GUEST COLUMNIST: Council has been poor steward of funds
I believe the City Council is guilty of breaking faith with our constituents. In the past we have asked for, and received, additional funding. Voters have given us new taxes for Trails and Open Space, public safety, and the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority. We on City Council have not been good stewards of these funds.
We continue to add trails and open space to the parks system, oblivious to the fact we do not maintain the properties and facilities that make up the existing system. This is not only foolish; it epitomizes an unsustainable business practice.
We have allowed explosive growth to occur within the management structure of the Fire and Police departments. Today we have more high-ranking officers in support roles than ever. The explosion in bureaucratic support staff came at the expense of line firefighters (the people in the fire stations) and police officers (the people in the squad cars). Decisions made with the public safety sales tax revenues do not reflect the promises made on the ballot.
We sold the transportation tax to the public with the following empty promises: We would improve the bus system; maintain our streets; construct only critically needed additions to our road system; use independent contractors; and cap administrative PPRTA costs for projects at 1 percent of revenues received.
Instead of improving the bus system, we have created a convoluted mess that’s built on a long list of broken promises. We have discontinued service on routes that served large portions of the city’s transit-dependent citizens in favor of bus service to Woodland Park (the Ute Pass Express) and to Denver (FREX). If the city were truly concerned with mitigating sales tax leakage, it wouldn’t have subsidized a service that encourages and facilitates the migration of tax revenue to communities outside of the corporate limits of Colorado Springs.
Many transportation projects are performed by the PPRTA, which uses PPRTA equipment and employees with benefits. When did the definition of “contracting” change to include the development of the city’s own construction company? When did contracting to a third party become awarding contracts to ourselves? In most cases, the city performs roadwork that’s inferior and less efficient than what contractors provide. Often, we allocate additional resources to correct our own faulty work that we should have hired out to contractors with warrantees that protect the public’s investment.
The flaws with the city’s way of doing business are fatal, and no amount of additional revenue will change that fact. More money without significant changes in the way the city conducts its business guarantees one outcome — we will be back soon, with our hand out, singing the “woe is us” poverty song. Until we can remove the pennies from our eyes and take ownership of the underlying causes for our current predicament, the problems we face are unfixable.
The failure in leadership has occurred on my watch and that makes it my responsibility. I take these obligations seriously; that is why I am approaching the 2010 budget sessions with my eye on solutions and not on the status quo. If the way we do business were successful, we would not be facing the Draconian decisions that are before us. The following is just a sample of ideas I believe the community should consider and discuss while the City Council develops a 2010 budget:
1. Align the city pay structure with the Colorado Springs labor market by implementing an across-the-board reduction to city salaries and benefits.
2. Stop incurring and increasing the long-term liabilities of this community.
3. Stop expansion of our parks system until revenue streams support and maintain the current facilities.
4. Stop emphasizing what we would like to do and focus on what we can do.
5. Discontinue the outdated practice of providing defined benefit retirement plans. We pay an employee for 20 years of work and 30 years of retirement, at 80 percent or more of his or her peak earning potential.
6. Develop robust public/private partnerships to deliver services. Several neighborhoods have expressed a desire and willingness to step up and shoulder some of the responsibilities for operating our community centers, for example.
7. Reform the City Charter version of TABOR, eliminating the ratchet effect while strengthening the public’s control over the power of the purse and requiring the public’s permission on involuntary fees.
Mostly, this city needs considerable public input that tells city leaders to focus on the basics, and prioritize needs based upon essential public safety. You need to make your elected servants ask themselves: “Can someone else do this better?” and “Should we be doing this at all?” Honest answers to those questions might restore fiscal integrity to City Hall.
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Gallagher represents the city at-large on the Colorado Springs City Council. He has asked for public participation at tonight’s city budget hearing, 7 p.m. at 107 N. Nevada Ave.
