Aldermen scrutinize, pass budget after marathon session

~Photo by Bobbie Toner By Tom Nash After a contentious week-long series of meetings, the Board of Aldermen passed the FY 2010 budget 8-2 at midnight, June 30. The total approved budget for the city is $160,032,473, down from the proposed $160,272,078 after a marathon session of line item cuts that followed a week of department presentations. During the Finance Committee meeting that began June 29, a total of $239,605 in cuts were made during five and a half hours of deliberation. A public hearing, which saw a capacity audience, saw two speak in favor of the budget and eight against. Mayor Joseph Curtatone's administration said the budget is $4.98 million less than in Fiscal Year 2009 and reflects a 22 percent cut in state aid. Gov. Deval Patrick signed the state budget earlier on June 29, indicating proposals for local meals and hotel taxes could go forward. Curtatone said he would have those taxes ready for Board approval at their July 9 meeting. Until the final moments before the budget vote on Monday, aldermen argued about budget issues ranging from overtime spending to whether the mayor's office had kept them in the dark about litigation payouts - a topic which required a closed-door session. Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane and Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz eventually voted against the budget, citing their disappointment in Youth and Recreation Department cuts. Alderman Tom Taylor was absent for the vote. The Public Speaks Out A group of children opposed to the layoffs of two Youth and Recreation Department employees spoke during the public hearing portion of the Board's Finance Committee meeting. They were also sponsored at the Board's June 25 meeting. A group of around 80 also marched to City Hall June 25 to protest the layoffs of Karen Harrington and Carol Lane, two long-time rec department employees. A petition to keep them had gathered 160 signatures. The two who spoke in favor two spoke in favor of the budget at the June 29 hearing were parents of rising sixth graders at the Brown school, which at one point faced the sixth grade being cut. The debate around the school was one of many issues that aldermen debated during a week of budget presentations from city departments. At the Board's June 25 meeting, Ward 1 Alderman Bill Roche asked if the city had considered whether the school could be closed altogether. Trane left the chambers after Committee Chairman Maryann Heuston refused to let him ask a follow up question on the school, telling him to "take a walk" as he got up. "Unfortunately the Alderman from Ward 2 likes to stifle debate, because she's so in line with what the administration wants," Trane said before rejoining the meeting. Cuts All Around As the June 30 deadline for approving the budget approached, aldermen continued to suggest cuts they had lobbied for throughout budget review process. No cut was too small, and some city officials spoke to the merits of some items after they had been struck - prompting Heuston to chastise them for being too slow. Roche found $11,129 in unnecessary salary payments. Gewirtz and others questioned the amounts being spent on police and fire department overtime but ultimately lost the battle. Trane won a fight for a roughly 10 percent cut in natural gas spending for the Public Works Department after the measure was voted down twice in earlier forms. At around 11 p.m., Alderman-at-Large Bill White asked why the Board was being asked to approve $112,500 in line item form for a legal settlement for a discrimination case in the police department without any explanation from the city solicitor beforehand. Gannon said that while the city felt the suit had no merit, it decided to settle with the plaintiff. White pointed out any claim more than $5,000 needs to go before the board for approval on an individual case basis. White threatened to cut the line item down to $0 prior to going into executive session, with Police Chief Anthony Holloway in attendance. The item was later approved. White had earlier challenged City Solicitor John Gannon to explain whether the city would move forward with a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration challenging excessive airplane noise if they lost the current case. The city spent $77,000 more than the allotted $100,000 for outside legal counsel in FY09, mostly on the suit, which has cost the city $158,000 so far. "We're in this to win," Gannon said. The Parking Battle Continues During the earlier public hearing portion of the final budget meeting, resident Bob grilled the Board on letting the Traffic and Parking Commission force the changes through without public input. "That's the biggest joke I ever heard in my life," one senior resident said of the proposed citywide permit parking requirement. "What do you do when you have a large family, ration them out? This is a joke. Why force it down everyone's throat whether they want it or not?" The parking changes proposed to take effect August 1 were dealt with mostly at the Board's June 25 meeting. The aldermen rejected a resolution 5-6 that would have asked the Parking and Traffic Commission to reconsider citywide permit parking and extend meter hours in Davis and Magoun Squares. Sean O'Donovan, Tom Taylor, Dennis Sullivan, White and Gewirtz voted to send the resolution to the commission. Bruce Desmond, Jack Connolly, Walter Pero, Roche and Heuston voted against it. The changes, Heuston said, were a major factor in determining the budget and that the potential revenue had already been worked in. Gewirtz said the recommendations of a recently convened parking task force will be released by mid-July. The Vote As the clock struck midnight, the Aldermen approached the final vote on the budget, with all weighing in on the cuts being a "shared sacrifice" except for Trane and Gewirtz. Both said the 21 percent cut to the Youth and Recreation Department was unfair, with Gewirtz stressing it could lead to an increase in youth violence - which White said was unlikely. Gewirtz also pointed out the two top administrators in the department, James Halloran and George Scarpelli, are earning $70,000 a year. "I mean no disrespect to my colleagues on the Board," Gewirtz said. "I'm going to do this because of the kids coming up every night. As a form of protest I'm voting 'no' this evening." She also pointed out that the mayor's proposal to put $3 million in a "rainy day" fund went against the current cuts the Board had just issued. "It's raining now," Gewirtz said. "I'm a little confused," Roche said in response. "Nobody likes cuts, nobody likes layoffs. There's nobody around this board that's happy. What if we all voted no? What would that do? The city wouldn't have a budget. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." After the 8-2 vote, with Trane and Gewirtz voting against the budget, Gewirtz was the lone vote against the $3 million rainy day fund allocation. At the end of the meeting, Heuston noted that the state will likely make cuts to its local aid in the middle of the fiscal year, in January, when that $3 million may be needed. "I would submit that this is as fair and balanced a budget as it can be," Heuston said. The budget took effect July 1.