Oct 27, 2009 By Steve Ferris 6 min read

(The following is the first of a three-part series concerning the race for two four-year terms on Uniontown City Council and a special election for a two-year seat on council.) Uniontown’s financial struggles were the focal point of a recent debate among four candidates for two four-year terms on City Council in the Nov. 3 election.

Democratic candidates incumbent Francis “Joby” Palumbo III and Gary Gearing, and Republican candidates Curtis Sproul, an incumbent, and Russ Rhodes participated in the debate held by the Herald-Standard editorial board.

A lot of the discussion centered on a recent report from Mayor Ed Fike who said at least 25 employee layoffs are needed for the city to avoid ending the year with a $220,700 deficit.

Three key issues facing the city are finances, economic development and the lack of openness and transparency in city government, Gearing said.

A lack of budgetary oversight and planning caused the city’s current financial problems, he said, alleging that $250,000 was spent on unbudgeted expenses this year. The city might not have a $220,000 deficit if it weren’t for those unbudgeted expenses, Gearing said.

Despite a real estate tax increase and employee layoffs this year, the city has a reported deficit of more than $220,000 and more layoffs and another property tax increase are possible, Gearing said.

A budgeted $250,000 payment toward $1.3 million that was borrowed from the sewer fund could be delayed to reduce spending, he said.

Gearing said he has studied city financial reports and determined that more efficiency is needed in every department.

Furloughing employees is not a good idea because it produces little savings, he said.

The current administration is not informing residents about how tax money is being spent and the city should have a Web site where financial reports can be posted and made available to residents, he said.

Completion of the Mon/Fayette Expressway and Marcellus shale gas well drilling will spur development in the area and an economic development plan is needed to enable the city to attract that development, Gearing said.

Palumbo, who was appointed last year, said his goal is to continue revitalizing the city’s parks and playgrounds, and improving recreation programs such as baseball.

He said he wants the parks to be hubs of activities for children like they were when he was growing up.

The financial problems the city is facing this year are not as severe as the crisis the city inherited from the previous administration last year, Palumbo said.

Palumbo said he doesn’t want to lay off any employees to offset a $220,000 deficit this year, but the budget crisis is forcing council to make staff cuts.

The deficit might be greater than $220,000. He said the city would still have deficit of about $100,000, even after the layoffs are enacted.

“I’m sure of it,” Palumbo said.

He said he would not support raising taxes.

Financial reports should be posted on a city Web site. However, those reports are available to the public at City Hall, he said.

Rhodes said the city’s tax base is shrinking and marketing is needed to attract businesses and homeowners to town, and the expressway will create opportunities for development.

Maintaining affordable housing and adequate police and fire protection are important for attracting businesses and homeowners, he said.

The city needs strategic planning to avoid falling to a financial crisis every year, Rhodes said.

He said he would rather look for ways to reduce expenses rather than lay off employees to eliminate the reported $220,000 deficit.

He questioned the impacts of the layoffs council enacted earlier this year.

“Why hasn’t that translated into more savings now?” Rhodes asked.

Sproul, who was appointed this year, said council is using proceeds of a tax lien sale to pay off a tax anticipation loan of nearly $700,000, which the previous administration borrowed.

Enforcement of the new blight ordinance has begun and about 23 violations were reported during the first inspection, which encompassed all the properties on Coolspring Street.

To generate some revenue, Sproul said the city could sell naming rights to its parks and playgrounds.

He said he learned that a federal “Safer” grant for retaining firefighters is available this year and he wants to look into regionalizing fire protection services.

Sproul said he is firmly opposed to raising taxes.

He said he would support eliminating two employee positions in City Hall to reduce expenses. Auditors recently told city officials that those positions were redundant, he said.

Negotiating early retirement agreements with employee unions is the best way to reduce the payroll expenses because the city doesn’t pay unemployment compensation to retirees, he said.

Sproul said he has a master’s degree in business administration and works as an instructor for Westmoreland County Community College and University of Phoenix.

Regarding the number of full-time firefighters, Rhodes said he doesn’t know if 13, the current complement, or 10 are needed.

Grant money would be needed to keep 13 on the job, but he said he would rather offer firefighters early retirement incentives than lay them off.

Sproul said he supports maintaining a 13-man fire department.

The “Safer” grant would provide funding for four years, but he would support offering early retirement incentives if the city does not receive a grant.

Gearing said some firefighters are likely to retire in the next three years and the community’s future needs have to be examined to determine whether the retirees should be replaced or the department should operate with less manpower.

The fire department gives the city an “asset like no other,” Gearing said.

The department assures fast responses to fires at any time of the day and that fast response time stops fires from spreading to neighboring structures, he said.

However, the department’s budget has been reduced by several hundred thousand dollars over the last three years, Gearing said.

He said the department did not cause the city’s financial problems and it should not become a scapegoat.

Palumbo said maintaining a 13-man department is the best way to provide quick responses to fires and ensure the safety of firefighters, but there is no funding for three of the firemen in this year’s budget.

Some retirements are possible in the next few years, but that doesn’t address the current budget situation, he said.

Applying for the Safer grant would be a good idea and, Palumbo said, he is looking into a grant that would come from federal stimulus money.

On another subject, all the candidates said they would support hiring a city manager and seeking non-binding financial recommendations from state consultants.

They said the manager’s salary would have to come from spending reductions.

(In the next part, the candidates discuss abolishing the sanitation department and the city’s newly revised ordinance concerning rental properties and blight.)