City officials take first step to cut shortfall

By Editor | October 20, 2010 |

When things get tough, drastic measures often are required to fix them.
Vandalia city officials now find themselves in such a situation.
Facing a budget deficit of $600,000, uncertain funding from the state and an unfilled city manager’s position, city officials took some drastic measures of their own at Monday night’s city council meeting.
Mayor Rick Gottman and the city’s aldermen announced that they will be forgoing their paycheck for all or part of the November-through-January quarter. Though Gottman said he’d refuse his check for November, he didn’t commit to doing so in other months, since he’ll be taking on additional duties. All of the aldermen attending the meeting said that they would work without pay for the entire three months. (Lisa McNutt was absent from the meeting, so was unable to voice her opinion on the topic.)
Given the magnitude of the current deficit, the forfeited pay is largely symbolic – with the mayor’s savings to be $469 per month and the aldermen’s savings to be $1,125.50 per quarter for each alderman.
Nevertheless, it’s a start. And it’s an admirable gesture. Though none of them ran for office for the money, the pay is some compensation for the work they do for the city.
In a related issue, Gottman also announced on Monday that the city is shelving – for the time being – its effort to hire a city administrator. That position, which pays about $68,000 per year, has been vacant since former city manager Jimmy Morani resigned in April to take a similar job in New Baden. For now, the city manager’s duties will be distributed to several others on the staff, including Gottman.
Though these measures will impact many city employees, they are necessary to address the dire fiscal situation. We applaud the employees’ willingness to forego pay and take on additional responsibilities to get the city through this challenging time.
Many other tough decisions lie ahead if we’re to make a significant dent in the deficit. However, these measures represent a good first step.
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