Council meeting 7/25

I attendend Council on 7/25 and here's what I saw:

Marielders funding. We provide approx $60K of the $173 operating budget via a pass through Recreation levy. In terms of stewardhip, when it's gone it's gone, we're not liable for anything financially. ME provides a great service, and I look to them to manage the budget vs Council playing an active role

Trash Fee exceptions. I agree with my the Pub Works Committee's reco to allow for exceptions only for registered condo associations, and only via waiver. This gives council good visibility and authority to police.

Comments directed at me from a recent blog posting. I was pretty severely criticized for my brainstormed list of cost cutting ideas. Without having full history, I think our economic outlook for the next 3 years has NEVER been bleaker. We have deficit spent each of the last 4-5 years (across all accounts). We live in a tax-averse age, moreso than previously. We have a huge school levy (of which I supported) on the books. Expecting Residents to overwhelmingly support a levy is unrealistic, especially before we do the due dilligence to look for opportunities to save. And this is the backdrop for my comments on 7/11.

The Private sector is a fantastic model for how we could operate. Differences exist for sure, but rampant, relentless cost cutting in the Private Sector while maintaining good service is expected and done year after year.

Part of the difficulty in this issue is misconception that something posted here is a done-deal, fully baked. Quite the contrary, it's the 1st step after popping into my head. It's a collection of random ideas that may or may not make sense to investigate. Capturing them is the point. Acting on them is not. In total, I'm proud of my 240+ postings over the past 2 years, and while I'm sorry that I haven't gotten each of them right, they have been honest, candid, and timely. I'm one guy with an opinion (and to be fair, a seat at the table). I would rather have discomfort and angst at step 0 than the alternative: no communication, back door dealings, and a terrible program rammed down throats at the last minute.

I'll do better at context and positioning. As I said, "I'm a work in progress"

Comments directed at me from comments in February about Trees being the #1 issue in the Village. In terms of investment from Permanent Improvements, I believe money can not be better spent.

I will go into additional detail on both of these in a separate posting.


I voted in the affirmative on everything. All were procedural in nature.

Cortney

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