Consultants' Pay Seems High: Elmhurst Aldermen

ELMHURST, IL – A couple of Elmhurst aldermen this week said they thought the costs of two consultants were high. But the mayor defended the spending.

The City Council came close to voting on halving the pay for one of the consultants, but the request was withdrawn.

At issue were consultants Charles Van Slyke and Ken Bartels. Their pay is scattered among different accounts in the city's budget.

Under his contract, Van Slyke, who started in 1988, receives $110 an hour, making up to $99,000 a year. And Bartels, who began in 2009, pulls in $100 an hour, reaching up to $50,000 annually.

They work on issues such as economic development, real estate and museum fundraising.

Alderman Jacob Hill said the contracts seem like a lot and that the city appears to be relying on the consultants into perpetuity.

"This is something where I would see value in bringing this in-house or expanding someone's duties," Hill said.

Alderman Michael Bram also questioned the costs. He said the city's administration has progressed and taken on responsibilities that the consultants previously handled.

He also said he has seen redundancy in what the consultants and employees do.

Recently, Bram said, the city gave him the consultants' invoices. He said examples of the invoices' listings included "ED Item .25 hours" and "ED Team 1.5 hours," with the acronym standing for economic development.

"It explains nothing about what this particular consultant is doing," Bram said. "I'm not saying get rid of either of them as I sit here tonight. But I do question the dollars that are spent every year."

City Manager Jim Grabowski said the consultants are affordable because they get no salary and benefits. They only work when called upon, he said.

"We find it much more economical to hire the consultants rather than have one person handle all this," Grabowski said.

Mayor Scott Levin said the consultants have been caught in the "crosshairs" of aldermen before.

"You think this is a lot of money. I don't think this is a lot of money," the mayor said. "What we have in these individuals are people with deep experience who bring their expertise at a very reasonable rate to the city."

Aldermen Noel Talluto, Jennifer Veremis and Mike Brennan agreed.

Bram proposed the council vote on cutting Bartels' pay in half.

But others asked whether that would apply to the museum fundraising part of Bartels' contract. Bram supports that function, which the museum's foundation pays for.

After complications emerged, Bram withdrew his proposal.