More than 30 Oak Lawn employees facing layoffs

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Unless unions make concessions, manager says

By William Jones

Thirty-six Oak Lawn municipal employees, a majority of whom work for the village full-time, have been notified their jobs will be terminated at the end of the month.

The cuts are all but guaranteed if the village is unsuccessful in last-minute attempts to reduce labor costs through negotiations with the labor unions that represent some municipal employees, Oak Lawn village manager Larry Deetjen said in a phone interview Tuesday. The layoffs would occur on Aug. 31.

The decision to lay off the workers came during an executive session that lasted more than three hours July 28. The Oak Lawn Village Board never officially voted to enact the cuts, part of an 18-point cost-cutting plan presented to the board last month, but Deetjen said he was “given a nod” to carry out the layoffs in the event labor negotiations do not have a positive outcome.

The 36 employees are spread over nine Oak Lawn departments, and a “clear majority” of them are full-time employees, though some part-time workers are also included, Deetjen said.

Deetjen hopes the dialogue between the village and the labor unions will continue and that the situation can be resolved before the layoffs are enacted, he said. The village manager has asked the unions to consider shouldering more of the burden of health care premiums, and he said at least one is open to discussing on the matter, though he did not name which one.

Village officials have been talking about how to cut the budget since May because Oak Lawn is facing a $2.6 million shortfall this fiscal year. The village is required, by law, to balance the budget, which means either cutting expenditures or raising new revenue, Deetjen said. Elected officials have made it clear that cutting expenditures is preferred, he said.

“I have my marching orders,” he added.

Deetjen said other cost-cutting measures include a restructuring and reorganization of its janitorial services, inspection department and family services — which he has previously suggested could be privatized — and a change for Oak Lawn’s legal staff.

“Legal costs have gotten out of hand,” Deetjen said.

Deetjen has suggested the village part ways with the law firm Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney and Priess in favor of Querrey and Harrow, which would see attorney Michael Stillman, of Oak Lawn, serve as counsel to the Village Board. Stillman is a Worth Township trustee and former president of Community High School District 218.

Deetjen thinks the village needs a firm that is focused on issues in the southwest suburbs and has a partner from Oak Lawn, he said. Deetjen said he was impressed by the firm’s recent court cases and has negotiated a “fixed-fee” contract with a “not-to-exceed” cap on hourly legal fees to keep costs in check.

The Village Board is scheduled to vote on hiring the firm at its regular meeting Aug. 11 at Oak Lawn Village Hall.

This is part of the August 6, 2009 online edition of The Reporter.

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