Cynical of Government?
Is it any wonder why I have a cynical view of government? In my review of the budget this year I am looking very closely at two areas of concern; merit raises and memberships & dues. Quite frankly I’m worried that the TA and Selectmen may have cut needed operating budgets to protect merit raises, benefits and staff. Most businesses are gathering staff and asking if they want raises with layoffs or no raises and keep staff at current levels. In every case a union isn’t involved the choice is simple; pass up the raise to keep their fellow employees. Where a union is involved, management is left no choice but to cut staff. For some reason we not only kept staff levels but also intend to give raises.
The second item, “Membership & dues”, totals some $40,000. Last year I discovered that the membership fees provide some educational content. Unfortunately, they also contain a lot of promoting the growth of government. This year I figured we could forego just one year of these memberships and dues but hadn’t imagined I’d meet so much resistance. During the most recent questioning of the $1,000 membership & dues fee for the planning department, it was discovered that a discount is received for the new code books we purchase each year. One Selectman, John Obrien, quickly touted that the savings on the code books nearly covers the entire $1,000.
I’m born and raised from New Hampshire frugality so I got to thinking that if I was paying for these books, which I sort of am, I would shop for the best price. Keep in mind I’m not the person paid to do so. So, after just five minutes on Amazon.com, I could buy all the code books you want at the same discounted price the $1000 membership gives you! And you can actually buy a condensed version that gives you just the actual changes from the previous year for half the price.
There’s probably a law, created by the Association of Planning Boards that says the town must possess a complete version every single year!
I’m sure I’m going to be the bad guy with the “negative tone” for actually checking the facts and bring this to the fore front.
