To the editor:
I’m happy to explain why I penned the resolution to restore the mayor's proposed cut of $950,000 (the $950k the School Committee voted unanimously to request), and to explain — once more — how this city has consistently and methodically underfunded its own school department; has annually failed to pay its share for even the salaries of the more than 800 women and men who serve its children every day; and has historically stood idle, watching buildings rot from within.
I plan to continue studying the budget the mayor has proposed. I wonder why, in the midst of a proposed tax increase and a proposed reduction in school requests, the mayor feels it is appropriate to propose raises for some of the most highly paid department heads in the state; and to introduce capital projects like an ice skating rink ($100,000); a "year-round" concession building supporting a carousel that is open only seasonally ($150,000); another soccer field ($150,000); and a pavilion/gazebo at Pierce Field ($75,000).
I wonder why it is appropriate, given the proposed tax increase, for the budget to include humongous year-on-year increases in police overtime (over $500k more than last year) and fire overtime (over $350k more).
I wonder why it is appropriate for the mayor to request tens of thousands of dollars in travel funds for city employees.
I look forward to hearing more about the mayor's plan to apply the more than $6 million remaining in the "Google Fund" for the intended purpose of supplementing our Police Department's needs with authorized expenditures that include vehicles and police overtime, as it has been applied in prior years.
I look forward to gaining answers to these questions, and many more.
And I look forward to working to ensure you — the taxpayers — get what you pay for: a functional City Government at a reasonable price.
Nathan Cahoon
City Councilor, Ward 3