Portage Mayor Austin Bonta’s plan to consolidate some open positions at the Portage Park Department was rejected Monday by the City Council in a 5-1 vote.
The council tried to get the special meeting concluded quickly so the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting could follow immediately afterward.
Bonta said the Park Board is planning a nationwide search for a new park superintendent, but he’d like to reorganize the department first.
Bonta proposed creating an operations director position to oversee operations at the parks office and oversee all city events.
The salary ordinance already passed by the council apparently has an error in it, listing a director of maintenance as well as director of maintenance/harbormaster. That’s just one person, not two.
But combining the positions wasn’t an easy task Monday.
Maintenance Director Barb Lusco, who also serves as harbormaster for the city’s marina, is also serving as acting parks director. She took on the added responsibility for park maintenance when the council eliminated the Port Authority and tucked the marina operations under the park department’s wing.
“How much for the signs on Barb’s door?” Councilman Ferdinand Alvarez, D-At-large, quipped.
Council President Victoria Vasquez, R-3, suggested changing the “director” language in the two new positions to maintenance supervisor and operations manager. After some back and forth with Councilman Collin Czilli, D-5, she agreed to harbormaster/maintenance supervisor to reflect the position’s additional duties for the marina, which go beyond maintenance.
“We have other things in this salary ordinance I don’t think are controversial,” Czilli said, observing it might be hard to get four votes on anything involving the park department.
As part of another reorganization effort, the city created a public works department that groups park maintenance workers with street department workers. That brings those park employees’ salaries up to the same level as their new teammates in the union contract that now applies to them.
Czilli asked if not passing the salary ordinance Monday would affect those park workers’ paychecks. Clerk-Treasurer Liz Modesto said they already are being paid at the higher level and have received retroactive pay.
With that no longer an issue, the salary ordinance failed to pass Monday, with Vasquez casting the sole vote for it. Councilwoman Penny Ambler, R-4, was absent.
When the council revisits the salary ordinance and the park reorganization, it will have to consider not only the names of the positions but also the salaries.
When the hiring process for a new superintendent is further along, Bonta said, he’ll ask the council to raise the salary for that position. Portage’s pay is less than other municipalities, he said, so it will have to be increased to be competitive.
The council also approved 6% raises for firefighters under the terms of a new one-year contract with the firefighters union. Bonta said he’s hoping to negotiate a longer term for the next contract.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
