Feeding at the public trough

Last night Council member Kim Brackett dropped a bombshell during Council deliberations on cuts to community organizations. Explaining that she had not been able to attend the Council retreat in January, she said it was her understanding that at the retreat, City Administrator Mark Dombroski said community organizations were “feeding at the public trough.” She [...]

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City’s actions speak loudly

In response to City Council’s deep cuts to the financial support of the island’s social service and arts organizations last night, Rod Stevens sent this email around:
“Last night the Council made significant funding cuts in programs serving the arts, humanities and the needy.  Council members choked  up and cried before they went ahead and voted for the [...]

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Creative destruction

Yesterday, the Council wrestled with ways to cut another $3.5 million from its budget, directing staff to reduce labor costs by $1 million, sell $1 million in surplus property and cut another $1.5 million from expenses using a Council-developed set of priorities. But, according to the Review, Council acknowledged that cuts alone cannot stabilize our [...]

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Death of the P-I

Former P-I reporter Gil Bailey sent these reflections to mark today’s final print edition Seattle P-I.
Mourn not for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, whose print edition ceased publication today (Tuesday). It was not a great newspaper. Sometimes it was not even a good newspaper.
Mourn for the 140 plus women and men who lost their jobs. [...]

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Weekend open thread–recession, budgets and your votes

Next Wednesday, the Council will “review options for trimming the 2009 Budget expenses to match revenues and provide budget policy guidance,” according to the City’s website. Although most of us don’t have enough familiarity with the day to day operations of City Hall to decide which specific cuts should be made, we all have opinions [...]

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More new blogs

Councilman Barry Peters has a new blog. In his words, it’s “designed to describe city facts and issues as I understand them, and to express my views and opinions.”  He includes his email address after each post, he says, so you can communicate with him that way, instead of “posting them on the webpage and [...]

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The City’s moral hazard

Of the many phrases that have  become sad cliches during this global economic crisis, one of the most telling is “moral hazard.” 
The Wikipedia definition says, “Moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not bear the full consequences of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, [...]

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Liveblog from City Hall: Fall into the Gap

The purpose of tonight’s workshop is, according to Finance Chair Barry Peters, to decide what our comfort level is in the revenue projections for the year. Mark Dombroksi has estimated that the year’s “gap” in the tax supported revenues and expenditures could be as much as $3.4 million. Peters thinks it’s more likely about $2.5 [...]

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New blog about change of government

Bob Scales has launched a new blog, Bainbridge Island FOG (Form of Government).
Here’s the link:   http://bainbridgefog.wordpress.com/
Scales, who announced his candidacy for mayor last month, wrote in an email that he created the blog in order “to get the community conversation started.” On May 19, islanders will vote on whether to change from a Council-Mayor form of [...]

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City revenue shortfall may be $3.4 mill more than most recent projections

I received this email, a public document, from several sources over the weekend. It is a statement from Council member Barry Peters, Finance Committee Chair, to a member of an arts organization, concerning the City budget crisis and the near-certainty that the City will cease funding community organizations at the end of April. (I’ve made [...]

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