I was surprised by the unfair editorial by the ADN editorial board criticizing Assembly Chair Chris Constant’s comment that the mayor’s proposed budget for 2024 was a “fantasy budget.”
Previously, it seemed the ADN board had recognized the ineptness and deceit of the Bronson administration, but suddenly they claimed the mayor’s budget was fair and criticized the Assembly, saying they should be adults in the governance process.
Fortunately, Assembly chair Chris Constant completely rebutted ADN’s editorial in his Tuesday commentary. He questioned how ADN had made such a snap judgment of the 1,400-page budget in four days and how and why they concluded that Constant prefers “higher taxes.”
The Assembly has held several work sessions on the budget. The mayor has not attended. Although I am not a financial expert, watching these work sessions with a commonsense point of view makes one question how the mayor can consider the high vacancy rate of municipal employees, including 37% of positions at the Health Department, a “savings” in the budget.
This approach certainly seems like a fantasy land, saying good for us, no one wants to work for the municipality but we are saving tax dollars. How can there be savings when we have to hire outside contractors at higher rates to do what ordinarily would be done at a lower rate by employees?
The mayor seems to have forgotten the recent debacle of unplowed roads and sidewalks, which was blamed on a shortage of employees
and a shortage of funds in the snowclearing budget.
In the past year, I have seen the administration often request extra funds to hire outside contractors to do tasks that would have or should have been done by municipal employees at a lower wage rate, but were not, due to so many vacancies in the municipal staff.
Certainly, the taxpayers are not necessarily requesting higher taxes, but people do want and deserve a reasonable level of services. The mayor’s proposed budget is dishonest since he claims it will reduce the budget but still deliver the necessary city services, which is impossible.
— Joanne Kell
Anchorage
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