Not to transmit an experience
is to betray it
Elie Wiesel
"Allen Johnson: I want my county government back
...As the News & Record's Joe Killian reported, County Manager Brenda Jones Fox more than once refused to tell county commissioners, who were members of the budget committee, the projected deficit when asked twice to do so.
"I want to know what our budget shortfall is," Commissioner Carolyn Coleman said. "How much are we needing to cut? I've been asking and asking for these numbers."
Fox wouldn't say.
Commissioner Kay Cashion also asked. "With respect, we just have to know where we are," Cashion said.
Fox glanced uncomfortably at Commissioners Chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston.
Then refused once more.
(Remind me, whom does she work for again?)
...Never mind that Fox theoretically serves at the pleasure of the entire board. Her real bosses appear to be Alston and commissioners Vice Chairman Steve Arnold.
The same Alston and Arnold who have conspired to run the county like a business -- their personal business. That means they'll tell us stuff that affects us if and when they're good and ready.
How the commissioners keep getting away with these shenanigans defies explanation.
...Going forward, this has to change. Once we were able to pry loose the information from the county, we were told the looming deficit could range between $20 million and $25 million.
We are not afraid to entrust the American people
with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies
and competitive values
For a nation afraid to let its people judge truth and falsehood…
is a nation afraid of its people
John F Kennedy
...But the commissioners repeatedly slam doors in the public's face on public matters.
Alston, Arnold and Fox are easy targets, but frankly, most of the blame lies elsewhere.
The current state of affairs in county government has been created mostly by the collective impotence of the other nine commissioners, who have voted in Alston and Arnold for two consecutive terms as chairman and vice chairman.
...by and large the commissioners don't see anything wrong.
Commissioner Linda Shaw said last week that Fox should have provided the information that Coleman and Cashion had requested.
Beyond that, it's a wonderful life. "I like the way things are going," Shaw said.
That's why, when the tea party holds its next rally in Greensboro, maybe it should aim some of its ire at Guilford County, where government decides what's right for us and when to tell us what it wants us to know.
That's downright un-American.
I want my county back."
Allen Johnson
Greensboro News & Record
Follow the money
Deep Throat
Watergate whistleblower
4 comments:
"I want to know what our budget shortfall is," Commissioner Carolyn Coleman said. "How much are we needing to cut? I've been asking and asking for these numbers."
When reporting the proposed $17 million in County cuts, please note the County achieves a "balanced buget" by spending $33 million of reserves down to the 8% reserve minimum in the general fund after blowing more than $43 the year before.
Next year the Federal Stimulus money runs out at the state level, and there will be no cushion at the local level.
That is a great way to get clipped, especially if something unforseen occurs, which seems to be happening more frequently lately.
I fear most don't know of the precarious financial position the county is proposing we create.
Let's not tow the misscommunication the county is spouting out saying we "only need" a $17 million cut.
The County's proposal is to spend more than $33 million more than it will recieve in tax revenues for 2010/11.
The question is whether this strategy is fiscally responsible. But you can't ask the question if no one knows what they are really intending to do.
"County Manager Brenda Jones Fox more than once refused to tell county commissioners, who were members of the budget committee, the projected deficit when asked twice to do so."
Is the projected deficit $17 plus $33 million = $50 million, if the county intends to cut $17 million and spend $33 million more than it recieves?
Did they day the deficit will be $17 million, or "cuts" would be $17 million?
"A budget deficit occurs when an entity spends more money than it takes in."
Wikipedia
"A budget deficit occurs when an entity spends more money than it takes in."
Wikipedia
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