“Responsibly managing the hard-earned dollars of taxpayers is a sacred trust and the fundamental duty of a City Councilor. Passage of the annual budget is not the conclusion of the Council’s fiscal responsibilities; it is the beginning. As a Vice-President at Mass Mutual, I managed budgets totaling over $100 million, money which policyholders entrusted to the company. I know the importance of constant scrutiny of spending and of making the hard decisions to stay within budget to achieve the desired results.”
‘The Control Board has left.The challenge of managing our city finances belongs to the Mayor, the financial team, and the City Council.. We must be professional and responsible in serving as guardians of public funds. We must not return to the irresponsible policies and sloppy practices which caused the crisis in city finances a few years ago.”
As a preliminary matter, I propose that there be an orientation to city finances for the City Council. There will be many new Council members. Oversight of the budget is one of the Council’s main functions. The orientation and training sessions should be run by the City’s financial team in December and January.
I propose a five-point plan as follows: 1) that the City Council adopt the Financial Ordinance voted by the Control Board in April, which requires finance officials to deliver a monthly report to the City Council, detailing actual versus projected revenues and actual spending versus budgeted expenses; 2) quarterly meetings with all individual department heads to assess compliance; 3) better coordination with our delegation of state legislators and with state finance officials; 4) constant assessment of investments and interest rates so as not to repeat the near-loss of $13 million; and 5) establishment of a Taxpayer’s Monthly Statement to keep citizens current with our financial progress.
“I pledge to be vigilant in making sure municipal finances stay on course. I will apply my 20 years of experience in managing budgets so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. We must start a new chapter in our history, one focused on professional and responsible stewardship of taxpayer funds.”
