Don't expect much from the mayor's budget club
Look for the committee to be used as a scapegoat if it doesn't deliver a big reduction
Undoubtedly, when Mayor Brandon Johnson announced he was forming a hybrid working group to address the city’s forecasted $1 billion-plus budget deficit, he created expectations that the men and women who will comprise this committee will deliver new strategies to reduce that number.
The reality though, if they must operate by preferences previously stated by the mayor -no cuts or furloughs and revenue (ideas) first - they will be working with extremely limited options.
The pressing question is two-fold. One is is that doable and the other is is this the right cohort to do it.? The answers lie in how strategic the aldermen who will make the appointments will be.
If done properly, the group won’t be weighted with luminaries who bring no budget experience to the project. So, it will fall upon the city council members in the mix to guide the members- be they CEOs or community activists, through the nuances and intricacies of municipal finance, as well as state law.
Members’ opinions will be vital, however; they must be rooted in compliance with the restrictions under which the city always operates. However, to some extent the group’s progress will be stymied by the education process of learning and distinguishing the types of government funds, i.e. enterprise, revenue, general funds, special revenue, and others. It will be further hamstrung with the reality it only has four months to issue a preliminary report-a clear indicator this type of initiative should have been put in motion last fall.
As this is an ad hoc group comprised of business, labor, government staffers, and community members; it is not likely they will be convening on a daily basis, so arriving at decision will be drawn out process. Hopefully, there is no expiration date on the group. That way they can see the impact of their recommendations and make adjustments accordingly.
In announcing the working group, Johnson offered the city’s current overall charge is “to do more with less.” That is a good campaign slogan, but not a notion that works in this scenario. The city already and has been for at least a couple of years operating with at least 1,500 cops than ideal.
Chicago actually is going to have to do less with less. All areas, save CPD will be off limits when it comes to cuts or reductions. Public safety is repeatedly one of the concerns mentioned when residents and day-time residents are queried about city problems. At the same time however, there has to be a recommendation to reel in CPD’s overtime bills. Fiscal year after year the department exceeds the dollar amount budgeted for overtime.
Maybe the committee can unearth some strategies to get more supervisors from al departments back into the field. Even if they retain their pay rate, more work should be getting done. Reminding residents, we are all in this together and identifying ways for citizens to play a bigger role-whether it is helping maintain a park or cleaning a portion of the lakefront could make a contribution to lowering costs.
It would be a plus if the committee invited input from the general public, particularly the 15-30-year-old cohort. With the city’s intermittent focus on youth, input from this group could be critical.
In the earliest stage of the process it should be reinforced that the group is there to address budget issues that can benefit the entire city; and it is imperative to avoid the age-old South-West Side divide.
Look for the committee to be a scapegoat if they fail to make recommendations cutting the deficit at least in half. City hall has been reluctant to accept blame when things don’t go right.
Johnson is blaming former Mayor Rahm Emanuel for President Donald Trump’s threat to snatch $3 billion in federal funds from Chicago. However, it is well documented the burr in the President’s saddle is our sanctuary city status; and to maintain Emanuel ‘gave Trump the playbook” for what is going on between the feds and the is just plain inaccurate.