City of Evanston Blog
City Property Discussion Monday
The City Council will be discussing Monday night options for alternate property uses / alternate provision of services at three City owned properties: Chandler Newberger Community Center, Noyes Cultural Arts Center and the Harley Clarke Mansion (the current home of the Evanston Arts Center). The full staff report on the subject can be found here (PDF).
This will be a first conversation on the subject with the City Council as part of the City's larger discussions on the proposed FY 2012 budget for the year beginning January 1, 2012. In Evanston, we love to discuss and consider issues, so this is an early discussion of a subject in advance of what would be a regular October-November time period for budget discussions.
So why talk about these issues now, if at all?? Many in the community are upset that these issues are even being considered to be discussed. Still others feel that decisions are already made and the meeting Monday night is to approve closure of these three facilities. I have decided to bring these issues to the City Council because it is my job to present a proposed budget in October that reflects the community standards and is balanced with revenues matching expenditures. It has been increasing difficult to do this when our expenses keep growing and revenues do not. There is not a great interest in raising taxes and fees, so how do we get to a balanced budget? The City is looking at a $3.5 million budget gap for FY 2012 and continues to address ways to stem our growing general obligation debt.
Presenting options to the City Council for consideration is one way to do this. Looking at our various properties and considering if it makes sense to do something different with them can help deal with current operating budget issues and perhaps even more important, address capital improvement and maintenance issues that the City currently does not have available funds to support.
Looking at City property is only one facet of the ongoing dialogue to develop a budget that reflects community standards and balances revenues and expenditures. The City reached out to the community for budget ideas in May through our "Engage Evanston" program. Staff has been investigating these ideas since and will be coming back to the City Council on August 8 with our findings. These findings will address changes/reductions to the delivery of services citywide and address cost savings as well as impacts of these changes. Another series of community engagement activities will occur in late August through September leading to the regular budget hearing and approval process in October-November.
The budget discussions for FY 2012 are already difficult and I believe will get even harder as the weeks continue. I encourage everyone in the community to stay engaged not only for review of any small piece of the puzzle, but help in crafting solutions that form the entire picture for City services in the future.
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3 Comments
Given the current revenue shortfall, there's no doubt we as a community are going to have to make painful cuts in what Evanston offers its citizens, so the debate revolves around which ones least diminish our quality of life. I firml;y believe that Chandler-Newberger should be preserved: it serves a multitude of people, it hosts a great summer camp (note that my camper is inside today due to the weather), and the city has few other indoor athletic facilities to fall back on during winter months and when summer weather turns bad. I believe Chandler-Neuberger is more important to us in the long run than a host of other things we're spending money on: 4th of July celebrations, real estate on Howard, and so on.
July 11, 2011 10:32 AM
The real question is one of process. Looking at each line item on an individual basis makes no sense. The budget needs to be looked at overall and rank order the spend and evaluate the revenue. Commenting on any one item without the broader view is no way to make a decision.
July 14, 2011 9:45 AM
You should reexamine the cost effectiveness of the 311 system and ask yourselves if it was really worth the expense that could instead be used to IMPROVE the facilities you are considering closing. Do you want to help keep kids off the streets and out of trouble? If so, don't consider closing the Chandler Newberger Center; consider how it can be better utilized to achieve this goal. My son and many other children in the community have benefited tremendously from the summer Sports Camp program run by the center and its dedicated staff. We need to realign our priorities as we move forward to ensure that many future generations have the same if not better opportunities to improve socially as individuals growing toward adulthood. I fully support Families for Chandler Newberger and cannot attend the meeting on July 11 as my son will be playing a travel baseball game. My son who has moderate special needs and has developed his confidence and social awareness in large part due to the summer camp he has attended at Chandler Newberger for the past five years. My son who has a goal to be a CIT (Counselor In Training) as soon as he is old enough.
July 10, 2011 10:27 PM