A Word Before Tonight's City Council Meeting

We don't have many or any plastic roses to sell in The Rose of New England, though Mother's Day is rapidly approaching and anything can (and probably will) happen between now and Sunday, so be careful where you place your bet while the wheel's still in spin. 

The same is true for the art of the possible, which at one time we used to call politics, but gave that up as budget constrictions caused our language skills to shrink. I'm starting to think when we stopped listening to understand and started listening to rebut that we somehow lost the plot. 

Speaking of budget, that's probably the #1 topic of interest on the agenda for tonight's City Council meeting, which starts at 7:30.

I admire the passion and engagement of all those who've spoken out and/or spoken up on the City Manager's proposed budget, and who'll have another opportunity at the second public hearing next Monday evening beginning at 7:30, but I keep looking at the dollar figures he and his department heads are looking at, and the missions (and to some extent, mission creep) of the various city agencies, and applaud the men and women on the City Council for listening to everyone and trying to make hard but fair decisions, knowing that for everyone pleased with their decisions, there will be others displeased. .

I've gone through the budget book numerous times and I don't see where the increased dollars so many of us want for certain programs, personnel, or initiatives would come from. I'm not saying increases aren't merited or deserved-just that I cannot see how they're affordable. 

I think this City Council, better than many since I've lived here, understands we can only have as much government as we can pay for. And after last year's re-evaluation and subsequent property tax hike (my mortgage went up nearly $300 a month as a result), treading carefully should be the watchword. The alderpersons are not making decisions lightly- and agree or disagree with that, give them credit for making painful decisions many of us might not be able to do.

If it's of any solace, and it's not, we started down this slippery slope very probably in the late Sixties, not just here but across the country, and it's taken this long for all of our bad habits, spend-thrift ways and moral and ethical bankruptcy to finally catch up with our fiscal profligacy. We can and must make things better, but we have to start by looking in the mirror and seeing who is responsible for the position the city is in.
-bill kenny