COUNCIL MAJORITY ACTS IRRESPONSIBLY ON CAPITAL BUDGET

The City Council Budget Committee met last night to "consider" the Mayor's proposed amendment to the Capital Budget adopted by the Council last month. The Committee and a majority of Council members continue to act irresponsibly in regard to the Capital Budget doing a disservice to the city and endangering the health and welfare of its residents.

Some background is necessary. The Capital Budget, as opposed to the Operating Budget, includes those major projects necessary for repairs and improvements to the city infrastructure and city services which are not funded by day to day operating revenue. For example, the current Capital Budget includes money for road resurfacing, vehicle replacement and equipment for the Police and Fire Departments. Unfortunately, the Capital Budget has traditionally been used as a political football by those looking to undermine a sitting Mayor. Cutting necessary capital projects has been a favorite tool of more than one politically ambitious Councilmember ever since then Councilman John Spencer sought to undermine the first strong Mayor, Terry Zaleski.

Currenly, the Budget Committee is chaired by Councilmember Liam McLaughlin and includes Councilmembers Robertson. Both are at odds with Mayor Amicone and both are said to be harboring Mayoral ambitions. In fact, Councilman Robertson has already declared for Mayor. Councilman McLaughlin and his fellow Committee members have used their position to both stall and slash the current Capital Budget proposal without any regard for the best interests of the City. They have been joined in their actions by Councilmember Annabi another who has designs on the second floor of City Hall.

Proof of the political gameplaying is in the numbers...not the budget numbers but the schedule of meetings held over at least the last six months. By quick calculation, since June 1, 2006 the City Council has held at least 54 meetings either as a full Council or in its various committees. Of those, at best five were Budget Committee meetings and of those, only two, in November and December, directly related to the current Capital Plan. Indeed, between June 2 and the second week of November, McLaughlin's committee did not hold a single meeting to discuss the Capital Proposal.

Now to the two meetings held. At the November meeting, the committee spent about an hour reviewing the Capital Budget with Capital Projects Director Tom Weibrecht. At the meeting's conclusion, Weibrecht left with a list of follow up questions from Councilmembers. Committee members and Councilmembers heard nothing more for a month. Then we learned that the Mayor's office had sent the Budget chair a response to the Committee's questions in less than two weeks but he had never shared the response with any other Councilmember. When found out, McLaughlin claimed the response did not answer the questions. Of course, other Councilmembers were never afforded an opportuntiy to judge for themselves.

Finally, on a mere twenty-four hours notice, McLaughlin called a Budget Committee meeting for December 12 and a Special Council meeting was called by a compliant Council President for the same night. With little notice to the public, no substantive discussion and no public input, five of seven Councilmembers (all but Councilwoman Barbato and I) voted to cut all but the Police and Fire lines by fifty per cent. Indeed, even Police and Fire only survived the knife due to last minute lobbying by union leaders in the Chamber that night.

To his credit, the Mayor has called the majority's bluff. Rather than veto its irresponsible action, the Mayor has accepted their "Budget" and immediately sent up an amendment restoring the cuts. Now the majority will again have to decide whether to do its job or ignore its responsibility and endanger the citizens of Yonkers for political purposes.

At last night's Budget Meeting over fifty members of the voting public were in attendance. Not one rose in support of the irresponsible majority. Every speaker called upon the Council to do its job, actually take a hard look at the budget and restore those programs necessary for quality of life and safety. Amen to that.

Now lets see if politics continues to triumph or whether Councilmembers, most notably the Council President, will finally choose to do the job with which they were entrusted.