Stop the excessive spending
To the editor:
I believe that most – if not all – of the past and current members of the City Council and also our City Manager, Mr. Stewart, are dedicated people who want to do a good job. I also believe that some, including Mr. Stewart are misguided and are making some very poor decisions. Here are my reasons as to why.
According to an article which appeared in the November issue of a national magazine, Cape Coral was rated the “best performing city in America” back in 2004. The article also said: “Now it is the 120th and one of every 71 homes is in a state of foreclosure while more than half the mortgages are underwater.” All of this happened on City Manager Terry Stewart’s watch. While he cannot be totally blamed for the collapse, total city spending under Mr. Stewart doubled in three short years. It went from $182 million in 2004 to $376 million in 2007, as the economy was crashing. But the increases did not end in 2007.
In 2008, he originally proposed a City Budget which called for spending $440 million. That soon became $444.5 million, but the people on our City Council who form a majority, recently approved a budget amendment which added $157.5 million (Ordinance 55-08) to increase the budget to $602 million. Those majority council members believed Mr. Stewart when he said all of that additional money was being “brought forward” and that it was going into the budget as “reserves.” The council was told none of it would be spent without council approval. Honest! That is what he and his Finance Director Mark Mason convinced some of those council members to believe. There were, however, still questions as to whether this was all of it.
The only council members who voted against that increase in the budget were Bill Deile and Pete Brandt. That was back in June. Further, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Mason did not tell the council that by approving the Ordinance, they were automatically approving increased spending of $85 million of that $157 million. Nor were they told that another budget amendment would be introduced on Nov. 10 (Ordinance 126-08) to further increase the 2008 budget to $721.7 million. Remember, we started the year at $440 million. All of this money will come out of the pockets of those who live here. I predict our sewer and water rates will also more than double when compared to 2004.
Also remember, we have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, our unemployment is close to 10 percent, homes are being abandoned every day, and our real estate market and building industry have collapsed, yet Mr. Stewart continues seeking more and more of our money. I am told the remaining Facilities Expansion Program will cost an additional $444 million.
The sad part of all this is that he, Mr. Stewart, has convinced four people on the council that all of this spending is justified.
Those four are Tim Day, Derrick Donnell, Dolores Bertolini and Jim Burch. This is the same City Manager that convinced the previous council – two of whom are still with us – that it was OK to spend $110 million on a public safety building. It took the outrage of the people voting and their active involvement in developing an alternative plan that reduced the price to its current $28.5 million – land included.
None of this tremendous increase in spending would have been possible without the approval of a majority of the members of the city council, both past and present. From my vantage point, the only two council members who consistently question and vote against unjustified and not clearly explained massive spending increases are Bill Deile and Pete Brandt. To his credit, Mr. Grill is now also moving in that direction.
I sincerely hope that Mr. Stewart, who has on several occasions maligned me and others, and some of the remaining council members see the light and change their future actions so that our city can once again become the paradise we all came here to enjoy. Stop this excessive spending.
Sal Grosso
Cape Coral