Since taking office in November on a promise to cut spending while maintaining essential services for the residents of New Smyrna Beach, Mayor Adam Barringer, Commissioner Judy Reiker and incumbent Commissioner Jack Grasty (returned in the primary), have done just the opposite.
In spite of promises made, all they appear to have done as the "new" majority" on the five-member commission with holdovers James Hathaway and Lynne Plaskett -- is spend with abandon, obviously completely forgetting their promises to the voters and taxpayers last fall.
They hide the losses of the golf course. They continue to feed the ever growing appetite of the Marine Discovery Center special interest group with money hidden in last year's "bare bones budget," a budget so bare that Mr. Grasty refused to cut the millage rate during its adoption last fall, claiming we needed every penny just to keep things going. That was for building we do not own on property we do not own, with the unsubstantiated promises of jobs somewhere in the future. Add to that more taxpayer money diverted to support the unprofitable water taxi, not surprisingly another project of the Marine Discovery Center's continuing drain of our tax dollars.
The city manager City apparently continues to see her role as being on the side of the city employee not the taxpayer and avoids taking on the unions by saying "we will look at the contracts next year." Then, in an effort to justify using the reserve funds to finance a bloated and excessive city payroll in spite of a continued decrease in tax revenues, they rename it to further confuse the taxpayer.
Add to that the attempt to sneak through the police union contract, with no cost analysis, on the consent agenda. That was followed by the lame excuse for a citizen's budget review committee that was structured by the city manager to have no impact whatsoever on "her budget."
To add insult to injury, the city manager then tries to sneak a golden parachute buy out, that she misnames a reduction in force, on the commission consent agenda to avoid discussion or exposure of her overly generous employee bonus. This while our neighbor city to the north, Port Orange, which unlike New Smyrna Beach, has recognized the fiscal crisis, has taken the initial steps to address the ticking fiscal time bomb of pension costs and the excessive city payroll.
Port Orange did not offer a buy out, but rather changed the calculation criteria on which firefighter pensions are based and reduced their salaries by 6%, both steps with identifiable and quantifiable costs savings. The published materials on our city manager's buy out lack an acceptable actuarial cost benefit or return on investment savings analysis. Most what is presented to the public lacks clarity and detail.
So I ask: When will Adam, Judy, and Jack stop spending and start saving our money? It is certainly not by adopting this ill conceived and expensive buy out. A reduction in force (RIF) is just that; you no longer need the positions and they have been abolished. Employees in those positions have the opportunity to apply for other city jobs or retire, period. Buying out an employee and then filling the job with a lesser salaried employee, although somewhat cost saving, is not the solution to the shortfalls we are facing in New Smyrna Beach and when you count the cost of the buyout, the entire program becomes more of a benefit to the employee and less a cost savings.
Why not just reduce all salaries over say $35,000 a year by 10% as a start. I think you will see some people retire on their own to avoid the reduction in the pension such a salary reduction might create.
After that, tell the city manager next year is too late to look at the union contracts. Worst thing that could happen would be you will not get their PAC contributions next time you run. But then you did extend your time in office.
What we havev really been presented so far is a poorly constructed game of smoke and mirrors.