Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Eastside Messenger

Pickerington spars over Fourth of July costs

(by Rachel Scofield, Staff Writer - May 07, 2009)

In today's economy, $12,000 can be better spent than on Fourth of July festivities, Councilman Brian Wisniewski argues.

''There are far more important things this $12,000 can be spent on outside of a one-day event and literally sending the majority of the money up in smoke,'' Wisniewski said at the May 5 Pickerington city council meeting.

It would cost the city $12,000 to contribute to a joint Independence Day celebration with Violet Township.

Last fall, after voters rejected a proposed income tax increase, the council nixed the festivities to balance the budget, but Councilman Brian Sauer never agreed with the decision.

Sauer asked the Violet Township trustees to donate half of the $24,000 cost for fireworks, a parade and a carnival. By reducing the amount of money budgeted for staff training, Sauer found the funding for the city's portion.

The council approved the first of three readings to reinstate the celebration with Council Members Cristie Hammond and Keith Smith joining Wisniewski's opposition.

''Priorities were set and we simply could not fund everything that we had in the past, so to say 'we can afford to pay for the Fourth of July celebration' is in fact robbing Peter to pay Paul,'' Wisniewski said.

In addition to the Independence Day festivities, the council cut many other items from the budget including snow plowing and support for the Violet Festival.

''Now we find ourselves revisiting these decisions because one council member wasn't willing to let his pet project die,'' Wisniewski said. ''And just because the budget was re-worked and staff training was cut by $12,000 does not mean we have to have the 'spend it if we've got it' mentality.''

Smith said the city must prioritize its decisions.

''It is short-sighted to cherry-pick the budget and not look for other (items to support such as) snow plows a

Patriotic continued

''My reasoning behind the $1,500 is to allow for a scaled-back celebration in the form of a parade,'' Wisniewski said. ''This funding is to pay for any police overtime as well as the parade coordinator, shirts, trophies, etc. Since our city manager already informed the schools that the parade is going to occur and they are making plans to march, I feel we shouldn't rescind this.''

With the remaining $10,500, the council could purchase a new police dog, Wisniewski said.

The department's previous dog, Zar, retired in September 2006 after nearly nine years of service and 550 investigations, Wisniewski said. A police dog can find a hidden suspect without placing the human officers in danger.

''I totally agree a drug dog is a high priority,'' Councilman Jeff Fix said. ''(However) I think celebrating our country's birthday is a pretty big deal. Our situation is different, (the city's budget is) $100,000 ahead of what was projected last year. Things change. We need to support the Fourth of July.''

Councilman Michael Sabatino said the police department expected to cover the cost of the drug dog through community donations.

Police commander Steve Annetts said Chief Michael Taylor was ''still actively looking to get donations for a dog. He's just scratched the surface. I know people come up to me and ask how to give money to the dog. He is waiting to see how much the primary donor is going to donate (before accepting smaller donations), but nothing is guaranteed to come through.''

The expense would include the animal, plus training and equipping the K-9 patrol car.

Local veterinarian Jennifer Schoenfeld of All Pets, 573 Hill Road North, will donate her services, plus half of the dog's food, but the department would still be responsible for $300 per year, Annetts said.

''Any number of businesses would adopt that $300 per year,'' Sabatino said. ''If no one else, my coffee business (Coffee Man Beverages) will.''

''It's pretty sad to have the police chie

?“bombs bursting in air?”

It is interesting that young Mr. Sauer is using the patriotic argument to justify digging money out of the budget to fund the fourth of July fireworks. These public displays are fun to watch and ohh and auh at all of the beautiful colors that explode from the sky. I suspect the fireworks are a symbol of the national anthem where the author viewed the bombing of the capital in the war of 1812. Clearly these fireworks do remind some of us of that battle and that time but do these politicians really view it that way? Most view them as an activity to take the kids to and a chance to sit in the lawn chair to watch and enjoy the evening. Clearly very few of us realize the truth of this symbolism. I guess if we all were to be given a couple of hours to dig a hole in the middle of a corn field and wait for the fireworks to begin knowing that they would lengthen the time on the fuses and that these explosives would be aimed at us then maybe then we could realizes what our solders have gone through to protect and defend this nation. Being close to the tools of war is not a pleasant experience. It is not fun and in fact it is very frightening. Those that have experienced this closeness to war are not always fond of fireworks or the affects it has on them.

What Sauer wants on the forth has nothing to do with patriotism. It is purely entertainment. Clearly he is trying to promote himself and his cooperation campaign with the township. Despite the township giving $12,000 they are not helping with the clean up and the police protection. If the city is so strapped then why spend this $12,000 no matter how patriotic or how cooperative it is? It is not as if the city will recover by next year without a tax increase. What does he plan for 2010? Maybe the township can come up with the entire $24,000 then. Maybe send some of its deputies in to help with the policing.

No; I fear the city will be in deeper then and more severe and deeper cuts will be occurring. Sauer has become a