Jackson Free Press

"We've been needing to talk about (the budget) for weeks. What we were told was the end of March. I hope by Monday we can get a grasp of where we are," Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler said at Monday's work session, noting that the administration had already missed two budget deadlines.

Allen said he shared Crisler's sense of urgency because of new potential expenditures in the 2008 city budget. "We are concerned because we have gotten the knowledge that the mayor was trying to put together some type of new department. … The mayor was going to establish a department to try to take care of (Parks and Recreation Director) Ramie (Ford), but Ramie got a better offer than we could ever give him. We don't need fuzzy numbers. … We've got this police crime plan—that someday we're going to get—that's going to have a new pay plan. We need real numbers there, but we haven't seen any real numbers in nine months."

Chief Administration Officer Robert Walker said the new department wouldn't cost any extra money because "every penny proposed would go through pre-existing departments."

Crisler laughed out loud at that. "You're saying that a new department, with a new department head, was not going to cost us a dime? Mr. Walker, you're killing me. I'm not good at math, but how do you create an entirely new department with a new department head with no new money?"

Previous Comments

ID

67601

Comment

amazing!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-03-29T20:05:34-06:00

ID

67602

Comment

You always follow the money....always. Crisler is right to demand an accounting. We all need to know exactly where the city is financially.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-03-29T22:28:01-06:00