Dueling Banjos: Mount Carroll City Council Notes

By Mick Parsons For The Prairie Advocate News

MOUNT CARROLL – Before and after last week’s contentious city council meeting during which the mayor was criticized regarding his committee appointments for the new council, the Finance committee – the entire council, in actuality – attacked the budget draft line by line, cutting an estimated $18,000 out of a projected 2.1 million dollar budget. The cuts, while not substantial – and not, some might say, even actual – did demonstrate one thing: that one way or the other, new aldermen Bob Sisler (Ward 2), Jim Rose (Ward 1), and Tom Charles (Ward 3) are determined to show they’re doing something and they’re not afraid to stay late in order to claim the bragging rights. However, in between the line by line cutting, the council once again talked about delinquent water bills, including some potentially constructive solutions to the issue that has been a divisive topic on city council.

Budget Bingo

One of the issues that all four of the newly elected aldermen ran on was the city budget; and during the finance committee, when the budget draft was brought up for discussion, it became clear early that newly-seated alderman Bob Sisler had no intention of signing off on the budget without first discussing one line item at a time. The budget draft outlined a projected revenue of $623,000; and it was this number that aldermen Sisler and Bork focused on in their line by line slash and burn. Sisler claimed that several of the estimated revenues were inflated. Among the line items Sisler focused on were potential revenues in building fees, vehicle and DUI violations, and “canine receipts” – the money brought in from drug busts using Scout, Chief Cass’s drug sniffing dog. Sisler said this last line item, which was originally estimated at $2000, was “so optimistic that I find it hard to believe it should stay.”

Mayor Carl Bates was clearly not thrilled about having to go through the budget, especially since the council has had several weeks to discuss the various drafts. “It’s going to be a long summer,” he said. The mayor also pointed out at least twice that it would be a better use of the council’s time to “focus on real numbers.” By real numbers, Bates meant that he would rather the council address actual expenditures instead of projected revenues; he was willing to admit that several of the line items from projected revenues could be reduced. And several of them were. Before the Finance Committee meeting had to be adjourned for the regular City Council meeting, the projected revenues for court fines, DUI and vehicle fines, and canine receipts were reduced to $1000 each, and the line item for donations was reduced to $500.

And while this doesn’t do anything to cut the money the city spends, it does, at least, give appearance of doing something – which the constituents want and the new council would like to have as a feather in its proverbial cap. Sisler has been critical of the budget draft since taking office, first focusing on zeroed line items that could be used for interfund transfers that, while not unusual for government budgets, he claims are a way for the city to spend money without having to be accountable for what the money was intended for in the first place. He said as much about the proposed revenues, claiming that the so-called optimistic estimates gave the council a false sense of security. “The numbers give the impression that the city has money to spend. That’s not true.”

Alderman Mike Risko, who was also recently elected in his own right after filling the seat left by the death of William Sparboe, took exception to Sisler’s statement, saying “Now that’s not true. You know it’s not.”

Alderman Doris Bork questioned why the Grants were projected at $25,000; City Clerk Julie Cuckler said that the line item is there in case the city is awarded grants in the next fiscal year. But she also pointed out if no grants are awarded, or if the amounts are less than the projected $25,000, that only that amount – the actual amount, not the projected – will be used. Cuckler added that the city was expecting an $11,000 grant from Blackhawk Hills that would go towards street lights. This explanation seemed to satisfy Bork, who added that the city should make more of an effort to get more grant money in the coming fiscal year and in the future. Then Bork suggested that the line item be reduced to $20,000.

The budget item that drew the most fire prior to the start of the regular city council meeting was the Police Department budget. Last year, Police Chief Fred Cass had $168,814 to work with. This year, he’s asking for $242,446. “It’s a lot of money for a department that should be more flexible,” Sisler said. Cass, who has been trying since the last city budget talks to argue in favor of another full-time officer, was quiet during the first finance committee meeting. The argument in favor of another full-time cop has been a hard sell – though there’s nothing to indicate that the increased budget has anything to do with that. Certainly increases in fuel costs play into Public Works and Police budgets. And with the list of part-timer officers increasing again recently with hire of Alderman Sisler’s son, Cass’s insistence that another full timer would improve overall coverage seems to be losing steam. If the city does get another full time cop, it will most likely happen if the city is awarded a Federal grant; this grant would pay the salary and benefits for a full time officer for three years and after three years the city would then be responsible for the cost.

“Maybe you need to patrol fewer streets,” Sisler said, adding that he was aware of how unpopular that statement might be.

Mayor Bates also said that if the council wanted to look at department budgets that it’s better to go through them line by line rather than focusing the budget totals. He went on to say that within each department there are certain line items that simply can’t be cut – like salaries and fuel.

Committee Appointments Criticized

During the regular meeting, the mayor presented his committee appointments to the full council for its approval. Alderman Doris Bork objected early on several points. Not only did she object to the reappointment of Ron Carlson as the city attorney, “because we have had several conflicting statements from him.” Bork said that in not appointing anyone from Ward 2 to the Finance or Police Committees, the mayor was denying her Ward proper representation on that committee. She also pointed out that the Planning Commission should have five people, not the three who were appointed.

She then tried to make a motion that the council not accept the appointments as presented, but City Attorney Ron Carlson said the motion was out of order because “you can’t make a negative motion.”

Alderman Mike Risko then made a motion to accept the appointments as presented, saying that the council had just gone through a training class – referring to JoCarroll Energy’s Public Relation Outreach program that offers training to new aldermen in Parliamentary Procedure. “We learned that this is the mayor’s job,” he said. “I think we ought to just let the mayor do his job.”

In response, Sisler cited the City Code, focusing on the use of the word “consent,” saying that in making his committee choices, the mayor neither sought the advice nor the consent of the rest of the council. He also pointed out that there are a couple of appointments that the council is supposed to make – like the Board of Health and the Zoning Board of Appeals, if the city had one. “When this appointment list was compiled,” he said, “no one asked me if that name looked good or if there was a name I could put on there,” he added “Doris’s point saying that any committee that has at least three members that each ward ought to be represented.”

Both Alderman Risko and The City Attorney said that the committee appointments were within the mayor’s discretion. Carlson also said that the language Sisler referred to is the type of language that appears in all code documents, but that by “habit and custom” the mayor makes all appointments.

The appointments were eventually voted on and approved.

Water Bill Backwash

Tom Charles presented several potential solutions to the delinquent water bill issue that has been a sticking point in city council for several years. First among his solutions was for the city to find a collection agency to go after the long standing debts – those debts probably ought to be treated as bad debt and written off – that are the result of people who left town owing money. Giving the list of old debts to a collection agency would allow the city to, in essence, write them off and be able to look at a more realistic number when discussing the debt. Alderman Bork was in favor of the collection agency, but not of writing it off and not, in the words of Alderman Charles, putting any money collected into the miscellaneous fund. Bork said that any money collected from that debt should go into the water fund; and she has been steadfast in not wanting the names written off – even though many of the people on that list have been gone so long that no one knows where they are.

Charles said he has the names of three different collection agencies, and he was seeking the council’s approval to go ahead and talk to them and see what they could do. The mayor wanted to make sure that the situation didn’t call for an open bid process, but the Carlson said this wasn’t a situation that typically called for an open bidding process and no one on the council objected.

Even if the city gives the names to a collection agency, however, that won’t necessarily solve the issue; any money collected will only be a percentage – collection agencies always take a percentage as payment – and since no one knows where these people are, the chances of finding them and actually collected are slight.

Charles also suggested that the city start a fund, to be overseen by the Ministerial Association, that could be used to help people in economic distress pay their water bills. He presented a facsimile of his water bill that included a small box at the bottom which would give residents the opportunity to donate money to the fund. This idea was also met with some positive feedback, though it was agreed that the details and list of qualifications would have to be worked out in advance of the council agreeing to it.

There was also some discussion of making residents pay a higher deposit to turn their water back on once it has been shut off; several members, including Sisler and Risko, seemed to think this punitive measure would convince people to pay their bills. Sitting in the gallery, former alderman Nina Cooper expressed her concerns – from the perspective of a local landlord – that landlords should not be held responsible for the delinquent water bills of their tenants; but both city code and state law mandate that landlords are ultimately responsible in the event that their tenants don’t pay up. And of course, there was more talk about the trailer park – but apparently no one can decide who is actually responsible.

Sisler pointed out several different times however, that the reason they were even having this discussion was that the ordinance hasn’t been followed to the letter; as a matter of fact, he may have exceeded a record in finding ways to suggest that City Clerk Julie Cuckler isn’t doing her job; but since she has been consistently re-elected for nearly 30 years, it may not be Sisler’s call to make. It should also be pointed out that Cuckler has been City Clerk during the administrations of several mayors and it wasn’t until this latest falderal over the water bills – a falderal that goes back at least three years, or towards the end of Mayor Bates’ first term – that she has been openly criticized at all.

Liquor License Pop-n-Lock

One of the matters discussed at the meeting was whether the city should change the city’s liquor license ordinance to include another package liquor business in downtown Mount Carroll. Rich “Oz” Frey, who was in the audience, vocally opposed the expansion of the ordinance, saying that the city couldn’t support another package liquor business. Frey added that he didn’t oppose it when Bella’s Restaurant was granted a liquor license. The mayor then asked him if he only objected because it would mean more competition for him, to which Frey said no, that wasn’t the point. Frey has complained about the expansion of the liquor ordinance in the past – most notably the Mobil station on the corner of Clay and Benton.

The matter was ultimately tabled, however, because the petitioner neither filled out an application, nor paid the prerequisite fee – which is the cost of the first six months, or $425; she simply called the mayor and asked about getting a license. The petitioner was supposed to be at the council meeting, but did not attend to explain her situtation.

Paper, Brick, Scissors

According to Tom Charles, bringing the bricks the City of Amboy gave to the City of Mount Carroll several months ago will take three semi-truck loads. Since Amboy gave Mount Carroll the additional bricks, they have been sitting in storage in Amboy and Mount Carroll paid $250 a quarter in rent. The delay in moving them has been due to not only finding out how much it will cost to move them but what the best method of moving them is. Mayor Bates said that they have pictures of how the bricks are palleted and have opened one of them to make sure the bricks on the inside are still useful. Prior to his election to city council, Tom Charles (Ward 3) said he got an estimate of $1500; that estimate, however, has undoubtedly gone up with rising fuel costs. There was some talk of asking Reid Law to move the bricks; Charles also pointed out that if there was some way that someone would volunteer to move the bricks – or do it at a reduced cost. Reid Law, who was in the audience, said he was sure something could be worked out; but the general mood of the council leaned towards finding another estimate to move the bricks – which may have been some reaction from the misgivings about the no-bid contract that awarded Law Excavating the Benton Street Project.

Mayor Bates expressed a desire to get the bricks from Amboy to the burning ground as soon as possible. The problem is, though, that by the next council meeting, whatever estimate the council gets may not be valid. Bates asked if the council “really wants to wait until the next meeting” to decide on how to move the bricks or if he was able to find someone willing to do it for free – or significantly cheaper – that it could just get done. Charles said that it was an all day job and Sisler expressed some concerns about making sure that the pick up could be scheduled, and no else really said anything. The mayor took the general silence from the council that they would rather wait. He did say, however, that he would show the pictures to Reid Law and get an idea how much it might cost.

“If he volunteers to do it,” the mayor added, “they could be here by then. That’s all I’m saying.”

A seemingly innocuous bit of paper work drew more discussion when the Corporate Authorization Resolutions allowing city council members to sign off on The National Bank and Savanna-Thomson State Bank accounts. Alderman Sisler objected to what amounts to the boilerplate language in the agreements, saying that it invests individual aldermen with too much power; for example, one of the provisions allows for designated signers – there were a total of five – to be able to borrow money on behalf of the city. What the forms do mostly is allow the aldermen listed to sign off on city checks, and the mayor tried to explain that five names were needed in case he, the City Clerk, and Tom Charles were all unavailable. Granted, that does not happen often; but he said it was set up that way “just in case.” Sisler was uncomfortable with the language, however, and said checks only need one signature and that “power should stay with the mayor only.”

Then there was some talk about who and how many people should sign checks, but Bates pointed out that regardless of how the council decides to sign off on checks, the signatures still need to be on file at the banks. Bates suggested separate motions: the two that would allow the signatures to go on file and a another motion that would outline how checks are to be signed and what would happen in the event that the mayor is unavailable.

Alderman Bork also expressed concerns about the language that would seemingly allow any alderman to borrow money on behalf of the city. “No one’s going to borrow money without the approval of the council,” Bates responded. The motions to put the signatures on file at the banks were tabled to give the Finance Committee a chance to discuss it further.

In other city news, the council voted to accept the annual Prevailing Wage Ordinance. They also agreed to let the Humane Society solicit for donations at the intersection of Clay Street and Illinois 64 on June 25th, 2011. The council also went into Executive Session and came back with a decision to pay one of it’s city workers $1 more an hour if he opts out of the city health insurance plan.

 

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