To the layperson, the administration appears to be playing fast and loose with the public's money. I asked, on the record, for an answer to this question--that answer will be given publicly, on the record, by the administration. By sending the council such a sloppy, incorrect budget, the administration has done a real disservice to the people of this city. Where is the budget oversight on the part of the administration? I am galled by the fact that, once again, the administration has the head of one department (Mr. Jackson, of DPWUD) being asked to step into an acting role in the absence of the city administrator.
It is simply not fair that a department head should be asked, suddenly, to take on the role of his superior and answer questions about items that are not normally within his purview. This dual role certainly cannot be helpful to advancing his agenda for the Public Works Department, which has several divisions of its own reporting to him--including Planning, Recreation, Inspections, Economic Development, Community Development, and the Public Works folks at the City Yard.
In addition, it is inconceivable that the city administrator would not be present for this most critical aspect of a budget process he is responsible for presenting and explaining to the governing body. It is not right for the administration to keep playing musical chairs with these "acting" titles. It is wrong for the mayor to willfully pad the budget with hundreds of thousands of dollars in some areas, while ignoring the needs of the community as a whole. It is a continuing affront to the people of this city.
Rebecca
Put their feet to the fire, Rebecca. Have a nice holiday.
ReplyDeleteYou have said it was late at night. Did the guy get a chance to present all of the details of his budget for IT? If it was late, then was he able to present everything? If not then what does that mean?
ReplyDeleteHi, Anonymous--yes, he finished giving his presentation to us. We had some additional questions, which have been answered. The question of how Administration and Finance--the department over IT--has seen fit to try to add 9 new civil service positions will be answered by its director, Al Restaino, when he returns. We have scheduled a special meeting to review budget amendments this Thursday, 5/31 at 7:00 pm at City Hall Library!
DeleteMaybe you can answer this, no one seems to want to answer this question posted on various blogs:
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to investigate what happens to the $200,000 given to the city by Verizon every year to maintain the public access channel for the non-existent Media department. They never see a dime of it. So where does that money go? How many salaries would that cover to keep the channel up and running? Expenses? Equipment? When they film the city council meetings and other community events, the team then edits and uploads the video footage to the channel, none of this is done by the outside contractors that get paid from $60.00 to $100.00 an hour just for the filming alone, while the seasonal employees get paid $14.00 an hour. Hmmmm.... I wonder what would happen if Verizon gets wind of this???
The money generated by the franchise fees from Verizon and Comcast are put into the general fund. It is my understanding that this is where the money must go. When I was running the station several years ago (for the 20 months I worked there), I asked the same question. The city administrator should be able to answer this question comprehensively. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have him at the next advisory board meeting. I will request his presence.
DeleteSincerely,
Rebecca