The yearly budget agreed upon in last nights
Falconville City Council meeting would have a tremendous impact on city
services. Joan Bell, the new City Administrator, proposed, and won, a $300,000
cut in the city budget. Bell, who was appointed City Administrator unanimously
by the council last night, is expected to take over much of the day-to-day
management of the city. The new budget allots $90,000 for the new position, of
which $54,000 goes to Bell’s salary with the rest earmarked for set-up costs. “I
think it is justified when you see what other areas we save in by consolidating
duties into one office,” said Bell in a phone interview. These words do little
to quiet general uneasiness among city employees that the new position is merely
a “Super Boss.”
There is uneasiness in the population of Falconville that goes deeper than the
creation of the City Administrator position. The new budget severely curtails
many city services; for example, among the hardest hit were the Ambulance
Services. Also downsized is the department of City Attorney, currently held by
Camden Hadley. The council did have reasons for the huge cuts in these sectors.
Bell explained that the Ambulance services are being privatized and next year’s
budget would probably allocate zero funding. The City Attorney position will be
offered only as a part-time position since it is rumored to be Hadley’s last
year in office so the nearly 52 percent budget cut was quickly agreed upon.
There were other hard hit areas that were not as explainable, including the
Police Department Operations and the Parks and Recreation Department, who will
see ten percent and 13 percent budget decreases. These departments are being
asked to limit or eliminate many activities that were previously expected of
them by city citizens. The Police Department is thinking of cutting out walking
patrols around Little League Games, which has many parents and umpires angry.
"Some parents react criminally when they don't like the call or if they think
you don't play their kid enough,” was a comment made by a group of coaches and
umpires. Police are proposing to provide game announcers with two-way radios
that can be used to contact regular police patrols in the area. “We'll do
whatever the council decides, but I feel safer having officers at the games,”
stated Parks and Recreation Director Elaine Hultquist. Councilwoman Tanya Tager
has called for a public hearing to be held on the unresolved issue at the next
meeting.
Other Parks and Recreation programs are also being cut in order to comply with
the new budget. The council approved the Coast Guards proposed “Safe Boating
Week” to be celebrated June 29 – July 6. Due to budget cuts, however, the Parks
and Recreation Department will be discontinuing the safe boating classes for
adults that have been offered for the past ten years.