Super Saturday budgeting hearing won’t happen

By John Howell
Posted 5/3/16

It doesn’t look like we’ll have a super budget Saturday after all.

City Council President Donna Travis had hoped it possible to conduct the public budget hearing May 21 staring at 9 a.m. and …

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Super Saturday budgeting hearing won’t happen

Posted

It doesn’t look like we’ll have a super budget Saturday after all.

City Council President Donna Travis had hoped it possible to conduct the public budget hearing May 21 staring at 9 a.m. and running into the afternoon after a break for lunch, in place of stretching the hearings over several nights. Then she started to get feedback from Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur, and the plan to package the budget hearings started to unravel.

“It is wrong for department heads. It is wrong for the council. It is absolutely wrong for the general public,” Ladouceur said last week in an interview.

Travis was miffed by Ladouceur’s outburst.

“I don’t know who died and left him in command,” she said.

Travis was mystified by Ladouceur’s claim that seven of the nine council members agreed with him, as she said she knew of five who liked her plan. Travis said Ladouceur “thinks he’s council president, mayor and police chief.”

“I thought we were doing the right thing,” she said.

Travis said she talked with Mayor Scott Avedisian, who agreed to get the budget to the council early. She said the mayor expects to get the budget to the council by May 11, which would give the council 10 days to go through the spending package before the public hearing.

As the School Committee is coming in with a level-funded budget, Travis estimates that portion of the budget discussion won’t be as lengthy as in years past when the committee sought additional city funding. With a Saturday meeting, which was the practice years ago, she imagined the council could review most, if not all, department budget requests in one day. The plan was to have department directors “on call” so they wouldn’t have to sit through a full day of hearings.

Ladouceur questioned what would happen to the public, as they might have to sit through multiple budget presentations before getting to the item they were interested in. He thinks a Saturday hearing should go no later than 2 p.m. and that hearings should resume the following Monday evening and continue the evenings thereafter until completed.

By the end of last week, Travis was in agreement to end the meeting by 2 p.m. Saturday and pick up again on Monday night. Ladouceur was pleased to hear that.

The timing also sits well with Ward 1 Councilman Steve Colantuono. He feels there needs to be a limit on the debate but is in agreement an all-day session to get it over would be too much.

“To stay all day Saturday isn’t healthy for anybody, us included,” he said.

Comments

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  • Thecaptain

    "Who died and left him boss"? A typical moronic statement my the white trash uneducated stooge that should have no part of city government. As someone who votes on tax increases but has been late and delinquent with her own taxes for in excess of 10 years, one must really think about the mentality level of those who continually elect this dope. Uneducated, classless, lacking of basic understanding of constitutional principals, this individual exemplifies what is wrong with government. Please, someone step up to run in Ward 6. Money will not be an issue.

    Thursday, May 5, 2016 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    "Who died and left him boss"? A typical moronic statement by the white trash uneducated stooge that should have no part of city government. As someone who votes on tax increases but has been late and delinquent with her own taxes for in excess of 10 years, one must really think about the mentality level of those who continually elect this dope. Uneducated, classless, lacking of basic understanding of constitutional principals, this individual exemplifies what is wrong with government. Please, someone step up to run in Ward 6. Money will not be an issue.

    Thursday, May 5, 2016 Report this