A VIRTUAL Dire Straights Dead Ahead

Pontiac schools to ask for 10 percent pay cut


Of The Oakland Press
ÊÊÊÊPONTIAC - School administrators hope to chop a daunting budget shortfall in half by asking all school employees to accept a 10 percent pay cut. ÊÊÊ

ÊOther proposals being offered to narrow the gap include closing three school buildings, eliminating more than 100 support staff positions and cutting athletic program spending by half.

ÊÊÊÊ"We certainly have some very serious challenges before us," said Terry Pruitt, the district's assistant superintendent for business services.

ÊÊÊÊAnswering speculation that the district's budget shortfall for the 2005-06 school year was as high as $24.9 million, administrators presented the Pontiac Board of Education with detailed information Tuesday identifying an $18.1 million problem.

ÊÊÊÊTo date, the district has implemented $4.6 million in cuts that range from administrative and teacher position reductions to food, transportation and supply cost reductions. To avoid slipping into the red, however, board members will need to fi nd $13.5 million in additional cuts by June 30, 2006.

ÊÊÊÊ"As we speak, we are not in the red. We are forecasting a deficit if we do nothing," said Superintendent Mildred Mason. "The truth is that we're spending more than we should in terms of the number of students we're serving."

ÊÊÊÊIn fact, a recent annual audit of district spending found that during the 2004-05 school year, spending was $5.1 million more than anticipated. The same amount is part of cuts needed in the current school year.

ÊÊÊÊBecause 80 percent to 85 percent of district spending is on employee salaries and benefits, administrators said a considerable portion of spending cuts would have to come from staff. Mason and other administrators looked to lead by example Tuesday by pledging to accept a 10 percent pay reduction and a freeze on salary and benefits in the 2006-07 school year.

ÊÊÊÊWinning a 10 percent pay reduction from all district employees would result in roughly $6 million in savings.

ÊÊÊÊOfficials have looked to win concessions from district support staff since late June, but those efforts have been stalled by communication problems.

ÊÊÊÊOn Tuesday, Board President Richard Seay directed Mason to arrange meetings with union presidents as soon as possible to discuss the district's fi nancial situation in detail and begin negotiating a solution.

ÊÊÊÊ"I'm tired of sitting at this board table and seeing everybody pointing fi ngers and saying, 'Noboby called me,' " he said.

ÊÊÊÊTanya Muse, representative of the Pontiac Education Association, told board members that three weeks after requesting it, she still has not received information detailing how the district fell into its fi nancial predicament. Following Tuesday's meeting, she said she could not comment on the 10 percent pay cut plan until that information is provided.

ÊÊÊÊDistrict officials agree the most daunting problem leading to district budget woes has been a rapidly declining student population. Administrators had predicted a loss of 372 students this year, but that figure has been updated to 712 students.

ÊÊÊÊAs a result, building closures appear imminent. On Tuesday, plans for the merging of Washington and Jefferson middle schools, Purdue and Longfellow elementaries and Crofoot and Franklin elementaries were introduced. It is unclear which buildings will be closed.

ÊÊÊÊAdministrators plan to bring these plans, as well as the pay cut, support staff reduction and other cost-cutting measures, before the board's finance and personnel committees over the coming days. The plan could be back before the board for action as soon as Sept. 26.

ÊÊÊÊMason said prompt action is necessary not only to avoid worsening the fi nancial challenges, but also to get the district's attention back in the classroom.

ÊÊÊÊ"We need to take care of this so that all of us can refocus on educating our children," she said. "We're still held accountable for student achievement despite all the other challenges we face."

A VIRTUAL Finish for November

Pontiac's mayor survives primary

Clarence Phillips is top candidate with 1,401 votes
Of The Oakland Press

ÊÊÊÊPONTIAC - State Rep. Clarence Phillips and Mayor Willie Payne came out on top over eight challengers in Tuesday's mayoral primary for a place on the ballot Nov. 8, when voters will choose one for a four-year term in the top city office.

ÊÊÊÊPhillips led in the voting, taking 1,401 votes compared with Payne's 1,196 with all precincts and absentee ballots counted by 10 p.m. Former Deputy Mayor Leon Jukowski came in third with 1,035 votes, and Councilman Charlie J. Harrison III won 909 votes. Vote totals were unoffi cial.

ÊÊÊÊVoter turnout appeared to be unusually low at about 7,913 citywide, with 6,313 at the precincts plus 1,600 in absentee ballots, a fact that surprised some political activists who thought the controversy over the city's financial problems and the high number of candidates - 10 - would bring a larger turnout than the last primary. This left a large number of candidates dividing up a small number of votes. The last primary in 2001 brought out 10,067 of 44,000 registered voters, said Deputy City Clerk Yvette Talley.

ÊÊÊÊBetween now and Nov. 8, Payne and Phillips will each fight to prove who is most worthy of the top elected offi ce.

ÊÊÊÊPhillips, who continued working in the state Legislature throughout his campaign, said he was not surprised at the voters' decision.

ÊÊÊÊ"I felt with the grass-roots campaign we put together and the way were down to people to people, door to door, street to street, it proved to be an effective way to let people know we were serious in gaining their support to work for a better community. We didn't have a lot of money, but a lot of heart and a lot of conviction," said Phillips, who previously served on the City Council.

ÊÊÊÊ"We've got some serious problems that need to be resolved," he said, noting he thinks his knowledge of state politics will help the city. "I'll work 24/7 to get this city back on track. We want to make it a good place to work and play for every child and adult."

ÊÊÊÊAlthough Payne came in second, he said: "I feel that people have shown their confidence in me as a leader. Considering the adversities and financial challenges that engulfed this city, they still believe in us. I am still the mayor until the election and I feel confident that folks will keep this administration intact."

ÊÊÊÊJukowski stayed at City Hall until the fi nal results were in.

ÊÊÊÊ"I'm disappointed. I gave it my best shot. I don't think anyone can say they've outcampaigned me," he said.

ÊÊÊÊTotals for other strong candidates were 852 for former police chief Larry Miracle and 716 for Dell Community Center director William Martinez. Systems administrator Brian James Kelly garnered 161 votes; Damon Ferguson, a pharmacy technician, took 19; National Guardsman and student Ben Shattuck Sr. had 13; George Fettig, an advocate for the mentally ill, won 3; and writein candidates had 8. ÊÊ

ÊÊSix - Payne, Harrison, Miracle, Jukowski, Phillips and Martinez - had an advantage over the others in experience and name recognition.

ÊÊÊÊCritics said Payne let the city get into a defi cit situation and acted too late to keep it from growing to $34 million. Each challenger contended there should be a change, and that he was the one that could do it.

ÊÊÊÊHowever, Payne countered that he has faced the fi nancial problems head-on after discovering them during his administration and is now gaining control over the city's finances. He has said many of the financial problems started years ago.

ÊÊÊÊIn Council District 7, Council President Everett Seay, with about 52 percent of the votes, easily won a place on the November ballot along with Kermit Williams, an account marketing executive. Seay took 495, Williams, 241; and Malkia Maisha, a housing commissioner, 129. Betty Lewis-Rand, who had dropped out of the race, took 91 votes.

ÊÊÊÊOnly District 7 had a race in the primary to narrow the field to two on the Nov. 8 ballot. The other six council districts had two or fewer candidates. All will appear on the November ballot.

The Virtual Thing To Do!

Jukowski is our choice for Pontiac on Sept. 13

Web-posted Sep 4, 2005

EDITORIALS

Editor's note: Endorsements are the result of candidate interviews by Oakland Press editors. The spouse of one of our editors is a volunteer for the Jukowski campaign.

Four years ago, we thought LEON JUKOWSKI should be elected mayor of Pontiac. We still think so. Although he did not survive the primary in 2001, Willie Payne's willingness to name Jukowski as his deputy, if elected, persuaded us to enthusiastically support Payne for mayor. While he didn't have the background for the job, Jukowski did.

We went on to support Payne against a recall attempt by people who clearly resented his defeat of incumbent Walter Moore.

Now, Pontiac needs Jukowski as mayor even more than it did then. In the two years he served Payne, there were major accomplishments, such as turning trash pickup from a troublesome money-loser into a profi table enterprise.

And he immediately rescued a key downtown grant proposal that had languished in City Hall and personally took it to Washington, D.C., to meet a deadline.

Jukowski also was in the process of reorganizing key city departments that had been in shambles when Payne used a trumped-up conflict charge to fi re him.

That, for all practical purposes, was the end of progress under Payne ‹ a nice man who seems to enjoy the title more than the challenge.

The City Council had to step up and provide the leadership, as in demanding financial accountability. What a mess that turned out to be, as Pontiac now faces a $34 million budget deficit ‹ most of it coming on Payne's watch.

Through it all, efforts in Payne's offi ce to communicate with the residents ranged from nonexistent to pathetic. How many City Hall newsletters have Pontiac residents received in the last four years? Jukowski is successful both in business and the practice of law. He represented the Pontiac police for years. He vows to install what's called a 311 phone system, something Payne dropped after Jukowski left. It would track resident calls to make sure there is a satisfactory response in each case ‹ the least the community is entitled to for its tax dollars. Then there are the "little things." Jukowski would not be driving a cityleased Cadillac or any other city vehicle. As he did when he was a city official, Jukowski would drive his own. And he wouldn't be filling his tank from the city's pumps, an especially galling perk of Pontiac offi cialdom in this era of $3-a-gallon gasoline.

With his city on the fi nancial ropes, Payne could set an example by paying his own way. A man whose salary is $107,000 a year should be embarrassed to be getting these benefi ts.

With Jukowski as mayor, Pontiac would put the endless embarrassments and dithering regarding decision-making behind it. Among his goals: Ending the city income tax during the next 10 years, improving relations with the business community and starting over on the Silverdome sale.

Since Jukowski left, Pontiac has had a "strong council, weak mayor" form of government, something residents emphatically said they didn't want when they approved the City Charter a generation ago. Jukowski would be the fi rst mayor with the background and true self-confidence to be a real strong mayor.

During our interviews with the mayoral candidates we were impressed with the ideas and energy some would bring to the job ‹ most notably, former Police Chief Larry Miracle and Councilman Charlie Harrison III. But Jukowski is best for Pontiac. Seay has earned re-election

Only Pontiac's District One has a City Council primary contest on Sept. 13. There, three candidates ‹ Betty Lewis-Rand, Malkia Maisha and Kermit Williams ‹ are trying to unseat EVERETT SEAY. District residents would be best served by re-electing Seay, a 20-year council veteran who's seeking his sixth, four-year term. Seay has a track record of listening to his constituents and looking out for their best interests. As the most recent council president, he helped provide leadership when Mayor Willie Payne didn't during the mounting city deficit crisis. With the decision by John Bueno not to seek reelection after 20 years on council, Seay's experience becomes even more valuable. Our picks in Rochester Hills

There are primary contests in three council districts in Rochester Hills. In each case, there is no incumbent running.

Our choice in District One is THERESA MUNGIOLI. Her experience on the Rochester Board of Education, where she had to make tough decisions in the public spotlight, would serve residents well at City Hall. Mungioli wants to bring some civility to the council meetings, something that's lacking these days. She does her homework thoroughly and welcomes resident involvement. She believes the roads should be repaired, but the proposal on the November ballot is too costly.

In District Four, we believe two of the candidates are so equally qualifi ed it simply would be arbitrary to choose one. They are SUZANNE WHITE and LORRAINE McGOLDRICK. White has a background in finance and is well known in the community for her efforts with the Holiday Helpers charitable organization. McGoldrick has been active behind the scenes in political campaigns, social work and volunteerism. She wants residents to take ownership in their community.

LINDA DAVIS-KIRKSEY is our choice for the at-large district. She is incredibly well qualified, and her concern for her community has been demonstrated by service on various city boards. She supports the three tax issues on the ballot and wants residents to become more responsible for the city's future. THE OAKLAND PRESS

GOOD MORNING It's not too early to start thinking about how you're voting on Sept. 13