A Quick Look Back

"The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them...To cover with the veil of secrecy the common routine of business, is an abomination in the eyes of every intelligent man."

      -     Patrick Henry

2003 - City of South Euclid total employee wages = $7,368,505.00.

January 2004 – Georgine Welo administration takes office.

July 2005 – Citing the dire need for voters to pass a tax increase the Sun Messenger reported, “If Tuesday’s try for a .5-percent income tax increase fails, residents will see changes, and not for the better, Mayor Georgine Welo said.”  They quote Welo, “South Euclid won’t be recognizable as it is today…We would have to consider stopping recycling and leaf pickup.  We’ll have to do layoffs.  We might go for a four-day work week.  We won’t have (school) crossing guards.” 

August 2005 – Voters approve .5-% tax increase.

2006 - The 2006 city budget reflects significant pay increases and the creation of many new positions at city hall.

March 2007 – The City of South Euclid purchased the Cedar Center properties for approximately $17 million.  Financial analysts have estimated the actual cost including demolition, remediation and interest payments at upwards of $20 million.   The same month, city leaders purchased 9 brick duplex homes on Greenvale Drive.  $1.8 million was borrowed.  $1.6 million was paid to the sole owner of the 9 homes and the remaining $200,000 was for demolition.  All of the 18 dwelling units had been issued a certificate of occupancy for each previous year during the Welo administration.  That process requires registration and inspection by the building department and compliance with city code of ordinances.

April 2007 – A 4- year incremental pay increase was introduced for the Mayor’s salary. The rate went from $77,000 to the current amount of $90,079. 

June 2007 – The 9 Greenvale Drive homes were demolished, instantly reducing the property value to vacant land status.

December 2007 - The Fire Chief was involved in a serious accident while driving a municipally owned Ford Explorer at 1:50a.m. returning from the firemen’s Christmas party held at a saloon on E. 185^th St.  It was eventually discovered that Welo allowed take-home city vehicles with unlimited driving and gasoline privileges for approximately 7 of her administration members.

January 2008 – The citizens of South Euclid paid $38,254.53 in property taxes to Cuyahoga County on the Greenvale 9 for the tax year 2007. 

February 2008 - City council passes legislation allowing South Euclid to enter into a contract with the firm Burgess and Niple to "oversee the redevelopment" of Cedar Center.

March 2008 - The position of "housing manager" is created.  Starting salary is $63,000 plus benefits.

April 2009 – City council passed the last salary ordinance enacted to date. 

April 2010 –  Jane Goodman, Ward 4 Councilperson :  “We screwed ourselves, pardon my French, but it’s time for plain speaking—with some expenditures—some loans that—some things that we did that put us in iffy financial positions…And I know that our citizens want to see us spend less if we’re going to ask them to contribute more.”

March 2010 – City leaders attempt to eliminate the tax credit given to residents who work outside the city.  Strong opposition from the people results in the reversal of the back-door tax increase.  All city employees took 6 furlough days in 2010.

May 2010 – Voters approve a road levy; Issue 45.

June 2010 – City officials proposed immediate budget and public service reductions which included eliminating $200,000 slated for street repairs from the general fund.

2011 – All city employees took 12 furlough days in 2011.

January 2011 – Gordon Food Service purchased 1.4acres of Cedar Center property for $2.35 million.

October 2011 – Bob Evans purchased .7 acres of Cedar Center property for $900,000.

November 2011 – The City of South Euclid sold 7 acres of Cedar Center property to Cedar Center North,LLC for $1.325 million.

September 2012 – It was necessary to refinance a portion of the city’s debt over the next 30 years.  The amount of $17.6 million includes Cedar Center and the Greenvale 9.   

2012 – City of South Euclid total employee wages = $9,293,144.49.

March 2013 – Ward 1 Councilperson Ruth Gray on the administration’s recent promotion and hiring practices regarding several individuals outside of the safety forces:  “…There were some significant cuts that should have been made then.  Because we knew that we were losing these funds.  We knew that last year….we’re getting ready to layoff our safety forces.  We knew in 2012 that these cuts were coming.  They started in 2012 but yet we continued to hire.  We have to explain and justify that.  We continued to hire knowing that this was going to happen…”

During the 2012 budget hearings it was revealed that due to a financial shortfall, there must be $750,000 cut from the budget.  The cuts were coming exclusively from the Police and Fire Departments resulting in the threatened layoffs of personnel in both departments.   A safety committee meeting held on March 18 brought residents out to express their dismay with possibly losing a portion of the safety forces.  The next day at a session of the budget hearings, Mayor Georgine Welo proclaimed a change of plan due to the willingness of people to pay more to maintain the same level of safety services.   She proposed the following:

v     The elimination of the tax credit given to residents who are employed outside of the city of South Euclid.  It was explained that this elimination of the tax credit could run in conjunction with –

v     A proposed income tax increase.

v     A possible safety levy.

 

Administrative salaries have steadily increased while a significant number of new positions have been created since 2004.  Approximately 80% of the South Euclid budget goes to payroll.  The passage of a current salary ordinance reducing administrative salaries and the non-essential positions created should be considered.  Instead, city officials are looking at cutting services and increasing taxes.