I'm So Dizzy...My Head is Spinning.....

When we vote for Town Council, Mayor, or anyone for that matter, there should be a better vetting process so residents can really get to know the truth about their choices.What do we know about the Mayor? What kind of budget experience does he have? 

In a small Town, you often don't know who you've voted for until its' too late. Unfortunately, that's the case right here in our own, small, charming Mount Airy. Not really so charming sometimes, huh? 

In a small Town, people knock at your door and tell you lies about the other candidates and what they believe in. Tip: Be careful of people who talk about other candidates more than they talk about themselves; it may mean they are hiding information, or fabricating information as a distraction to what they're really all about. Once you've cast your ballot, it's too late. 

Councilman David Blais is a councilman who speaks from his heart. His only agenda is doing right by the Mount Airy taxpayers. He asks the hard questions. He stands his ground. He is not intimidated by the good old boy (and one girl) network. I admire Councilman Blais for his tenacity and passion to protect our tax dollars, while at the same time looking after the long term viability of the Town. 

Below is Councilman Blaise's letter to the editor and his contribution to the Mount Airy Blog this week. It's titled "I'm dizzy form the spin."  This Councilman speaks the truth. There's one thing residents want in this Town. The Truth. They are tired of the incivility and down right nastiness at Town Hall. We can't find common ground and solutions to our problems when certain people continue to write letters that are both misleading and misguided. These are the same people who knocked at your door during the last campaign. I encourage residents to take the time to find the facts and encourage local media to do a better job vetting local candidates.

I'm dizzy from the spin

Many things spin: a child's top, a pinwheel, tires on a vehicle. But the best example of spin I found this week is Bruce Curley's spin on the position of Councilwoman Wendi Peters and myself in regard to Mount Airy's emergency operations plan ("Agreements are crucial in the event of a disaster," Letters, The Gazette, May 19).

First, let me make it clear that Ms. Peters and I 100 percent support an emergency operations plan that will fit our town and the surrounding community. What I did not support was the vagueness in the language of the memorandum of understanding presented by Mayor Pat Rockinberg.

Mr. Curley points out that this is a "legal document" created and signed in advance between local government and service providers. While he is correct that it is an agreement, nothing binds the town to use those service providers, so the legal enforceability may not necessarily exist.

The mayor presented the memorandum of understanding commenting that it was important so local businesses could not "gouge us" in a time of emergency. Ms. Peters commented that she found it disconcerting that the mayor often speaks of "small-town charm," but felt the need to present a document to keep local businesses from "gouging" us in a time of emergency.

Ms. Peters gave examples of local businesses supporting those in need in times of emergency. Ms. Peters merely voiced a concern. I do not find this unreasonable.

While it is true that if the town faces a disaster, using local businesses might not be a likely option. But I believe that we should attempt to patronize local businesses first, not only for economic reasons, but also because their services are right here in our community.

Thirdly, Mr. Curley writes that I continually objected to helping anybody outside of town. That is a blatant falsehood. What I objected to was the wording in the memorandum of understanding that did not define (a) exactly where we would provide help outside of town and (b) if we provided help outside of town, who would pay the bill? I could not, in good conscience, support something that places any additional burdens upon our taxpayers to pay for services for individuals who do not live in our town.

I required clarification of these two issues, and never objected to providing services to people outside of town. In fact, the mayor agreed with my analysis and praised me for my concern.

Mr. Curley's spin is unbelievable and clearly contrived to misrepresent what I stated. Bruce, please get your facts straight and stop spinning this issue. We need unity in our town among the elected officials and the community; misrepresenting statements does more harm than good.

David Blais, Mount Airy

Town Council Member

Important message to Mount Airy Taxpayers

A special Council meeting was held tonight to address the FY’12 budget and address a request for funding from a local group of citizens. We are issuing this joint statement to the taxpayers to explain our position on each of these important issues.

The Budget - The Mayor, as Chief Financial Officer, put forth a budget a few months ago and has met with the Council on several occasions for review, comment and in some cases changes.  The final budget originally presented to the Council for a vote on Monday, May 2 included increased operating expenses, including a 30% increase in police costs and raises for all employees.   

 

The Mayor has proposed balancing the budget with transfers from reserves.  The Mayor likes to tout that we have “$9.3 million in reserves”, “industry standards recommend only 5-10% of your operating budget in an operational savings account”, “our reserves are excessive”, etc..  These statements, however, show a lack of understanding regarding the reserves.  This lack of understanding was further illustrated in our budget workshops when he showed his failure to understand that the majority of the reserves are “dedicated” funds that were collected from developers as impact fees before the issuance of a building permit or water connection.  These impact fees were established years ago to ensure that development paid its proportionate share of capital improvements and to ensure adequate facilities are available in a timely and well planned manner.  By way of example, some of those dedicated accounts include well exploration and development, water system expansion, treatment plant expansion, park reserves, and a fire safety fund to be paid to the Mt. Airy Fire Volunteer Fire Company.  

Pursuant to the law, the money collected from impact fees must only be spent on the items for which it was collected.   While it is true we may have “$9.3 million” in reserves, it is imperative that this money only be spent wisely and as outlined by our code.  In addition, we believe it is our fiduciary obligation to have a plan for the long term viability of the town and its infrastructure.  We need a responsible, viable plan to sustain the budget without “deficit borrowing” to balance the budget.  As stated by a former councilman, “There is either a revenue problem or a spending problem.”   The Mayor has failed to address the problem.   The budget was presented for a vote with no long term plan and no explanation regarding the source of the transfers from reserves.

Funding request from local group of citizens –Recently, the Mayor informed the Council that he was going to give money to a local organization working to build from the 2007 Town Survey.  While we commend the efforts of all of our local organizations, we do not believe it is government’s role to donate taxpayers’ money to service clubs and civic groups.  We do, however, feel that if the Mayor is interested in building from the 2007 survey, we should collectively, as a Council, come together and appropriate funds for a new survey.  We can use our existing Commission chairpersons, economic development and community groups for input into the questions contained in the survey and keep costs to a minimum.  We offer our services to work with such a group, appointed by Council, to develop questions, distribute to town residents and evaluate responses for an updated survey.

Whether the expenditure is $750 or $7,000 we believe the Mayor and Council must be vigilant with your tax dollars.  We are committed to doing that and offer our positions on these issues tonight as proof.

Councilman David Blais

Councilwoman Wendi W. Peters