EDITORIAL: City needs Roggio to finish big job [The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.]

Sept. 29--Alton Mayor Brant Walker is finding out that it's one thing to make a campaign promise, but it's often harder to live up to it.

And sometimes, maybe you shouldn't.

Walker ran a spirited write-in campaign and won April's mayoral election, defeating the incumbent, Tom Hoechst. As part of his campaign, Walker promised to make big changes in the city's administration. Some of his most vocal supporters especially wanted him to fire the city's longtime director of development and housing, Phil Roggio.

Walker did so, replacing Roggio with Greg Caffey. But rather than cutting ties with Roggio entirely, Walker decided to keep him on as a consultant.

The mayor and the City Council gave Roggio a 90-day consulting contract to work on the Alton Regional Multi-Modal Transportation Center project at the former Robert P. Wadlow Municipal Golf Course, a job that Roggio had been involved with intimately during the Hoechst administration.

Just last week, the council approved another agreement to retain Roggio as a consultant on the project. It calls for Roggio to help ensure the process complies with numerous provisions of the city's $13.85 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. The contract also allows Roggio to work on "certain economic development projects as needed."

Those contracts have not sat very well with some of Walker's campaign supporters, a number of whom turned out for last Wednesday night's council meeting. Two people spoke in opposition to the deal with Roggio, drawing applause from many in the crowd.

After the meeting, Walker said he had lived up to his campaign promise by changing management in the Department of Development and Housing with the appointment of Caffey to Roggio's old job. At the same time, he said his commitment now "is not to lose the largest grant in Alton history."

While opponents of retaining Roggio as a consultant criticized his performance during his long tenure, it's possible some of their dissatisfaction is more personal than purely objective. If that's the case, Walker is wise not to let their animosity endanger a project of such magnitude as the Multi-Modal Transportation Center.

Alton's effort to develop the Multi-Modal Transportation Center involves an intricate process to make sure the project is brought to fruition and to comply with the many provisions of the grant, so the city doesn't risk losing it. Roggio has the knowledge of what's required to do just that.

Also, the Department of Development and Housing now has a smaller staff under Caffey, and it probably can't get the job done without Roggio's expertise. And while some critics complain about Roggio's contract paying him $75 an hour, it's unclear that the city could find someone able to do the work any cheaper, especially considering Roggio doesn't receive any benefits such as health insurance coverage. At the same time, it will behoove the city to closely manage Roggio's hours and utilize the department's staff as much as possible.

The bottom line is that Alton can't afford to go back to Square One on this project with someone new. Retaining Roggio as a consultant is a good call by Walker, even if it alienates some of those who helped get him elected.

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