Lakemoor administrator appointed, to start Nov. 9

Comments (...)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Comments

Share

LAKEMOOR – A former corrections officer turned city official has been named Lakemoor Village Administrator.

David Alarcon was appointed Thursday night to the newly-created position by a split board. He pledged to help the village regain its financial footing when he starts Nov. 9.

“One of the biggest things was working with a very limited budget while improving services,” said Alarcon, who previously worked for four years as city administrator of Park City. “It’s a challenge, but I’ve done it before.”

He said he worked as a Park City police officer before becoming a city administrator. Before that, he worked in the Cook County Department of Corrections.

The board was divided over Alarcon’s appointment largely because the village has struggled financially during the past two fiscal years.

Last year, the village spent an average of $80,000 over budget each month, officials have said. For much of this year, the village had been spending an average of $100,000 over budget every month.

But Alarcon expressed confidence he can reverse that trend.

“The most important thing is efficiency in government,” he said.

Trustees Kimberly Beach, Ralph Brindise and Bob Koehl voted against Alarcon’s appointment. Trustees Kathy Lennon, Phil Lonigro and Colin McIntyre voted for the administrator appointment, as well as Village President Todd Weihofen, who broke the tie.

Koehl said his prime concern was “how we’re going to pay for this person,” considering the village’s finances.

“We have very limited revenues coming in,” Koehl said.

Koehl made his budgetary concerns evident throughout other parts of the three-hour meeting, such as when he questioned the need for the public works department to buy another plow truck for about $49,000.

“I don’t know how a lot of this stuff fits in our budget,” he said during the meeting.

However, Weihofen has expressed optimism that a village administrator not only would pay for itself but help the village find ways to increase revenue.

Alarcon’s position is full-time and earn an annual salary of $78,000.

Comments