In Chicago and Cook County political circles, wearing “the jacket” means getting saddled with the blame for some governmental snafu or other.  Right now, whether he knows it or not, City Mgr. Jim Hock is being fitted for “the jacket” for the City’s current financial crisis, including the upcoming budget. 

Ironically, the “tailors” doing that fitting are some of the same guys on the City Council whom Hock befriended upon arriving from Oak Park, Michigan, in July 2008. That looked like a savvy political move by Hock at the time, as the aldermen are the ones who voted to approve his hiring and, presumably, could ensure his continued employment.

So Hock curried their favor and that of their political master, then-mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark, by proposing a 2009-10 budget that Hock actually called “balanced” despite its $52.6 million of expenses and only $50.7 million of anticipated revenues.  That’s almost $2 million of deficits, coming on the heels of two consecutive years in which the City’s General Operating Fund posted additional deficits totaling $4 million. 

And Hock’s “balanced” budget caused the City’s fund balances to erode even further as money was drawn from them to make up for the budget deficit – just as closer scrutiny began to disclose what looks like significant portions of some of those fund balances being comprised of IOUs from other City funds.  If that truly is the case, it’s a classic “robbing Peter to pay Paul” situation – something the City has also done when it borrows money from the water fund to meet the City’s payroll.

At this point in time it looks like Hock is over his skis on these matters, in no small measure because of the financial mess he inherited from former city mgr. Tim Schuenke, who seemingly pulled budget numbers out of thin air that the Council then mindlessly rubber-stamped because either they didn’t know better, or they just didn’t care. 

Unfortunately, other than playing political footsie with the Council, Hock has done little to clean up that mess.  He has also twiddled his thumbs in replacing departed Finance Director, Diane Lembesis, leaving himself short-handed for the task of budget preparation. 

But when Mayor Dave Schmidt recently called out the Council for all this fiscal irresponsibility in his “State of the City” address, his aldermanic adversaries had to try to make it look like they weren’t the spendthrift boobs the mayor portrayed.  Without any ideas of their own for how to cut spending or raise revenues, however, their strategy was to create a diversion by laying into Hock for not already having a budget document for them to review. 

No discussion of any specific changes to substantive fiscal policy.  No suggestions for what departments might be able to sustain significant budget cuts with the least adverse consequences.  No meaningful debate on the reasons for maintaining and replenishing fund balances rather than depleting them.  Just criticism of Hock and the “process” of producing the draft budget.

Yet despite all the criticism of Hock just a week ago, a peek at tonight’s City Council Committee of the Whole meeting agenda [pdf] shows no such discussions, suggestions or debate on those matters are scheduled under the Finance & Budget section.  We do note, however, that the agenda shows a discussion about amending the City ordinance dealing with…wait for it…the budget “process.”

In many places that would be called “Fiddling while Rome burns.”  But here in Park Ridge, Crook County, Illinois, it has another name.

Any bets on whether Hock is a 36 regular or a 38 short?