Alderman tries to save city $280,000, gets defeated                                                                     

By George P. Hassett

Alderman-at-Large Denise Provost tried to shrink the $2.2 million Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone plans to borrow to buy new equipment for city departments by $283,000 but was voted down.

  Curtatone asked aldermen to approve the borrowing of $2,200,943 to fund various equipment expenditures in a capital bond. The city desire‚Äôs included five new police cruisers at $25,516 each, a $135,650 forestry truck and four Harley Davidson motorcycles at $17,112 each for the police department. Another department that will receive two new trucks is Traffic and Parking: a sign truck and a breakout truck, which removes concrete around street signs. $1.7 of the $2.2 million is slated to go to the Department of Public Works.
  The request for the money was initiated by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and approved at a special  Board of Aldermen meeting Oct. 4. Curtatone spokesperson Thomas P. Champion said the request was made to acquire needed equipment before the upcoming winter season and to do so at a favorable rate. He said prices are expected to rise with the change of the rate cycle and the city wanted to save money on the necessary equipment while they could. Provost said some of the spending could be cut to save money.
  ‚ÄúThis is an enormous amount of new vehicles,‚Äù Provost said at the special Board of Aldermen meeting called to discuss the new purchases. She suggested reducing the amount borrowed by cutting some of the equipment.

  Provost proposed five amendments to the board. They would have reduced the plow sanders purchased from six to four, cut a police vehicle, a police motorcycle, a street sweeper, and deferred the purchase of a new graffiti removal truck. If passed, Provost‚Äôs amendments would have saved the city $283,000 in principal costs and $36,709 in interest, said Director of Finance Edward Bean.
Provost‚Äôs amendments garnered little support from other aldermen with Alderman-at-Large William A. White voting to eliminate two plow sanders and one  police motorcycle and Rebekah Gewirtz voting to reduce the plows, police vehicles and police motorcycles. Every other aldermen rejected each of Provost‚Äôs five amendments.
  Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond said any savings resulting from cuts were not worth the risk of having an under equipped city.
  ‚ÄúThese are small numbers when it comes to funding police officers who are trying to reach people in danger,‚Äù Desmond said. ‚ÄúWe would be doing a disservice to the people of the city if we approved these cuts.‚Äù
Provost disagreed.
  ‚Äú$2.2 million may not be a lot of money to some but this is a lot of money to bond, particularly in absence of a plan,‚Äù she said.