Personally, I think it was scare tactics. Freddie is very good at playing things close to the belt. He tells us only as much as he wants us to hear for him to get what he wants.
It's a shame he's been allowed to run that show for so long. It really is past time for him to be sent packing.
Has anybody seen the editorial in the Independent today? Of course, the long-term answer School Department's budget woes is that they want more money from the city annually than the minimimum contribution that they have been receiving for quite a long time.
I've said before that it is a shame that all the city can afford to give to the schools is the minimum amount but I just don't see where the money is going to come from. All there is really available is the 2.5% (plus new growth) that the tax levy can grow each year and maybe some money from health care savings, if that ever gets implemented. I don't see how the trash initiative, as presently constitued, is going to save the city a lot of money as reductions in tipping fees will likely be offset by increased costs for weekly recycling and the cost of purchasing the new trash barrels being spreadout over some period of time in the trash pickup contract.