Mayor Mike Houston gets high marks for stability. But what about those promises?

CITY | Bruce Rushton

Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards, never known for holding his tongue, was just getting warmed up.

“We should set the goals,” the alderman declared two weeks ago as the city council pondered Mayor Mike Houston’s request for $50,000 to conduct a personnel audit aimed at reducing head count at city hall. “We should know what the administration’s goals are. You should lay this out for the aldermen, not just a broad this-is-what-we’re-going-to-do. I really, truly believe we should set the goal. Not we – the mayor. He’s running the show.”

The mayor looks on impassively while Edwards declares that Houston and his staff, not a consultant, should be doing the auditing and deciding who should be fired. After all, the mayor during his campaign declared that there were as many as 50 do-nothing jobs at City Water, Light and Power – the day after his election in April, he said there would soon be a first wave of firings.

Nearly six months later, there have been no mass layoffs, and Houston, who had vowed to do an in-house audit, now wants to hire a consultant. The idea has drawn fire from both aldermen and city treasurer Jim Langfelder, who spoke against the plan, even though the treasurer has no vote in such matters.

“I believe that’s what elected officials are here to do…is to make the tough task and evaluate our departments and make those decisions and save the city’s dollars and make us as efficient as possible,” Langfelder said minutes before the alderman launched his attack.

Edwards accuses Houston of reneging on promises.

“I just don’t like the part, mayor, where you said you were going to do this and now you’re not doing it,” Edwards says. “That doesn’t set well with me.”

“I said I was going to do a personnel audit…” Houston interjects as the alderman continues on, talking over the mayor.

“I think we’re heading down a road where a lot of things are being said, and you’re not following through with the things you’re saying you’re going to do,” says Edwards, tapping the dais with each word for emphasis.

“That’s your opinion,” Houston says evenly. “Further discussion?” The council ultimately votes 6-4 to spend the $50,000, a proverbial drop in an annual

budget of more than $100 million, but the debate has exposed frustration and impatience with a mayor who promised big before his April election but hasn’t delivered on much.

A promise to overhaul the city budget?

Nope – after establishing reserve funds for departments, Houston has largely left the budget alone. A plan to fix streets and other crumbling infrastructure without a tax increase? The mayor says he didn’t make that promise to voters. A vow to serve just one term? Houston confirms that he has scheduled a fundraiser, even though Illinois Board of Election records show that he had more than $47,000 in his campaign fund as of June 30.

Houston says he has no plans to run again and that the planned fundraiser is to raise cash for such expenses as buying sponsorships for golf tournaments. But he will not unequivocally rule out a re-election bid.

“At this time, my intent is to serve one term,” Houston says. “I promised my wife that.”

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