Layoffs on table for Warren finance committee
By BILL RODGERS-Tribune ChronicleWARREN - Another meeting has been set to discuss fixing the city budget, and layoffs are expected to be part of that conversation.
Council Finance Committee Chairman Al Novak, D-2nd Ward, said the committee was calling the city administration, union officials and municipal judges back to the table at 3 p.m. Thursday. At a meeting Tuesday the mayor presented a list of about 20 short-and-long-term ideas to both save and generate money.
Mayor Michael J. O'Brien's plan did not call for layoffs, but he acknowledged before that they could be a possibility. Novak said council members need to talk about layoffs even though they cannot initiate them.
"Basically, that's what some council members are saying. We want to have some serious and straightforward discussions on what will be getting us through the rest of the year," he said.
Novak said council members were questioning whether the mayor's recent plan ranging from overtime bans to drilling for oil would be enough to keep the budget from running a deficit by the end of the year. Auditor David Griffing said earlier this month that if Warren kept spending the way it was, the budget would run dry in November. He projected a budget deficit of about $1.75 million.
"We need to face the wolf. He's not at the door, he's sitting in the living room and he's in daddy's chair," Novak said.
Council members Dan Crouse, I-at Large, and Helen Rucker, D-at Large, have called for layoffs before, but Griffing said it may be too late in the year for that to help.
"If we go into state receivership, they'll make the cuts and we don't want to see that happen," Novak said.
Councilman Bob Dean, D-at Large, said he'll discuss layoffs but not for safety forces. A member of the police and fire committee, Dean said safety forces have had an increase in calls this year.
"At some point we'll be looking at the hard subject of layoffs," Dean said, commenting that he did not think the mayor's plan could make up the $1.75 million deficit. "I want no layoffs for police departments and fire personnel, period."
Dean wanted to discuss some ideas to help save and generate money. He proposed a tax on alcohol and cigarettes, which he claims would generate $2 million to the city. Long-term, he supports creating an economic development group and bringing a veteran's nursing home to the area.
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OutsideTheBox
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09-01-08 1:44 PM
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Let's turn our two best parks into oil fields. That'll bring people in. When we're done let's all have a cook out in the front yard and run around barefoot. ah-hyuk.
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neversummer
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08-30-08 11:51 AM
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"the mayor's recent plan ranging from overtime bans to drilling for oil" Unreal, this stuff just writes itself
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OutsideTheBox
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08-30-08 1:56 AM
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...Just remember everyone - These council members somehow keep getting re-elected to their positions. Usually they're the only ones running for their Wards. If someone believes that they can do better (it wouldn't be hard) then by all means, stand up and be recognized. There's a saying - "Those who can, must." Run for the office. Do for the citizens what they do for you - City Council exists to return the City to its People, not to retain money by choking off lifelines and making poor decisions. This City should be flourishing, not choking to death. We need leaders, not cowards.
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smokey
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08-29-08 11:43 PM
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or better yet go down to the welfare department,mcdonalds,etc. anyone who actually has to live off a budget to make ends meet bet they have a few suggestions about where to make cuts,,,
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smokey
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08-29-08 11:41 PM
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wanna cuts in areas to save money, put the wpd on foot patrol or on bikes a few of them could use the exercise as well am sure,make some cuts in council,maybe some cuts in city workers, or i don't know surprise us, increasing taxes on the citizens yeah that would help,pfft help drive them out of the city.. heres a creative one start collecting on the tickets the officers write for violations like parking on the front lawns , one councelman said as i recall they write the tickets but never collect on them!! hellooooooooooooooooo. geeeeeeez ya don't have to be a rocket scientist?? council and the mayor spend more time talking ,talking and talking try taking some action, if you need to lay off then lay off maybe council and the mayor take a paycut for awhile, i dunno. geeeeeeeeez
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CURLEY
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08-29-08 9:14 PM
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Warren Cuty Council is the biggest joke in Ohio. 11 members to do what? Spend our tax dollars? For what? So they can live high on the hog and we pay for it? It's time for a BIG change!
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bruskii
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08-29-08 5:16 PM
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manage city money like I manage my beer. Get a lot and drink a lot and p i s s a lot.
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Billdog
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08-29-08 12:26 PM
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I was thinking city counsel should be the first place for layoffs also outsidethebox. That committee is the biggest bunch of social leatches I have ever seen. We need 11 counsel members like we need another hole in our a*s*s. Clean up should start at the top in this case, not safety forces.
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Hamphog
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08-29-08 12:18 PM
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driving on by!!!!!!! Run out of room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hamphog
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08-29-08 12:17 PM
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Dean you sound like a broken record, tax on alcohol and cigarettes, give it a rest. If you (Council, Mayor, etc.) had all done your jobs correctly to begin with, Warren would not be facing this problem. I agree with "outside the box".........11 council persons, do we really need that many especially when they do nothing to earn that salary they still collect every month for doing exactly "nothing". Then how about starting with the members of WPD that let's say, do not do their job/take it seriously, then take a look at the fire Dept......that would be a start!! Warren has had absolutely no accountability for years, it is about time someone, somewhere brought that to the table......maybe a charter government would work better? One of those Neighborhood Assoc. are going to be patrolling the streets so would it really make a difference having less police patrols on our streets, they never come over our way anyway and if they do see anything, they usually just keep
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OutsideTheBox
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08-29-08 9:34 AM
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May I note that, going hand in hand with Crouse's "financial bloodletting" statement he proudly made a few weeks back, Warren has, what, 11 council members? Columbus has 5. Oh, and our Council members get around $900 a month, plus City health benefits. How much of a "financial bloodletting" is that? ...but let's just lay people off, instead of, oh, I don't know, planning a civil development committee, offering tax incentives for business, utility discounts, etc. No - let's tax and fee everyone until they move out, and then lay everyone off. Great job, guys. Great job. What will you do council members, when you have 10 vacant, dilapidated houses around you, with tall grass, vermin, and bums? Throw money at it? There won't be any.
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pahootaman
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08-29-08 9:33 AM
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Well there is the ghost walk comming up in about a month, I heard that makes about 1.5 million a year. lol
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pahootaman
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08-29-08 9:33 AM
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Well there is the ghost walk comming up in about a month, I heard that makes about 1.5 million a year. lol
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OutsideTheBox
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08-29-08 9:25 AM
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Concerned, I couldn't have said that better myself. Well done. They blew their money, and "reappropriated" money from all the other accounts, and now they have none left. Granted, they need to run things more effeciently in this City, like maybe get rid of their assistant's assistant's assistant? Maybe stop using General Fund money to run the Packard Music Hall (not the 400k to operate it), and the Amphitheatre? Those should GENERATE money, not eat it.
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pahootaman
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08-29-08 9:24 AM
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Maybe if the city would quit being on the receiving ends of fines and lawsuits, they would have more money. Jebus Christ! It's not that difficult!
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concerned
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08-29-08 8:18 AM
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I love this statement. "If we go into state receivership, they'll make the cuts and we don't want to see that happen," Novak said. It reminds me of when my children mis-managed their allowances. They would say, "If we go to daddy to bail us out and give us more funds, he will scrutinize the spending we already did. We don't want that! We wouldn't want daddy to look at our poor spending practices and make cuts. We'll just dig under the cushions of the couch for lost change and fix it ouselves." This is where you are at, Warren Finance Committee. You have mis-managed the funds you were given and now you are scrambling to cover your tracks.
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bruskii
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08-29-08 6:36 AM
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Sin tax on smokes. Beer too.What next, matches? air?
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