69 city employees furloughed days after Harvey declares ‘financially distressed’ status

Less than a week after the council voted to declare Harvey “financially distressed,” city officials announced that 69 municipal workers — primarily first responders — have been temporarily furloughed.

“Some employees have been placed on temporary furlough as a last resort, and only to ensure the City can continue delivering essential services to residents,” the city wrote in a FAQ release issued on Oct. 20. The city said 98 “essential personnel” will continue to handle core city operations.

The temporary cuts will affect 41 percent of city staff across 13 departments, including fire, police, public works, human resources, finance and revenue, and administrative support. However, critical departments — Fire Station No. 1, police, and public works — will continue operations under a reduced staffing plan. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office and neighboring fire departments will offer assistance to these departments if needed.

“Residents should continue calling 911 for emergencies,” the city wrote.

According to a Facebook post by Harvey firefighter Mark Roman, the city furloughed 17 firefighters out of its 37 staff members. “After putting up with constantly broken equipment, unsafe firehouses, low pay compared to the area, staffing lower than safety standards (2 man engines)…the city decided to screw us again,” Roman wrote.

As of now, the city’s plan is to continue advocating for the passage of House Bill 4024, which would allocate $30 million from the state’s general revenue fund to Harvey to cover operational expenses. The bill was introduced on March 17 and referred to the Rules Committee two days later. It has not advanced since.

The announcement comes days after Harvey City Council unanimously voted to declare itself a “financially distressed” city under state law amid years of financial turmoil. The city laid off 10 percent of city workers in August.

Mayor Chris Clark called for a special meeting on Oct. 16 at St. Mark’s Missionary Baptist Church to discuss seeking state intervention for Harvey’s financial crisis. His nearly two-hour presentation reviewed the city’s notorious financial history, dating back to former mayor Nicholas Graves who left the city with an approximate $10 million surplus in 2003.  

Clark made claims that his administration inherited $164 million in debt obligations due to years of alleged financial mismanagement and corruption from former mayor Eric Kellogg’s administration. He cited missing bond money for a hotel that was never built, unpaid water bills meant for Chicago taxpayers, and a fire pension lawsuit resulting in over $15 million in damages. 

The Illinois comptroller now garnishes 35 percent of Harvey revenue to finance the police and pension fund, neglected under Kellogg. And the city only collects roughly 52 percent of its property tax revenue.

But despite it being called a financial presentation, the comptroller nor the city’s treasurer offered remarks. Key financial documents — balance or revenue sheets, budgets, and other data — were missing from Clark’s presentation. Instead, the presentation included bullet points and multiple Chicago Tribune headlines of investigative reports during Kellogg’s tenure. 

“Tonight, you didn’t hear anything more than what you already knew via Google search when you type in ‘Eric Kellogg.’ What you heard tonight was a blame game,” Ald. Colby Chapman (2nd) said to attendees.

During the Kellogg administration, Harvey was behind on eight years of state-mandated audits. After catching up, Harvey is once again behind, three years delinquent under the Clark administration. The city’s finance director Michelle Elzey parted in 2023, and City Treasurer Aisha Pickett has publicly condemned the mayor and finance department for blocking her from delivering key financial reports.

Chapman said money is being spent and the council is kept in the dark, and the expenses don’t seem justified given the city’s financial state. The gospel concert the city hosted on Oct. 14 cost over $32,000, and not even 10 percent of the city attended, according to Chapman. She was told that the concert was grant funded but has yet to see any transactions, or deposits of donation funds, nor who they’re from. 

Harvey resident Amanda Askew also called this out during public comment, which took place early in the evening right before Clark’s presentation. 

“[Community events] cost us money, and if you don’t have the money to have it, that’s fine. But to scream ‘bankrupt’ and then bring in a famous artist and pay them thousands of dollars — it doesn’t make any sense,” Askew said.