City Council unanimously passes the buck to Boulanger

Date: 7/7/2009

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor



WESTFIELD -- The fiscal year 2010 (FY10) budget process has left a bad taste in the mouths of several City Councilors.

The council voted unanimously to take no action on Mayor Michael Boulanger's FY10 budget during an emergency meeting on June 30. The session followed the previous evening's majority vote against Boulanger's approximately $115 million budget -- Councilors Mary O'Connell and David Bannish voted in favor of the budget on June 29.

By taking no action, cuts proposed by the Council's Finance Committee were thrown out and Boulanger's FY10 budget stands in its entirety.

"Unless a bucket of money falls out of the sky, the city will be in trouble [later this fiscal year]," City Councilor John Liptak, chair of the Finance Committee, told Reminder Publications.

He added that the city will incur substantial shortfalls come spring including funding for snow and ice removal, totaling approximately $600,000.

"I won't be here to deal with it come spring," Liptak said, adding that he will not seek re-election. "[Re-election is] not worth what I went through [during this budget process]. [Other councilors] will follow you one minute and throw you under the bus the next."

Boulanger explained that the FY10 budget process was challenging because of inconstitent local aid figures from Beacon Hill. He said the goal was to "minimize the loss of jobs," adding that he believes the city was successful.

"At the 11th hour we were able to save all police [department] jobs and [positions in the] fire [department]," Boulanger noted. "The schools unfortunately took a bit of a hit."

He noted that 12 jobs were reinstated and 21 positions terminated in the School Department.

Shirley Alvira, superintendent of Westfield Public Schools, called the budget process "a very sad situation," noting that positions had to be cut. Original estimates terminated 59 jobs within the department.

Boulanger's budget funded the department with $51.4 million.

City Councilor Richard Onofrey Jr., a member of the Finance Committee, called Boulanger's FY10 budget one "designed to protect [people's] income." He added that he's not convinced that proper measures were taken to renegotiate union contracts to help offset the financial burden.

"I voted for the mayor's budget because although it wasn't perfect, I was elected to represent my constituents and to perform certain responsibilities including overseeing the city's budget," O'Connell explained of her June 29 vote.

"To do nothing now is to defer our responsibility and blame the mayor and city employees," she said. "The budget is lean and will have to be carefully managed . To grandstand about fat in a thin budget demoralizes employees who are struggling like the rest of the nation and to point fingers is irresponsible. That's what's happening and it has to stop now so Westfield can move forward."

O'Connell added that she's "extremely worried" about the projected shortfalls within the FY10 budget. "I don't see a happy ending [to this new fiscal year]," she said.

O'Connell noted that she will seek re-election and has filed her papers with the City Clerk's Office.

Boulanger also proposed numerous cuts to many departments' supply, travel and part-time employee budgets.

He said looking back on this tumultuous budget process, he would have done at least one thing differently. "I would [meet] with Finance [Committee] chair and review [the budget] with him first before presenting it to the whole council. That's definintely what I will do if I'm there [in the mayor's office] next year," he said.

Boulanger added that he will seek re-election this fall.