Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand confirmed last week that two positions in the Department of Public Works were eliminated, and others may follow.

“Everything is absolutely on the table,” Lamarand said of staff reductions that may be necessary for the city to avoid Emergency Financial Management takeover by the state.

Taylor officials have until Feb. 17 to present a plan outlining two specific goals: Eliminate a projected $5 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year; propose a five-year strategy for debt elimination.

On Jan. 27, DPW Executive Director David Mackie was given a 30-day termination notice, and the department’s administrative assistant was likewise informed that her position would be eliminated. Lamarand said that Director of Building and Safety Rocky Alazazi will be responsible for supervising DPW operations.

As of press time, Lamarand said no other positions had been eliminated, although that may change.

“We’ve looked at every position to figure out which way to go,” Lamarand said. “If worse comes to worse, we’ll have to make some real tough decisions.”

Lamarand and city officials have met frequently with employee union representatives and attorneys; Tuesday’s regular meeting of the city council may include a preview of further cuts or decisions, to include a state mediator’s ruling that 15 firefighters laid off in June 2011 must return to duty.

The city’s options, Lamarand said, are limited.

“We’ve been cutting millions of dollars out of the budget, and still have a projected $5 million shortfall,” Lamarand said.

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

Photo by James Mitchell

Alyssa Stafford takes care of “PB” (“Patch and Boot”) at the PAWS Clinic in Taylor last week in preparation for being spayed during the nonprofit group’s “Beat the Heat” promotion. The program, sponsored by PetSmart Charities, offers spay treatments for $20, and runs through February. Executive Director Kris Jordan said the PAWS Clinic was among a limited number of non-profit organizations nationwide to qualify for the PetSmart Charities’ sponsorship, designed to help reduce the number of homeless cats. The Clinic opened in September 2011, and hopes to provide 7,500 low-cost dog and cat sterilizations in 2012. Appointments for the “Beat the Heat” promotion are necessary, and cats must have a rabies vaccination before spaying. Contact the PAWS Clinic at 313-451-8200; the clinic is at 21210 Goddard.

Photo by Sue Suchyta

By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR – When it comes to helping skaters shine, the STAR program at the Sportsplex is in a class by itself.

Skating Therapy with Adaptive Recreation, STAR, is a learn-to-skate program for special needs children based on a therapeutic skating program developed by the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Program. Certified skating instructors with background and knowledge of special needs children help physically and developmentally challenged children develop skating skills for fun and exercise while taking their limitations into consideration.

Jennifer Campau, director of developmental skating, has taught skating for 20 years and served as a skating director at the Sportsplex for 10 years. She has wanted to establish a skating program for special needs children since her days teaching at Blair Moody Elementary School in Taylor, where she worked with special needs children.

While the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Program, of which the Therapeutic program is a part, was established in 1968, the program makes its debut at Taylor Sportsplex this year.

“It was… my New Year’s resolution last year to get this program started,” Campau said. “We’re really excited. We’re hoping that this is a program that can be offered to all the students in the Downriver area that have special needs.”

Children can join the sessions at any time and the $55 cost will be pro-rated. Held on Mondays from 5:20 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., the first session runs through Feb. 20, and the second session runs from March 26 to April 30 at the Taylor Sportsplex, at 13333 Telegraph Rd.

Campau said they are starting out small, with four children, to make sure they are doing things right for the children the first time the class is offered. They eventually hope to have 50 students.

“We want the kids to be in a nice social environment without too much anxiety,” Campau said. “We’re using nice small classes so there’s a lot more one-on-one instruction, so that we can be physically there to handle them and help them and guide them and reassure them.”

As the program grows they will add stabilized metal walkers and harnesses and other equipment that will help children with disabilities, Campau said.

Parents fill out a form that describes a child’s diagnostics, anxiety level and trigger points so instructors can make skaters as comfortable on the ice as possible.

“We want this to be an enjoyable time and we know that even (for) kids without disabilities skating is scary,” Campau said.

Campau worked with special needs children as a teacher at Blair Moody Elementary School before working full time as a skating instructor and program director.

Her colleague, skating instructor Gail Sombati, who has taught special needs skaters and who has a son with autism, is excited that the program has begun.

Sombati said that as a teacher, she finds it rewarding to see a big smile spread across a special needs child’s face when they first start to enjoy skating.

“I teach figure skating as my job; that’s what I do – teach,” Sombati said. “And just to be able to have… children with special needs and abilities… step on the ice and smile… it’s something that… people (with non-disabled children) take for granted.”

Children start off-ice initially to show learn basic skills like standing with skates on, ice safety and balance. The children also wear protective helmets.

Once on the ice, she said the instructors stay with each child and try to get down to the children’s level – sometimes on their knees – to look right at them and talk to them about things they like. She said they try to relate the lesson to their favorite subjects, like a storybook or cartoon character.

“A lot of special needs kids are fixated on certain topics, like for example, Thomas the Train,” Sombati said. “To know their special interests and triggers helps, and we have a list of those.”

Skating instructor Melissa Ksiazek agreed that while imagination and patience are important ingredients to help ensure that first-time skaters are enjoying themselves, they also make safety a priority.

While the skating classes are 20 minutes long, she said they can reduce the time or let the children take breaks to meet their individual needs, adding that skating moves more muscles than most special needs children are used to using.

Finding ways for his son to use more muscles and to become more physically active is the goal of Allen Park resident Kirk Douglas, whose 12-year old son Ryan has Down syndrome and is in a program for cognitively impaired students at Arno Elementary School in Allen Park.

“He’s got a lot of loose joints and things and it helps to tone them and it makes his health better,” Douglas said. “It gets (him) more active, which he needs, because if he had his way he would just watch TV all day.”

Both Ryan Douglas and 9-year-old Brooke McNally, who also has Down syndrome, have participated in therapeutic horseback riding programs in the past for exercise. Brooke also has enjoyed stretching her muscles during ballet classes.

The daughter of Trenton resident Jean McNally, Brooke is a third grader at Anderson Elementary School in Trenton.

McNally said her daughter is usually open to new challenges, and is willing to try activities that her older brother and sister do.

“We encourage her to do a lot of things,” McNally said. “I treat her just like I do my other two. So she’s special but she can do it all. Hopefully she’ll like this.”

Campau said she also hopes the STAR skaters will enjoy themselves.

“We want to make this a fun, enjoyable time for them so that they… want to come back.”

For more information call (734) 374-8900 or go to www.taylorsportsplex.com.

Alfred Khattar and his son, Ted Robert Tomes, faced charges of unlawful imprisonment and vulnerable adult abuse for allegedly kidnapping 90-year-old Floyd Pickrell from Regency Health Care, 12575 Telegraph, in July 2011.

A third defendant, Darrell Howard, pleaded guilty in October, the same month a hung jury was unable to conclude the first trial for Khattar and Tomes with a verdict. Howard was sentenced to 2.5 to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment and second degree vulnerable adult abuse.

After a second mistrial for Khattar and Tomes was declared last week, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Carole Youngblood scheduled a third trial; a preliminary hearing is set for Friday.

Barring a final verdict, there is no restriction against the prosecution opting for a re-trial in the event of a hung jury or no decision. Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office, said that decision is made by the judge.

“We will be prepared and ready to try the case,” Miller said.

Allegedly, Khattar, Tomes and Howard took Pickrell away from the nursing home after knowing him as an occasional customer at Khattar’s doughnut shop. Security cameras recorded two men lifting Pickrell over a wall before he went missing for three days.

Police were notified by an anonymous tip that Pickrell, who suffers from dementia, was held in an Ypsilanti hotel room. Prosecutors maintained that Khattar and Tomes planned to hold Pickrell for ransom. Khattar and Tomes said they took the man from the home at his request.

“He laid it on the table,” City Council Chair Cheryl Burke said. “Here’s what’s going to happen; you’re not going to like it.”

City officials have until Feb. 17 to submit a debt-reduction strategy to the state, a five-year plan to erase a growing budget deficit. Failing to do so will likely initiate the state assigning an Emergency Financial Management team to bring Taylor’s finances in order.

The picture painted during the audit offered little reason to believe that won’t happen. The report showed a $1.7 million deficit for the fiscal year ending June 2011, a figure that doesn’t take into account a Dec. 30 state ruling in favor of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1252 that the city must restore the employment of 15 firefighters — to include back pay — laid off last year.

As of Friday, the firefighters had not been called back to duty, and Burke said it’s unlikely they will be any time soon. Along with the deficit addition for salaries, the back pay was reportedly estimated as adding another $470,000 to the shortfall.

Burke said City Council is expected to review budget reduction options during its regular Feb. 7 meeting. Adding to the municipal payroll will not be a likely option.

“The administration is looking at ways to cut everything in the city much more aggressively than they have attempted up to this point,” Burke said. “I don’t see anybody being returned to work or hired at this point; I see a lot more cuts in the future. We have to submit a very aggressive plan to the state.”

Along with ongoing negotiations between the city and fire union, Burke said similar discussions are being held with the Local 1128 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The current contract calls for a minimum of 100 employees; reductions trimmed that total to about 70, Burke said, and a state arbitrator has the option of ruling that the city must restore all 100 positions to the payroll.

As with the fire department, Burke said it’s doubtful that Taylor can afford to meet union-mandated staffing levels.

“The writing’s on the wall,” Burke said. “We won’t be able to have [Advanced Life Support services],” if the 15 firefighter positions are not restored. “ALS is a luxury we can’t afford.”

Fire Chief Bob Tompos presented officials with plans for privatizing emergency services if staffing levels remain as they are. Medical assistance has been part of the Taylor Fire Department since 1999.

If the state moves forward with emergency management, those assigned would have the authority to revisit union contracts for city employees.

“I hope the state can lend us some guidance,” Burke said. “It’s the state’s obligation to protect citizens from financial ruin.”

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

Photo courtesy Scott Spielman

TAYLOR – Officials at Oakwood Healthcare cut the ribbon recently on a new rehabilitation trauma unit at Oakwood Heritage Hospital, the second major improvement unveiled at the facility within the past month.

The 14-bed specialty unit was designed for traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and neurological trauma patients, Kelly C. Smith, division president of Oakwood Heritage Hospital, said. The renovated space represents an investment of about $5 million in the hospital.

“We are very pleased to offer this service to the community,” Smith said. “This is a one-of-a-kind facility that truly elevates the level of specialized care we provide to the community.”

All 14 beds are in private rooms, and the unit has its own rehabilitation gym for patients, Rhonda Brooks, manager of the unit, said.

“We’ve got the best of everything here,” she said.

The rehabilitation/trauma unit is the second major project to be completed at Oakwood Heritage Hospital in the last month. In early December, the hospital opened a new surgical pavilion that included all new operating rooms along with 45 pre/post operative private suites. The new pavilion is the second phase of the master facility plan designed to further transform the hospital into a specialty hospital that offers clinical programs and services that are unmatched in the region. A final ribbon cutting for a new entrance to the hospital is scheduled in May.

The current staff operates mostly out of the central station on Goddard Road; the north and south stations on Ecorse and Eureka roads were closed in October, and Fire Chief Robert Tompos said those two are only used occasionally, two or three times a week.

According to a state arbitration ruling issued Dec. 30, the city is violating minimum staffing requirements, and an order was issued calling for the reinstatement of 15 firefighter positions that were cut in June 2011.

A mediation meeting Thursday failed to produce a resolution restoring the positions; the City of Taylor has until Jan. 19 to appeal the state’s decision.

If the positions are not restored, the city may be forced to contract for private EMS and ambulance services; medical assistance has been part of the Taylor Fire Department since 1999, but officials said that the same budgetary restrictions that resulted in 48 employee layoffs in 2011 have not improved. Tompos completed last week a proposal for city officials to consider in seeking outside services.

Tompos said the lingering questions will likely be addressed during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Taylor in ‘financial emergency,’ mayor says

By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR — It’s a time of uncertainty for the city, its fire department and staff. Whether 15 laid-off firefighters will return to duty remains to be seen, as does the financial impact of a recent court ruling.

“There’s no money, there’s no better way to say it,” City Council Chairwoman Cheryl Burke said. “I don’t see where we’re going to get the money.”

The year ended with a Dec. 30 ruling that Taylor must restore to duty 15 firefighters who were laid off in June 2011. The subsequent arbitration process concluded last month with a decision that the city owed full back pay to those laid off, and that current staffing levels violate Taylor’s contract with International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1252.

The city offered a proposal to restore the department to 53 firefighters — from its current 38 — and requested concessions on minimum staffing requirements. Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand said a Thursday mediation session is scheduled, and while union officials consider the offer, the city must weigh its budgetary options and review the actual impact of back pay and benefits owed.

“We need to be prepared for everything at this point,” Lamarand said. “We wouldn’t have laid them off if we had the money, and we don’t have the money to pay the back pay or bring them back to work.”

Among the considerations could be contracting for emergency and ambulance services. Taylor Fire Chief Bob Tompos said Friday he initiated conversations with private companies should that change be necessary.

“That’s one of the contingencies that has to be prepared for,” Tompos said.

Should the transition be needed, it would take at least a month to approve and institute, and Tompos said he knows there will be a limited window of time.

“My responsibility is to the citizens, we can’t leave them unprepared,” Tompos said. “I’ll work with what I have.”

If the state’s ruling stands and the firefighters return to duty and collect back pay, Burke said that the city will be forced to consider other layoffs or service reductions, from shorter hours to staff considerations. Advanced medical services were privately contracted prior to 1999, one of many adjustments that may be required.

“Many communities like us make similar tough choices,” Burke said. “There will be cuts again. The administration will have to be creative.” Burke noted that the clerk’s office closes now on Thursdays, one example of reduced hours made to compensate for budget restrictions.

The new year for Taylor bears a resemblance to 2011, as annual budget projections reveal too many shortfalls for the city to maintain existing levels of staff and services. Lamarand said employees and residents need to realize the severity of the situation.

“We are under financial emergency, I said the same thing a year ago” Lamarand said. “This isn’t anything new. Every day we get closer and closer to running out of cash.”

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

“The fact is that people actually change their lives,” 23rd District Court Judge Geno Salomone said. “They become productive members of society.”

Taylor officials approved last month four agreements to partner with the 23rd District Court’s Drug and Sobriety Court programs. Two grants totaling $85,000 were accepted from the state Office of Highway Safety and Michigan Drug Court Program and will help provide drug testing, case management, mental health treatment, alcohol tethers and other services.

There is a cost to the city of approximately $41,000. Based on previous years, Salomone said a projected $50,000 from fines and assessment fees will cover that cost.

Taylor’s Drug and Alcohol Court program was launched in 2004, offering alternative sentence options for offenders facing drug or alcohol-related charges. Rather than being a “softer” sentence, Salomone said the program is more intense than some criminal punishments.

“Instead of regular probation, where you see an officer once a month and have random testing,” Salomone said, “in Drug Court they see a counselor once a week, see the judge every two weeks, and have multiple random drug tests.”

Those enrolled in the program are also subject to home visits and must participate in sobriety programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Salomone described a “team approach” using outside services including substance abuse counseling, vocational training or job searches.

“It’s not just about being sober or clean,” Salomone said of the probationary guidelines. “You need to get a job, finish education, get a license if it’s legally available. We’re trying to teach people to act like mature adults, which they’ve never done.”

A final requirement is spending time as a volunteer with the very programs that made graduation possible. “Time to give something back,” Salomone said. “Go to work for a couple of days.”

The proof is in the numbers and the individual testimony. Salomone said that national statistics demonstrate the potential for success. In a 2005 study, less than 30 percent of program participants received any new jail sentences after completing probation requirements, compared to a 51 percent recidivism rate for those given jail rather than treatment options.

“The graduation rates are good,” Salomone said. Between 30 and 40 offenders are currently paroled to the two-year program, and about 170 have participated since 2004, of which 65 percent graduated. A revised admissions policy with improved evaluations was implemented in 2007; since then the program boasts a 73 percent graduation rate.

“Some don’t make it,” Salomone said. “It’s a tough program.”

Salomone said that those who do demonstrate a remarkable personal turnaround. Participants are often from challenging environments with a history of substance abuse and “walking away” from their problems through substance abuse. At a recent graduation ceremony, Salomone spent time with three or four graduates in casual conversation.

“It was just us after everyone had left,” Salomone said. “One guy recently got promoted to a new job with benefits, great pay. He said before the program he probably would have just walked away from the opportunity.

“We talked,” Salomone said, “and I thought: Well, everything is going well there. For the most part, we find people who are succeeding.”

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

Photo by James Mitchell

The Taylor Police Department officially welcomed eight new officers to its ranks Tuesday during a swearing-in ceremony held within the regular city council meeting. The addition represents the first new hires for the department — now staffed at 69 — in seven years. The ceremony Tuesday was a special moment for Officer Dan Toth, whose rank pins were presented by his grandfather, Lee Miron, who retired in 1979 from the Detroit Police Department. The eight officers sworn in Tuesday were Christopher Cates, Rick Barnoski, Chris Weitfelt, Chad Pierson, Ryan Carroll, Josh Schneider and John Regan.