Because of the budget cuts, services — such as existing library hours and programs, park rangers, wading pool hours, police protection at the local schools and public works programs — have been either cut or eliminated.
One might ask how did the city get into this quagmire?
Simple, the City Council has in recent years been giving all our city employees tremendous salary raises, especially the $100,000 plus per year for managers and some of their subordinates.
These managers even have their own union. Can you believe that?
City Manager Jim Starbird — who has a salary of about $242,000 per year while overseeing a city with a population of roughly 209,000 people for example — makes more money than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — who has a salary of about $206,000 per year and a population of more than 30 million people.
How is that possible one might ask?
The city manager just tells the council the salary he requests and they, the council, like sheep, go along with whatever he and his staff request.
We are all too familiar with the purchase by the city of the Rockhaven Sanitarium for more than $8.25 million in recent months.
The citizens of Montrose never lifted a finger to raise money for its purchase.
Did they have a definite plan on how to use the property?
Maybe, the local citizens just did not want a large housing project in their backyard. So they persuaded the council to spend the money of other people, we the tax payers, to purchase that property.
Councilman Frank Quintero said he just could not let a good piece of real estate go unpurchased.
Mayor John Drayman felt the same as Quintero and also was beholden to the Montrose residents who helped to elect him to the council.
And behind closed doors the councilmen unanimously chose to purchase the property.
Some on the council said for only $55.00 a square foot that the price tag was a a great bargain.
The city short fall was $9.9 million and that is why the council told the city managers to cut all their budgets to the bone.
Between exorbitant salaries for the city manger, individual department managers and their subordinates plus the unnecessary purchase of the Rockhaven Sanitarium, the city now finds itself providing skeleton services to the public.
What would Orman say after the fact?
Denied. Denied. Denied.
Time to change the leadership of the city starting with the city manager, who is the executive manager for the city and who the council are always asking for advice and consent. Then we can decide which council members have gone along and voted for all the pay raises for the city employees and vote them out.
Plus, put any additional spending for the Rockhaven property on hold till the city can afford its upkeep.
MIKE MOHILL is a Glendale resident.
