Veterans and Police and Fireman have alot in common. Loyalty, courage, and a huge aptitude and profile for serving and protecting.
After watching the City Council Study session this afternoon and some the heart wrenching testimony about the City budgetary plan to lay off Police and Fire, I am incensed at the lack of creativity and the absence of loyalty and courage to serve and protect the public. This is the best solution at hand? God save us.
One thing you cannot levy against the military is superfluous behavior. We have so many superfluous organizations in this city that are akin to protected classes that it is a crime to even think of cutting Police and Fire.
If a municipality is sinking, do you really need an Economic Development budget? Is not a safe and protected City a form of economic development? Is not the superfluity of some of these near frivolous and unaccountable organizations a travesty in the face of a budgetary crisis?
To what end does the Downtown Tucson Partnership serve at this time? Can they not be disbanded along with the improvement district and allocate those monies to basic services while we recover? Is anything less not a form of financial malfeasance?
I heard the City Manager. for whom I have great respect, indicate that selling off excess land is a long term solution, not short term. I would like to see this elaborated upon with some good journalism in our morning daily. “We need to leverage those properties for future development,” said the city manager Mike Lechter. I heard that mantra 19 years ago when I served on the City Budget Advisory. Leverage for whom, I now ask? Show me the leverage.
Why not renegotiate the sale-leasebacks of our City municipal buildings that are enriching private investors? Anonymous ones, mind you. We have investors making sweet returns while the Titanic slips.
So a veteran might say, “When the hill is being overrun you don’t plan a USO show.” That would be TREO. Why are they not laid off during this crisis as opposed to the police and fireman who are the real Tucson?
My anger lies in the fact that , no less than 2 months ago , the city manager declared that things were fine. Today we find ourselves at the end of the financial road and still money is being squandered on projects that benefit very few. This is not the time to be playing favorites with tax payer money, although it seems to be “in vogue” to (pay off ) your supporters. In my own opinion, the city manager and his newly hired help, all need to be fired for “dereliction of duty”.
Didn’t the voters just turn down a ballot proposition to raise money for police services? Was this general operating funds or money targeted for a specific use?
Here in AZ, we have the “perfect storm”, budget wise, going on. Years of “don’t tax me, let’s depend on never-ending growth” and now the recession together are going to hurt.
Let’s lay-off all these cops who seem to hang-out at the local Dunkin Donuts. They seem to be doing nothing but wasting tax payers money.
“All concession behavior happens at deadlines” Therefore, departments and agencies wait for the fire.