Council is using the ‘new math’
To the editor:
Over the past few weeks in attending the meetings of the City Council it has become apparent that there is a complete lack of prioritization of needs and a total disconnect with the community at large. In the process of coming up with a budget the council has not listened to any input from the community, from citizens or business leaders.
First, in any community the priority of services rendered should include public safety, sanitation and road maintenance as top place holders. All else falls somewhere in line below that. Secondly, the morale of the employees and the satisfaction of citizens are most certainly linked, more so perhaps in our small community because we have personal friends who work for city departments. This is the reason that the outpouring of comments and expressions of dissatisfaction are so pronounced. Third, the humane treatment of people and showing compassion are absolutely the most critical skills that the council needs to master to be perceived as good leaders and not just bullies.
I would submit from the actions of the council as a whole these three items have been either ignored or have been abused. This is not to say every councilor is overtly guilty in their own right, but when votes are 5-1 it is apparent that they are all complicit. To reiterate some of the comments we have heard in the past few weeks such as, “where were you when we began this process”, “we have instructed the city manager to do this”, “you can’t complain if you are not involved”, “we are the most pro-business council in years” and the worst of all has been the attitude of three councilors. As far as I have been taught, there are no dumb questions, and it is never too late for a citizen to question government. Whether at the second hour or the 11th it is your duty City Councilors to listen, be humble and to make every citizen feel welcome to make a comment. A couple of the council men have totally and utterly failed to pass this test, to the point of being rude and argumentative. This is unbecoming of a city servant and is completely uncalled for.
We were told by Councilor Hovey that two thirds of those he speaks with have told him to hold the budget and make the cuts to the departments and make the structural changes, such as a deputy city manager. This is where I question what math he is using. If we who have addressed the council only account for a third of the public sentiment, I would say that my schooling was inadequate in teaching proportions. I think if this is the case, then the two thirds are being strangely silent.
Actually, I have not heard of anyone either publicly or privately meeting, seeing, hearing or even over hearing anyone discussing anything that could be construed in any way, shape or form to say that anybody outside of the council supports this budget. In fact, most everyone I speak with wants it reversed and ask how do we recall the budget and the council and get new people.
You have really missed the mark on this one. The budget has caused Sgt. Seeley to be demoted to an open patrol officer position. The budget shows saving $60,000-plus by doing this, but in actuality the difference in salary is only $5,000 to $6,000, if the patrol position is left open. I question this idea of having less police in today’s environment when teen drinking and drugs are up, the breaking and entering due to the economic times and the need for speed enforcement in our downtown show a greater need in our police not less. If you want to balance the sergeant’s position, recall your order for iPads for the city council, it will balance this item. It is not right to demote a decorated officer and use the savings for iPads. I ask you to revisit this, it’s wrong.
Next you spent 10 seconds discussing the new community center conceptual design. We all agree that a new center of some sort is needed. But in the meetings I attended with all of you, the budget for it is something near $8 to $10 million, with our city portion nearly half of that. We can’t afford the blue recycle bags, so how on earth are we going to come up with this match? As economic times get better we may, but not in the near future.
You did not discuss allowing the leftover budget amount from the library project of nearly $40,000 to come back into the general fund to help budget items. What could this amount pay for? A plow driver, a patrolman, a firefighter all much more critical to our city than a design plan and some drawings. Reverse your decision, this is a lack of prioritization.
You have passed another rate increase to the garbage program which will affect every citizen and business. You have asserted that you are pro-business. Well if tripling the cost of trash removal to business, is pro-business, then please go back to being anti-business. This program does not work! It can’t and it won’t. Other communities have scrapped it, so get on it and get us something that works. A $400,000 loss should tell you something. We were told that 10 percent of the waste stream evaporated, it didn’t. It is in the woods near town, in fields or it is at people’s homes waiting.
Finally, the Fire Department resolution for 2013 reducing staff from four full-time firefighters per shift to three has a real consequence to every person in town. Your decision to do this will change our ISO 3 rating to ISO 6 or higher and will increase our property insurance rates by 12 to 14 percent as an estimate. When you combine the cost to every taxpayer it is more than what is saved by the cut. More importantly in this smoke and mirrors cost shift is that by paying extra insurance premiums we will still be paying more out of pocket, i.e. … you raised our taxes. If you had the foresight to just raise the mill rate it will cost us less per household and we would have our same great service from the department. Revisit this subject and remove your resolution.
I have heard from everyone I have had contact with in the past two weeks from the gas station attendant, to the waitress, to mechanics, from business owners and executives to friends and family that we cannot let these things stand. Pay heed to what two months of full council chamber meetings have told you. Not one person came to say good job. Not one.
If you will not take our opinions to heart then our next step is one that we have not seen in Presque Isle since the 1950s when the unresponsive council did not want to buy the former PI Air Force Base from the government. Business leaders and citizens went to city hall with petitions to remove the council if they didn’t buy the land. Today it is our industrial park, a good deed done.
The signatures of 700 Presque Isle voters are all that is needed to bring your budget to the citizens to have a referendum. We are told we have a month to gather the signatures, I doubt it would take a day. Get our house in order, we are counting on you.
Craig R. Green
Presque Isle
