Former City Manager Says "Council Vote Makes Mockery of Budget Process"

Bill 9111 - An ordinance amending Chapter 2.10 of the University City Municipal Code, relating to the Finance Department, by enacting therein a new section to be known as “Section 2.10.070 transfer of unexpended appropriations within a budget classification.”

Please show your support for U. City’s unique, open, honest, transparent Council-Manager form of government by withdrawing or defeating the Bill authorizing the City Manager to revise the budget after you have adopted it. This bill will allow the City Manager to move thousands of dollars at will without your input and without your acceptance of responsibility to approve Budget amendments. It will make a mockery of the Budget Process.

Our very special University City Home Rule Charter was the first in the Region to establish Council-Manager local government in a well-balanced, finely-tuned assignment of responsibilities to a seven member city Council elected by the public and a professional, experienced city Manager appointed by and responsible to that City Council.

Our Council-Manager government has at its core the proposition that:

1. The City Manager has the responsibility to propose, recommend, and fully inform the council on public policy issues.
2. The seven-member City Council has the collective responsibility to decide public policy issues affording full public participation in the process.
3. The City Manager must faithfully carry out those decisions.

Nowhere is this theoretical framework better exemplified than in the Budget process, the City Council’s most important undertaking besides selecting a City Manager.

1. The City Manager has 100 percent responsibility for preparing the recommended Budget, informing and explaining to the public and all seven members of City Council.
2. The Council has 100 percent responsibility to transparently review, consider citizen views, and adopt the final Budget.
3. The City Manager has full responsibility to faithfully carry out that Budget as adopted.

It would make a mockery of that carefully defined public process to delegate the City Manager your authority to amend that budget. The Charter clearly recognizes that the budget is a living document, that amendments may become necessary, and spells out that the Manager recommends and the Council has public discussion and final decision.

Please accept the responsibility of the office you hold. Be true to your oath of office. Don’t abdicate or delegate your responsibility. I assure you that with proper budget management it is not a burden for the City Manager to facilitate public City Council review of timely budget amendments in the manner prescribed in our model Council-Manager Home Rule Charter.

Note that if Council decides on budget changes, it must be in public by Resolution. If City Manager is authorized to decide, it is not subject to public scrutiny, not transparent, and is not even reported for months after the amendment.

You have promised a very open, public transparent Budget process leading up to a Budget public adoption in June. I commend you for postponing the most open process in U. City history. I hope that final decisions have not already been privately made. And, I hope that after you finish this public work, you do not tell us we wasted our time. If you do not withdraw or defeat this Bill, the City Manager can move thousands of dollars at will without our input and without your acceptance of responsibility to approve Budget amendments.

Whether it is technically permitted, if legality can be inferred or derived…I think not, but recognize opinions of others. Whether it is right and just, I say softly, but firmly – NO.

Editors’s Note: This column is for University City residents to voice their opinions on happenings in U City. The views expressed here are not those of University City Patch nor its editorial staff, and solely reflect those of the author. This content has not been edited other than to fix spelling or grammatical errors.