On Monday night the Council approved a lay-off plan. This act was the last required in fixing our budget woes this fiscal year. While I understand why several of my colleagues voted against the plan, the reality is that the Council was left with little choice. Based on discussions with the Administration, had the layoff plan failed on Monday night even more employees would have been affected because there would have been less time in which to achieve the same amount of expense reductions.
It was not an easy choice. It is not a choice I hope to make again. Let’s review where this fiscal year went wrong and what the City’s leadership must do to keep history from repeating itself.
1) Problem: Lack of financial leadership
Solution: Fill the roles of CFO and Director of Administration & Finance. Explore why we have not attracted qualified candidates. Based on those conclusions, create and commit to an aggressive search for a qualified CFO and Director of Admin & Finance.
This is, without a doubt, the main cause of Plainfield’s financial difficulties. The City has not had consistent financial leadership in 5 years. We have not even had a permanent CFO for over 2 years. We currently do not have a Director of Administration & Finance. This means that our City Administrator is essentially filling the role of multiple positions at once. This is both unnecessary and irresponsible. Without a CFO or Director of Admin & Fin, there is limited oversight to the city’s financial processes and no checks and balances. We cannot begin a new fiscal year without whole financial leadership in place.
2) Problem: Failed union negotiations
Solution: Ensure that union concerns are being addressed to foster better working relationships with the Administration.
Poor communication, unreasonable expectations and uncooperative attitudes contributed heavily to the creation of this year’s layoff plan. Before a layoff plan is submitted to the Council for approval, unions have the opportunity to negotiate and agree to concessions or givebacks in lieu of layoffs. It is only after some unions communicated that they would rather move forward with layoffs than consider concessions that a layoff plan was created by the Administration. In these economic times everyone must give a little. In order to develop better relationships with the unions, City leadership must work to understand and meet their needs. For example, several PMEA members expressed concerns about employees living outside of the City. The Council started discussion on this matter and will continue that discussion in April’s meeting in order to determine how we can address the PMEA’s concerns.
3) Problem: Late budget introduction
Solution: FY 2011 budget introduction no later than September 1. Look into moving toward a Calendar year budget.
The fiscal year begins in July, however the budget was not introduced by the Mayor until mid-November, already 1/3 of the way through the fiscal year. The Council was then rushed to render budget hearings, gain consensus on and approval on amendments and approve the budget. All this was done in just two months. Now, in March, we are approving a layoff plan that due to state mandated timelines, won’t take effect until May. This leaves us with barely 2 months of savings. The obvious solution is to ensure that the budget is introduced earlier. If the budget was introduced earlier, there would have been more time left in the fiscal year so fewer employees would have been affected. Another solution that the Council has been discussing for some time is to move to a calendar year model. A budget year that runs from Jan 1 to Dec 31 will align us with terms of elected officials and prevent delays for political reasons.
4) Problem: Unclear expectations set by City Council
Solution: Council should adopt a resolution specifying a timeline for FY2011 budget process and urging the Administration to follow the set timeline.
Good leadership requires accepting responsibility when things go wrong. The Council did not set clear standards for the Administration. We must set higher standards. As a member of the Finance Committee, I requested that a formal schedule be put together and distributed to the Council. The Council should review this timeline and incorporate it into a resolution urging the Administration to act in the best interest of the City by moving the budget process along as quickly as possible.
I am committed to putting the City’s financial house in order. As Council President, I take this process very seriously. The Council’s fiduciary responsibilities cannot be taken lightly.
I am open to other suggestions on making the process a better one. Please share your thoughts. How do you think we can improve the budget process?
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