...but look soon because unless the unions get real about the what is happening and how they are in fact becoming the enemy of the middle class, then they will cease to exist and having a union card will be something you'll hide instead of proudly display.
What is happening here? How is it public sector unions all over the country are bankrupting communities and states with no apparent push back? Certainly none in Troy. But do I detect a coming backlash ?
Michael Barone explains the phenomenon we're seeing, or maybe more accurately, the siege we're under. This is why, perhaps the only reason why, Troy is closing its library and ultimately laying off 100 library employees. Remember, the $3.8 million in fund transfers ostensibly meant to delay police layoffs is the entire annual budget (fully funded budget) for the library. Think about that. A person close to the process called that money, "Nothing." Nothing? It could have funded the library for an additional year. Of course that evidently does not serve Option 1 goals so it's moot to the majority of this Council. Incredible.
And if you really want to be depressed, the Cato Institute presents damning reality check statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on how public sector unions and public sector employees are far outpacing private sector salaries and benefits in this economy. It's stunning. Makes Barone's "parasitic" observation ring more true.
Can we survive as a city with a police department growing from 41% of general fund expenditures to over 57%? Granted much of this growth is by elimination of other services and departments, but even the police department understands that is untenable. If the City Council can't face it, and the city administration won't act on it, then the police department at least seems to be quite aware of what this means. More on that in a later post. (Editor's note: And as always, I hope it goes without saying that the Troy Police Department is not the enemy. They have important jobs and they deserve better pay than the rest of us. But budget growth at the cost of shutting down the rest of the city?)
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Barry, I agree with you on the function of the PD being important but I believe that the PD union will take as much as they can until someone stops them. Looking at all the financial decisions I have the feeling that the real problem does not reside exclusively with the PD. In Troy the real buck stops at the City Managers desk. Isn't he the one that ultimately says the library should close? Isn't he the one that decided to build a golf course on a trash heap? Isn't he the one that negotiates the contracts with the PD? Isn't he the one that prepares the budget and then proposes it to the council & mayor?
How much does this guy make a year? I can't find it anywhere on the City web site. I think I saw that his department has 4 people and an annual expenditure of about $750,000. Does he really make over $230,000 a year?
I would really like to see more information about this guy. If he is the person responsible for shutting down the library, I want his name associated with that decision. At a time when Hamtramck is just coming out of recievership and re-opening their library and Troy is closing our library, you know that something is fundamentally wrong in the system of management being used in Troy.
Can you post info on our City Manager?
Never ,said there is NO money in TROY,but as TROY became a City , the few who never HOW to make a city out of TOWNSHIP,did too have lower Taxes.Troy's secert MILLION mile,beach,has been the power base 4 TROY,and many HOUSEs on that street are NO tax CHarities,which never get sold,,sold some pay no TAX,and some never sold,reappraised homes, since 1968 tax rates.
MANY are active politically in BRimingham,both bloomfield SCHOOL SYSTEMs,and live in TROY.and own many business,ventures,and cause TROY many conflicting projects.and we have many of these people on our city steering groups.
city employees never talk,don't care,have never question's TROY directions and ideas,when I Worked at GENERAL motors,100s of flyers were pass out by many groups,explaing why,how,and when things happen,our local papers are void of any hard news,new ideas,or a concept of finding corruption.
==================================
talking to DNR about making our swamp,in2 fish ponds,who do I talk to?
WHY,NO CAPITAL can be raised,acticle in TROY times,6/3/10 pg7,TROY youth Assistance,city tax supported,with the Boys AND girls CLUB,Supported by the DDA,THE mercenary group, TROY Community Coalition,path builders.and Park AND recreation Department all the 'yes' vote in TROY stilling asking for more money.and still not one revenue increasing ideas.
MARV will you please guit complaining? If you have to continue could you slow down and write in complete sentences that the rest of us can understand.
If you really want to help you should communicate in a way that can generate real discussion. You might actually have some ideas in there somewhere but at this point I sure can't tell what they are.
Your experience of Troy won't change until you do.
might check out this story from today's free press.
makes the city administration look bad. very bad.
http://bit.ly/bylu5Y
The Ponzi scheme is starting to collapse from its own weight. Front line employees have to be sacrificed so that executives can continue to collect their bloated salaries. Just how much did the pension fund lose? Who sits on the pension board? Hint: The usual suspects.
Our police dept is great. However, with the city having such ecoonomic problems, perhaps some jobs could be shared. Why do we need full time community service officers at each high school as well as the city in general.
I'm sure there are other classifications that could be shared also.
Our police department is great. Nothing about our efforts to share the burden of balancing the budget it meant to damage the TPD, just to get them to participate in the cost cutting. Every other community is doing that, just not us. And sharing of positions in many areas is a great idea (librarians, for instance, can do research, organize data, etc, in any department) so you can be sure the unions will adamantly oppose it. Don't forget, the unions are all about keeping the union alive, not helping the city balance it's budget.
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