Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Pickerington City Council is not ready to pass '06 budget
By TAMARIA L. KULEMEKA
The Eagle-Gazette Staff
tkulemeka@nncogannett.com
PICKERINGTON - Concerns raised over the 2006 budget prevented City Council from approving the $21.7 million budget Tuesday in what was supposed to be the last meeting of the year.
Three council members spoke out against certain budget items, questioning why the city is paying high amounts in legal fees and not paying down debt.

Pickerington is not the only city council to have issues raised over their upcoming budget. Lancaster City Council had to put an interim budget in place, because of carry-over discrepancies between the mayor and city auditor.
Pickerington councilman Brian Wisniewski, who was the first council member to voice concerns, requested a special meeting be called to review the budget.
''I'm very concerned that this is the second year in a row that we're not paying down any of our debt,'' Wisniewski said. ''I don't find that as an acceptable way to manage our resources. One year was fine - to get back on track and increase our carryover balance so it would help our bond rating, which is why we didn't pay any of our debt last year.''
The money that should've gone to paying off debt has been diverted to paying legal fees, said Councilman Bill Wright.
''We've spent over $2 million in legal fees in the past couple of years,'' Wright said. ''The city has gotten itself into creating policies that have put us in a position to defend those policies - specifically with the moratorium. It placed a halt on building which didn't do anything to slow building.''
The finance committee held at least four meetings and a work session to review the budget, said Heidi Riggs, council president and finance committee chairwoman.
''I'm not faulting anyone for bringing up issues,'' Riggs said. ''What frustrates me is we've been at this since September and we've had plenty of time to review it. My hope (next) Tuesday night is that council members who have issues with the budget will bring solutions.''
Riggs added that the city's debt is not something that was created over night, rather debt has built up from decisions made years ago.
''Now we're paying for it,'' she said. ''It will take time to put the city in the fiscal position that we want it to be in. That means paying our debt, generating revenue and providing excellent services to our citizens.
Mayor David Shaver didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of having another meeting with less than two weeks left in the year.
''To wait a week before Christmas to start tinkering with the budget, when there's been time (to review it) is interesting,'' Shaver said.
Originally published December 21, 2005

Hand in the piggybank?

Methinks they doth protest too much?…?…

Wow, where to start on this one. While three councilmen are reported to have spoken against the budget, only two are named. Bill Wright? Who cares? The reason there has been so much spent on legal fees is because of your negligence and bad decisions. You and your buddies. Brian W?

You go dude!

Now for Mrs. Riggs. Get a life.
Mr. Shaver? Get a clue.

Way too much whining and protesting on your parts. Is there something in there you?’re hiding? Is there something in there you don?’t think anyone found and now they might?

Did you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar?????

Bill's last gasp

I would caution anyone that is making conclusions from any newspaper article to be careful with your assessments. It appears the local media is dying for a story even if they must create one where there is none. I noticed when the Lancaster City Council voted themselves a raise last month the Eagle Gazette was out trying to get people to come in and protest. Apparently the citizens of Lancaster didn't bite on that one.

The fact that Brian Wisniewski raised some concerns about the budget and then to have the paper say he was the first one is a little misleading when one considers that this budget has been before the council for a couple of months now.

Then to quote Bill Wright on the amount the city is paying on lawyers because of why? Didn't he vote in favor of the 100 home moratorium in 2003? Didn't he and his council majority invite in all of those builders in March of 2003 to protest this damn moratorium he voted for? Wasn't the city sued in November of 2003 while Bill Wright was President of Council and Chairman of the Finance Committee? To now complain about the fees the city is paying to the lawyers is a cover-up in itself.

I also seem to recall that Bill tried to take credit for an agreement between the City and the Township and how he and Randy Hughes had worked so hard on this agreement. These agreements that appear to be leading to some relief in law suits and future cooperation are also being over looked by this fine news rag.

Mr. Wisniewski seemed to be concerned about not paying the city's debt principal. Bill Wright seemed to have an instant answer in that it was because of all the money was spent on lawyers the last couple of years.

Maybe if Mr. Wright and the majority on City Council in 2003 had did the proper studies and prepared to actually control the residential growth like so many people were demanding at the time the city would not be in this kind of predicament today.

What you all read in the Eagle Gazette this morning was the last dying gasp of the builders advocates on the Pickerington City Council. They didn't have a clue prior to 2004 on what was causing the overcrowding of our schools and they now want to steal the last parachute because the city appears to be in a financial nose dive trying to pull out of the massive problems caused by their neglect over the years. Come January, no one will care what Bill has to say.

Don't blame the coffee bean

The inability to resolve any budget issues cannot be blamed on Mike ''Java Bean'' Sabatino. Lynda Yartin continually fails in her task to include all the needed material in Mike's weekly council packet. I'm sure that this is merely a conspiracy on Lynda's part in an attempt to make Mike look stupid. And she's doing a TREMENDOUS job.

In fact... I'd be willing to bet the she's gonna do the same thing to Jeff ''I'm no Fox'' Fix.

Lynda, you certainly don't expect us to believe that Mike just doesn't read his material prior to any meetings, do you? Mike not being prepared to carry out the duties of the office in which he was elected? Oh, perish the thought!!!

By The Watcher