Tax increase furor
I don’t remember in recent years so many people complaining about a tax increase as the 2.5% just approved by the Lawrence City Council – but generally about the actions of the city councilors.
People’s complaints are mostly that they should have looked for ways to reduce the budget and the overtime for the Police and Fire Departments was an obvious area. Had they done that, probably there wouldn’t have be any need for an increase.
District C Councilor Kendrys Vazques was almost apologetic on the radio last week explaining why it was necessary to vote for the increase. When confronted with the question about reducing the amount of overtime available for the police and fire department now that we have additional members in both bodies, he insisted that they are needed. He even rebutted that, while we do have six additional police officers, the nine firefighters hired are replacing positions that were available due to normal attrition.
Kendrys, we didn’t add numbers to the total of firefighters, we filled empty positions. This is why the overtime was needed: there were no bodies to do the work so now that we have them filled, we can do away with the overtime.
At least, Councilor Vasquez has faced the controversy by going on the radio and responding to telephone calls to explain his logic. None of the other councilors has said anything publicly.
Revenue options needed
There have also been suggestions here and there about new sources of revenue for the city but I think that what they should do is strengthen current laws and ordinances. Look at what the Police Department is doing with the noise ordinance enforcement; $200 fines are a very effective deterrent. I have been jotting them down; let’s see what you think.
The Inspectional Services Department should be revamped. One excuse for not going after violators is that we are short of inspectors. I am sure the City Council can fix that (if they choose to) by hiring additional ones to go around ticketing violators. How about paying them per diem? Let them collect a percentage of the violations they find. I don’t know what that would entail or dealing with the union but I am sitting here brainstorming.
Perhaps hiring inspectors to go around nights and weekends visiting barber shops and hair salons, auto repair shops not complying with safety rules, food vendors that are endangering the public’s health, construction projects on weekends without the benefit of city permits and yard sales without a permit. Most people don’t know that the limit is two yard sales per year yet, they bring their wares out every weekend.
This one was suggested by Rich Russell: inspecting swimming pools in the city, which he believes nobody is doing. That one took me by surprise because it poses a greater danger to our communities.
It is not that I want to penalize honest people that are earning a living at these businesses or improving their property without a building permit from the city quietly so that their property value, hence taxes, would be increased. We have rules and regulations for the benefit and safety of our community. If the city was to collect fees for those permits, it would represent a good income and the fines to violators would add up even more.
Lastly, get the necessary courage to remove the city car the mayor has for his personal use. With his $100,000 salary, he can easily afford to buy one and pay for his own insurance and maintenance. Just because other mayors have done it doesn’t mean he’s entitled to it.
Where is the outrage?
In a letter dated July 13, 2015, Sean Cronin, the Fiscal Overseer for the City of Lawrence wrote in his Monthly Report to the State that the mayor’s budget had been approved by the City Council “without layoffs.” Hadn’t he heard about Joel Chalas firing by now?
On July 6, Mayor Dan Rivera sent a letter to the Lawrence Municipal Classified Foremen’s Association announcing that Joel Chalas is to be laid off because the City Council reduced the DPW budget and there are no funds for his salary and that he is the employee with the least seniority. Nothing further from the truth because that’s not what the council did.
The big questions is not what the spineless councilors are doing or the political favors the mayor continues to bestow on his unqualified friends but where is the public that so much cares about doing things right.
Where is the local English-language newspaper that never let up aggressively attacking the previous administration for much less than that? We are back in the old days proclaiming that everything is wonderful even when we almost went into bankruptcy.
Where is the Boston media that had a hunting season during the previous administration basing themselves on published articles terribly exaggerated or blatant lies? Since they pick up their news from our local media, they responded.
And I blame the public that prefers to play ignorance of the issues because calling their councilors, writing a letter to the media or attending city council meetings to complain is too much of an effort.
