University City Councilmember Feels Proposed City Budget Sends Wrong Message

Councilmember Byron Price wants the city council to allocate more money to help senior citizens and young people in University City.

"We need to help as many folks as we can," he told University City Patch. The Fiscal Year 2011-2012 City Budget is slated to be recommended for approval at Monday night's City Council meeting.

Price takes issue with several staff recommendations for the final budget. One item would add $100,000 for public communications and marketing. The other calls for $30,000 to replace the microphone system in the city council chambers.

"I would not spend that much and not help our youth and seniors," he said of the funding being recommended for public relations and microphones. Price added, "You see a tangible benefit when you give a young person a job."

"Non-tangible items are not more important than the people we serve," Price said. 

He also expressed disappointment that the budget only recommends $80,000 for the Youth Employment Program and $80,000 for Home Rehabilitation Loans. He'd like to see more money added to those two programs.

"These are two big items that can help the residents directly," he said. Price said spending so much on PR and microphones doesn't sit well with him. Instead, he'd like to see the $30,000 for new mics spent on the Youth Employment Program. "It's a better expenditure of city money," he said.  "We know where it's (the money) going."

"That money we are using for the microphones should be used to further enhance those programs, he said referring to the Youth Employment and Home Rehabilitation Loan programs. A lot of senior citizens who need to make repairs on their homes utilize the loan program.

Price said the waiting list for loans is 50 deep, so $80,000 is not going to go very far.

University City City Manager Lehman Walker defended the City's decision to allocate $100,000 for marketing and communications.

"Marketing our community is essential. We need to market our city facilities, such as Centennial Commons, more effectively," Walker told University City Patch. He said a significant portion of the $100,000 will go toward marketing U City's recreational facilities and communicating more effectively with residents.

"There is considerable value in that," said Walker.

He said U City used to have a Public Relations department but it was eliminated a few years ago. "I think it's important that we have a marketing function in the city," he said.

University City Mayor Shelley Welsch tells University City Patch that without an official PR function, "the City has become totally reactive and not proactive in putting information out about the City."

She said the City needs to have a fully-functioning PR/Marketing effort, "to make sure that the profile of University City is heightened in a positive manner."

She added, "It is short-sighted to think that this City can thrive, in competition with communities around this region and the country, if it does not do a better job with public relations and marketing. Our community has been damaged by our unwillingness to focus on this effort."

She noted that the City paid more than $100,000 in salary and benefits when it had a public relations department.

"We will get far more value from contracting a firm for this services than when we had a one-person department.  It makes sense to spend our City funds in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. This is the best way to handle this."   

As for allocating more money for youth employment and home loans, Walker said the city administration recognizes the importance of supporting both the youth and seniors. He said most youth employment programs are funded by the state and federal government and he sees the $80,000 as seed money for University City to access other funding resources.

Councilmember Stephen Kraft tells University City Patch that with a $26 million dollar budget, it is inevitable that each Councilmember will have specific items of concern.  He adds, that Price's suggestion that the City is under-funding the youth is hard for him to fathom.

"The  taxpayers of University City recently passed a $54 million school bond issue, annual school tax support is $32 million and the City already spends $132,000 annually to employ 68 teenagers," said Kraft.

Meantime, Walker said the microphone purchase is a necessary expenditure. He said the City regularly receives complaints from people who have difficulty hearing the proceedings. "We're trying to correct a problem in response to complaints that we've received," said Walker.

Councilmember Terry Crow sides with Councilmember Price in opposing the $30,000 for microphones. He said spending that much money  when the City has let employees go is hypocritical. He too takes issue with the $100,000 that City wants to allot for PR. Crow said he'd like to see that money go toward economic development instead.

Councilmember Price also has strong objections to the budget recommendation that would limit the hours of operation of the Heman Community Center starting in January 2012. Currently, the facility is used only by senior citizens during the week.

University City staff wants the senior program transferred from the Heman Community Center to Centennial Commons, thereby closing down the community center during the week, and renting it out only on weekends. The move is estimated to save the city $40,000  a year.

"I just don't get it," Price said of the city's plans.

Price said the city hasn't taken a good look at why the community center has been underutilized. His understanding is that fees to use it are too high, so people go elsewhere.

Walker said the majority of seniors who've been asked about relocating welcome the opportunity to move to Centennial Commons because it's newer and nicer.

"Heman Community Center has problems with heating and cooling that we do not have at Centennial Commons," Walker said

Also, he said Centennial Commons offers more recreational opportunities like a walking track and exercise equipment.

Mayor Welsh said any suggestion that the City does not care about or provide for its youth is incorrect.

"The City Council is being asked to put $80,000 in a youth employment program.  This is in addition to the more than $150,000 we spend to pay for youth who are already on the City payroll," she said.

"Everything in this budget helps the residents of our community in some manner." said Welsch. Her goal is for the city council to start looking at the future needs of the community in a long-term strategic fashion.

"Previous Councils, during the past four years of deficit spending, have looked at our needs one year at a time.  We have been harmed by that short-sighted approach.  This Council will, I hope, look at the long – term, and start spending our funds in a strategic fashion."

She points out that not only is the budget balanced, but it has a surplus.