I listened to what the Columbia Heights city manager and city council had to say as they were working on the new 2010 budget.  At a work session the city manager said they would be going back to the 2008 budget in 2010.  This sounded like there would be some progress in making cuts in this slow economy.  I thought, ‘great!’.  Maybe there is some hope for this council after all.  But when it came down to the final draft the truth was, they did not go back to the 2008 budget and instead, approved a budget that was even higher than what we had for 2009.  We need to make sure that this council is held accountable for their votes.  The budget was approved on a 4-1 vote with Bruce Nawrocki being the only dissenting vote.

Let me point out a few facts:

1.  I didn’t get a raise this year or last year. – Our mayor and city manager both had substantial raises in 2009.  (The mayor was given a $5,000 salary increase)

2.  Our City Manager is now making $132,641.00 a year, not including benefits. (Population over 18,000) -  Compare that to the City Manager of Anoka, MN making  $110,802.00.  (Population over 17,000).  In fact, our city manager salary is closer to that of the City of Eden Prairie at $137,675 (Population over 60,000).  It seems strange that we would need to be compared to Eden Prairie when we compare city manager salaries.

3.  The City of Columbia Heights lost it’s biggest employer, Medtronic. – Now, the biggest employer in this city are the schools and the city (government) – paid by local taxpayers with a high percentage of those residents ‘under’ employed.

4.  With the down economy, our family has had to make some severe cuts in our budget. The companies we work for have also had to make severe cuts. – If the City of Columbia Heights truly was making cuts in the budget, we would be seeing a reduction in taxes, not an increase.

5.  Salaries will be voted on this year for the year 2011 for the City Council, Mayor and City Manager.  – Maybe it is time they set more realistic goals.

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