Comments on: Springfield Announces 89 Layoffs; Job Outsourcing to Come

By: Urban Compass | Blog Archive | Mayor Sarno Pledges to Give $158 a Month Back to City

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:39:16 +0000

[...] a good idea? It does set an example of sacrifice of some kind especially in the midst of painful layoffs. But the potential amounts of money gained are rather small. It seems more like a politically savvy [...]

By: nmm

nmm — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:56:32 +0000

A civilized city needs police-libraries-trash removel and the citizans to do their part in running a “good” and healthy system.All the parts..schools too..are needed.But to choose….If I were “King” for a day I would remove the people who got us here.. those who run the city in the planning and housing.Such mistakes made at the expense of the taxpayers..The police dept is not run right.too much affordable housing ..no balanced plans to make healthy neighborhoods…It is the same old same old…bad choices made by the same people over and over again. Think outside of the box!
I doubt much will change in my lifetime but..elections give hope so VOTE!
You cannot choose one civilized need of a community over another .
You must have balance or you will not be able to save this city.

By: DickieNealSt

DickieNealSt — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:03:30 +0000

Dom isn’t the first mayor of Springfield who viewed the job as a stepping stone to higher political office.

Look at Richie! He nearly bankrupt the city in the late 80’s. Yet, the vast majority of residents in Springfield today, who are even aware of those days, blame Mary Hurley for the nearly 1,000 city employee lay-offs in 1989. Richie is clever. He knows how to hide his political footprints. Like a wolf knows to instinctively run through a stream to hide its scent. That’s probably why Richie refers to himself as a Machiavellian(if that’s how it’s spelled) politician. Richie is like a chess player who is thinking several moves in advance. Well, that is what Dom is doing. He’s concerned about his future more than he is concerned about the future of Springfield. Just like every other mayor in Springfield for the past four decades(including Ryan).

Dom is crafting his resume. He wants to be the next Sheriff of Hampden County. And he likely will. Dom is semi-crazy. Just like Joe Arpaio in Arizona. Dom would be the perfect Sheriff. Dom would be the Joe Arpaio of Hampden County. So if you dingbats would just find a mop or a broom to do what you should be doing, everything will be…OK.

And leave Stevie B. alone when he decides to run for DA.

By: Sheila McElwaine

Sheila McElwaine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:37:45 +0000

“Police on the streets vs books”??! By setting up a dilemma where none exists, Mayor Sarno is doing something unnecessarily divisive and adding to tension and unhappiness in the city. In fact, even though I’m a library commissioner, I’d be as outraged were the police department to have received a disproportionate cut as I am that the library was. Why make such a deep cut in one department in the first place? And why make such a destructive distinction between equally valuable city departments?

Furthermore, having shown the public what his personal priorities are for the city, how can our mayor trumpet on the city website that Springfield is “The Cultural Urban Center of the Region?” Cultural centers don’t cut library budgets disproportionately.

The library department is being asked to take a 10.76% mid-year budget cut, a rate nearly double that of other departments, and laying off 17 employees is apparently first concrete step in implementing this measure.

Library hours and staffing levels have never recovered from massive cutbacks in 1989, 1995 and 2003, so there is no question that today’s staff reduction will hurt our ability to serve the public.

Libraries are irreplaceable resources this city. They are lifelines for the poor who depend on them for computer, job seeking and reference resources. Libraries are something that prospective middle class residents look for in a well-functioning community. I do not see how the city can reach its educational and demographic goals, presumably shared by the mayor, without a robust, fully staffed, functioning and accessible library system.

Of course the library system has to take its share of cuts. A 5% cut would be more in line with cuts in other departments and could be absorbed more easily. The question is whether the library department should be asked to do more than that, particularly with no explanation of what went into establishing the 10.76% figure in the first place.