LETTER TO THE MAYOR FROM COUNCILMAN JOHN FRIEND, CPA

    15

    OCT. 30,  2014

    Dear Mayor,

    We, the Council are eager to meet on Friday, October 31, 2014 at 2 p.m. in special session to discuss the various aspects of your budget and we appreciated the diligently efforts you and your Department Heads have devoted to this process. This has been a daunting task over the past months and we look forward to a positive conclusion.

    As presented, the Council is pleased to have reduced it’s budget by 11.45%, in absolute dollars, $66,761. Actually, the only Department in the City to have reduced it’s spending over the previous year, in the efforts to balance the administration’s budget to move our City forward.

    I applaud your action in excluding your salary increase valued at $2,011 plus associated payroll cost of $154 . Leaders should lead by example. Per the record, the Council choose to retain it’s 2% across the board salary increases in line with the City’s rank and file, but retain the reduction in other areas of our budget, namely, the consulting expense totaling $80,000 We are pleased to contribute in helping obtain your needed balanced budget. As a result of the large reduction in the consulting line item, this will require even more addition time to be dedicated in the performance of our duties.

    I pose this resolution, I will make a motion to rescind the salary ordinance pertaining to the Council Member’s salary increase of 2% should the Mayor’s Department consider matching the composite reduction of 50% of the Council’s. Once the Council salary increase of 2% is eliminated and the associated cost of the salary increase valued at $3,795 the total dollar reduction of the council will be $70,556 which is the cost plus $8,000 of keeping one swimming pool open this coming summer. Consequently, your Department would match a total reduction of $35,278 or 50% of the Council. In doing this, we will be showing the world that the Council and the Mayor are all on the page of cooperation in moving our City forward in the efforts of balancing your budget. Between both our Departments, this will total $105,834 nearly enough to keep two pools open.

    As President of the Council, I will make the motion and fully expect it to be seconded.

    If the motion fails to receive support, sadly enough, I would expect you to rescind your offer.

    Look forward to your proposals on Friday and please do not hesitate to contact me about my offer.
    Thank you

    John

    15 COMMENTS

    1. Posturing by Friend ? The City Council has a budget of $ 80K for Consulting. They haven’t used it, and can’t agree on using it–so it’s just sitting there. Not to0 tough to tighten your belt when you had no plans to use the money anyway.

      Only way Mayor could play Friend’s game is if he too had a slush fund like the Council’s Consulting budget.

    2. I do hope Councilman Nobody’s Friend has a better command of numbers than he does of words.
      I wonder where all of his conscientiousness was last year, when he was Finance Chairman and we appear to have racked up a $21 million deficit under his watch.

      • Well stated, Laura. For somebody who is a CPA, he writes like he is barely out of 3rd grade…

        • And don’t forget, he wants to show the world this insane local nonsense. A big empty head if I ever saw one. The world does not know Evansville exists. The dummies are legends in their own minds.

        • CPA work well with numbers. They are not trained poets. So English could be their second language. Try sticking to the numbers and you will find that the CPA’s are the Xperts. I don’t expect someone who works with numbers all day long to be a English Major.

      • He doesn’t give a rip about public pools. He’s just kissing up to try to get elected Mayor.

      • Yup. I sort of hope he was under the influence of something when he wrote this, and isn’t really as ignorant as the letter sounds. CCO didn’t do him any favors by printing this.
        At any rate, City Council just approved Winnie the Poop’s budget.

      • Btw, Joe, keeping the pools open was part of the revised budget that the Mayor submitted, that City Council just approved. JNF only voted for it.

    3. This guy has the grammatical abilities of a rock. He should be embarrassed by the grievous amount of errors in everything he writes. As a famous American once said “It is far better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”. What a first class idiot

    4. All of the horror in the world, and yet you choose to spend your energy and renowned intellect focusing on Councilman Friend’s grammatical choices?? Get a life, people-
      The man gets paid for understanding tax code…and his talents have benefited this city throughout his tenure on council.
      Throw stones if you must, but unless you’ve obtained your C.P.A. certification, I don’t believe your talent for grammar editing will benefit my budget planning or optimize my refund opportunities.

      It must be very exhausting to be so infallible. Sigh…

      • Miss Susan….Kudos….as it seems…does not matter if the periods are in the correct location, we should hope that Mayor Winnecke knows where to place the decimals…he should know that 70 million is smaller that 86 million which equals over $650,000 per month of deficit spending in his first two years in office and if re-elected, 96 months x $650,000 = $62,400,000 = BROKE…hope the moronic English Majors understand this simply math!!!

        • Liquored,

          Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
          And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

          Thomas Gray

          p.s. I understand the math too !

    Comments are closed.