A divided St. Paul City Council voted 4-3 on Wednesday to support privatizing the management of the Como and Phalen golf courses, which will remain city-owned but overseen by Prom Catering of Oakdale.
Leading up to the vote, St. Paul Parks and Recreation director Mike Hahm told the council that the five-year deal will net the city as much as $400,000 per year, and stop a downhill slide that has left the city’s four golf courses $7 million in the red in just a few years time.
Council members Amy Brendmoen, Russ Stark, Dai Thao and Kathy Lantry voted to support the contract. Members Dave Thune, Dan Bostrom and Chris Tolbert voted against it.
Bostrom called private management of the courses “an extreme measure” that may yield limited, if any, revenue for the city.
Labor activists say private management of the courses would violate a city ordinance that discourages outsourcing services. The ordinance passed during the tenure of former Mayor Norm Coleman, who had unsuccessfully attempted in the late 1990s to privatize animal control, building maintenance and other city departments.
City officials have said the alternative would be shutting down the courses, and a review by city attorneys found the contract does not violate the ordinance.
“We’re not taking this lightly,” Brendmoen said, noting that Prom Catering’s food service workers are affiliated with a labor union. “I believe they’re going to make money selling booze and food, as opposed to lowering wages.”
East Side resident Robin Madsen expressed doubt that the new grounds workers would be union members.
“I believe the small amount of money they believe they’re going to save … they could have found a way to save that money,” said Madsen, former president of AFSCME Local 1842, which represents parks workers, librarians and other technical, paraprofessional city employees.
Prom will pay the city 4 percent of its gross revenue, with a contractual minimum of at least $65,000 in annual rents.
Hahm told the council that most year-round employees would be moved to equivalent jobs, whenever possible, within his department. Two supervisors would be laid off, and 10 to 20 seasonal staff would not be rehired.
Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172. Follow him at twitter.com/FrederickMelo.
Copyright 2014 Pioneer Press.