Fiscal responsibilityBy Douglas Thompson November 29, 2015
It was with great surprise that I read Agnes Moran's letter saying that local government needs to operate with fiscal responsibility as called for in an editorial in the Ketchikan Daily News. Is this the same Lew Williams who as part-owner of the KDN, and as mayor and as councilman, has never met a tax dollar that he did not want to spend ten times over, a bond he couldn't increase? Is this the same man who has supported the incompetent city manager in his never ending spending to the point of sycophancy? This is hypocrisy carried beyond belief! Let us see; Ketchikan City Council just built a fire-hall of about the same size as Sitka for four times the amount spent in Sitka, the library was a total money pit, the power generation fiasco that spent hundreds of millions for no real increase in power, need I mention tearing up Wino Park after just building it, or the staffing of a town of 7000 in a size more reflective of a city ten times its size, a harbor department that does nothing but grow (more on that at a later date.). How many cars does this city have and how much is spent on fuel per employee? This could go on for volumes but you get the idea. The same city who has never recovered a bond when projects failed nor even attempted to. These are all reflections on very poor "management" of the city by both the council and the manager they keep employing. A fully independent performance audit is long, long past due. This will not happen as the council if fully aware of what such an audit's results would be. In the words of Oral Freeman, "Any fool can spend someone else's money." And boy, is there no lack of fools in local government! There is no fiscal responsibility in Ketchikan government nor is there likely to ever be at the current rate. If the elected officials had to run the town like they do their own checkbooks it would be a very different story. Sincerely, Douglas Thompson About: "Lifelong resident of Ketchikan." Received November 28, 2015 - Published November 29, 2015 Related Viewpoint:
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