| Author |
 Topic  |
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2007 : 11:30:20 PM
|
Wow, Emile! I really admire your ability to cut to the chase with your posts.
In the future, I'll try to use "our" when referring to the city's elected officials because I would really rather not be associated with them either. |
 |
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2007 : 12:24:46 AM
|
I was way away most of the afternoon and all evening, thank you guys for setting the record straight.
Justme, no problem, you only posted what a lot of people think. |
Edited by - massdee on 06/10/2007 12:25:24 AM |
|
|
|
EverettsPride
Advanced Member
1140 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2007 : 11:00:07 AM
|
Tetris,
Please forward the info to city government. They need all the help they can get.
Sally |
|
|
|
the penguin
Member
22 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2007 : 7:25:16 PM
|
| Where are all the hanlon supporter's now? Who is watching the store.. Hanlon had no clue who was being investigated in the forensic audit... where was he not watching the budget. Now he comes in with a budget that blows 2 1/2...where was the budget director, the asst. budget director, the internal auditor, the treasurer....THE MAYOR? ALL OF THEM MAKING GOOD MONEY FROM THE TAX PAYERS WALLETS. Then we have four attorneys on the payroll and we have to hire outside law firms when it comes to union stuff. The only lawyer worth anything is the lady, the rest are morons..Cruscvic, Miller and the joke of them all is Dragone. All of them making good money from the wallets of the taxpayers. If you want to save .5 million cut the nit wits I have mentioned and no one would even miss them. |
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2007 : 08:29:30 AM
|
Last night I re-watched Saturday mornings hearing. I recommend everyone do it. I think on Saturday the shock of the revelations shut my brain down to what they were saying during the remainder of the hearing. Last night, with the shock factor gone, I really absorbed just what a mess we are in, and the arrogance of Vetrano and Henderson. When Mr DeCoste is speaking, watch Vetrano, how dare she sit there and look bored and uninterested. How dare she show up to the hearing with no cuts in hand. Mr DeCoste had already told them they were over the Prop 21/2 limit. The Administration knew, the CC and the BOA did not. This is outrageous.
I also think the excuse that this budget is a starting point is a bunch of BS. The Administration obviously didn't want to be the body to make the needed cuts and they wanted it to fall squarely on the backs on the CC and BOA. I am glad our elected officials sent it back to the Administration for the needed cuts. That said, I will be very surprised if the Adm. comes back on Tuesday night with the cuts to put us under the Prop 21/2 limit. Sure, they'll shave the easy items but I bet when it comes to shaving the needless hires it will be left to the CC and BOA. Hanlon does not want his base to deteriorate any further. I have news for Mr Hanlon, the foundation for his base is gone and the rest will be falling apart brick by brick. It is so discouraging and sad that an Administration could do this much damage so quickly. Thank God it is only a two year term. Can you just imagine where we would be if it was a four year term. I will be watching tomorrow nights hearing carefully and I will be paying close attention to the CC and BOA. I hope they "all" forget the politics and help us out. I am so disgusted with this Administration. They can't blame Mr Ragucci this time, this time it's all Mr Hanlon.(Vetrano) |
|
|
|
justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
 Posted - 06/11/2007 : 08:44:00 AM
|
I agree completely massdee! I also watched the meeting after the shock wore off and couldn't believe it when I heard her say this was the starting point & there were more "pieces to the puzzle". They seem to be treating this like it's a game!
Last year the CC & BOA gave them a lot of lip and didn't make the cuts that to me were glaringly evident. (ie: budgeting positions they did not intend to fill, according to the budget director) They gave the administration a lot of money to waste and the administration did just that. (and spent more anyway) Obviously they will not be so kind this year but the lesson is going to cost all of us dearly!
Be assured, I'll be in front of my television Tuesday @ 6:00. |
|
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2007 : 5:09:11 PM
|
I know that the use of this word on this forum has been a bit controversial lately, but I'm going use it anyways:
I am an IDIOT!!
This morning, I decided to e-mail some of "our" elected officials on the BOA & CC with information that I posted on this board last Saturday. After watching the mayor's presentation of the budget and reading the accompanying newspaper reports, I couldn't believe that the city had to fund a $5.1 million increase in the school department budget. I did some research on the DOE's website that indicated that the actual increase in the city's appropriation to the school department in order to meet net school spending for FY 2008 would be less than $400,000. I thought this information could be really useful to them.
This afternoon, I finally got a chance to watch a good chunk of the School Department budget hearing from last Thursday. Towards the end of the meeting, Councilor DiFlorio asked the superintendent if the school department was really requesting the additional $5.1 million from the city as had been reported elsewhere. The superintendent replied, no, the increase was only a couple of hundred thousand dollars. There were no futher questions or remarks on the subject.
I was in shock. Since everyone at the meeting had a budget in front of them, I have to believe it was true or there would have been a lot of discussion about it. So where is this $5.1 million really going? And why did I ever believe anything that the Mayor has to say? As I said before....I am an IDIOT! |
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 08:15:51 AM
|
Does the money come from the City first, and then it is reimbursed by the state? No matter where the money is coming from, it is still coming out of our pocket, why has the School Department's budget gone up $5.1 million? So, if the trim roughly $250.K, does that mean the city doesn't have to give them anything towards the additional money over last year? What exactly was their total budget for this year? I missed that.
Tetris, you are certainly no "idiot." I think we will now see much discussion on the schools budget, in light of went down last Saturday morning. |
|
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 11:02:24 AM
|
I wish that the city would make the budget available online so that we could follow along with the fun. We might not understand everything we see but we would not have to try to remember all these numbers in our heads; I also may not have fallen into the trap that I did either by trusting the Mayor's presentation of the budget. Below is my best understanding of the school department's budget without having the actual budget in front of me.
The school department's budget for FY08 has to increase approximately $5.1 million to meet the FY08 net school spending requirement set by the DOE. This seems to be a large amount but the majority of this increase will be funded by an approximately $4.9 million dollar increase in state's Chapter 70 aid for Everett. I'm not sure how this money actually gets from the state budget to the school budget but I don't believe that the city would have to come up with the money first and then get reimbursed later. This wouldn't make any sense as it would only cause the tax rate to be inflated and, in the end, put extra money in the city's pocket that wasn't needed to run the city.
Therefore, the increase in the amount of money that the city has to raise for the schools through the tax levy for FY2008 is approximately $200,000. I don't understand how the mayor could present this as a $5.1 million increase. So was this a mistake and the total budget increase is actually $4.9 million less than what we have been told or where is the $4.9 million really buried? When I sent another e-mail to "our" elected officials to apologize for my error, I asked them to ask the mayor this question tonight at the budget hearing. We'll see what happens. |
Edited by - tetris on 06/12/2007 11:08:13 AM |
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 11:16:15 AM
|
Are you emailing all of our elected officials with email addresses or just some? The only ones on the BOA that will ask the tough questions of the school department, in my opinion, are Smith, McGonagle, DeMaria and maybe now Van Campen.
Rumor has it, RVC has had enough of the present administration. We'll see. |
|
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 11:58:59 AM
|
Only e-mailing some; it's a pain to type in all of the addresses. The ones I e-mailed were the ones that seemed to be showing up at the budget hearings that I thought might ask the tough questions.
On the BOA, this included Smith, McGonagle and DeMaria. Since I did this before last night's meeting, I didn't include RVC because I agree with you about him. Also, since I originally thought this was more of a school department issue than an administration one, I didn't include DiPerri, since he usually disappears when school issues are discussed.
On the CC, they were sent to M. Cardello, DiDomenico, Hickey and DiFlorio. I probably should have included Bruno too but that was an oversight on my part. As I was typing this post, I got a response a response from Sal DiDomenico thanking me and encouraging me to stay involved. So, we'll see what happens... |
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 12:04:47 PM
|
| I'm willing to bet they have all been very busy going over the budget since Saturday. They better leave no stone unturned. Tonights hearing should indeed be very interesting. |
|
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 6:35:21 PM
|
| No cuts, no layoffs, no Hanlon in September. |
|
|
|
Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 6:45:39 PM
|
Did they come back with nothing, tetris? Were they really that arrogant about it?
I'm not able to see the meeting live . . . what's going on? |
|
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2007 : 6:55:20 PM
|
| A lot to go into but the mayor has basically stated that auditor was wrong. According to him, the auditor does know all the facts; there is other money available to apply to the tax levy that will bring the city under the 2 1/2 limit. In addition, the mayor has stated unequivocably that he will not cut the budget that he presented. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Budget
