“Cities In Desperation”
7/13/12
Desperation is what many cities are facing this year. Just in the last two weeks in California three cities San Bernardino, Stockton, and Mammoth Lakes have all chosen the path of bankruptcy.
To bring this closer to home our county, Jefferson, is also in Bankruptcy. What’s going on? In our last statement we referred to those who never plan, plan to fail. For a city, one of the most critical elements in their progression is a budget. For the past 3 years, the City of Clay has operated without a budget, despite numerous requests. Now how do you spend monies appropriately and respect the taxpayer’s dollars without a plan. Now while as a councilman, I have the ability to request our expenses this is no substitute for a defined budget by our city’s administration.
Progress has occurred in Clay but at what expense? Mayor McGuffie is right about the cities progression, but it is the past administration who paved the way for the improvement dollars that the mayor has been able to utilize, with the exception of the borrowed $1.2 million dollars this year.
One of my first actions as Mayor will be to assess the city’s finances and create a budget so that we may progress with a proper financial structure. While the city does have limited funds, we will have to focus on initiatives for bringing in funds. We look forward to having the cooperation of the Chamber of Commerce, filings for grants, and meetings with our elected officials for advice and assistance on available appropriated funds for city improvement
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In regards to the domain purchase, a campaign is a competitive process and in any race you never want to make it easy for your opponent. Our campaign is humbled by the amount of overwhelming support and we look forward to serving the citizens of Clay.
Clay Councilman Charles Webster