The East Cleveland Narrator 2014 Issue 5, September | Page 3

2 (From p. 1) and pay off debts. e Merriam-Webster dictio‐ nary defines deficit as “an amount (such as an amount of money) that is less than the amount that is needed.” Speaking of deficits, Johnson compared a city’s finances to a large bank account that has sev‐ eral smaller accounts under it. ese accounts are called funds. He said City Council gives him the job of deciding how much money should go in each small fund so the money can be used to take care of each fund’s busi‐ ness. For instance, the Helen S. Brown Fund is supposed to only be used for the HSB Senior Center, he said. However, when one fund’s money is used for another fund’s business, the first fund ends up with a deficit— having less money than it needs. e East Cleveland Narrator • September 2014 • Vol 1 • Issue 5 the City went on to miss the deadline to turn a financial re‐ covery plan in to the state. at October, Yost said the City was in fiscal emergency. A a six-member financial com‐ mission was put together to help the City make its financial recovery plan. Norton and City Council president Barbara ompson are on the commis‐ sion. Yost approved the com‐ mission’s plan this June. e commission members at‐ tended the August 6th meeting. So did the four supervisors Yost picked to regularly come to City Hall to help make the plan. At the meeting, Johnson explained to the commission members what the City has done to get back on track. When he finished, commission chair Sharon Hanrahan read a letter by Yost. In it, he said money that was supposed to be used for the City’s Law Enforce‐ ment Trust Fund and Self In‐ surance Fund was missing from the City’s records. In addition, said Yost, some funds either cost more money than the City’s budget allowed or they weren’t listed in the budget. ese funds were: the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Fund, Helen S. Brown Trans‐ portation Fund, Water Capital Improvement Fund, HSB Fund, Law Enforcement Trust Fund and the Self Insurance Fund. Yost said the City’s plan includ‐ ed earning more money for some items than the items make. ese include traffic cameras and the mobile phone cell tower the City rents out. Lastly, the City started using a self-insured healthcare program, said Yost. But because claims from it come in on and off, it’s hard to tell if the pro‐ gram is saving as much money as the City planned. Regarding Yost’s letter, Norton asked Hanrahan if the Com‐ mission could have a “condi‐ tional vote” about the loan in‐ stead of a just voting yes or no about it. He wanted commis‐ sion members’ votes to say they would or would not let the loan go through if the City took all the steps Yost laid out. However, Hanrahan said she didn’t want to “go out on a limb” by allowing a conditional vote. So she asked members to just vote yes or no. In the end, Norton and City Councilor omas Wheeler— who came instead of Council president omas, because she was out of town—voted yes. e other (Cont. p. 7) East Cleveland has about 12 funds that have deficits, said Johnson. ey each have less than $0.00 in them. We have 70–90 funds that have more than $0.00 in them—but only on paper, Johnson said. In reali‐ ty, because we spent money from the wrong funds, even funds that look like they have money in them are almost emp‐ ty. “I’ve gotten to the point where there are so many negative funds, I can’t operate,” said Johnson. In fact, it even looked like John‐ son would have no money to pay workers on the August 29 payday. However, as of August 27, when this paper went to print, he reported that pay checks would go out on time. “MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY” City finance director Jack Johnson addresses members of the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission, August 6, 2014, in the East Cleveland Public Library lower auditorium. (ECN Photo) _______________________________________________________________________________________________ BACK TO SCHOOL Another problem the City has is debt. We owe money to others. ANTHONY PRICE ECN: Who helped you get to where you are in life? So about $1.9 million of the loan the City wants would be use to pay back money we owe others, Johnson said. e other $5.3 million would pay for deficits—the money we owe our funds. (From p. 1) mother about it. She was so proud. She said this would be an excellent opportu‐ nity. AP: My mother. She instilled in me that what you do today is a reflection of your tomorrow. She raised me to be a leader, to be a person that gives back to my community. Without my mother. I don’t think I would be the young man I am today. In 2012, Ohio state auditor David Yost placed East Cleve‐ land in fiscal watch because of our money troubles. In last month’s Narrator, Smedley talked about that time. He said e East Cleveland Narrator is a free print and digital publication of Forest Hill Publishing, LLC 13200 Forest Hill Avenue, East Cleveland, Ohio 44112 www.ecnarrator.com [email protected] O: 216-777-1446 F: 253-799-8316 PUBLISHER & EDITOR M. LaVora Perry [email protected] CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Bylined with articles PROOFREADERS Ann Shewell, Jacqueline Hardges LAYOUT M. LaVora Perry IMAGES Logo, Jarod PerryRichardson; Publisher’s photo, Pollack Studio; Uncredited ECN photos, M. LaVora Perry GET US in print at East Cleve‐ land City Hall and Public li‐ brary, Windermere and Superi‐ or rapid stations; and gas sta‐ tions, grocers, convenience stores and other locations in or near EC. Get a list of locations from [email protected] and on ECNarrator.com. SUBMISSIONS Our deadline is the 10th. IMPORTANT: Be‐ fore submitting, read our guide‐ lines on ECNarrator.com or email guidelines @ ecnarrator.com f