It’s not often PublicWatchdog has a sharp disagreement with Mayor Dave Schmidt, but this is one of those times.

Last night’s City Council meeting was Schmidt’s last chance to veto the sweetheart Taste of Park Ridge (“TOPR”) 2012 contract between the City and Taste of Park Ridge NFP (“Taste Inc.”) which, arguably, constitutes an improvement over the no-contract monopoly Taste Inc. has held for the past 7 years.  But only because any contract usually is better than no contract.

Two weeks ago the Council endorsed, by a 6-1 vote (Ald. Knight dissenting) the deal which shamelessly perverts an ostensible 50/50 “profit-sharing” arrangement between Taste Inc. and the City by allowing Taste Inc. to pocket the first $20,000 of any TOPR 2012 “profits.”  That extra $20,000 will get added to Taste Inc.’s hefty $80,000+ bank account, which consists entirely of money wheedled out of the City by Taste Inc. – in the form of $20,000+ of initial “seed money” and another $70-90,000+ in free City police, fire and public works services since 2005.

Taste Inc. will get that extra $20,000 before the City gets dime one of “profit-sharing.”  And from what Taste Inc. has reported as its previous years’ annual “profits” from TOPR, it’s likely that profits won’t even cross the $20,000 threshold.  But, astoundingly, 6 of our 7 aldermen apparently thought that’s a fair deal for the City.

We probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised.  The contract was put together by City Mgr. Jim Hock, for whom spending OPM (“Other People’s Money”) is a lifetime avocation.  And after 7 years of prior Councils letting Taste Inc. have its lucrative way without even a question, just getting this current crop of aldermen to demand that Taste Inc. reimburse the City for its expenses was tough enough.  Their demanding profit-sharing starting with the first dollar – before Taste Inc. boosts its bank account to an unprecedented $100 grand level – would have been a minor miracle.

But, frankly, we had hoped Schmidt could muster the courage to veto the contract on that profit-sharing point.  After all, he is the same “Mayor No” who consistently – and correctly, we might add – has vetoed numerous appropriations of public funding, including $3,168 for Meals on Wheels just last month. 

Which leaves us wondering: If the Mayor doesn’t believe Meals on Wheels is deserving of $3,168 to provide “bread” for needy Park Ridgians for 3 months, how can he justify giving away as much as $10,000 of profit-sharing money to another private corporation that provides “circuses” for a mere 3 days?

If Schmidt had the courage to stand against a TOPR 2012 contract that puts $10,000 in the pockets of a special interest run by a handful of folks, instead of in the City treasury for the public interest of all City taxpayers, he might have given a veto address that began with a reiteration of his oft-stated belief that public funds should not be handed out to private entities except under the most limited of circumstances and only for essential City services, not entertainment.

He might have also noted that Taste Inc. doesn’t need another $20,000, since it already is sitting on more money than it’s ever had or ever needed to run TOPR; and that all of that money is actually City money accumulated by Taste Inc.’s not paying for all those City services it received over the past seven years. 

He could have reminded his Council colleagues of their recent struggles to construct a balanced budget which, even with another 3%-plus property tax increase figured in, has required pinching pennies in order to avoid a return to the bad old days of million-dollar operating deficits, as well as to help ensure the long-term financial health of this City for ourselves, our children, and their children. 

And, if Schmidt wanted to show some real leadership, he could have coupled his veto with the request that Taste Inc. agree to amend the contract language to split any profits with the City 50/50, starting with the very first dollar of profit – a split that is eminently fair and reasonable, given this community’s unwavering and generous support of the Taste event over the past seven years.

Unfortunately, instead of courage and leadership, Schmidt displayed his inner Cub fan with what amounted to an insipid “wait ‘til next year.”

So Schmidt will sign the TOPR 2012 contract; the City and its taxpayers will receive for the first time reimbursement for City services to be provided to TOPR this summer; and the handful of folks who run Taste Inc. as their little fiefdom will once again laugh all the way to the bank at the taxpayers’ expense.

But the bright side for Schmidt is that, in return for his endorsement of the Council’s $10,000 sell-uut of the taxpayers, the Tastees will probably let the mayor work the beer tent again this summer.

Boo-yah!

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