9th Inning Time Out
At the February 6, 2006 Lakewood City Council meeting, council took a time out on the important issue of a tax increase and outlined a plan for "extra innings."
During the past two weeks, council has been working on the annual budget hearings. The Lakewood Observer has been bringing you reports of those meetings on LakewoodObserver.com. The constant undercurrent has been the administration's request for an income tax rate increase first proposed in February of last year. So the ramifications of a need for more revenues long-term has been linked with the short-term creation of this year's budget.
The two came to a head on Monday night.
But first, council president Robert Seelie and Mayor Thomas George maintained routine by recognizing a valuable community effort. Council member Kevin Butler (ward one) presented a resolution honoring St. Peter's Child Care Center. It has received a two-star rating through the Step Up to Quality program- a prestigious recognition.
The next two agenda items were letters. One removed the income tax increase from consideration and the second letter proposed a course of action.
But first, a recap or summary of the last several weeks is important in order to understand the significance of the letters.
The annual budget hearing began two weeks ago. These hearings are the process council uses to create this year's budget. But an omnipresent consideration was the long term needs of the city as expressed by Mayor George's request for an income tax rate increase.
The actual hearings had the atmosphere of a seminar with the department heads giving a presentation of last year's accomplishments and next year's needs. Council members then questioned the department leaders in order to learn more about performance and to test the need for requests. This could also be the ideal setting for a legislator to question the basic need for a department and its service. This is, after all, the prescribed process and venue for establishing the needs and direction of Lakewood's city government.
It should also be noted that budget hearings are the forum for the public to listen and present its views on spending priorities. Also, there has been public involvement outside of the budget hearings on the part of organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and Lakewood Alive as they weighed in on the future course of the city.
At the budget hearings, there was virtually no public presence and only this media representative in attendance. If council members had expressed concern over the direction of the city and any need for additional revenues at other times they did not do so at these hearings. One council member, Ryan Demro (ward two) hosted three public meetings about the proposed tax increase. Input resulting from those meetings was not brought to the formal attention of council. During the budget hearings, a lot of time was spent trying to agree on or clarify the definition of terms. One person's plan wasn't another's strategic plan for instance. Different time horizons were in evidence. At one of Demro's meetings an audience member wanted plans for five, ten, and twenty years.
Ultimately, this underlying tension of competing city/world views erupted in a bitter exchange on Thursday night, February 2, between Mayor George and council member Edward Fitzgerald (at large). It was this acrimonious debate that prompted the realization that council was not ready to come to any consensus in voting to put a tax increase proposal on the May ballot.
Consequently, as an agenda item, president Seelie along with council vice president Michael Dever (at large) presented a letter stating that in conjunction with the Mayor the ballot proposal was being withdrawn.
A second letter to council, signed by all members, then outlined the need for an overall plan to further define the need for a tax increase along with more detailed plans for spending the additional revenues.
Therefore, it seems that council and the administration will go back to the dugout while they plan for extra innings. Mayor George expressed the desire (as told to the Observer in its exclusive Corridor Comments) that council members "try to be synthesizers. I look to them to bring their constituent desires to the table and help the administration match them with resources. That way we can reach a consensus."
Reported by Stan Austin - Lakewood Observer City Council Reporter
During the past two weeks, council has been working on the annual budget hearings. The Lakewood Observer has been bringing you reports of those meetings on LakewoodObserver.com. The constant undercurrent has been the administration's request for an income tax rate increase first proposed in February of last year. So the ramifications of a need for more revenues long-term has been linked with the short-term creation of this year's budget.
The two came to a head on Monday night.
But first, council president Robert Seelie and Mayor Thomas George maintained routine by recognizing a valuable community effort. Council member Kevin Butler (ward one) presented a resolution honoring St. Peter's Child Care Center. It has received a two-star rating through the Step Up to Quality program- a prestigious recognition.
The next two agenda items were letters. One removed the income tax increase from consideration and the second letter proposed a course of action.
But first, a recap or summary of the last several weeks is important in order to understand the significance of the letters.
The annual budget hearing began two weeks ago. These hearings are the process council uses to create this year's budget. But an omnipresent consideration was the long term needs of the city as expressed by Mayor George's request for an income tax rate increase.
The actual hearings had the atmosphere of a seminar with the department heads giving a presentation of last year's accomplishments and next year's needs. Council members then questioned the department leaders in order to learn more about performance and to test the need for requests. This could also be the ideal setting for a legislator to question the basic need for a department and its service. This is, after all, the prescribed process and venue for establishing the needs and direction of Lakewood's city government.
It should also be noted that budget hearings are the forum for the public to listen and present its views on spending priorities. Also, there has been public involvement outside of the budget hearings on the part of organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and Lakewood Alive as they weighed in on the future course of the city.
At the budget hearings, there was virtually no public presence and only this media representative in attendance. If council members had expressed concern over the direction of the city and any need for additional revenues at other times they did not do so at these hearings. One council member, Ryan Demro (ward two) hosted three public meetings about the proposed tax increase. Input resulting from those meetings was not brought to the formal attention of council. During the budget hearings, a lot of time was spent trying to agree on or clarify the definition of terms. One person's plan wasn't another's strategic plan for instance. Different time horizons were in evidence. At one of Demro's meetings an audience member wanted plans for five, ten, and twenty years.
Ultimately, this underlying tension of competing city/world views erupted in a bitter exchange on Thursday night, February 2, between Mayor George and council member Edward Fitzgerald (at large). It was this acrimonious debate that prompted the realization that council was not ready to come to any consensus in voting to put a tax increase proposal on the May ballot.
Consequently, as an agenda item, president Seelie along with council vice president Michael Dever (at large) presented a letter stating that in conjunction with the Mayor the ballot proposal was being withdrawn.
A second letter to council, signed by all members, then outlined the need for an overall plan to further define the need for a tax increase along with more detailed plans for spending the additional revenues.
Therefore, it seems that council and the administration will go back to the dugout while they plan for extra innings. Mayor George expressed the desire (as told to the Observer in its exclusive Corridor Comments) that council members "try to be synthesizers. I look to them to bring their constituent desires to the table and help the administration match them with resources. That way we can reach a consensus."
Reported by Stan Austin - Lakewood Observer City Council Reporter
Volume 2, Issue 4, Posted 12.00 PM / 13th February 2006.