Southgate Mayor Joseph Kuspa, first elected in 2009, will seek a third two-year term this fall. Photo by Alan Burdziak
SOUTHGATE ? Mayor Joseph Kuspa will seek a third two-year term in this year?s city election.
Terms for all elected officials are up and Kuspa is the only person who has filed for office so far. First-term Treasurer James Dallos has said he intends to run again but other officials? plans are unclear.
Three City Council members ? Jan Ferencz, Phillip Rauch and Chris Rollet ? are ineligible to run because of term limits. Officials are limited to four consecutive two-year terms. Any of the trio can run again in the following election.
Kuspa, 56, said there are several projects that began during his administration that he would like to see completed. Those include three major projects at or near the Southgate Shopping Center at Trenton and Eureka roads: the creation of a public space at the former location of Montgomery Ward; a multimillion-dollar expansion of MJR Theater adjacent to the center; and renovation of the old Farmer Jack building into the new location of Downriver Gymnastics, currently based in Riverview.
While the city has a balanced budget, Kuspa said Southgate still has to be proactive in order to maintain long-term solvency. Expenses are expected to go up again this year and savings only can be realized in a few areas of the general fund, he said.
?We have gone through the budget,? he said. ?There?s very few areas that we think we can do any additional cost savings. We really are at a point in the budget where we have to look at the key things that contribute to our budget and obviously payroll and staffing is the major expense for any community.?
Contracts for all employee unions ? fire, police command and patrol, Teamsters, Department of Public Service employees, municipal employees and secretaries ? expire at the end of this fiscal year, June 30.
?To say we have had some conversations is true,? Kuspa said. ?I?ll just leave it at that. We?re starting the process of the negotiations.?
The process of cutting expenses began in 2009, when cities were beginning to feel the impact of declining property values and tax collections. Kuspa said because of the city?s proactive approach, Southgate is in better shape than those who acted more slowly. Property values in the city are expected to remain flat this year after three years of double-digit declines. Continued...
?There?s not a lot left in the budget to glean from,? Kuspa said. ?We?re at a point now where we?ve gone through three years of cutting our budgets and finding new ways to provide services, making some public/private partnerships as it relates to the services that we have here in Southgate.?
Collaboration with other communities is vital and the city has been pioneering such efforts since before Gov. Rick Snyder made it a requirement to receive a portion of state-shared revenue, he said. In 2009, Southgate was a founding partner in the Downriver Central Dispatch, which handles emergency calls for Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Southgate and Wyandotte. A new consolidated animal shelter with those three cities, the Downriver Central Animal Control Agency, is expected to open soon.
There are a number of private/public partnerships in the city including contracting with JRV consulting to run the Recreation Center and with Crystal Gardens to run the Senior Center, banquet facility and golf course clubhouse.
In his first run, Kuspa survived a primary and then won the general election, facing off against former mayor Dennis David, who was mayor from 2003 to 2005. In 2011, he ran unopposed. While it is still early on, he said he hasn?t thought much about facing off against a challenger this year.
?I really don?t think in those terms because we have an agenda here,? he said. ?I have a great staff. ? We?re moving the city forward. If I do have a challenger, we?ll deal with that. Obviously, we?ll run a campaign that?s comparable to two people in the race, three people in the race, whatever it is. But I think we have a good, compelling story to tell.?
Contact Staff Writer Alan Burdziak at 1-734-246-0882 or aburdziak@heritage.com. Follow him on Facebook and @AlanBurdziak on Twitter.
Source: http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2013/03/17/news/doc514377caa726d364201059.txt
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