My Friends,
In light of the work ahead of us in the year 2010, let’s take a walk down memory lane and recount what transpired in 2009.
- No external, independent, financial audit of City Hall’s budget or spending and buying was conducted and made public as is required by Corinth’s Home Rule Charter in the last 5 years. As a result, we’re asking Mayor Ruggierre and anyone on the council responsible for this oversight to resign.
In light of the work ahead of us in the year 2010, let’s take a walk down memory lane and recount what transpired in 2009.
- No external, independent, financial audit of City Hall’s budget or spending and buying was conducted and made public as is required by Corinth’s Home Rule Charter in the last 5 years. As a result, we’re asking Mayor Ruggierre and anyone on the council responsible for this oversight to resign.
- In the absence of the above mentioned audit no rational spending decisions made and it was a "closed" process.
- Mayor Burgess left the mayor’s office but left us with plenty of unanswered questions...
- Criminal complaint was filed with the DA against City hall and city council.
- Remember Churchgate? We bravely fought together in opposition to the City Council’s deceptive practices and misuse of our tax dollars. We collected over 480 petition signatures and exposed the fact that city council had been taken over by a small clique of architects, commercial developers and local politicians. The city ignored the petition and the residents wishes and the project was built.
- Remember Churchgate? We bravely fought together in opposition to the City Council’s deceptive practices and misuse of our tax dollars. We collected over 480 petition signatures and exposed the fact that city council had been taken over by a small clique of architects, commercial developers and local politicians. The city ignored the petition and the residents wishes and the project was built.
- In 2009 we've achieved a record number of, four out of five, city councilman that are occupying there seats by just placing their names on the ballot and running unopposed or filling of a vacant seat. What is that telling you?
- Our City population lost around 800 residents and dipped under 19,000 forwards the end of the year. Less Tax payers in the city, more debt acuired. These figures are opposite the huge growth City Hall predicted to support their growing staff and expensive projects. Absent free choice, public input and fair representation, the 2006 Capital Improvement Plan, the document on which those phony growth numbers are founded, become only the excuse for the public works department's and CEDC existence.
- After we found inconsistencies and blatant fabrications to the Council agendas and minutes on the City's website, all of the 05-06-07-08 years records were purged from our city’s website. What are they trying to hide?
- City Hall and City Council actively engaged in destruction of existing Corinth Businesses. Ask me how.
- Our City population lost around 800 residents and dipped under 19,000 forwards the end of the year. Less Tax payers in the city, more debt acuired. These figures are opposite the huge growth City Hall predicted to support their growing staff and expensive projects. Absent free choice, public input and fair representation, the 2006 Capital Improvement Plan, the document on which those phony growth numbers are founded, become only the excuse for the public works department's and CEDC existence.
- After we found inconsistencies and blatant fabrications to the Council agendas and minutes on the City's website, all of the 05-06-07-08 years records were purged from our city’s website. What are they trying to hide?
- City Hall and City Council actively engaged in destruction of existing Corinth Businesses. Ask me how.
- Not a single ordinance that improved our lifestyle or saved us tax money was passed by the City Council. That is third year in a row!
- What would possess a city manager, who is supposed to oversee essential city services, to venture into the road building industry? City hall has one of the fastest-growing staffs in town when the number of employees should have declined as the city was built out and the population shrinks. Instead of scaling back, Berzina and company is building an empire by turning City Hall into a pseudo-hub of unjustified road construction with programs too numerous to name and honest contracts too few to count. Hello, City Council, Mayor, where are you..?
Let’s face it, Corinth City Hall has evolved into a machine for dispensing pensions, benefits, and lining the pockets of architectural and law firms who manufactured the very base and the main justification to all of this insane expansion. Because of the economy, many Corinth residents have had to scale back their spending and make sacrifices. Meanwhile, City Hall continues to grow in size (overstaffed by more than 30 employees) and spends money like it grows on trees!
- What would possess a city manager, who is supposed to oversee essential city services, to venture into the road building industry? City hall has one of the fastest-growing staffs in town when the number of employees should have declined as the city was built out and the population shrinks. Instead of scaling back, Berzina and company is building an empire by turning City Hall into a pseudo-hub of unjustified road construction with programs too numerous to name and honest contracts too few to count. Hello, City Council, Mayor, where are you..?
Let’s face it, Corinth City Hall has evolved into a machine for dispensing pensions, benefits, and lining the pockets of architectural and law firms who manufactured the very base and the main justification to all of this insane expansion. Because of the economy, many Corinth residents have had to scale back their spending and make sacrifices. Meanwhile, City Hall continues to grow in size (overstaffed by more than 30 employees) and spends money like it grows on trees!
Let’s work together in 2010 to make the necessary cutbacks in our City of Corinth government spending and staff size. Let’s start by finding the culprits behind the bogus Capital Improvement Plan projections and save the rest of our community from the same fate as our neighbors on Church Drive.
Sim Portnoy
Citizens of Corinth for Transparency and Accountability
Sim Portnoy
Citizens of Corinth for Transparency and Accountability
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