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School system is a financial wreck In economic times like these, we can easily see which governments have been managing the store and which ones have been shoplifting. Local governments like Cobb County, Clayton County, Fulton County, Spalding County, Henry County Board of Education and quite a few others will not be dipping into their reserve funds in 2009 because they were smart enough to prepare. Cobb County actually finished fiscal year 2008 with a surplus of over $384,000. Cobb Finance Director Brad Bowers said the strong finish was attributed to the county “being conservative, by controlling our expenditures and by being proactive” (AJC, Jan. 14, 2009). It is no secret the Fayette County Board of Education (FCBOE) is a financial train wreck. The FCBOE power-threesome of Terri Smith, Janet Smola and Lee Wright are spinning so far out of reality, you just have to put your head into your hands and sigh. Ms. Smola convinced many blinded school parents of her financial acumen, and they foolishly placed their trust in her. Board member Lee Wright might be the only salvageable person out of the three. At a recent meeting, “Wright suggested that the [school system’s five-year strategic] plan should include a goal on fiscal responsibility” (The Citizen, “BoE looks at deeper cuts,” Jan. 14). And while Wright’s new perspective is appreciated, it is about six years too late. The voters have enabled the power-threesome’s bad financial behavior by throwing money at them every time they asked for it. Now they want to close down the elementary they just built. As a consequence, do not expect them to dismantle most of their reckless deeds from the past, and you can count on teachers and paraprofessionals taking the brunt of the pain. In Peachtree City, we are down to the core of the onion. All of the outer layers have been removed and what we have remaining does not look very edible. Please do not blame Peachtree City’s financial meltdown on the city staff. Mayor Logsdon, Councilman Boone and Councilwoman Plunkett had been warned to cease fire on the unbudgeted expenses and draining the reserves, but they refused. Plunkett is causing disaster on parallel tracks as she also led the way for the amphitheater’s implosion which had to be dumped on the city. Now, through recent events, we know the City Council’s lack of ability is worse than previous thought. This from a group who inherited the some of the best fund balances in the city’s history. Much like when the FCBOE put paraprofessionals on the gallows and demanded an affirmative vote on the E-SPLOST to save them, the City Council of Peachtree City placed a noose around 23 of their employees’ necks and told the remaining employees to take a 25 percent pay cut to save them. This is a crude way to defer blame from the ones who actually caused the problem. The City Council claimed their cutting the 23 jobs would save $840,000, but surely they are not going to stop mowing the grass and weeding the medians. They failed to say how much it would cost to subcontract the labor to handle the work. Mayor Logsdon said, ”I don’t think there’s an option that hasn’t been looked at by staff and council” (The Citizen, “PTC delays decision on 23 job cuts,” Jan. 16). But the council members did not include the department directors in their decisions. Would it not be a good idea to include the directors and ask them how to cut funds from their budgets? Another sign of the council’s financial instability was the fact they bought a fleet of new vehicles and equipment for the same employees they now plan to cut. This is the same kind of seat-of-your-pants decision making that got the FCBOE in trouble. Another disturbing sign from the City Council is question 17 on their UPDATE survey. The question is, “If services must be cut, in what order should Council consider departments for those cuts? Please rank service areas below from 1-11, with #1 for the FIRST area to be reviewed for cuts, and #11 for the LAST area to be reviewed for cuts.” Ouch! The council really wants to defer their authority to a group of citizens penciling in number 1-11 next to various city operations? Please keep in mind the council does not give any budget information, staffing numbers, service areas or other vital statistics to aid the citizens with where to place their rankings. Maybe a panel with some non-”yes” people to thoroughly research and discuss budget issues would be acceptable, but asking residents to throw darts at a list so they came be blamed for a negative outcome instead of the City Council is outrageous. All of the council’s quick-fix solutions will cause long-term problems. In addition, employee morale crashes when the council creates deficit budgets, increases council pay and funds pet projects at the expense of hard-working staffers. Think about the city eliminating the landscaping of subdivision entrances and the impact that will have on the future appearance of the city. With all of the ridiculous stuff going on, tip your hat to the town of Tyrone. Mayor Don Rehwaldt and crew inherited some considerable financial obstacles, but they pumped up their reserves and their ship is heading the right direction. Tyrone gives me hope that the others can come around if they just have courage to face reality. [Steve Brown is the former mayor of Peachtree City. He can be reached at stevebrownptc@ureach.com.] login to post comments | Steve Brown's blog
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