A real "slap in the face"
So there I was, reading the Citizen, laughing my butt off... No, I wasn't reading the comics (especially "Get Fuzzy", which couldn't make a hyena laugh)- I was reading the article headlined, "Gilford eyes big-ticket budget items". The piece had me nearly crying with laughter right from the first sentence:
Looking at a potential 10.9% budget increase for the town, selectmen are casting a very critical eye on spending for big-ticket items.
"Critical eye" my eye! Excuse me while I catch my breath! Perhaps selectman Grant might have a "critical eye", but the other two? Gimme a break! They have been the stewards that have shepherded increased budgets through the process year after year. Now that the bloated edifice that they helped create is growing on autopilot, they are going to be "critical?"
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This was not the only laugh I got from the article though- The reall belly rolling guffaws came when reading the reporting on a proposal, as part of the 10.9% increase, to increase the stipend paid the elected selectmen:
Selectmen also looked at a possible $1,500 cut to the executive portion of the Administrative budget. While the $1,500 is not much compared to the overall $447,000 total for the executive expenditure portion, it could be the most important $1,500 of the entire Administrative Budget..The $1,500 represents a proposed increase to the $7,500 already allotted as a collective stipend for the selectmen. Town Administrator Evans Juris recommended the increase. Juris said the selectmen do a lot for the town along the lines of investing time and being on call day or night, even being named in some lawsuits, and in his opinion this was a way to acknowledge the selectmen's efforts and compensate them for their time..When selectmen began discussing the line item, Selectman Connie Grant suggested that the increase be removed from the budget. Grant said with an increase of 10.9 percent to the budget the selectmen should be setting an example to the rest of the town, more can be done with less..Doten and Selectman Alice Boucher did not share Grant's feeling about the increase. Doten said the gesture was a nice way to show their added efforts and to take it away was a real slap in the face.Selectmen elected to wait on voting on the line item until a public opinion could be gauged by the three on the subject of the increase.
The only "slap in the face" here is that which the two big spending selectmen are giving to the voters and taxpayers. These two actively ran campaigns to get elected to their positions... again and again. They knew how much pay was involved. They both should have known how much work and effort would be required. If they need to get paid for their efforts, perhaps they should step down and take a real job?
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The town administrator says they should be "acknowledged for their efforts"- Sure, why not? They've been carrying the growing bureaucracy's water in a big way for several years now. It's only fitting, I suppose, that they be thanked for spending more and more of the taxpayers' money with more taxpayers' money...
