OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST
Janitors, school settle contract
The contentious debate over outsourcing jobs has ended in Oak Park-River Forest High School District 200 with the school system and buildings and grounds personnel agreeing to a four-year contract.
Members of Service Employees International Union Local 73 overwhelmingly ratified the contract on April 22, and the school board unanimously approved it on Thursday.
Employees will get raises of 1.5 percent each of the last three years of the contract. Unit members receiving the highest ratings on personnel evaluation will get a merit raise from a $10,000 pool that will be set up for each of the last two years of the contract. Criteria will be drawn up during the coming months by representatives from both sides, union and district officials said.
In addition, unit members in July will get a “bridge” check equal to one week’s wages while the timekeeping system is exchanged for one that will be more efficient than one currently being used by the district, District 200 Supt. Attila Weninger said.
The agreement will expire on June 30, 2012.
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This was the second tentative agreement reached in a month. The first was reached on March 26 and prompted the school board the next night to table discussions on contracting out the work done by custodians and maintenance staff.
The union narrowly rejected that agreement, but the school board asked the administration to continue bargaining. A flurry of telephone calls and e-mails from both sides over the previous weekend led to the tentative agreement April 21, union and district officials said.
This was the second time that the district had begun examining outsourcing as a way to contain costs. Comments about outsourcing were passionate during school board meetings as members of the community sought to preserve jobs. Custodial salaries and benefits cost the district $1.9 million last year, district officials said.
— Deborah Kadin
NAPERVILLE
Metra stations get more bike parking
Naperville officials have announced plans to build bicycle shelters at both of the city’s Metra stations in response to commuter requests for additional bicycle parking.
Construction of the new bicycle shelter at the downtown station is scheduled to begin the week of April 27 and be completed in late June. The shelter, which will be located on the east side of the north platform, will add about 52 new bicycle spaces to the existing 155 spaces, officials said.
The Route 59 Metra station will also receive a new bicycle shelter this summer, adding about 46 spaces to the existing 67 spaces, officials said. Construction of that shelter is scheduled to begin in late May and be completed by late July.
Many commuters have turned to bicycles as the struggle over Metra parking has become a growing problem in Naperville and other suburbs. Based on a 2008 commuter survey, covered bicycle parking spaces are most preferred by commuters, officials said.
But some commuter parking spaces may be unavailable at both Metra stations during construction, officials said. The bicycle shelters are being partially funded though a West Suburban Mass Transit District grant .
— Greg Canfield
KANE COUNTY
Employee buyouts may ease budget
Kane County will consider creating an employee buyout program to help deal with a budget crunch, County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said.
An ad hoc committee will put together a voluntary program to reduce the number of county employees, but McConnaughay warned that the program did not preclude the need to make further cuts to the county 2009 budget.
Kane elected officials have been scrambling to meet a county mandate to reduce expenditures by 5.5 percent. At a meeting of the executive and finance committees, several elected officials and department heads said those cuts could not be achieved without layoffs.
“We don’t have a lot of wiggle room. It’s just not there,” Circuit Court Clerk Deb Seyller said.
Chief Judge F. Keith Brown said he was worried about the impact on the probation department, and Public Defender David Kliment said he would have to lay off six of his 31 staff attorneys to meet the county mandate.
Sheriff Pat Perez, who has been asked to cut his budget by $1.3 million, sounded a similar theme. He outlined a list of money saving changes his department had implemented, but conceded they were not likely to meet the target.
“I can cut the budget two-thirds by eliminating the second and third shifts, but I think anarchy would rule,” Perez said.
“We’re telling you this is the money we have to give,” Gerald Jones said. “Don’t come to us and say you’re not giving us enough money. We don’t have the money to give.”
— Clifford Ward
DOWNERS GROVE
Village names its 2nd local landmark
A 126-year-old Downers Grove home that once belonged to the man who brought talking films to the Chicago area is being placed on a list of local village landmarks. The Downers Grove Village Council unanimously approved a resolution at the April 24 meeting that conferred local landmark status for 4943 Highland Ave., the former home of Tivoli Theater founder Gustav Bunge. Now a private residence, the building was home to Bunge from 1891 to 1927. Bunge died in the early 1940s.
“The Tivoli is an important part of our village’s history. It was one of the first places in the United States to show motion pictures with sound,” said Jeff O’Brien, senior planning administrator for the village. “Bunge had significant influence on Downers Grove and our development.”
Built in 1883, the Victorian home was initially located on the site where the Tivoli now stands. During the late 1920s, shortly before the Tivoli opened, the house was moved to its current location three blocks away.
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The home is the second structure in the village to be tagged as a local landmark. In 2008, the village conferred landmark status on the Drew House, the former home to Downers Grove Oratorio Society founder Donald Drew.
O’Brien said the village is also eyeing the Blodgett House as a local landmark. The Blodgett House was originally owned by abolitionists Israel and Avis Blodgett, who opened their home to slaves headed to Chicago through the Underground Railroad.
— Matthew Rogina
GENEVA
Aldermen approve tightened spending
Geneva aldermen have approved a budget of $66,693,536 for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
The budget is less than either of the previous two years’ budgets. City Administrator Mary McKittrick explained that city department heads scrutinized operational costs to reduce expenses while maintaining quality services to residents.
In light of shortfalls in revenue that include 15 percent lower sales tax revenues, the budget was balanced by expenditure reductions and use of reserves. Core city services for residents and business were retained.
No change is anticipated in resident tax bills, officials said.
Cost-saving measures include deferral of filling four open city positions, a hiring freeze, reduction in non-emergency overtime, elimination of education reimbursement, elimination of the annual city employee appreciation dinner, deferral of equipment purchases including a firetruck, and reduction of the number of replacement ash trees lost to the emerald ash borer infestation.
— Barbara Kois