe you ask Bud ( I think I’m Dan Frawley ) Freel, Michael A. ( I can’t pay my taxes) Brown Sr , Theo (the thug) Gregory or Loretta (soon to be out of office ) Walsh for a copy of the RFP. So you can see the facts for yourself. But remember they are politicians with a personal agenda. So you might not be able to see it so file a FOIA. You will be surprised its in there. And they are the FACTS. So before you ever say again I do not have the facts you should do a better job of fact checking. I just read the RFP again the other day.
I know that you don’t have the facts because all you can argue here is an RFP that has nothing to do with where we find ourselves today. And since you can’t produce said RFP, it is a damn good bet you don’t know what it says, either. So you can try to smear the people at least trying to solve a long-term Wilmington problem or you can just save your breath for when you need to scream about how your pension is no longer what you thought is was going to be. Because you couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Cassandra,
Why should I do the work for you? I have my own copy of the RFP. File the FOIA and get your own copy of the RFP. As for smearing those people for Wilmington’s long-term problems maybe you should look and start adding up how many years they have been in office. They are the problem!!!! Even you have mention about I can’t pay my taxes Brown, but you when you mentioned him you used the words (Sexual Harassment Brown.)
Now for the pension issue do you know that every Police Officer and Firefighter hired by Wilmington after 1990 is in the State of Delaware pension plan which according to the State is 90% plus funded. I can see the forest for the trees, but I will not do someone else’s leg work so get off your can and file your FOIA and get your own copy it’s in there. Would your rather believe a taxpayer who lives in Wilmington or a Politician who may or may not live in Wilmington. Remember be a community leader.
Ok so you *don’t* actually have this RFP. Thanks for confirming that. And for confirming that you don’t give a damn about the taxpayers of the City of Wilmington except for what you can fleece from them.
Thanks for playing.
Cassandra,
You have missed the point again; I said I would not do your leg work to get you a copy of the RFP. Then you acting like a politician just change my works and make a false accusation saying I do not have something that I do. Are you a really community leader????
Are you still an idiot? If this RFP was germaine to this dicussion, someone would have gotten it to me. That’s what I said. If you can’t provide this RFP (which you can’t, clearly. Hell, you didn’t even read the resulting report from that RFP.)
I haven’t changed your “works”. Either you can engage with the points at issue here or so can still be here insisting on your tired and unsupported talking points. Talking points meant to continue to fleece the taxpayers of the City of Wilmington. And concern about how we pay for our future probably does make me a Real Community Leader. Too bad there aren’t more who think like this in the Administration or in City Council.
Cassandra,
“Are you still an idiot?” Really, you just provide to me instead of being a community leader you are a covert POLITICIAN. Again why should people do the work for you! Please read this very slowly so you can understand this. The RFP does state the word minimum at least 4 times in it. I have a copy of both reports the Berkshire report and the IAFF Report which City Council will not address. As for reports why wont city council address this report or even address the report on them in 2010 to reduce their size to five council members. New Castle County has thirteen council members with a population of 538,479 that’s 41,421 per council member. Wilmington has thirteen council members with a population of 71,000 that’s 5461 per council member. That’s why the cuts should start with them. But remember if you can they voted against that also.
They didn’t all vote against it, but enough did to sideline the idea. Even though there should be fewer of them. Which I addressed in my original post, which you did not read. Still, the RFP is of no consequence here and nor is the size of the NCCo Council.
And this:
Really, you just provide to me instead of being a community leader you are a covert POLITICIAN.
is why I ask you if you are an idiot. Why on earth would I even care if you think I’m a community leader or a politician? It is clear that you are neither, preferring to make sure that your employer is utterly bankrupt.
Cassandra,
Enjoy your TEA at your next party!!!!!