A Failure Of Leadership
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 10/22/08 @ 10:21 pm - Filed Under Uncategorized
I would encourage everyone to read Mike Sylvester’s post regarding his meeting with mayor Henry this evening. Mike’s report is very troubling to me - particularly this comment from the mayor:
The Mayor feels that our City Council is the fiscal body of Fort Wayne and that if they want to cut the budget; they will have to cut the budget themselves.
The fact that the leader of our city would turn over the entire budget to part time legislatures is ridiculous. The council has already suggested that the city needs to trim $4.5 million from the budget. Now it’s up to the department heads and the other professionals within the administration to prioritize and come up with the specific cuts.
Remember when the mayor went around to the various neighborhood partnership meetings and asked everyone for their input on prioritizing city expenditures? The mayor showed up with different colored stickers and asked people to rearrange them based on where they wanted their money spent - the entire process was kindergarten-esque.
Where is the report from those meetings summarizing the recommendations? Of course there isn’t one because it was all about public relations and had nothing to do with serious discourse. At this point I think we should all ask the mayor, in our best Office Space impression, “What is it, you do here?” If he’s not willing to tackle an enormous looming financial shortfall like this then what good is he?
At least now the city council knows the mayor has no intention of cutting $1 from the budget - he told Mike Sylvester as much. The council needs to stop wasting everyone’s time by bringing various administration personnel to the table to discuss nickel-and-dime line items. The whole process is something that I’d expect to see at a PTA meeting where $50 in savings actually matters. What we need here is serious policy discussions on where to find the necessary cuts.
Clearly the city council is going to have to fill the leadership void left by the mayor’s office on this issue. At this point I’m not convinced the council has enough votes to cut $4.5 million from the budget and I think mayor Henry is counting on that. And just wait until the rest of the county residents who don’t reside in Fort Wayne learn that if the city council adopts an increase in the income tax then they will have to pay it too…
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4 Responses to “A Failure Of Leadership”
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Jeff,
I just wonder if Mike’s words would have been the same if he waited until Thursday morning to write his post? While I think it is nice for Mike to offer his services but see little in it…
I know what I would do if I was on Council. I would call Ms. Roller to the table and tell her that she has 30 seconds to decide to either go back to the Mayor for cuts or she will see the slice and dice with the “slugehammer.”
1- The Deputy Mayor’s spot would be gone.
Then I would ask her again if she would like to return to the 9th floor. Hearing she did not…
2- Admin Ast. slashed by two, one remaiing.
Then I would ask her again if she would like to return to the 9th floor. Hearing she did not…
3- Area Advocates cut by two, two remaining.
Then I would ask her again if she would like to return to the 9th floor. Hearing she did not …
4- City Services Specialists cut three, three left.
Then I would ask her again if she would like to return to the 9th floor. Hearing shd did not …
5- Associate Attorney cut one, one left.
Then I would ask her again if she would like to return to the 9th floor. Hearing she did not …
Then I would start moving down through other departments and chopping heads. All the time I would be asking Ms. Roller how much money where we saving. I would gut the 9th floor before I even considered looking at Fire, Police, Parks, and so forth.
What a gutless lack of leadership by the Mayor.
Of course Pape will say let us get some new tax money. The people are not hurting and they want to see their taxes go up. They are proud to pay higher taxes. I wonder how many other council members will chime in on how AMERICANS LOVE TO PAY HIGHER TAXES?
I would caution Mayor Henry and City Council members that Harrison Square will not be a memory by the time they decide to run again. By then people are going to know what this is going to cost them over the BS that they spoon fed them earlier.
The high fiving and self back slapping of the opening of PARKVIEW FIELD will have worn off and the attendance will be less then 2,000 paid per game. The financial drain will be on.
So Mayor show you have no guts for 2009 or 2010 and you will be taking a hike to your 2nd floor Condo in 2011.
J.Q. Taxpayer
Of course my post would have been the same Thursday morning…
Mike
The mayor knows from his days as a part of a rubber-stamp council that this council won’t behave any differently.
During the Helmke administration, the county option tax was maxed out. Stormwater and garbage taxes were introduced. Then-councilman Henry went along with all of that. If he is going to follow the Helmke model, tax increases are inevitable.
[...] - something that is not going to happen. The mayor was also angling to increase the income tax but did not bother to suggest a single additional cut to his own flat budget. After weeks of discussion the city [...]