Oct. 12 -- Some Evanston officials are worried about longer response times as officials consider whether to cut 17 police and fire department jobs and close one of the city’s five fire stations.
“This will result in significant reduction in services. It will be noticeable to the public,” said Police Chief Richard Eddington.
“It’s not nearly going to be the service level we enjoy now,” Eddington said. “When you have less workers you have less work that’s going to get done.”
Ald. Peter Braithwaite, 2nd Ward, said he’s looking for alternatives to closing Fire Station 4, at 1817 Washington St. in the southwest side of town, blocks from the expanding Robert Crown Community Center. The station sits in Braithwaite’s district.
“Clearly, I’m not in support of closing it,” Braithwaite said. He plans to meet with the police and fire chief to discuss “alternatives that will make sure that as a council we’re being fiscally responsible and at the same time not put lives in jeopardy with the decisions that we make.”
The discussion comes as Evanston deals with a $7.5 million deficit that results from decreasing property tax revenue, increasing employee and pension costs, anticipated bond debt to pay for capital improvements around town and costs to rebuild the Robert Crown Community Center, among other factors, city staff has said.
City officials say property tax revenue has not recovered since the recession and sales taxes since that time have stayed relatively flat. Meanwhile, building permit revenue has dropped from a 2016 high and is not expected to recover soon.
The city also has marked $1 million for debt service to pay for renovations to the Robert Crown Community Center, according to the proposed 2019 budget.
As such, Evanston City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said he has proposed eliminating 38.5 jobs. Of those, 21 are vacant and 17.5 are filled. Evanston City Council is scheduled to approve the final 2019 budget in November.
Fire Station 4, in the 2nd Ward, could be closed and sold, with all firefighter positions there eliminated, according to the proposed budget. That could save the city about $1.3 million.
In total, five police officers, one police commander, one police court liaison, one police video records specialist and nine firefighter/paramedic positions are slated to be cut, according to the proposed budget.
Bobkiewicz said Fire Station 4 is “the station clearly that’s in most need of improvement. In talking to the fire chief he feels that the station is one we can still have appropriate coverage in parts of the community.”
“Firefighter/paramedics in other parts of Evanston will have to cover calls,” Bobkiewicz said.
Evanston Fire Chief Brian Scott declined to comment on the proposed cuts.
But Braithwaite said he and many 2nd Ward constituents also worry about the proposed closure’s ramifications.
Braithwaite is not convinced residents will receive the same level of service from engines driving across Evanston to help them, and said he has asked for more data and other information.
“Anyone looking will be able to see that is going to have a huge impact on the residents in the southwest part of town,” Braithwaite said.
Billy Lynch, president of Evanston Firefighters Local 742, said he is concerned about the loss of service in the 2nd Ward if Station 4 closes
“Evanston's five fire stations and the apparatus within them are strategically positioned throughout the City,” Lynch said. “Taking Engine 24 out of the equation would place undue stress on other engines to cover a densely populated portion of the city while also being asked to respond to other emergencies within their own districts. It is an unsustainable mode of operation and one which comes with severe consequences.”
While all the police jobs marked for elimination are vacant, Eddington said he still expects the service level to drop if they’re cut. That’s because, with the looming deficit, he didn’t feel comfortable hiring people this year who might be laid off in a few months.
Along with a growing response time, Eddington said, “predictive policing,” or dispatching officers to places more likely to see crime, could drop. Cases with few or no leads could be shelved earlier than they are now.
“More and more complaints are going to get ‘Dear John’ phone calls saying there’s not enough fallibility factors here, we’re not going to spend any time on this,” Eddington said.
“That doesn’t help you, the victim, at all.”
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