Madison County Council on Monday approved its budget for 2010, but only after bowing to wishes of one local official — and then refusing to hear from others.
County Prosecutor Tom Broderick came before the council and made his case for the reinstatement of a deputy prosecutor position that had been cut from the budget plan.
The council agreed to reinstate the position, but rejected a similar attempt by Sheriff Ron Richardson to save positions in his department. Superior Court Judge David Happe requested that the council give other department heads a chance to present arguments to save jobs in their departments.
But council president Bill Savage flatly rejected the request, saying, “There are no more positions that are going to be restored.”
That stinks.
One department head comes forward, makes a plea and is placated. Then others are refused the opportunity to state their cases? How arbitrary is that? It reeks of favoritism.
Council should have done one of two things after Broderick stated his case. Told him no, because council had already studied the situation closely enough. Or said yes and then opened a discussion that would engage all of the county department heads.
Of course, the very best decision related to the budget would have been to reduce expenses to the point that the recently approved 0.50 percentage point increase in the County Option Income Tax rate was unnecessary.
By the way, the council vote for the budget was 4-3, split evenly along party lines. Democrats voted for it; Republicans against.
Councilman Larry Crenshaw was the voice of reason. After Savage turned down Happe’s request, Crenshaw opined that either all county job cuts should be open to debate or the council should have closed the discussion entirely.
“How can you deny a judge or any other department head the same opportunity (that Broderick had)?” Crenshaw asked.
The answer: You shouldn’t.
Letters
Editorial: Council's decision reeks of favoritism
Prosecutor Broderick got what he asked for
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Letter: Bill of Rights being nullified by new law
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Letter: $14 trillion debt started by previous president
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Letter: Economy putting people in the gutters
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Viewpoint: Look at Creation Museum from an educational, scientific perspective
I encourage any and all who have interest in this vitally important topic to “go to the source,” to invest the time and energy into exploring The Creation Museum for themselves.
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Letter: Blame the voters for our Congress
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Letter: Smith’s firings appear vindictive
Anderson is a city of negative publicity and actions. Why else is Sears leaving? Can we stand four years of vindictive actions and negative reporting?
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Letter: Planned devaluation of dollar is coming
I’ve submitted letters regarding the existence of a global elite for years now. I’m now submitting another one in which I hope readers will take note of.
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Viewpoint: Myra Kraft inspiration for Patriots
If there was one good reason for the Patriots to win the Super Bowl, it would be because of what I had read.
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Viewpoint: Anderson a microcosm of America
Wherever I have found comments that I felt were outside the values I believe in or were plain misinformation I have spoken out. At times that has been done with a lack of eloquence.
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Viewpoint: Problems in Anderson go back to President Carter
On Jan. 21, Frank Couch of Anderson stated that political conservatives “just don’t get it.” He sort of indicates Sears’ closing in Anderson is due to the new mayor being Republican.
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Letter: Bill of Rights being nullified by new law
