Jim O'Bryan wrote:Let's be honest, you have never seen a tax raise or a contract for someone else that you did not loathe at the mere mention of. You see no reason to raise any funds from the
public ever.
That's not accurate. I supported the last school levy. I supported the last bond issue for school construction. I also have told the Mayor that I would support a temporary .25% in income tax to fund development in Lakewood.
When Tom George was mayor I spent a lot of time trying to get the truth out about the fire department overtime abuse. It took months of effort to get information that was sitting on someones desk. I found that literally millions of dollars were wasted on unnecessary overtime. I also found that at one point the City had nearly 350 more employees than it does now. How much sense did that make? Where was council? Where was the Mayor? Where were the State auditors? Where was the media? Where were you?
You need people outside the system to watch the system.
By the way, I don't recall anyone telling the public that the board approved nearly $6 million in retirement bonuses. I felt more than a little betrayed. I would not have supported the levy if I new its true purpose was to create more pension millionaires.
We need an independent audit committee that is truly independent. At the minimum Woody Calleri should be on that board.
One of the first things on their agenda should be the current health insurance coverge for employees. $20,000 per year in premiums for a family policy? Really?
