Strike Three?

By Thornton Crowe

Last week, we reported on all the contention over the County budget, yet another budget snuck under the radar without much to do until now. Salisbury News has learned, the City's budget is in far worse shape in spite of being passed before their deadline.

Being this is Julia Glanz's first official budget in her new capacity as our City Administrator, one would think she would've taken extra care to check for accuracy, proving her competency; however, this is not the case. The new budget was passed without being in accordance to the new Charter.

Is this incompetence or deliberate?

At this point, we don't know... but as per the new Charter, the budget must be balance in order to pass. And yes, while a balanced budget was passed, it was done illegally because it was under the old Charter based on 12 departments. There's just one problem...

After Mayor Jake Day's downsizing and merging, any older versions a the Charter becomes invalid because now there's only 5 departments, not 12. Therefore, passage through an invalid standard means the City needs to conform to the new Charter for it to be a legal budget. For example, the two new Deputy Administrators announced last week are actually illegal positions because their jobs and salaries are not included in an appropriate budget.

Simply put, the entire budget is null and void. Hence, before anyone hangs their pictures on their new office walls, this issue should be rectified for anyone's new position to be legally recognized (or paid)! Given that Day is supposedly out of town for the rest of June, there's no one here at base camp to remedy this debacle. Guess it wasn't such a brilliant idea to remove of all those seasoned staffers to make room for the millennial brigade!

Don't forget, Glanz was not a lone agent...

This snafu can't pinned on Glanz alone as she has Day's whole administration and others to help with budget creation. For one, where was the City Council when they engaged in budget work sessions? Didn't they notice the difference between the old versus the new Charter? Did they miss the difference in the department count? Surely they knew about the department reduction or is Jake Day downsizing without their knowledge or consent? Were they asleep at the wheel or did they simply ignore Glanz and Day's negligence for the sake of passing any budget by their deadline?

It seems like everyday, a new issue or example comes forth demonstrating Day's mismanagement of the City's affairs. These are simple yet costly mistakes that could be easily avoided by savvy professionals in the know of how our government works. Can we accept this bungling any longer?

It's a shame the City Hall crew just can't seem to lock down this government thing. These mishaps are literally and figuratively overtaxing to a city already grappling with rising crime, sinking property values, lack of job opportunities, infrastructural breakdown and a host of other issues.

There's been so many strikes, have you lost count yet?

Now, I ask you, my fellow Salisburians, what's the point of having a Charter if no one adheres to it? Is it a meaningless document? If the City's Charter is meant to be a legal guideline, governing how budgets are to be created among other functions, why is Glanz and Day passing anything using an obsolete version?

Wouldn't it be a breath of fresh air if we had a contentious, forthright city government, whose feet were rooted firmly in reality and held a healthy deference for the jobs bestowed on them by the constituents?

I'm just a man asking questions...

On a more upbeat note, to all the fathers out there, Happy Father's Day!