Springfield mayor asks residents to ease city's financial woes

SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Jim O'Neil is calling on the residents of Springfield to lend the city a helping hand.

With the city facing a $10.9 million budget cut for the 2010 fiscal year, O'Neil is asking residents to volunteer some time to city departments in hopes of compensating for budget cuts and hiring freezes.

Residents can answer the Mayor's call by adopting a park, manning phones at City Hall during lunch or donating to the history museum.

Springfield, along with many other cities in the U.S., is slashing expenses. The 2010 fiscal year budget is to total about $257 million, down $10.9 million from two years ago.

O'Neil said the city should "tap into the good nature of the community."

He reassured the city of better economic times but said that now it's time for residents to come together.

"If we put our civic energy together, there's something we could do," he said. "It would help us get from here to there."

Some Springfield residents have beat the mayor to the punch.

Sam McGowan, 63-year-old retiree from the City Utilities Department, has been working on the rose garden at Close Memorial Park for the past four years.

"I think (the mayor's call) is a great idea," McGowan said. "Retired people are always looking for something to do."

He said he doesn't think the parks department has the resources to hire people to take care of the roses, so he does it.

Parks department officials said that McGowan is right and that they are feeling the effects of the cutbacks. Last year, the city cut its contribution to the department by $815,000. Next year, the city is shaving another $500,000 from that.

"If we didn't have volunteers, it wouldn't free us up to do upgrades or maintenance, we couldn't get it done," parks director Jodie Adams said.