‘My staff’ is our staff
To the editor:
I have a problem with the city manager’s statement, and it has nothing to do with whether council members should ask tough questions.
First, the city manager is paid by the taxpayers. I am one of those taxpayers. This is not “his” organization, and the city employees are not “his” staff. They work for the City of Cape Coral and ultimately serve the taxpayers through the elected governing body.
Second, saying that he was able to “shift” things around and make the budget work does not make the $2.2 million revenue reduction irrelevant. If the state cuts $2.2 million in expected revenue and the City Manager then has to find $2.2 million in cuts elsewhere to make the numbers work, something changed. Programs, projects, services or spending had to be affected. That is information the elected council-and therefore the taxpayers they represent-have a right to know – immediately.
The issue isn’t whether the City Manager eventually produced a balanced budget. The issue is transparency.
The moment city staff became aware of a significant revenue reduction that affected the budget, the council should have been informed. Immediately. Not after the staff figured out how to make the numbers work. Not because the final budget happened to balance. And certainly not based on whether the city manager personally decided the change was significant enough to report.
Council members are elected to represent the taxpayers. The city manager and city staff have a responsibility to provide those elected officials with complete and timely information so they can make informed decisions on behalf of the people who pay the bills. Council absolutely should ask tough questions. That’s not “demeaning” staff. That’s their job.
And frankly, I find it troubling that the city manager describes the employees as “my staff” and says he will “never let them become a political pawn.” They aren’t his employees, and the council isn’t some opposing political force. They are public employees working for the city, and the council is the governing body elected by the taxpayers.
Nobody is asking city staff to be perfect. But taxpayers have every right to expect transparency, timely communication and accountability-especially when millions of dollars are involved.
Dr. Catrin Hechl
Cape Coral