The Chicago Park District, which has already slashed nearly 1,000 employees from its work force in the past 13 months, is exploring further workforce reductions through privatization of its harbors, equipment repair operation, garbage collection and landscape management.
As many as 306 full- and 67 part-time park jobs, including management and operation of the largest harbor system on the Great Lakes, could end up in the private sector.
Park District officials declined Tuesday to discuss the details of their privatization plans, saying any comment would be premature. The district has published a request for proposals to privatize a variety of its functions-including management of the Petrillo band shell-and set a Nov. 1 deadline for bids.
Park District Supt. Forrest Claypool, who met with employees and union officials Tuesday, characterized the latest interest in privatization as “testing the market.”
“We have to find out if we can get better service at lower cost,” said Claypool.
Claypool said that district employees would be given “the first shot” at jobs with any private sector company that assumes Park District duties.
Since Claypool took office in July 1993, the number of district employees has dropped from approximately 4,000 to just more than 3,000, according to officials. In the past five years, the district has relinquished several areas to private businesses, including its parking lots, the operation of Soldier Field as well as its golf courses.
Claypool defended privatization as a means of allowing the Park District to return to its “core mission.”
“We want to focus on what we’re supposed to do, which is recreation,” said Claypool.
But the possibility of further privatization-and job losses-at the Park District has union officials threatening legal action.
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Cathy Nicosia, vice president of Local 46 of Service Employees International, which represents two-thirds of the district’s employees, said her union would attempt to block further job losses with court action.
Nicosia said the district has not been able to demonstrate that its privatization efforts have resulted in significant savings.
She charged that privatization was causing “irreparable harm” to workers, particularly older employees who may experience difficulty finding work.
“If you lay these people off and (the layoff) goes past a year, we can’t get them back to work,” said Nicosia. “It’s devastating.”
Nicosia said 300 district employees in Local 46 have lost their jobs due to privatization over the past year. She said another 400 could lose their jobs if the current plans are fully realized.
Park District officials defend privatization as a good deal for the district and the taxpayer. According to district figures, privatizing golf courses resulted in a net income increase of $657,315 from 1992 to 1993. Also, 46 former employees were also hired by the private contractor, according to district officials.
While the details are far from being decided, the district’s foray into privatization could transform the way it does business in a number of key areas.
The Park District is exploring whether outside firms could provide refuse collection for all of its regions-except the lakefront-and repair its truck and auto fleet more cheaply and efficiently than in-house workers.
The garbage collection operation has 51 employees, and the truck and auto maintenance garages employ 71.
Asked whether outside firms bids.”
Privatizing segments of the park district’s landscape department and its harbors represents a more complicated challenge.
With 7,200 acres and a wide variety of plants, maintaining the park district’s varied landscape requires more effort than simply cutting the grass, officials acknowledge. could provide those services at a
The district’s harbors, which boats, have been the source of lower cost, Claypool said: “You have space for nearly 5,000 controversy in the past.don’t know until you solicit the
A former Park District marine director pleaded guilty in 1988 to extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from boat owners in exchange for mooring assignments.
More recently, complaints about upkeep and maintenance as well as increased competition have resulted in a decline in popularity of the harbors.
Thomas Cassidy, chairman of the Belmont Harbor Advisory Council, said he’s in favor of privatization “as long as we get services commensurate with what we are paying,” said Cassidy, who pays $650 a season to dock his 30-foot sailboat. “While the rates are cheaper in Chicago, we’re not getting much in terms of services.”
Specifically, Cassidy complained of “poor” electrical services at the marina and the non-existence of decent bathrooms or showers.