COLUMBIA, 8/3/10 (Beat Byte) -- Wise
words from Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid yesterday were like breaths of fresh air
in the hot, humid haze.
Sounding less like himself -- Columbia's intellectual
voice of reason -- and more like a fraidy-cat Wizard of Oz scarecrow, KFRU
talk show host David Lile peppered McDavid (right) with worries about this week's
National Bikers Roundup. Like a damsel in distress with hand on forehead, Lile
repeatedly wondered how Columbia would "get through the week." Would all this
caution, worry, and alarm prove to be nothing after all? Or....
You could almost see Mr. Lile (below) cringing.
But McDavid didn't take the bait, instead deflecting what
has become overwrought media worry-warting. Warmly welcoming the expected
30,000 motorcycle enthusiasts -- about the size of MU's student population --
McDavid said he considered the group "our guests," and praised one of their
major demographics: middle-age and older rally participants who can afford
expensive motorcycles.
Moving onto city manager Bill Watkins' increasingly
controversial budget proposal, which cuts funding from a fire station on Worley
Street and boosts utility rates during the nation's worst recession in decades,
McDavid said the smartest thing I've ever heard from a local public official.
Rather than simply returning money to their own coffers,
"profitable" city activities like pay parking lots should contribute to fire,
police, and other essential services that are part of the city's "General Fund,"
McDavid said.
Tactfully explaining his position, McDavid brought
common-sense equity to a sneaky aspect of public budgeting: Money "designated"
for one activity can't be used for anything else, even if the designated fund is
overflowing with excess dollars.
Excess funds from City Hall's cash-generating
downtown parking monopoly, for instance, can't be used to fund police or
firefighters. Likewise, profits from MU's cash-generating athletic department
can't be used to pay professors.
Or so they say, until a powerful-enough politician or
public official says otherwise. Mr. Watkins and his predecessor, Ray Beck,
frequently move money from one designated fund to another, a practice former
City Councilman Karl Skala once quipped was like "digging up money buried around
the back yard. Only they know where it's buried, and only they can say when
it's okay to dig it up."
McDavid's implication was clear: Public agencies
exist to serve the public, and shouldn't use artificial barriers to
slash budgets, raise taxes, or put the hurt on citizens.
Yum, Yum. What a delicious idea. I think I am beginning to warm to this guy.
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