Stewart Nelson

I was deeply saddened to see Judy McGovern’s column yesterday that broke the news on the proposed layoffs in the Police Department.  During my campaign I asked Police Chief Jones if he could guarantee that when the new building opened he would guarantee that there would not be any layoffs due to budget constraints.  Although that is a tough question, I was pretty certain that his answer would be “No”.   It is ironic that the layoffs are announced not when this new building opened, but now even before they officially break ground. 

I was worried about this eventuality not because my crystal ball on the economy is much clearer than others, but because I have been through more of these business cycles than most of the present council members.  My business sense usually tells me when it is the time to “press on the accelerator”, “time for caution” or “time to step on the brakes”.  For some time now I have been feeling the warning signs that this recesssion is going to get much worse before it gets better.

Municipal finance is the next big crisis we face as a community.  The promises we have made to our City workers, delays in rebuilding our infrastructure, excessive borrowing, an archaeic and punative tax system all are leading us down a path towards total collapse if we do not act soon enough.  This is a time for fundamental change in the way we do business as a City and County.