Mayor mum on rumored layoffs
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published March 29, 2006

Mayor Eileen Patton is neither confirming nor denying widespread rumors that her administration is contemplating layoffs of city employees.

Patton told West Life Saturday the city is holding discussions concerning the city’s financial situation with unions representing police, fire and service department workers. The discussions began last week and continue into this week, the mayor said.

Mayor Eileen Patton

Fairview Park City Council has scheduled three special meetings this week to consider the budget being submitted by the Patton administration. Special meetings have been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight and Thursday and at 6 p.m. on Friday. Committee meetings are scheduled at 6:40 p.m. tonight and Thursday to follow the special council meetings.

Threats to the city’s three largest sources of income tax are placing considerable strain on the city’s financial health, Patton has said.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center told city leaders in January it plans to close two of its buildings on Brookpark Road by October 2007. The 521 workers in those buildings are the suburb’s single largest group of employees.

Earlier this month, Patton said the loss of the two NASA buildings will cost the city $631,000 annually.

The city’s second largest employer, the Fairview Park City School District, is currently under going a restructuring, Patton noted in her annual state of the city address March 8. In February, the school board approved $2.6 million in permanent cuts, which includes the elimination of two dozen teaching positions.

The closure of Westgate Mall, which had been in a moribund state for years, has also resulted in a major decline in tax dollars, the mayor said. While some  lost revenue will be made up from income taxes paid by construction workers, the redeveloped Westgate will not open until the second half of 2007. When completed, the shopping center will be the city’s third largest contributor to its tax base.

Patton has said the anticipated declines in revenue will force the city to not only dip into its financial reserves but exhaust them in the coming year.

Ward 1 Councilman James Robatin expressed confidence Patton will submit a budget which adequately meets the needs of the city. Council must pass a budget by March 31, Robatin said.

Patton and her administration have been working aggressively to find new tenants for the NASA buildings. Replacing the income tax lost from the two NASA Glenn buildings is “the critical key to the future of Fairview Park,” Patton said.