Fresno County supervisors caused budget mess
The next time you see a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors -- Bob Waterston, Judy Case, Susan Anderson, Phil Larson, Henry Perea -- tell them the county has plenty of money if the board would only spend it properly. Here's The Bee's editorial from today pointing out that the board has not been straightforward with taxpayers when it says the county has severe financial problems.
Ask the supervisors why they are giving 60% of the county's employees pay raises exceeding 10% if the sheriff is threatening to lay off deputies, and the district attorney is saying she can't prosecute cases? Ask them why they are giving out huge raises when they claim that there may not be enough money coming in to balance the budget.
Wake up taxpayers. This is one of the great political spin jobs of the century.
Comments
Yeap, you hit on the head again. What are you going to do about it? I don't have to repeat myself. The upcoming election is all abot financial responsibility and this board had been found lacking in that department many a times. Can you name a member of the sups that has taken the county's annual comprehensive audit report to pour over it and see their picture? Can we name one that at least understands those statements?Change is indeed in the air. But it will take your help. Thanks for reading this.
Paul
Posted by: PAUL DICTOS | July 22, 2007 7:41 AM
Amen to this editorial. The public pensions are an out of control train headed straight for us private citizens. No company with financial problems like the county would even consider a pay hike. And, it would take one back if needed.
But the government lives in a dream world where they can just tap us poor saps for more money.
In the November election, there will be an initiative that will raise the retirement age for public workers and make their pensions more like those in the private sector. It will save billions of our taxpayer dollars.
The unions will go ballistic but something has to be done.
Congress is going to raise taxes for social security and lower our benefits. But they are too afraid to touch union contracts. Congress's "contract" with us private workers is a sham. Our retirement through social security is at stake while public union workers' are secure.
John Edwards is right - there are two Americas - the public union worker and the private worker.
Posted by: Fran Blackney | July 23, 2007 12:59 PM
Why is it that the board of supervisors and the county administrative officer (CAO)have doubled the size of their staff analysts when the rest of the county's departments have had to eliminate vacancies?
And whatever happended to the 15 million dollar decit that was created in the mental health department about a year or so ago? I still haven't seen any management changes in that department so I guess that means that the same ol people who created that mess are still in charge?
If I ran the county like a private corporation I would probably have been fired by the investors or maybe even indictated for mishandling the taxpayers money.
As far as the pension problem it's not the unions fault, it's the elected officals who allowed the unions to get it in the first place. It's like a spoiled child who gets everything they want. Who are you going to blame the child or the parent for allowing the child to act that way?
Posted by: FYVM | July 24, 2007 5:49 PM
In 2003, a year after Deran Koligian left us, the County had a surplus of $161 million dollars. Less than three years later (1005 days) the surplus turned into a $314 million deficit, a drop of $475 million dollars. That is a daily leak of $433,000 each day. We need to call the financial plumbers to plug this leak. There is an old axiom in politics" If you fail you sail".
Posted by: PAUL DICTOS | December 15, 2007 6:21 PM
Amen to all that was posted.
We are in the grip of very corrupt unions.
Posted by: Matt | June 2, 2008 9:30 PM