Lorain council members, administration at odds over budget recommendations

LORAIN — The city administration and two at-large Council members are at odds over plans to help the city weather a mounting fiscal crisis. Late last week, Council members Mary Springowski, D-at large, and Tony Dimacchia, D-at large, released budget recommendations to mitigate financial concerns tied to COVID-19. On Sunday, Bradley thanked Dimacchia and Springowski for their recommendations, stating they were not received at his office until 6:24 p.m. Friday, and was not aware of it until Saturday evening. He wrote the pair were free to schedule an appointment with him. On Monday, Mayor Jack Bradley sent a memo to council, department heads and the media, citing some of the information in Springowski and Dimacchia's original report as "misleading or inaccurate." The council members' recommendations included requiring the auditor to approve overtime and purchases of more than $5,000, create a policy surrounding water shut-offs and revise the budget to reflect a 20 percent reduction in wages. Many of their recommendations were similar to those Dimacchia submitted at the April 20 regular council meeting. His suggestions included some recommendations made by Auditor Karen Shawver on March 19, such as no new capital projects or hires, no salary adjustments and a monthly budget review. Bradley's response referenced a SharedWork Ohio program, which would cut employees' weekly hours by 10 to 50 percent to avoid layoffs and save the city "at least 20 percent" of its salary budget. "I am surprised that neither members of council, Springowski nor Dimacchia, reached out to the Administration regarding the program prior to releasing their budget recommendations," Bradley wrote. "Since the recommendations were also released to the media, it would have been prudent to advise everyone that the Administration was working proactively to reduce expenses while making sure services were being maintained and our city workers kept on the job." Dimacchia and Springowski also questioned if an ordinance was needed to ensure water and sewer fund money was only used for water or sewer costs. Bradley's response said council members "should know" water and sewer funds can only be used for utility-related expenses. In an email chain including members of council and the administration, Council Clerk Nancy Greer noted there is an application process for the shared work program. Bradley's memo went on to note water shutoffs were stopped by the administration before the COVID-19 pandemic, and as part of state-ordered coronavirus guidelines. He added "at least one of you voted to increase the fixed fees for the sewage in 2017 that resulted in over 3,000 citizens of Lorain facing shut offs. Why you did not address the shut off issue in 2018 or 2019 surprises me, since your own action caused the burden on our citizens." Dimacchia was not on council in 2017, Springowski was. In an email response sent to Bradley, council and the media, Springowski wrote Council acts "for the most part" on recommendations from the administration and the information they are given. "In reference to the water and sewer rates, I would also remind you of how willingly you quoted my objection to said water and sewer rates which were made in 2017 in order to support your arguments to lower the rate which was made in an attempt to seek my concurrence and lend credibility and justification on your position to have an outside audit," she wrote. Outside of Monday's email exchanges, Dimacchia said he's had little contact with the administration. "If he's frustrated because I sent those recommendations out, so be it," Dimacchia said. "I have not received one phone call, one text, one email, nothing from Jack Bradley since he was appointed mayor of the city of Lorain. So apparently, he has the support on Council that he needs and he doesn't need my support, but I've had not one conversation with him since he's been mayor of the city of Lorain outside of council meetings." Springowski shared similar concerns Monday evening. She said she wasn't getting a lot of information out of the administration. Comparing it with the budget crisis in 2016, when 23 firefighters faced layoffs, Springowski said there was a plan in place to cut spending but sees little of the same action now. "When the administration does not want to share information with council, then that becomes a problem. We're not a rubber stamp — it's almost like 'here, you can read it after you vote for it,'" she said. "No, we're not doing that. We're asking questions, we are concerned about going forward. This is a very unique situation." Bradley did not return a request for comment Monday. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com