A Taxing Test For City Council
In an unusual turn of events, the Charlotte City Council rejected the plans of City Manager Curt Walton and decided to do its job, which is to be the board of directors to city staff, not compliant followers. Credit is due to Mr. Walton as he has only been following the footsteps of the corporate world, where management ignores the stockholders (taxpayers), gives themselves raises, and generally do what they wish and stockholders get the leavings.
In all, Mr. Walton and staff have only done what has become the norm. Pay themselves well, spend money on wasteful projects that are money-losers (if they weren’t, they would be done with private money), pat themselves on the back for being such excellent money-wasters, and rationalize why the people should be taxed more to ‘enjoy’ the benefits of their leadership. Small wonder many of the politically aware of south Charlotte are advocating a separation. They don’t consider what downtown is doing as beneficial to them; taxation without representation or benefits is their belief, and it is in large part true.
What we have here is another example of government run amuck. Their self-esteem swollen with power and the ability to tax, city staff has for years wasted money on ill-fated projects. As stated so many times, being of government employ, they are not held responsible for their waste and mismanagement; they instead get, actually demand, raises even as the taxpayers are without work, in large part due to government.
Again, the job of the City Council is to be the Board of Directors, to decide large policy directions, not to be subservient to city staff. If they will do that, then the taxpayers will be taken care of. Yet the odds are against it. The Chamber of Commerce just got one of its votes. The uptown baseball stadium will be subsidized by the taxpayers; Charlotte, the government entity as an entertainment provider, continues. Where, please tell me, is this entitlement listed in the requirements for cities? Does every city need a baseball stadium, NASCAR Museum, basketball stadium, trolley, streetcar and waterpark? What of limiting itself to police, fire and roads?
City Council, the Board of Directors, has been hoodwinked for years, only occasionally rising to do their jobs correctly, to serve the people, not the powerful. And this is the problem. In doing their jobs, the powerful, well connected, rich and, of course, city staff are the ones they talk to on a regular basis. It is easy to forget who you serve. It is easy to forget the woman working two jobs to barely pay her mortgage and raise her three children. She doesn’t have time to call or email, and certainly can’t pay for lunch at the City Club with a councilmember. And there are many like her. They must trust the people they elected to represent them.
This is where honor and integrity come into play. When the people must trust their representatives to do the responsible things, yet are unable to advocate for the position so well as those who stand to personally benefit, then they are at a loss. Those who are elected must be honorable and maintain their integrity in the face of the unrelenting pressure of those who will benefit from the special projects.
So usually this does not happen, and becomes very newsworthy when it does. Even if it doesn’t last, to which bad end I’m sure Curt Walton, Bob Morgan (head of the crony capitalistic Chamber) and acquaintances are making every effort.
Still, we must thank the representatives who stood tall, if only for a while, and especially thank those who worked behind the scenes to convince these representatives a ‘no’ vote on the tax increase budget was the correct thing to do.
Maybe some on city council will learn their job is to lead city staff, not follow. That would be welcome news.
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