Harvey furloughed about 40% of city workers this week, following Mayor Christopher Clark’s announcement Oct. 16 the city would partially shut down services as a consequence of its financial situation becoming untenable. Harvey is $164 million in debt, Clark said.
Harvey’s total workforce is 167, and 69 employees were furloughed, leaving 98 to maintain the essential operations of government. That includes nearly half the Fire Department, with 20 out of 41 total employees furloughed, and more than a third of the Police Department, with 24 out of 68 employees furloughed, according to city documents.
“We are trying our very level best to operate in good faith with the city,” said Keith Freeman, secretary of Harvey Firemen’s Association Local 471.
Freeman declined to comment further, saying union negotiations with the city were ongoing.
A city statement said Fire Station No. 1 would remain open while Stations No. 2 and No. 3 would be temporarily closed. A GoFundMe collecting donations for laid-off firefighters had $34,000 of its $100,000 goal as of Friday morning.
Clark said he had conversations with mayors of surrounding communities about fire response. It is already the case, he said, that fire departments respond to emergencies in neighboring communities.
“Some of them I’ve called and some of them have reached out on their own,” Clark said. “And they’ve been very supportive and trying to help as much as they possibly can.”
Much smaller city departments were hit hard, with three of five Water Department employees furloughed, and both of the city’s senior services employees, though Clark said one of the senior services employees had actually retired.
“What we really want is for our residents to understand that we have gone through the proper procedures, you know, we have the processes in place to make sure that our constituents and those who visit the city of Harvey can remain safe while they’re here,” Clark said.
The city gave no timeline for when furloughed employees could expect to return to work. Clark said the Cook County sheriff’s office would work to support Harvey’s Police Department.
“We are trying to figure out how we can go about bringing people back as soon as possible,” Clark said. “So while we don’t necessarily have a specific date and/or time, we are definitely actively pursuing the possibility of bringing them back.”
In a list of frequently asked questions posted to Facebook, the city listed several possibilities for potential financial stabilization.
One option is Illinois House Bill 4024. Clark has said the proposed legislation would provide emergency relief for Harvey. The bill would appropriate $30 million from the state’s general revenue fund to pay for Harvey’s operational expenses. The bill, introduced in March, was referred to committee. It would need to pass in the veto session, which ends Oct. 30.
Clark said another option to return the city to solvency is renegotiating repayment terms with the firefighters pension fund. Currently, Harvey’s municipal income is garnished by the state to repay money owed to the pension fund. Harvey failed to make required payments to the fund beginning in 2005.
Clark said Friday the city was in the process of preparing a presentation on the topic for a meeting with the pension board.
Local activists held a news conference Tuesday calling for Clark’s resignation.
“As of this week, the city has announced it is financially indigent,” said Amir A.H. Shakur, representing the Thornton Township Citizens Action Committee. “We’re standing here to simply say that the leadership in Harvey, including Mayor Clark, have known about this deficit for years. Close to seven years. No action has been taken. Not only has no action been taken, but Mr. Clark has even weaponized city government, including the police, against the will of the people. It’s unacceptable.”
Shakur said it was wrong to ask for relief from the state government to bail out a city level government Clark has led for several years.
“Several years of financial mismanagement, several years of political corruption, several years of weaponizing the police against the citizens,” he said.
Other speakers expressed concern about the pressure the furloughs will put on public services. One woman, who identified herself only as a Dolton resident, worried the Harvey Fire Department furloughs would mean a greater strain on the Dolton Fire Department.
Harvey’s next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday at Harvey City Hall, 15320 Broadway Ave.
elewis@chicagotribune.com
