Rhymes with Funny but Isn't

The Norwich City Manager, Alan Bergren, offered his next year's proposed budget to his employers, the City Council, Monday night. What he said versus what we, as residents and citizens, heard has a lot to do with our perspectives and our interests.

He, together with Comptroller Josh Pothier and Community Development Director Gary Evans spoke as much about maintaining the priorities of the city in austere times as they did in speaking directly about the 2014-2015 budget.

You can find all the slides and the numbers from Monday’s presentation on the city’s website as well as at the Otis Library and other locations. We’re talking about spending and investing a bit less than an eighth of a billion dollars. I have no idea what the 'right' dollar figure should be, and in all honesty, neither do you. We may think we do and we might have good points to make in support of our beliefs, but beliefs and facts are separate entities. No matter how passionately I believe in something that belief doesn't make it a fact.

We have a long way to go between now and June 2 when all the magic math aside and the nipping and tucking having been done, we will have come to the place where the road and the sky collide and the men and women of our City Council, whom we elected (and it's funny how often we forget that) will approve a budget for the fiscal year beginning 1 July. A budget under which, they, too, shall have to live.

The key to all the big numbers that we first saw and heard Monday is to   understand all the small(er) numbers from the city's departments that got us there when we add them all up. What we get for what we pay and how much what we want actually costs us. Even free air is a dollar, so our mileage may vary.

There are departmental budget hearings continuing tomorrow night, starting at 6:30. Those making presentations include Human Services, Otis Library, Public Works and to conclude, the Norwich Public Schools.

 The first of two Public Hearings on the budget will be a week from tomorrow night at 6:30 in Council Chambers, which is why I mentioned the departmental hearings as it's always more useful in a discussion that turns into an disagreement (and budget hearings often work out that way) to use facts to improve your argument instead of just raising your voice.

We all get to talk, but we all have to listen to one another because it is, after all our money and we want our City Council to spend it wisely and well (= on those programs we want despite what any other resident/voter says), which can make for some loud deliberations, especially when others at the meetings have opinions and ideas different from our own (=wrong).
There's a difference between listening and hearing which means we have a lot of work yet to do in understanding one another.
-bill kenny