Doing the Homework, Listening to the People

By Nancy C. Woodward

In order to vote wisely and responsibly, city council members need to know how much money we have to work with, and in which accounts that money is located. That is only common sense! To know what the people want to do with their money, you have to ask them. How else do you know?

The council has made these decisions on the basis of staff recommendations alone--without treasurer's reports, without knowlege since January of 1997 of what the city's bank account balances actually are.

It gets worse from here. A study of the records shows that money has been borrowed from the city's reserve accounts, but that when grant monies came in, the new funds went into the general fund checking account, and not the accounts from which the money had been borrowed. Thus, questions of financial impropriety have arisen, and particularly because at this time the Blue Lake City Council is considering passing a budget as "Balanced," which would in fact be in the red were these funds to be returned to the accounts from which they were borrowed, and in which they actually belong.

The question of illegality arises because the council has voted to raise water and sewer rates, when money has been spent out of the sewer fund improperly, and large sums of money are owed to that fund, with no plan for repayment in sight.

There is no justification for raising water rates at all. When the city council is finally allowed, after all this time, to see the balances on the city's accounts, that should become very clear.

And because surplus over expenses on incoming revenues were placed in checking rather than into the interest bearing reserve accounts where they belong, the city lost an estimated $20,000 in interest alone--at a time when the citizens were assessed new rate hikes to "cover expenses."

One city council member, now running for re-election, actually had the temerity to say that that lost revenue was "water under the bridge at this point."

There is more, sadly, to this story. People who want to know further details should feel free to call me at 668-5075, or e-mail me at ncw@humboldt1.com

I have worked hard for years as a citizen volunteer in Blue Lake--as have several of the council members whose judgement this past year has fallen short of the mark. What is so very special and unique about Blue Lake is the fact that we are still mostly a government of volunteers. Our city council, our various committees and commissions, our museum society, our Grange, the visioning committees, and even our very outstanding Fire Department, all these organisations and more, are volunteer. What that means is, just alot of ordinary people are doing the best they can, out of the goodness of their hearts.

But we argue, too! Sometimes it is like one of the worst family squabbles you ever saw in your life! Name calling, the works. But what I think it really boils down to is that the people who have the responsibility of managing the people's money and the people's resources need to know, just for basics, how much money we actually have.

Our hired staff are there to provide information and to facilitate the accomplishment of council decisions. Government in Blue Lake begins, or should begin, with requiring staff to provide the information the elected citizen volunteers need to have in order to make decisions that serve the best interests of the people of Blue Lake. If I am elected, I will work to ensure that the council has the information it needs to vote responsibly.

That's only common sense, don't you agree?

Take a positive step in the direction of fiscal common sense and citizen responsibility for Blue Lake: vote for Nancy Woodward for City Council! I love our special valley, and will work hard for the people who live here.

Thank you for reading, and please call me if you have any questions: 668-5075, or e-mail ncw@humboldt1.com