Apathy & Defeatist Attitudes are the Real Problem
After reading Councilor Matt Van Heynigan’s article in yesterday’s Westfield News, and after chatting with one of the new candidates, I decided to write one last article before the election window closes.
I really like Matt and I’m happy to have him as part of the City Council team. He’s an active member of the Finance Committee, he voted to trim over $1 million from the budget this year, and was a key player in last year’s “no tax increase” vote. However, I have to disagree with a few of the things he wrote in his recent article.
First, the five hard-working, smart, honorable councilors who voted against the FY18 city budget (O’Connell, Babinski, Surprise, Allie, and Flaherty) weren’t voting to undo the budget cuts – they were voting NO on the total amended budget and the MASSIVE tax increases that were proposed to pay for that budget. There was over $3 million in new spending, and over $5.1 million in new taxes in the proposed budget. That was a problem for many of us.
Second, he claims that if the budget vote had failed 6-6 instead of passing 7-5 (there were only 12 votes because one of the councilors had an important private reason for not being there), that the budget would have automatically resulted in the Mayor’s budget as proposed. That’s a tad misleading. A 6-6 failed vote does not have the required majority (seven votes by our City Council rules) to do anything – it just means the motion fails to pass. That means we could have spent more time trying to change the budget. We had a whole other week before the end of June, and we had a few weeks until the 45-day council review clock expired as allowed under Mass General Law Chapter 44 Section 32. Of course, that would have meant more work – sometimes seemingly fruitless work. But, we could have made the effort if there were enough “No” votes. Note: we received the budget late this year, so that 45-day clock would have actually run into the start of the new budget year. However, the law allows for this, and for the continuous operation of government using a 1/12th continuing appropriation process. This certainly isn’t ideal, but it does happen. You’re seeing a version of this in Connecticut right now.
Before I move on, let me say that the defeatist attitude and apathy of some councilors killed this process. The “this is the way it’s always been done” viewpoint doesn’t help the residents and businesses in Westfield. The attitude of “why make an effort when we already know the outcome?” is horrible. The expectation of “we’ll let the next mayor, or the next City Council, or the next generation or taxpayers worry about that” is horrible. The “everyone deserves a raise” and the “we can’t vote against the mayor’s labor contracts” philosophies force taxpayers to give up larger and larger shares of their hard-earned income or retirement, and force councilors to vote to trim necessary services or defer payments of long-term obligations. We need councilors who have a “can do” attitude, and who are willing to spend a few extra hours or days to figure out how to get things done – even when there are challenges and sometimes no good answers.
Sometimes we need to make hard choices. Those choices have impact. We know that. However, I believe we have to do what it right for the people who live in Westfield, the businesses that choose to locate here, and the city employees who are counting on receiving retirement benefits when they leave government service. In this case, the majority of councilors (by one vote) chose to move a budget along that had massive tax increases, massive snowballing unfunded retiree benefits, and unfunded high-demand high-impact operating expenses because they didn’t want to make the tedious painful effort of reducing the increases in hundreds of line-items in the proposed budget. In my opinion, those extra efforts, and extra few weeks could have made a difference. In this case, one flipped vote would have made all the difference. Think about that at the polls. Are you going to elect the same people over and over again and expect different results? Or, are you willing to replace one of the apathetic defeatist attitude councilors (or one who you completely disagree with on a regular basis) with one of the new candidates? Personally, I’m looking for a couple of changes. One or two new councilors will have a dramatic impact on many critical votes.
If you didn’t attend the budget meetings, or didn’t read the Westfield News articles about the vote, you can watch the replays on www.vimeo.com/westfield – look for the June 21st and 22nd meetings. You’ll see dozens of citizens asking the council to cut the budget and reduce the growing tax burdens. You’ll see Councilor Paul ask each councilor for their proposed cuts. You’ll see several councilors who had no suggestions. No suggestions on a $126 million budget with over $3 million in increased spending? Nothing?
Ok, back to Matt’s article… Third, he brought up a vote I took on the Bond for the sports fields. Somehow, this vote seems to keep being brought up by a few councilors as a way of attacking me. You know the “councilor budget-hawk votes to waste money on fields yet votes against labor contracts” kind of statement. I’m proud of that vote, and I think it’s our OBLIGATION to maintain our buildings, roads, utility infrastructure, technology, and yes, our schools and sporting facilities. Note: I’ve been voting against labor contracts because we have not been presented with the real annual costs of the contracts before voting, we haven’t been told how we’d pay for those contracts, and we haven’t been told what we’d have to give up in order to pay for those contracts.
Many people don’t understand the difference between operating and capital expenses and the philosophy of reserving a portion of our budget for the annual payments for capital investments. In Westfield’s case, we have a target of around 6% of our budget for debt payments. That’s a decent number that allows us to pay for the many capital projects I mentioned above. If we were to redirect that money to pay for recurring increasing operating expenses, such as salaries or benefits, we’d never be able to get it back for capital projects (since it would require layoffs or benefit cuts which are really tough to get passed). So, years ago, before I was on City Council, the wise financial team came up with this philosophy of reserving that amount just for capital projects. If one year the debt payments were below that target number, the balance of those funds would be set aside for future projects by putting the money in the City’s Stabilization account. Note: you see that line item labeled “Reserve for Debt Decline” on the budget worksheet I provided in last week’s article. That practice helped build up our Stabilization account to the $7 million balance we now have.
There are no easy answers. Matt’s right about that. However, I believe we have to work harder and make the tough unpopular choices. We can’t have it both ways. We also can’t undo what’s been done by this budget vote. Those seven councilors who voted to approve the budget voted for the massive tax increase as well (the budget as presented called for a 6% increase). Back-peddling and talking about using Free Cash or Stabilization to reduce the tax increase aren’t the solution. Burning up cash to reduce taxes is going to hurt us as we approach the Levy Ceiling as I explained last week. We really needed that ONE EXTRA VOTE to help reduce the spending increases in the budget. Please remember that on Election Day.
Regarding Election Day, I’m thrilled to see so many new candidates who are willing to serve, and who want to help make Westfield a better place to live, work, and play. I’ve met with two of the at-large candidates, Matt Emmershy and Jeff Chagnon. Both seem to be great guys who really care about our hometown. Both express concerns about spending priorities and tax burdens. Both have specific ideas. Both are actively campaigning, going door-to-door, and holding meet & greets. And, both seem to be willing to make hard choices even if they aren’t popular choices. Other candidates are doing the same.
I’d encourage you to meet with these candidates and to support candidates who will represent your best long-term interests. Also remember that you can vote for seven at-large councilors, but you don’t have to. If there are only three who you want to vote for, only vote for three. It actually hurts your favorite candidates if you cast votes for others who you don’t really support. Please don’t just vote by name recognition. Vote for character, philosophy, voting history, and for someone who will do what it takes – even if there are no good choices – to make Westfield a better place for all of us.
Jeff wrote a post on Facebook the other day about some of the apathy and defeatist attitudes he’s finding going door-to-door. I’ve found the same thing over the years. Many voters are sick of politics and sick of not being heard by their elected officials. They think their vote doesn’t matter. YOUR VOTE DOES MATTER. It only takes a few minutes once every other year. As mentioned above, one councilor vote would have made a difference in your taxes this year, and one vote would have made a difference on lots of other matters. Last election, one councilor was elected by less than five votes. YOUR VOTE ABSOLUTELY MATTERS. Please write VOTE on November 7th on your calendar, and please get out and vote.
Have a great rest of the summer! We’re off this weekend to another baseball tournament in southern Connecticut, and next weekend we’re headed south to see the Full Eclipse. In Westfield we’ve got the big MusicFest on the Green coming up, Wednesday night open mics, Thursday night Locals on the Lot, the Food Fest, and this weekend’s Air Show! It’s a great time of year.
Kids, don’t forget your summer reading!
Regards,
Dave Flaherty
Westfield City Councilor
[email protected]
P.S. As you get ready for the new school year, you’ll see the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts out and about. My kids and I, and our friends, have had fantastic experiences with Scouting. I’d encourage everyone with younger kids, or kids transitioning into middle school, to give Scouting a try. It’s not your grandfather’s Scouting anymore. The values are the same, but the time commitments and experiences have definitely adjusted for the modern times and modern interests. If you don’t know where to start, please visit beascout.org or call the Boy Scout office at 413-594-9196, or the Girl Scout office at 413-584-2602.
