Joliet mayor, city manager spar over vehicle replacement plans

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk this week expressed impatience with the implementation of a vehicle replacement plan in a public spat with the interim city manager.

The mayor at Tuesday’s City Council meeting called interim City Manager Steve Jones “a smart aleck” as the two sparred over how the vehicle replacement program would be developed.

Jones in turn seemed to suggest that O'Dekirk was trying to intrude on the duties of city staff by insisting a City Council committee should be shaping the vehicle replace program.

"This," Jones said, "would be the equivalent of having every water and sewer project on a list and have the council pick the next project. That's not how we do business here."

Staff is developing a vehicle replacement plan that will be brought to the council for approval, he said.

The replacement program will be funded through a 3-cent hike in the Joliet gas tax that went into effect Feb. 1.

The tax was opposed by both O'Dekirk and Councilman Larry Hug, who heads the Public Service Committee that ultimately will review vehicle replacement proposals before they are approved.

O'Dekirk said the committee should be involved in the development of the replacement plan.

The matter was not on the agenda for the Tuesday council meeting but O'Dekirk brought it up after Hug gave a report on Public Service Committee business.

Later, O'Dekirk suggested the council consider reversing a hike in parking rates downtown. The hike, also a Jones proposal, was implemented Jan. 1 to fund repairs and modernization of city parking decks.

The parking rates, gas tax, and vehicle implementation program all have been approved by the council. O’Dekirk, however, questioned the parking rate hikes, and the council was divided over the gas tax.

O'Dekirk questioned why Jones has not yet brought to the council proposals for vehicle replacement.

Jones said staff is developing priorities based on conditions of vehicles and available money.

"This isn't a case where there's cash in the budget. Everybody go out there and start spending money," Jones said.

City staff has identified $16 million in vehicle and equipment replacement needs, he said. But all that money will not be available immediately.

"You're telling me department heads don't know which vehicles are in dire condition?" O'Dekirk asked Jones, and then began asking department heads whether they knew what to replace.

Interim Fire Chief Greg Blaskey said the fire department needs $6 million to replace ambulances but added, “We don’t have that, so we have to prioritize.”