Council begins budget hearings

They need more help. That’s what city department heads told officials during the first round of meetings to review the city’s proposed fiscal 2016 $155 million budget.

Office of Community Development Executive Director Lauren DiLorenzo told the Medford City Council on June 2 that her department needs a new position for a transportation planner to help coordinate ongoing projects, such as the Cradock Bridge reconstruction.

Veterans Affairs Director Earnest Lindsay added he needs another full-time staff member to ensure his office can meet the needs of an increasing number of veterans.

Energy and Environment Director Alicia Hunt further said the city badly needs a facilities manager to take over regular operation of the city’s buildings and other properties — which, she said, would help avoid mishaps like the one this winter that kept the temperature of the council’s City Hall chambers in the 50s.

Yet none of the positions are included in the city’s proposed budget. And the council, as Medford resident John Storella said during the meeting, can only make recommendations about adding or removing specific line items or positions in the budget to Mayor Michael J. McGlynn.

Reading through each department’s proposed budget line by line, therefore, served no purpose, Storella said.

“Going through this like we’re doing now, it’s really a needless process,” he said. “It means nothing because you cannot in any way reduce any one of these line items.”

But Council President Fred Dello Russo Jr. said the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss the budget process, a thought backed by City Solicitor Mark Rumley.

“What you’re doing is, you’re making a statement of your opinion,” Rumley said.

New Budget and Personnel Director Louise Miller said she sat with former director Stephanie Burke while preparing the proposed budget before she resigned from the position May 15 to begin her campaign for mayor.

After taking over the position, Miller said she met with some of the city’s department heads, who submit budget requests through her office.

Miller said none of the positions mentioned during the council meeting were requested for the new budget — adding department heads submit requests before funding levels are determined.

“They develop their budget requests independently,” Miller said during a follow-up interview.

Councilor Robert M. Penta said the council has for years asked department heads to submit “wish lists” to them before budget hearings. After learning some departments did not submit “wish lists” to the city through Miller’s office, Penta questioned whether Miller, formerly the city’s procurement officer, could develop an effective budget.

“You’re incapable of responding to our needs and where our departments are going,” Penta said.

Absent from the discussion was the person who controls the budget: McGlynn.

“It’s the mayor’s budget,” Miller said, of the fiscal 2016 plan.