Today’s Park Ridge Journal reports that that City Mgr. Jim Hock has released a draft 2009-10 City budget that projects a deficit of almost $2 million, based on anticipated revenues of $50.7 million and expenses of $52.6 million. (“Budget Plan Shows $2 Mil. Deficit,” March 11).

Coming on the heels of two straight years of shortfalls totaling approximately $3 million that have cut into the City’s reserves, this latest news is not encouraging just standing on its own.  But it becomes even more troubling in light of how the current City administration of Mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark and his merry band of Alderpuppets appears to be out to lunch when it comes to finances and infrastructure.

Consider the flooding problem, which earned a front-page mention in today’s Journal (“Sewer Back-Ups, Flooding: Is There No End?”).  That story reports on flooding this past weekend, much of it up in the Second Ward.  The problem has become so chronic and the City so unresponsive that people are taking such drastic action as building their own water storage vaults or, in one instance, even tearing down and rebuilding their home!

That story also shows the cluelessness of Frimark and his most senior City Council lieutenant, Alderpuppet Rich DiPietro.
According to the Journal story, Frimark reportedly visited several flooded neighborhoods and determined that there were sewer problems.  Brilliant!  DiPietro reminisced about the construction of a relief sewer in his own Manor neighborhood 14 years ago, noting that it worked wonderfully until about a year ago.  Brilliant! 

So, guys, how about telling all these flooded taxpayers why the City cut back its relief sewer installation from an already meager 1,240 linear feet (@ $318,749) in budget year 2007 to a positively paltry 940 linear feet (@ $156,000) in budget year 2008?  That 940 linear feet is basically a whopping 3 city blocks!

In typical alderpuppet fashion, DiPietro – who has been little more than the sounds of silence on flooding in his ward and everywhere else until now – suddenly wants to authorize the spending of $80,000 for…wait for it… “an engineering study.”  And that’s for just the Manor Lane area, up in his Second Ward.  But $80,000, however, is more than half of the relief sewer construction budget for 2008, and it won’t keep one basement any drier when it’s done.  Brilliant! 

But the last word on this problem, at least for now, goes to Frimark the Politician, who hoists the empty assurance and the empty promise that: “We have solutions in mind and we will dedicate as much money as we possibly can to fixing these problems.”  In typical Frimark fashion, the solutions and the source of the money are his little secret.

So what we’ve got, it seems, is a community under water; a budget under water; and a mayor who’s all wet.