It appears that Allentown City Council has produced a compromise budget that Mayor O'Connell can live with...It requires no pink slips. Although, a few proposed jobs will not be funded, and overtime allowances may be a little less than realistic, I expect O'Connell to allow council's budget to go into effect.
While both the mayor and council can claim a victory, there will be no such crowing from the taxpayers. However, the taxpayers already lost last November, when they reelected someone who had his eye on anywhere but Allentown. Pawlowski wanted to ride the NIZ's paper success out of town to a bigger job. When Harrisburg seemed a lost cause, he steered his election bus toward Washington. No tax hike was just another slogan for his political ambitions, but not a sound fiscal policy for the city.
Disclaimer: I did not attend the special session last night, or speak to any elected official. On this point I prefer not speaking directly to our officials. This way when I encounter them in public, they seem less betrayed by this blog's candor.
picture postcard of Allentown's new City Hall in 1962
Excellent observations! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSooner or later, Allentown is going to have its very own "C'mon, Please Please Please Give Me (replace Emmanuel Macron with name of current local Democrat Party mayor) Another Chance - I Totally Feel Your Pain & Anger" moment.
ReplyDeleteUntil such time, Forward To Victory, Comrades!
Sincerely,
ROLF OELER
The fact that the mayor and council even considered adding four new administrative positions in light if the grim fiscal situation demonstrates shear selfish, insensitive stupidity.
ReplyDeleteIt is not "responsible" to solve budget problems solely on the backs of taxpayers as Courtney, Candida and Ray proposed. It is in fact something else entirely.
ReplyDeleteFrom the original post:
ReplyDelete"It appears that Allentown City Council has produced a compromise budget that Mayor O'Connell can live with...It requires no pink slips."
Not only does the budget require no pink slips, city employees are getting raises while the taxpayers are getting a tax hike (which I suppose is the "political backside" referenced in the headline).
Wow, Council shaved a whole 1/4 mill off the tax hike. Am I supposed to feel like they actually did something here? If they were serious, they would have removed the raises.
I'm not for giving anyone pink slips either, but personnel costs are the main component of the budget. In addition to postponing the raises, there are certainly some political positions that should have been eliminated. In addition, Council could have eliminated currently vacant positions, and O'Connell can eliminate others as people retire.
Until a real Mayor and a real council get serious about getting personnel (and contract) costs under control, they will constantly be coming back to the taxpayers for more.
Unknown 1:53pm
ReplyDeleteExcellent response!!
"The Old Allentown Curmudgeon"....PJF