Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Ballard Delivers Budget Address Despite Heart Problems
Mayor Greg Ballard delivered his budget address to the City-County Council last night, which was televised live on the public access channel, just hours after being treated at Community East Hospital for chest pains. According to the Star, a heart monitor was placed on Ballard before he left the hospital. Ballard didn't mention his earlier trip to the hospital during his speech. There's a real soldier.
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He was SO happy to see all the tax rally people from last summer. He talked with us all after the meeting and there were lots of hugs. We didn't know he went to the hospital earlier.
The auditorium was packed. 17 of us went to dinner afterward to celebrate a victory for the people.
We have a mayor who:
1. Is planning the budget for years down the road
2. Pledged to spend less than last year!
3. Is open and accountable!
4. Didn't lock us out of our own meeting.
Knees, SoB, hope this does it for a while. I overheard Mrs. Ballard state the Mayor put in some long hours in the past few weeks.
Unlike someone else at least we know this guy isn't full of hot air. His entire budget presentation was a whole 7 1/2 minutes including applause.
I admire the Mayor for "playing hurt." I know how serious heart problems can be as my father has had serious trouble for the last 22 years with his heart, and I urge him to continue to take the symptoms seriously. We can all learn from his example that no one is too important to act on heart attack symptoms.
That said, the budget's numbers don't add up. He's banking on a lot of things that may or may not happen (such as the consolidation of the township assessors), and he's potentially rolling back lots of progress (at the jail, in the sewers, in the courts) so that he can have money in the bank.
Just like on Law & Order, there are two sides to the criminal justice system. Both must be efficient to work correctly. Cutting money from the jail and from the courts is NOT a correct way to do it. Pretty soon, we'll be early releasing criminals, backlogging out courts, and releasing raw sewage into White River again.
It's amazing how Republicans can stop taking care of obligations by not paying them and then call it a surplus. I guess Mayor Ballard learned from Governor Daniels.
Jon.
If I told you that you could have your water at your house shut off for one hour a day OR you could pay me an infinite amount of money (literally, have water 24 hours instead of 23 but you would owe me money forever even if you made payments) what would you pick?
Just as we've learned at the federal level, the budget has to be balanced and the debts extinguished by somebody with some kahunas or the end result is ENDLESS interest payments on a principle amount that never diminishes, but indeed keeps rising.
At no time should government grow faster than the population, yet population may grow 1% government may grow 3-4%. This is not sustainable.
From a partisan perspective it is always easy to find fault with the other side, but at the end of the day what is required to be done is to cut the growth of government at all levels, balance the budgets and start digging out.
Remember... FOREVER.
The damage that will be done the public safety sector is unbelievable. What does this mayor have against law enforcement officers. This after the state bailed him out of $30 million in unfunded pension costs.
"The damage that will be done the public safety sector is unbelievable. What does this mayor have against law enforcement officers."
I can't believe how incredibly STUPID some people are. OR maybe they are just LIBERAL DEMOCRATS.
"fuggins" knows very well that the mayor doesn't have anything against law enforcement officers.
The mayor is just trying to do what the previous "mayor" refused to do.
Maybe fuggie should ask the sheriff why he needs three take-home vehicles, totaling almost $100,000 cost to the TAXPAYERS in this county.
Maybe fugs could also find out why the sheriff says he needs $26MILLION more dollars for a "Law Enforcement - Road Patrol Unit" that he DOESN'T NEED.
artfug...er.. wilson46201.
The Mayor has nothing against Law enforcement! You must think that we still have Bart Peterson as Mayor. Mr. Ballard supports public safety. The Sheruiff will just have to NOT hire his people when they retire from IMPD. Public Safety will benefit from this budget.
You're just upset that the blank pages have been omitted.
I am partisan, but I'm not stupid.
If we are arresting more people with more crimefighters, but we pull money away from where we send the accused criminals and pull money away from the court system that eventually will hear the cases then we will have the same bottlenecks that we had at the jail before. Plus, conditions at the jail should not be "club med", but it shouldn't be a third world prison either. We were close before.
Maybe the Mayor showed courage slashing that budget, I think it showed shortsightedness. His budget "surplus" also takes into account the elimination of the budgets of the township assessors and instead places their budgets under the county assessor for a $3 million savings. This is counting your chickens before they're eggs.
Sean, I understand the principles of loans. I am currently paying a home loan. The situation you describe about water that we would see in this budget would be equivalent to me taking my water bill and sticking it under my doghouse in the back yard and forgetting about it. It's easy to create a surplus when you keep kicking the can down the street. That's what the Republicans did for years in this city, and they're doing it again.
Never thought I would say this, but I miss Bart Peterson. We've made an enormous mistake- let's just take our lumps.
Ballard is embarrassing.
At least Ballard won't borrow from the bond bank for day-to-day operating expenses. That's definitely a step in the right direction.
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