Wednesday, December 07, 2011

County Council Backs Down Dooley . . . Again

County Executive Charlie A. Dooley on Tuesday backed off his plan to close any county parks and said he had reached a compromise with members of the County Council to seek alternative cuts to balance the budget.

Dooley also withdrew his threats to close the county government's West County Satellite Office and to cut back on snow plowing in unincorporated subdivisions.

"I met with the council and we found some compromises that we all can agree on," Dooley said at Tuesday's regular council meeting in Clayton.

As to layoffs, he said: "That's the sad part. That's something that we still can't get away from."

Dooley said specifics for making up the $10 million budget shortfall had yet to be determined.

Mr. Dooley continues to suffer from foot-in-mouth disease. It’s just a matter of time before he comes up with something else off the wall. It’s always interesting when a politician says that the government needs to change when that individual has been part of that government for many years.

In Mr. Dooley’s case, he’s not equipped to handle problems of this magnitude. The County’s budget crisis did not happen overnight. Things like this are months and years in the making. You don’t say we’re $10 million in the hole and then turn around and withdraw your statement. Something is still very wrong here.

Tuesday marked the second time in recent months that the county executive has retreated from one of his proposals in the face of strong opposition from the council.

In September, he withdrew a call for a tax increase after Council Chairman Steve Stenger, D-South County, questioned financial statistics that Dooley had offered to support the request.

Dooley later admitted that he had supplied inaccurate financial data on the plan. He also publicly apologized and promised in the future to keep the council involved on major issues.

However, Dooley refused to characterize the latest budget development as a personal setback.

"This is not a defeat. This is a success," he said after the meeting. Duh!!! Hello.

You can read more about this fiasco along with the committee's cost-saving and revenue enhancing recommendations at:

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/compromise-on-st-louis-county-budget-keeps-parks-open/article_2e9f3e35-cd5f-5a7f-b772-3c77fe8e94ca.html#ixzz1ftGsBLFV

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous5:08 PM

    Congratulations to Mr. Stenger. Finally someone on the county council that has the courage to oppose Dooley. He also has the wisdom and courage to know that is not racism to oppose stupidity no matter what color a moron’s skin is. We finally have a leader on the council.

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