The Brattleboro Selectboard held a meeting Tuesday evening with a single issue on the agenda – the rejection of the FY15 budget by voters at the recent special referendum. The board disagreed with one another and with those attending over the precise meaning of the vote and, therefore, what to do about it. Some heard a cry for drastic action while others heard a request to simply reign in the facility renovations.
One thing, however, seemed quite clear to everyone: there will be no new $9 million bond for the Police and Fire facility project in the fiscal 2015 budget.
How The Selectboard Views The Recent Vote
Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein began by saying that any time the voters at large overturn a decision of Representative Town Meeting, it is a big deal.
He said that the rejected budget was a “business as usual” budget with all services and projects continuing forward. Its rejection, to him, indicated that 770 voters didn’t want the tax rate to go up by as much as what was approved a few weeks earlier at Representative Town Meeting.
“I personally believe the way to proceed is to work towards a new budget in the range of zero to 4 cents increase,” he said. “I’m not prepared to vote for a nickel and dime approach We need significant changes to the budget.”
Procedurally, he said, another Representative Town Meeting will be called to vote on the new budget. He estimated the date could be in late May or early June for the new meeting and said there would be time for another petition and challenge before the end of this fiscal year June 30.
The Selectboard would like to have an approved budget before the new fiscal year begins.
Gartenstein said that he and the board would create a list of suggestions for Town staff to review before making new budget decisions.
First on his list was the Police and Fire project. He proposed taking out the proposed payments on a second, $9 million bond for the project for FY15, adding that it was hard to predict the impact of such a move.
“Anyone who says we can fix health and safety issues for $5 million deceives themselves,” said Gartenstein.
But that wasn’t his big issue. Dropping the $9 million bond payments would only save about $261,000 next year, he explained, and said that the board would need to make substantial cuts, and no business as usual.
He proposed cutting two full-time positions at the Library and two full-time positions from Recreation & Parks. He suggested cutting the position of animal control officer, eliminating sidewalk plowing, disbanding the Human Services Committee and passing all requests through the Selectboard (with an aim to eliminate Town funding altogether), and eliminating some traffic safety devices from the budget.
“We can’t add a new skatepark facility until we can pay for necessary, core emergency services,” he added.
He said that this was where to start on the new budget.
David Schoales disagreed, saying that the vote was about the Police and Fire project. “I can’t draw other conclusions from the vote.”
He said he wouldn’t support any staff or service cuts. “Right now I see no outcry to stop plowing sidewalks or reduce employees.” He moved that the discussion be limited to the Police and Fire project and to take the talk of cuts off the table. “WE don’t need to put anyone through that anxiety.”
Schoales said he was optimistic other revenue generating methods would get started.
Donna Macomber said the vote had been sobering. She said she was against cutting staff, except for animal control, and was against cuts at the library or in recreation.
Macomber said people were concerned about the tax rate, and that she thought the vote was about the size and scope of the Police and Fire project. She said she recognized how long the improvements had been requested, but also that “it needs to be discussed until people have nothing left to say about it.”
She said that decisions about changes to the Police and Fire project should be made by department heads, and not the board. “They need to have the ultimate decision making power given what the town allots them.”
Kate O’Connor shared a list of items she had been told or emailed since the vote, from cutting back on plowing to closing the library, eliminating the Recreation & Parks department, and combining work of multiple offices into fewer.
She said she agreed with Gartenstein that the $9 million bond would go away, but that more was needed. “We need to get this to a zero increase in property taxes,” she said. “We need to cut nearly a million dollars from the budget and we can’t do that without cutting staff and programming.”
She said she didn’t take pleasure in cutting that million dollars,”but people are saying property taxes are too high.”
John Allen agreed with Gartenstein and O’Connor. He said he felt everything needed to be on the table now, and that he thought people are saying they can’t afford taxes. He questioned whether a small turnout was representative of the town, and said he was ticked off by those who didn’t vote.
His goal, Allen explained, was to get to zero after hearing the voters.
Gartenstein said Allen was being dismissive of the democratic process, even if it was a low turnout. “I will say the democratic process works.”
Allen’s ideas for the budget differed from the others. He suggested that the town do the Central Fire facility completely. “Finish it nuts to bolts,” he said, explaining that the extra property had been bought and the plans are just about ready to go. “We can’t do these piecemeal.”
His second suggestion was to close the West Brattleboro station and use it for equipment storage, possibly eliminating one firefighting position.
If those items alone didn’t reduce the budget enough, he’d then look at personnel, sidewalk plowing, animal control, the library, Recreation & Parks, Human Services, Pay As You Throw, and possibly a single-stream waste system.
Schoales said that Allen’s plan would require layoffs. Gartenstein warned that completing the Central Fire facility could end up costing over $7 million.
Interim Town Manager Patrick Moreland chimed in to request that the board create a single list of agreed issues for he and his staff to work on for them. He also requested they suggest a dollar amount or state a tax increase limit so that they could see if the proposals meet the goal.
Moreland suggested the board ask the architect and project manager about the feasibility of addressing health and safety issues.
Finance Director John O’Connor added to the list of ways to possibly save money and reduce taxes. He said a line item for sidewalk repair could be adjusted downward, as there would be money carrying over, unspent, from this year.
He said the town could replace a single $41,000 police cruiser rather than two in FY15, and that there might be ways to reduce the amount budgeted for overtime.
Kate O’Connor added looking into reduced work weeks, from 40 to 36 or 32 hours. “We need to get at the staff cut issue, but I’m not sure what we’re asking.”
John Allen asked if his fellow board members agreed on the goal, percentage-wise. “I’m at zero.”
Gartenstein said it was premature to set a specific goal. The disruption in municipal services as a result of a zero cent tax rate would be astonishing,” he said. “We need to look at what the cuts add up to before locking in.”
Allen said he wasn’t asking for them to lock in, but just “to get a feel for what we’re shooting for.”
Macomber warned the board not to over-react to the feedback. “A zero increase has some pretty dire consequences for the town, and is not in our best interest.”
She said the message was clear that taxes are a problem, but cautioned not to make cuts that compromise living in the community.
Schoales said setting a percentage was an easy way out, and wasn’t getting at making the hard choices about getting the best services rather than just meeting a target. He suggested removing budget items that we can most easily do without.
Gartenstein said there were none, and asked if any of the many town department heads wanted to speak. They didn’t. He then opened it up to members of the public.
The Public’s View
Steve Minton said that it was important to understand the motivation for the vote. “What’s the history behind this unprecedented event?” He said there could be a big problem at the next Representative Town Meeting without proper understanding.
“This isn’t about cutting the library and slipping on streets,” he explained. He said the vote was about buying a Cadillac when we can only afford a Chevy, and that the budget would not have been rejected had the Police and Fire project been excluded. “This vote was about too large of an expenditure.”
Minton urged the Selectboard to step back, think about democracy, and “don’t punish the voters.”
George Reed-Savory disagreed. He said people were angry and scared of losing their houses. He said the experience of being in Brattleboro could alter, but losing a home here could not. He felt the Police and Fire project gave people an opportunity to express that greater concern.
“As a town representative,” he admitted, “they are mad at me for letting it pass through.”
He suggested going through Police and Fire contracts while looking at ways to save personnel costs, especially their retirement plans. “No one wants to go after the library,” he said. “Everyone needs to be in on it.”
Judy Davidson said she thought the vote was mostly about the Police and Fire project. “It was the realization that we can’t do it all at the same time.”
She said she appreciated the board not taking the second bond and looking at what the $5 million will buy us. “Don’t overreact by cutting everything,’ she warned. If there had to be cuts, she hoped they would be even-handed. “The Library and Recreation & Parks don’t need to bear the brunt,” she said.
Davidson liked Allen’s plans for West Brattleboro, and again asked the board not to overreact.
Lynn Russell said she appreciated the willingness not to take out the second, $9 million bond. Rather than cut positions, she suggested perhaps staff would agree to decreasing wages to keep everyone employed. “I wonder if that generosity, loyalty, and community might serve us?”
She suggested the school and selectboard members return their compensation for the year.
Spoon Agave said he felt that aiming for a zero percent rise in budget might put the second vote at risk. “It seems like an overreaction.” He said the public simply wants a strong signal that the board is rethinking spending and will be more inclusive getting ideas from the community.
“There are so many ideas out there,” he said, ”of reducing budgets, raising revenue, and developing a vision for the town. This is all about changing the way we ordinarily do business.”
Agave said a budget increase in the 3-4 cent range would be the signal to the voters that the Selectboard is listening and responding. “They don’t necessarily want dramatic cuts,” he said. He thought they should “put something forward that shows you listen, and limits the increase” while giving the board more time to work in the coming year.
Michael Bosworth said he met with about 30 West Brattleboro homeowners, many of whom had modest homes and were struggling to make ends meet. He said most thought the Police and Fire project was something we couldn’t afford all at once. Only a few mentioned cutting any town services.
Bill D. agreed that the board should not overreact. He said people liked the library and needed sidewalk plowing. He said the Police and Fire facility was what the vote was about, and felt the town should get more help from colleges and high school students rather than pay for architects and planners at high rates.
“Don’t overreact,” said John Carter, agreeing that the vote was mostly about the Police and Fire project. He said the board was thinking like administrators, but that they were politicians. “You can go door to door and convince voters to vote for the next budget. Campaign for it.”
Dora Bouboulis said that Police and Fire project is out of scale for the size of our community, and that it follows on the heels of big high school and waste water treatment plant projects.
She said the community was becoming unaffordable, there were many houses on the market, and that values were dropping. “It all spirals. It all has to be considered.”
Bouboulis said that projects of this scale should always come before a town-wide vote. “If everyone votes on it, everyone knows, and common sense returns.”
Wrapping Up
David Gartenstein read a list of all the suggestions he had heard during the meeting:
- excluding the $9 million bond
- eliminating the animal control position
- 1 or 2 full time positions at the Library
- 1 or 2 full time positions at Recreation & Parks
- sidewalk plow elimination
- elimination of traffic safety devices
- reducing sidewalk capital
- buying just one cruiser
- looking at cuts in each department
- looking at reductions in overtime pay
- reducing work week hours
- disbanding the Human Services Committee
- the skatepark
- PAYT
He added that a general look at the Police and Fire project including closing the West Brattleboro station, reducing fire staff, just doing Central Station, and just doing life safety issues were also on the list.
Minken asked why the board was jumping to cutting staff when many at the meeting said “don’t overreact.”
“What was the damn vote about?” he continued. “You’ve heard all this and are back to what you are going to cut. Now it is anti-democratic again. The issue is the Police and Fire project.”
He said he could make a zero percent budget “but that’s not governance.”
Gartenstein disagreed, saying that the town’s authority to tax and fund operations will end on June 30 “and we need to have a budget.” He said the board needed to look at everything so they could determine what to adopt or reject at their next meeting.
Kate O’Connor said people disagree about what the vote signified. Some, she said, say it was about the Police and Fire project; others say it is the property tax. O’Connor felt the board was being responsible by looking at the wider view.
Jane Southworth said that it was time for the public to work with the board to refine the budget. “It is our responsibility if we have these concerns, and not let you go off.” She hoped the public and the board could join together to solve the problem rather than doing something shotgun.
Arlene Distler said that property taxes and the Police and Fire project are linked issues. She wondered if Town Meeting Representatives could reconsider the 1% local options tax, or borrowing from a rainy day fund.
Gartenstein said others could ask for issues to be on the warning.
Agave reminded the board that their responsibility was to present a budget, but that nothing dictated what process they should use to create one. “Don’t feel confined to the same process you’ve always used. Invite anyone to help you, or not. You only have to get to a budget that feels right by June.”
Bosworth suggested they consider a four day work week. “People generally like it.”
Russell said she thought the board should let the voters weigh in on the Police and Fire project. “You could give the voters the opportunity.”
Macomber said she has heard the “clear request that we do not overreact.” She said we need to do something different to come up with a livable solution, and asked voters to trust the board.
Gartenstein said business was no longer as usual. “We’re taking a wider view to look at the alternatives,” he said.
Moreland confirmed the information he would be gathering, and asked again if the board would want to hear from the architect or project manager. Gartenstein said he could summarize their assessment.
As for the Police and Fire project itself, Gartenstein said that the town should suspend work for the short term, but that an executive session would be required as it was a contract matter to discuss.
The next budget meeting will be Tuesday, April 29, at 6:30 p.m. in the Selectboard meeting room.
The skatepark
“We can’t add a new skatepark facility until we can pay for necessary, core emergency services,” he added.
Is this his back-door method of axing the skatepark project altogether? Need he be reminded that the skatepark is slated to be built entirely with funds raised from donations? No taxpayer dollars funding it?
Not to worry
It’s just a wounded Gartenstein’s knee jerk attempt to inflict pain
Wasn't the animal control
Wasn’t the animal control officer’s position eliminated some time ago?
And didn’t the voters already reject PAYT?
I find it hard to believe that the 5 million dollars we are already committed to wouldn’t go a long way in fixing some of the safety hazards in the police fire stations? Crumbling stairs,mold, whatever the immediate health and safety issues are could surely be addressed -at least in part -with 5 million dollars. And, yeah..isn’t one new police car better than 2 new police cars?
Sounds like there are some ways to reduce costs without firing people or closing down entire departments.
animals and trash, and skateparks
They didn’t say outright, but the impression was the animal control position was currently vacant, and the suggestion was to eliminate it going forth. It’s an easy position to lay off, as there is no person there.
PAYT was rejected by voters, but the state is mandating some changes to waste management that will bring a form of it back in the next year or so.
JB – only Gartenstein mentioned not adding new infrastructure to the municipality until the core infrastructure could be maintained. This, one would assume, save some small, unspecified amount of maintenance costs down the road after the skatepark is built. Perhaps the proper skatepark response is to add a Friends of the Skatepark component to the plan, to raise additional funds for maintenance after it is built.
Impressive meeting
I found this meeting to be impressive. Impressive in that the Selectboard has now given themselves and the public permission to put everything, however painful, on the table for budget discussions. It’s a breakthrough.
It may have been that the Selectboard was waiting for permission from voters to start this conversation. They certainly have been hinting at these things for a while. The recent vote seemed to release the proverbial dam, letting everything spill out. It’s the start of a long overdue, and potentially healthy, discussion we need to have. It will continue past whatever short term budget fix is proposed, too, I think.
I’d add the parking system into the mix for discussion. The expenses barely cover the costs, and it isn’t beloved like the Library or Parks. Selling off the parking garage and dropping parking enforcement would both net us $ and savings. It might boost downtown traffic to shops and restaurants if we dropped parking fees and fines.
You would have the problem of
You would have the problem of people taking advantage of “Free Parking” to no end tying up much needed parking spaces in town for hours on end for their own purposes, especially near Post Office and side streets now metered. Just posting 15 min parking without enforcement won’t be enough to keep people honest sorry to say. I do agree we should unload the parking garage with stipulations though.
parking costs
When I first began living in Bratt, nearly 50 yrs ago, there were various lots where one could park for free. Like many other people, I tended to park in one & then do all my errands on foot. As the town began converting more spaces to metered parking, they found quite a bit of cash coming in as a consequence & seemed to wax increasingly enthusiastic about metering yet more space.
Most ibratt readers are well aware of the decades-long campaign to build a parking garage. It seems that it is only since that unattractive lump was installed that I have heard that parking system costs eat up all or most of the income. Aside from giving in-town residents a safe place to park overnight during winter, I’m not sure how much good it does. I would be interested in an analysis of garage & other parking costs & revenue; how would unloading the sb’s beloved garage affect parking finances? Intuitively, it seems like a good idea, but I’m sure there are many factors I’m not aware of. Looking seriously & systematically at things like this, along with the many items listed by eschmitt in another post, would be more useful than instantly leaping to a proposal to off the library & parks, departments that actually serve the taxpayers.
Projects
I have to add that I like John Allen’s suggestion of completing Central Fire fully. If we do that and follow his suggestion of closing West B’s station, we have a single, more manageable project left – police renovations.
Also, in the category of revenue-generation, George Harvey’s energy generation suggestion of a week or so ago sounded like a good one to start working on. Another would be community broadband. Both would potentially lower consumer costs, create good jobs, increase the cash in the local economy, and free us from reliance on others.
Ideas!
All good suggestions.
Municipalities are investing in Renewable Energy to offset purchased costs and finding they have surplus to sell.
Here’s an example of what IS being done:
A small California county has become the first in the state to produce more power from solar panels than it uses.
“Christian Science Monitor”
California is known for being a leader in solar energy, but a small county in Northern California has taken things a step further. It has become the first county government in the state to not only zero-out its electric bill with renewable energy, but also to become grid positive. Yolo County (population 200,000), just west of Sacramento County, now produces 152 percent more energy from solar panels than it uses.
“I had to look for a way to do a zero-capital investment because we didn’t have any capital funding,” “It had to pay for itself the very first day.”
Yolo County installed a 1-megawatt solar power system at the Yolo County Justice Campus in the county seat, Woodland. Yolo County owns the system and associated renewable energy credits, and financed the purchase using multiple funding sources, including a $2.5 million loan from the California Energy Commission, and clean renewable energy bonds and qualified energy conservation bonds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The system produced $162,000 the first year of operation, and is predicted to earn the county $10 million over the first 25 years.
In 2013, the county installed three more arrays totaling 5.8 MW of power as part of its County Wide Solar Project. These projects also were installed with no upfront capital investment. In partnership with the Yolo County Office of Education, the county secured $23 million in qualified zone academy bonds (QZAB).
The projects not only eliminated the county’s electric bill, but also earned just under $500,000 the first year. The county sells electricity to PG&E for 10-cents/kilowatt hour, although when its 20-year FiT contract is over, that price might rise
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2014/0417/How-a-California-county-produces-more-power-than-it-uses
This just in...
Tyler Excavating has begun tearing down the former laundry building behind the Firehouse at Elliot and Elm
Correction
It’s actually Elliot and Church
Does that have some bearing
Does that have some bearing on the town budget – isn’t that private property?
It’s good that it’s being torn down – that place was a pit.
I wonder what will be built there?
Town Property
Recently purchased, and part of the plan to renovate the Fire House. A new structure is to be built here.
Ah, thanks for clarifying
Ah, thanks for clarifying that. Interesting that the work is proceeding with the budget /funds in limbo. In your previous post I thought you were referring to the laundry at Elm & Elliot – which has been vacant for some time.
Coin-op Laundry -Elm & Elliot
That building is under new ownership. The new owner’s first move was to erect a barrier so nobody could use his parking lot. Then he put on a new roof. Now, there’s “artwork” in the windows so you can’t see what’s going on.
Whatever’s going on, it’s moving very slowly. It’s very rare to see anybody there.
Who's in charge?
This infuriates me.
With the budget being voted down and the financial future of Brattleboro unknown I’d have thought that the Board or the acting Town Manager or whoever(?) would have ordered a complete halt to the police and fire project until we had a new and approved budget.
Instead it looks like business as usual and that they have to spend the $5M so they can come back looking for more should it be decided to do only the health and safety concerns at this time.
The board needs to face the reality that the budget vote was against the police/fire project and stop wasting time trying to penalize the Library and Rec Dept along with other possible cuts. Thats not to say that I believe there isn’t waste in town as there is but it can’t all be done in one week. For years people have complained about tax increases yet the budget has never, as far as I know, been voted down. It was the cost of the police and fire project that broke the camels back and the board should admit it so we can all move on and get Brattleboro back on track.
May 29 update
Demolition was suspended last Friday and hasn’t restarted.
Yesterday, all the equipment departed.
"No outcry to stop plowing sidewalks or reduce employees"
The most sane, clear headed comment was from David Schoales.
“David Schoales disagreed, saying that the vote was about the Police and Fire project. “I can’t draw other conclusions from the vote.”
He said he wouldn’t support any staff or service cuts. “Right now I see no outcry to stop plowing sidewalks or reduce employees.” He moved that the discussion be limited to the Police and Fire project and to take the talk of cuts off the table. “WE don’t need to put anyone through that anxiety.”
Meaningful questions
All this much needed discussion got me thinking:
Are we starting to not be able to afford government? Tortured syntax there, I know, but you get the idea. Can people with basically flat incomes afford to pay more across the board for everything year after year? Keep in mind that once the budget is set and the tax rate established, those costs become fixed. The property owner has no control over them. Pay or sell. It’s never occurred to me that there could be a time when regular people could not afford basic services. But with personnel costs through the roof and things like new buildings costing many millions of dollars, we might be at that threshold.
Another question that I’ve heard asked is why we give a pass to the school budget when it’s so much larger than the Town municipal budget. It could be that this year, the Police Fire Facilities loomed large and seemed like an obvious large project to nip in the bud. But if what people are saying is true and the population can’t afford the taxes to fund the budget, then school taxes may get some scrutiny in the future.
I think the bigger question is why are we no longer able to afford the things we took for granted in the recent past. What has changed? I really want to know the answer to that question. Because those of us born in the 60s were raised on the promise of an endlessly better future, and it blows me away that we can barely afford trash pickup, let alone even more basic services like police, fire, and public works.
Strange world we find ourselves in, but I’m really glad people are talking about this one. I think it’s the only way to figure our problems out in a way that helps us long term and makes people feel invested in the decisions, whatever they may be.
The Problem Is Demographic
Much of Vermont, and New England in general, has experienced significant population changes in the past 10 to 15 years. The population of Windham County has actually decreased about 5 percent since the last census, but what is much worse is the aging of the population. Look around Brattleboro–lots of old white folks and a handful of not very gainfully employed 20-somethings. The prime working age folks (30s – 50s) have moved away, either to Burlington or New Hampshire or further afield. There just aren’t many jobs in Windham county.
If that isn’t infuriating enough, while the population is declining in general, the school-age population is in free fall. Yet school taxes keep increasing at a rate higher than inflation, teachers get their yearly salary increases to teach fewer students, we buy more and more police cruisers even while most of them sit in the parking lot day and night, the state mandates further expenditures for water treatment and waste removal, and the “experts” from the architect engineering community direct us to spend $14 million on a state-of-the-art new police and fire facility.
Until people get a grip on this downward spiral it’s only going to get worse. Taxes will keep going up, people will keep moving away, there will be fewer children in the schools and fewer jobs (but just as many administrators).
School Age population
Yes the problems are partly demographic–but the school age population in town is not in free fall-it tends to bounce around with a slight upward trend over the past few years–
2009-2010 795
2010- 11 759
11- 12 757
12- 13 765
13- 14 780
Source: Town report-2014
the numbers get a bit wonky too depending on if you are counting preschoolers and students in special ed placement etc.
Teachers general are not teaching fewer students per class–but schools are asked to do more things that used the be the work of the family- providing meals, clothes health care etc. This too is the mark of a change in the economy and in the society at large.
A think to remember about school taxation is that it is base rates set by legislature is based on how all districts in the state spend. Also the income sensitive part of Act 68 does give about 65-70% of local taxpayers some sort of tax relief based on income vs property values.
BUHS
Here are the stats on Brat Union High School.
Enrollment peaked in 1999 at 1,553 with 845 students coming from Brattleboro, the rest from Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, Vernon, Marlboro and “other”.
Enrollment has declined consistently since then. Last year it was 1,158 with 671 coming from Brattleboro.
That’s a 25% drop in total enrollment over 15 years. And a little over 20% drop from Brattleboro. Over the same 15 years, school taxes are up significantly.
What do you think will happen when VY is gone?
Source: BUHS Annual Report 2014
BAMS
Here are the stats on Brat. Middle School
Enrollment peaked in 1998 at 388. Enrollment in 2012 (last available year) was 259. Over that 15 year period, enrollment sank 33%.
Over that 15 year period, the number of full time teachers has stayed the same at 34.
Worth a recap: 33% drop in enrollment, same number of teachers. That may be a good thing, but who’s paying for it?
The percentage of students eligible for free or discounted lunch has gone from 30% in 1998 to 51.4% in 2012. (By way of comparison, the percentage of students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Keene Middle School is 29%)
Source: schooldigger.com
Economics
I am not trying to over-simplify – but when’s the last time anyone here got a raise? The trouble with the ever increasing costs is that there’s no increase in wages or, when anyone does see an increase, it’s generally out of whack with reality. When the cost of living rises year to year, even in small percentages, and paychecks remain the same, or increase at smaller percentages, bad things begin to happen and for some people, there’s no catching up. (*homelessness is one glaring example*). Corporate welfare hasn’t budged that I’m aware of. There remains also a very stubborn glut at the top of the heap.. outrageous bonuses and salaries that can’t possibly be something one actually has “earned” . Underneath that stuff – I recently read about bonuses given to IRS employees for their collection efforts (it was in the news only because some of the IRS employees actually owed back taxes themselves) but what I took from reading that was that there’s so much we don’t know when it comes to the distribution of wealth when added to what things we DO know, can probably clearly show us what needs to happen to once again be living in a land of promise and hope. I had to think for a moment about the fact that a government employee would be given any bonus, let alone those involved in collecting money from the rest of us. That has cracked open a door where I see, when I peek into the haze, things I can’t align with the word “democracy” or even “capitalism” in a true (and honest) sense.
If I ratio my income and expenses, I have far less to work with than I had 20 years ago (and can prove it) , and it’s worse each and every year. It didn’t happen overnight. Even recent everyday increases sting (food, transportation etc) and it seems the ratio only expands to a wider and wider gap and I feel more and more hopeless in any ability I might have to close that gap; and most of us live in the everyday when it comes to our incomes and expenses.
The town has no control over the cost of doing business but it does have control over what business it will conduct. Unfortunately, it has boiled down to realities that reach up into such structures as municipalities and governments. If the trend continues, plowing sidewalks wont even be an option. Libraries will begin to disappear. There’s a handful of others who have created that reality. Those are the people we need to be asking for the 1% this and the 4% that, and mandate an end to their ability to continue to take just because they can; because they are clearly all about taking as much as we will continue to allow them to take, and we clearly continue to allow it. How exactly, do we stop this?