A few days ago, I posted about the city of Colorado Springs not falling for the budget cut line. Phil did a follow-up.
Now I live up in Everett, WA, a city of about 100K+. I’m pretty active in my community and I sit on the Neighborhood Council, which is an advisory body to the Mayor & the City Council (in short, the Mayor and Council don’t have to do what we tell them, but they do have to report to us on city matters, and they do have to listen to us). Everett is hurting just as bad as other cities out there revenue-wise, but ya know what, the budget is balanced, and the city is nearly debt-free. How do they do this? Simple, when the economy started to slide, they didn’t sit on their hands or ignore the problem, they started negotiating for cheaper benefits with the city employees, and they started to offer 3/4-time schedules, early retirements, and a hiring freeze. They also put certain projects on hold (there is a Riverfront development happening a short ways away that is just collecting dust right now).
Certain services got cut or reduced, but not a single primary service did. We still have our libraries, and schools. We have all our cops and firefighters. All the street lights are shining, and the parks are still tended, and no one raised any fees or taxes.
It can be done, and towns & cities all over the country manage to do it just fine.
Congratulations on good governance!
It’s nice to hear that somewhere in America it still works.
I’m afraid that here in KKKalifornia, Peoples Republic of, we’re way beyond the point of no return.
I think they need to divide the state into three or four new states as a first step to restoring responsive government, and return Hell A to Mexico, if they want it or not.
That way El Presidente de Mexico can directly govern the majority of his citizens instead of continuing the current ploy where he governs by passing off his economic malfesiance to his unofficial cabinet member the mayor of Hell A.
I’d really like to get out of this mess. It’s a pity the bay area climate and scenery is so wonderful.
Any recommendations on where to relocate aside from D.C.? I’ve already been there and done that and don’t want to go back!
“Any recommendations on where to relocate aside from D.C.?”
I can recommend Alabama — the cost of living is extremely low. Of course, the relatively low taxes reflect on the amount and quality of government services. So it depends on what you want to do and what you’re willing to put up with. And actually, the Huntsville area is reasonably high-tech, with Redstone Arsenal and space work drawing appropriate talent.
I came here after a D.C. assignment, BTW. Much happier.
Climate would kill the deal for me anywhere in the South. Hate heat. Hate humidity even more.