Republican mayoral candidate Mary Alford issued this letter to voters:
8 million dollars! Scary number but what does it actually mean? There are a couple of things that come to mind.
1. Is revenue down 8 million? If so, we are in huge trouble.
2. Are expenses up 8 million? If so, why and in which departments?
3. What’s the makeup of that number?
Remember when we used $2.5 million dollars from the “Rainy Day Fund” to balance the budget, this year? The ink wasn’t even dry on the 2009-2010 budget when that came back to haunt the taxpayers of Bristol. Using that money didn’t balance anything. All it did was give us a base budget to build on that was already $2.5 million dollars more than the city had then. What about now? We have $5.5 million additional dollars of proposed spending. The Mayor and Board of Finance have requested that each department submit two additional sets of figures with 5% & 10% in cuts. Are they serious?
Let’s do the math. 5% of $8 million is $400,000.00. 10% of $8 million is $800,000.00.
That leaves the city with a 7.2 million dollar debacle.
Again, are they serious?
Why are these cuts being requested across the board? 10% may affect the budgets of some departments but it will devastate others, like the Senior Center, programs for our most at risk youth, our libraries.
Our real budget “crisis” is $2.5 million dollars that nobody wanted to deal with when it should have been dealt with. Anything over that is an insult to the taxpayers who pay the bills.
Procrastination, indecision and budgetary sleights of hand are all words that could be used to describe the current management style at City Hall. Does that come with a secret handshake?
I hope not!
City government, just like your household, needs to live with its means. We can no longer afford to put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today.
We need a new style of management in City Hall; a Mayor and City Council that can say No to reckless spending; a Mayor and City Council who realize that its citizens have a right to expect their hard earned dollars to be handled with care and integrity.
Our spending priorities need to be re-examined, to say the very least. Why are we talking about purchasing more properties for our Parks or purchasing unnecessarily expensive vehicles when our Park Department employees are mowing 700 acres of grass with 20 inch lawn mowers?
Have our city employees been consulted about how to curb spending? If not, why not? They are on the front lines every day, our boots on the ground, working to deliver the services we as candidates and elected officials promise to our citizens. Who better to ask for ideas?
We need new leadership at City Hall!
As this election winds down, I want every Bristol voter to know that the next two years will be as difficult as the last two years. With Congress and the State Legislature continually voting to increase the size of their massive deficits and the size and scope of government, our local communities will be the ones taking the brunt of it.
We need to take control of our own future. Let’s do it – together.
As you head to the polls on Tuesday, please remember that we cannot continue to elect the same people and expect different leadership...
Bristol needs new leadership and with your vote on Tuesday, I hope you will afford me the opportunity to provide you with the leadership I am advocating.
I hope to see you on Tuesday.
Sincerely,
Mary Alford
Republican Candidate for Mayor
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
31 comments:
Pardon the pun, but Mary is a day late and a dollar short.
No she is honest, and trustworthy, which Ward has proven he is not. Mary has my vote.
Mary,
I think you're looking at the cuts wrong. Instead of looking at the overage, the request was to have submissions for 5% & 10% cuts from each function respectively.
Even if you delve into the proposed numbers, at a rudimentary high level, you'd see that it is possible to cut the deficit by approximately 8million with a 5% cut from each function:
My table probably won't come across very clean, but you should get the idea that it is feasible if these cuts are enacted.
Function Budget Cut 5% Cut 10%
General Gov't 6,237,373.00 311,868.65 623,737.30
Public Safety 21,592,561.00 1,079,628.05 2,159,256.10
Public Works 13,262,106.00 663,105.30 1,326,210.60
Health & SS 3,065,353.00 153,267.65 306,535.30
Libraries 2,158,445.00 107,922.25 215,844.50
Parks 2,410,898.00 120,544.90 241,089.80
Education 104,574,725.00 5,228,736.25 10,457,472.50
Total 153,301,461.00 7,665,073.05 15,330,146.10
5% cut = ~$7,665,073
10% cut = $15,330,146
Hopefully this is just an honest mistake....
Mary Dear,
Believe me when I say that we're already really, really focused on our budget woes. Once again, you've missed the bus...
Ward has my vote.
Mary, the time to bring this up was during your Eggs & Issues debate(?) or were you afraid that you would need to know what you were talking about?
Just more proof that the Republican's cannot produce a viable candidate.
10:48 I think you need to take out the Education Budget because they are their own entity and the Council and Mayor have no real say in their budget. So I think Mary was going after the things she does have control over if she was mayor.
11:05 YOU are really focused on our budget woes, but how come we are yet to hear any solutions or have any idea how we are doing so far this year??
GOP Stunts: How come the Mayor did not bring this up at the same debate? Was he afraid of the public knowing the truth?
12:17 - questions from the debate were asked by the Chamber of Commerce, not the candidates. Why hasn't Mary made this an issue before, wannabee and company didn't tell her to do it?
Elect Mary and moccabee will finally get what he couldn't get on his own - inside city hall.
12:17 PM
This is an issue that has been discussed and re-discussed ad-nausium. The question isn't about coming to grips with "living within our means" but how and where we are going to do it.
Proving once again the Republican party is all about being lectured to live within our means from people who have enough money to never worry about that.
Honest, trustworthy, OK
Aware of and understanding of the way the city operates, NO.
Dependent on Mocabee and BArnes, shamefully YES.
Didn't get the right people to advise her, which is a bad trait for a manager.
Schafrick = too stupid to put together or understand this info.
Mocabee = I don't think he's take the time to produce this.
Barnes = too busy counting his own money (and alimony)
Could these be Stortz stats?
A vote for Ms. Alford is a vote for those pulling her strings.
2:31; what stats are you referring too?
Where the Republican party, and Cockayne, been the past 6 months?
Kenny has access to all the information, does he share it, does he understand it?
Too little too late!
3:09, Everyone knows that Kenny is a one man show.
SJ,Thats funny how you have to spell it out for someone who is suppose to be running our city. 10 percent is only 800,000 freaking hilarious hopefully her book keeping was a little better than that statement made it look.
Mary, your numbers and explanation are somewhat inconsistent. Not clear that you fully grasp the situation.
Suggest that you dig a little deeper, and talk with someone that understands it all so that you do not embarass yourself.
Yes ANon:
In this town all we can do is lecture on how we would do things until we can actually get some people with the odds stacked against us at 2/3 to 1.
Christ, unlike Obama who keeps blaming everything on GW., at what point do you stop and take accountability for your actions. This council can't do that, we haven't had a majority in a long long time and yet everyone bitches and moans, I hope the town burns down to the ground when they see how much taxes are going to go up
she attended how many meetings of the finance board when they were addressing the budget? it definately shows the ignorance resulting from lack of participation.
get involved mary, if you ever want credibility.
11:05 am,
If Mary missed the bus you're driving regarding the fact that you are already really focused on budgetary woes.... then I say thank god she did and I think you better have good collision coverage on that donkey cart.
2:08 AM, Mary not only missed the bus, she missed the boat, train, plane...
I'm not too worried about collision insurance as long as Mary's not the one driving the cart.
don't worry Mary, we understand how difficult it is to have an idea on the budget if you have never even opened up to see the first page.
11:04
You have no one but the Republicans to blame for not having more success, including a majority.
I am convinced that the Power Brokers are actually afraid to win, because then they would have to be held accountable, for the performance of the winner, or for the policies that they force on the person whose strings they pull.
They are more interested in the politics and favoritism than they are in managing the city in a better fashion.
Attended any BOF meetings since she announced?
Mary, you blew it.
I've worked for the city for over 25 years, and Bill stortz was the most knowledgable elected official regarding the budget that I ever saw.
Apparently you didn't call on him for help, because if you did, you wouldn't have made the mistakes you did.
Art doesn`t understand it at all that`s because he trust klocko do do all his work for him. He has every one doing his work for him at city hall just ask around. Mary has my Vote
If Mary missed the bus Then Art never got of the train.This town can`t keep going backwards,Vote for Mary!
Mary, the budget is not 8 million dollars.
Glad you are not my bookkeeper!
"Art doesn`t understand it at all that`s because he trust klocko do do all..."
Actually, I'm having a little trouble understanding you 7:45, but now that you mention it, I do smell do-do wafting over from your direction! :~D
7:35 did you just get home from the BAR.
Yah 5:49 AM, I just got home from the bar...at 7:35 in the morning (whatta putz). You're the one who seems to have trouble expressing a coherent thought...ewwww, there's that smell again! LMFAO!
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