Alderman McCarthy settles in on Finance Committee

Alderman Terry McCarthy is proving to be a thoughtful member of the City Council's Finance and Personnel Committee - arguably the council's most powerful committee.

On Monday, McCarthy raised questions about a collective bargaining agreement with the city's public health nurses. At a glance, the contract seemed straight forward. The nurses agreed to a 1 percent raise in 2009 and a 0 percent increase in 2010. That adds about $4,100 to the 2009 budget and zero dollars next year.

But McCarthy spotted a provision that would allow city nurses to be paid for unused sick days if they're laid off or their job is outsourced. The clause in the contract is relatively minor. The city rarely lays off or outsources employees, and the payouts for sick days are actually credits for health insurance, not cash payments.

But McCarthy also discovered the nurses would be the first employees in the city to receive this benefit, and the contract could possibly set a precedent for other city unions. Uncomfortable with that possibility, McCarthy voted against the contract.

The contract still passed 2-1 with Alderman Q.A. Shakoor II and Mike Shields voting in favor. Alderman Jim Spangenberg, chairman of the committee, didn't vote because there wasn't a tie. Alderman Bob Anderson, who sits on the committee, wasn't in attendance.

McCarthy's questions, while unsuccessful from his perspective, brought the provision to the public eye and opened it up for debate. Without his inquiry into the contract, it would have passed without consideration. His attention to detail, and willingness to act on that attention, seems to be a good fit for a finance committee that's in charge of taxpayer dollars.

City plan to pay company for jobs is 'unique,' development director says

The city is one step closer to paying a company to bring jobs to Racine.

The Finance and Personnel committee voted 3-1 Monday night to allow the city to enter into a developer's agreement with American Tire and Recycling, which is based on the Wisconsin-Michigan border in Niagara, Wis.

The city would pay American Tire $39,600 to cover the company's rent at 2301 S. Memorial Drive for 18 months. In exchange, the company is committed to creating 88 jobs over 18 months, with city residents getting first shot at the jobs.

City Development Director Brian O'Connell said the jobs incentive grant was "unique" for Racine.

"I don't think I've brought anything to you that's only a jobs incentive grant," O'Connell said.

Committee members passed the proposal despite unanswered questions. Aldermen asked City Development Director Brian O'Connell to find out how much the jobs will pay and if they're union jobs.

Alderman Terry McCarthy also requested the company lay out a specific schedule for when it will create jobs, and then have the city tie the rent payments to job creation.

O'Connell said the city would pay American Tire's rent on a quarterly basis, with the first payment of $6,600 coming when the company takes occupancy of the South Memorial Drive Building.

The company is committed to immediately hiring 33 low-skill workers and 20 truck drivers for the Racine site. It intends to ramp up to two shifts with a total of 88 workers over the next year and a half.

While the low-skill jobs may not pay great, O'Connell said, they're needed in Racine. The city has a large unskilled workforce that could use jobs that don't require degrees or advanced training.

"There are a lot of people without skills who need money," O'Connell said.

The meeting started with O'Connell taking some heat from the committee for providing a written review of the agreement on Monday, the same day as the meeting.

"Is there any way this committee can be better informed?" Alderman Q.A. Shakoor II asked O'Connell.

O'Connell said he didn't have an excuse. "It's the simple press of business," O'Connell responded to Shakoor. "I don't have a better reason."

Shields wanted to defer action on the proposal until the committee's Dec. 21 meeting, which may get canceled because it's the week of Christmas. That would push off a City Council vote to Jan. 5.

Instead, the committee voted to pass the proposal with the understanding O'Connell would bring more information to the City Council meeting on Dec. 15.

This was the second city committee to take up the proposal. The Redevelopment Authority approved the developer's agreement last week.

Keary Ecklund, head of American Tire and Recycling, did not attend either meeting, leaving O'Connell to present the agreement and answer questions.

Finance committee stalls $19K study on two-way streets

The Finance and Personnel Committee meets July 21.

Mayor Gary Becker seems to get most of what he wants from city government. But when it comes to one-way vs. two-way streets, his political reach isn't quite long enough.

The city's Personnel and Finance Committee took a step worse than rejecting the mayor's request to study making MLK Drive and Marquette Drive two-way streets off of State Street. The committee voted to table the request, more effectively killing it than actually killing it.

By refusing to take an up-or-down vote on the $19,000 request to study the streets, the committee simply held the proposal. That means it can't advance to the City Council (the proposal had passed another committee) for at least another month.

Director of Public Works Rick Jones told the committee a decision was needed soon so any changes to the streets could be worked into the state's plans to rebuild State Street. The committee was unswayed.

Alderman Michael Shields was the most vocal critic. He said the $19K seemed like a waste of money on two streets that seem to be working fine. City resident George Meyers agreed, telling the committee it should leave the streets alone.

The committee itself was stuck because it had to come up with the $19K. There seem to be no obvious places to take the money from.

Committee Chairman Tom Friedel explained that tabling the proposal would bury the request, which first came before the group in March. The Traffic Commission deferred the proposal twice before approving it in June. The Public Works and Services Committee approved the $19K in May.

Shields said the committee should hold onto the proposal because he didn't trust the full council. "They might just rubber stamp it because it's something the mayor wants to do," he said.

The committee voted on unanimous voice vote to table the motion.

The proposal will next come up at a neighborhood meeting the mayor is holding on July 30 at the MLK Center. Becker will ask residents at the meeting about converting the streets into two-way traffic.

Committee votes to cut fees for Kiwanis baseball

The city's Personnel and Finance Committee voted this week to cut the fees the city charges Kiwanis baseball to use Horlick Field. The league would be charged $36 per game, or $55 if the lights are needed. Both are down from the standard fee of $176 to use the field.

Ald. Sandy Weidner and Ald. Ron Hart appeared before the committee on behalf of Kiwanis. They said there should be no charge for youth to play baseball in Racine. They argued the $176 fee would drive people away from Horlick Field, and even Racine.

The reduced fee now goes to the full City Council for final approval.

City moves to eliminate treasurer, give job to city clerk

City Clerk Janice Johnson-Martin may be getting a new title - and a bump in pay.

At a Finance Commitee meeting this week, Finance Director David Brown proposed merging the city's clerk and treasurer positions into a single position. Under the proposal, Johnson-Martin would become City Clerk/Treasury Manager and a new position, assistant city clerk/treasury manager would be created.

Johnson-Martin's pay level would be bumped from NR14 to NR15 (NR stands for non-represented) in recognition of the additional work she'll be taking on. That amounts to about a $2 per hour raise, Brown said. The new assistant position would replace the treasurer and be knocked down from NR12 to NR11. Because the treasurer position is being eliminated, the change should save the city money, Brown said.

The Finance Committee unanimously approved the change, which goes to the full council for final approval.

Johnson-Martin is the second-highest ranked minority in city government behind Donnie Snow, who heads the parks, recreation and cultural services department.

State Street business damaged by city contractor

Adam and Jessie Modrow are trying to make a go of their small restaurant at 1949 State St. They didn't get much help from the city last June when a street contractor dug into the ground and cracked the foundation of their building.

Mann Brothers was doing excavating work for the city near the Modrows' shop, a former Dairy Queen, when the incident occurred on June 25, 2007. The shops walls were also damaged by the contractor, according to city officials.

The Modrows filed an $82,500 claim with the city asking for the building to be razed and rebuilt to fix the damage. Mann Brothers has denied responsibility for the accident.

The Finance Committee reluctantly denied the claim Tuesday. Committee members noted the claim was a procedural step for the Modrows to sue Mann Brothers and the city.

"They were told to put the documentation to the city, so the city could lean on Mann Brothers," said Alderman Jim Spangenberg, who was representing the district after Pete Karas resigned from the council last year.

Spangenberg said he met with the Modrows. They said they had received no response from Mann Brothers, and had hired a lawyer, he told the Finance Committee.

"I feel bad for them," he said. "They're really trying hard (to make their business work). The foundation is in bad shape, the walls are in bad shape. They know they did it, but they refuse to do anything about it."

Alderman objects to paying JT to publish legal notices

Alderman David Maack reiterated his disagreement with the city having to pay The Journal Times to publish its legal notices throughout the year.

The JT was the lone bidder on the contract to publish the notices, which include minutes and agendas for city meetings. Maack argues that the city already publishes its minutes online.

But state law requires that the legal notices be published on a printed paper with enough circulation to reach the community, said Tom Friedel, chairman of the committee. Smaller papers, like the Insider News or the Labor Paper, are not eligible to bid on the contract.

The state has petitioned to change the law, but the effort has yet to pass the state Legislature.

Friedel jokingly asked Maack if he would like to introduce the motion to grant the contract to the JT. Maack declined, and then voted against the proposal.

"Alderman Maack would rather have us break the law," said Friedel, who also noted during the meeting that websites like Racine Post are not eligible to be the official site of record for the official announcements.

Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen ruled that counties with populations under 250,000 people (Racine County has about 196,000 people) do not have to declare an official newspaper and can print official proceedings on their website.

Counties do, however, have to print legal notices in a newspaper, Van Hollen ruled.

We're checking on how much the city spent on legal notices in the JT last year. As a starting point, Clark County (population: 33,000; located in central Wisconsin) paid $11,000 last year publishing legal notices.

Police department taking back parking ticket collections

Six years ago, the Racine Police Department handed over its parking ticket collection system to a Milwaukee company. Six years later, the department is taking the system back.

The City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously voted Monday to allow the Police Department to renegotiate its contract with Citation Management.

The company was hired in 2001 to manage Racine’s parking system, and to allow the police department to eliminate three positions. Complaints about the system appeared in recent years.

One problem: the company has nine people answering its “convenience phones” for 170 contractors, Deputy Chief Art Howell told the finance committee.

“‘Convenience phone’ is not a very accurate name,” Howell said.

City officials also got complaints about parking ticket payments being lost and had their own questions about how much money they were getting back from the company.

After reviewing the arrangement, the police department concluded it could take back control of its parking ticket transactions without adding new employees, Howell said.

“We’re operating on less staff through technology,” he said. “We now have a software system in place to enable us to do the same job with less people.”

The department will continue paying Citation Management to use its proprietary software, he added. It will still save at least $100,000 per year by collecting its own parking fine.

Alderman Tom Friedel, chairman of the finance committee, said he supported the change.

“The parts that bother us, you’re getting rid of,” Friedel said. “The parts that were working, you’re keeping.”

The Finance Committee voted to allow the police department to alter its contract with Citation Management. The proposal now moves to the full City Council for final approval.