Suggestions
While I can?’t claim to have all the information I need to make intelligent budget recommendations, where I work at, the foremost cost in the budget is manpower in the form of salaries and benefits. Perhaps it is time for the manager to take a critical look at her staffing numbers and assure that each and every employee has at least 8 hours worth of work every day. I believe that if you took a $30 K per year employee and count in the benefits, that employee may cost closer to $35-$40 K per year. Wouldn?’t $35 - $40 K applied to overtime for other employees where you don?’t have an increased cost of benefits help out some? The work would still get done although it might be in a 10 hour day or on Saturdays. I mean what do the parks employees do during the winter? Couldn?’t parks employees be seasonal with no benefits? I can?’t tell from the trucks they drive if the people are from the parks department or the service department, but in nearly all cases when I see them driving around there are always at least two in a truck. Now I know there are OSHA requirements and I wouldn?’t want to see anyone get hurt if the job they are performing requires a second for safety, but two to a truck or more at least looks like a heavy staff. Someone mentioned snow plowing. While I am one of the ones who truly appreciate the roads being cleared ASAP, there might be some wiggle room for when they go out and how much time they spend out plowing.
Other thoughts I have may seem like small potatoes, but if you look at where they plan to cut funding, like funding events, in some opinions that might also be small potatoes. Are all energy conservation methods known to cities being employed? Energy costs are soaring. What steps has the city taken to be much more conservative? Are there any state or federal programs in place that offer relief or rebates, for lack of better terms, to cities that change out their gasoline or diesel vehicles for flexible fuel vehicles? I realize that there is a depreciation period for the vehicles but are there incentives for alternate fuel adoption? Probably the most used vehicles are cop cars. Imagine the savings if they all got a few more miles to the gallon of whatever fuel they burn. Can all the fancy streetlights along Columbus Street and Hill Road be turned off after midnight?
I guess the way to approach answering this forum, since it seems to have stalled is to look around your house. If you had to save money, where would you look to? Maybe some of those savings measures would apply to the city. I know they read this website. Instead of all the petty bickering they do as reported in the papers, why not try to get along and look into the problems they are facing rather then calling people names like grandstanders or disingenuous. Shaver and Riggs really disappoint me in that they have become petty just like Sabatino, Wright and Parker choosing to point fingers and blame rather than working to solve problems. I thought Wright and Parker were gone but it seems like they have just been replaced.
Different names, different faces, same old game. Politics.
