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How Much Does an All America City Award Cost?
(7/31/2010 - updated 8/3/2010)
To Read only the Update please scroll to the bottom of the page.
How much has it and will it cost the taxpayers of Gastonia for the Prestigious All America City Award? Well, it looks like you can add another $8,000.00 to the total. Why, you may be asking. Somebody has to pay for the party so why not the taxpayers? After all, the tax payers are the
ones that enjoy all of the fantastic benefits this honor brings so it only makes sense that they pay for the party.
What party? We can not answer that but we are going to guess that it will be held at the Rotary Pavilion and include the new $750,000.00 park. Just look at it this way, you paid for it now go enjoy it. (Please do not randomly show up at the park, we will let you know when and where the party will be once it is announced.)
If you are wondering what we are talking about when we say $8,000.00 for a party then you should attend the City Council Meeting on August 3, 2010. Item 1 of the Consent Agenda is to transfer $4,000.00 each from the water/sewer find and the electric fund to pay for post All America City expenditures. There is no explanation on what these expenditures are for but it will be discussed at the meeting. We  simply can not wait to hear the explanation. It should slao be noted that any moeny borrowed form the water/sewer fund must be repaid. In a time of economic decline and the city searching to find the funds to meet payroll where exactly are they going to come up with this momey? Juate remember this when the city wants to raise electric rates. IF things are so bad that they need to raise the rates how is it possible that there is a $4,000.00 surplus to spend on promotion of an award.
What are the other expenses involved? The application fee is a around $100.00 so we are not even going to count that and to be a member of the The National Civic League is under a hundred dollars as well. So far so good and not a lot of money. Now this is where is gets interesting. In the June 14, 2010 edition of the Gaston Gazette it was reported from the time that the city began considering another run for the award several months ago, Gastonia Mayor Jennie Stultz made it clear that no local tax dollars would be used in the effort. Now we are talking. This award will not cost the city anything. We all like awards that do not cost anything. So why is this interesting? Keep reading.
In the same article as referenced above, the Gaston Gazette also reports that the cost of the trip for all 45 delegates will cost $18,000.00. At the time the article was published donations had been received that totaled $17,200.00. This left a balance of only $800.00 that needed to be raised. Certainly an attainable amount. What we question is why Mayor Stultz asked the City Council to approve a budget amendment on May 4, 2010 to set up a $30,000.00 fund for the All America City competition expenses? You read that correctly, $30,000.00. There was some discussion and Mayor Stultz said it would be a complete wash by the time all of the contributions and reimbursements were received.
Did the city get reimbursed for $30,000.00? We don't know but we have sent this question to City Hall and hopefully we will have an answer by the first of next week. Why are these figures so different. Did it cost $18,000.00 or $30,000.00? If it only cost $18,000.00, where did the other $12,000.00 dollars go? Couldn't that be used for the party? Do we need to spend another $8,000.00?
We encourage any citizen that thinks the City Council is spending too much money to be at the meeting on August 3, 2010 and speak up!
To read the Gazette Article and view the donations for the All America City Award click HERE.
To view the May 4, 2010 budget item for $30,000.00 click HERE.
To view the budget request for $8,000.00 to be presented to the council on Aug 3, 2010 click HERE.
To view city employee expense reports click HERE.
To view Donations towards the All America City Award click HERE.
UPDATE:
As of 8/2/2010 no one from the City Council, the Mayor, the City Budget Office, or the City Attorneys Office has contacted us in regards to our inquiry on where this money has gone. Councilwoman Craig did contact us to tell us she didn't have the answer but was looking into it and we appreciate her honesty and willingness to answer our questions.
The mayor didn't have time to respond to us but she did have time to give an interview to the Gaston Gazette and plead her case that the money was worth it. The mayor even suggested part of the money be used to create merchandise that residents could buy. This is too good for us to make up. She wants to spend tax dollars to create merchandise and then sell it to the taxpayers. Pulling a fast one to get tax dollars wasn't enough, now she wants to see if she can pull off the swindle twice!
Citizens of Gastonia, PLEASE attend the City Council meeting on August 3, 2010 and sign up to speak out against this wasteful spending. We can not continue to complain and do nothing about it. We have been told time and time again that this award would not cost the tax payer anything. Now we are being told it will cost us something but that it is worth it. The mayor has been part of the All America City Award process before and she knew it would cost more money. The mayor hoped that after the city won the award that everybody would be so excited she could just spend away and no one would notice. Show up at the meeting and tell her you noticed and you do not approve.
The most ironic part of the All America City award is that it is given by the National Civic League and when it was formed in 1894 as the National Municipal League the goal was to "make city governments more honest and efficient" and to serve as "a national call to raise the popular standards of political morality". The mayor has not shown honesty or a very decent political moral. Just the opposite. The citizens have been deceived and lied to by the mayor. Shame on Mayor Stultz! Shame!
To read the latest article in the Gaston Gazette please click HERE.
UPDATE (8/3/2010):
Tonight the at the City Council meeting, Todd Pierceall from Life in Gastonia and Robert Kellogg from RAGG spoke out against the proposed budget amendment to allow $8,000.00 to be transferred from the Water/Sewer Fund and the Electricity Fund to help pay for expenses related to the post All America City Award.
We were actually very proud of the City Council for some very good debate and discussion on the issue and in the end their decision both surprised us and pleased us. The final decision, on a motion from Councilman Burkett, was to advance the $8,000.00 to the All America City expenses and if the money is not repaid through donations and fund raising then it will be deducted from the City Council member's salaries. This was an unselfish gesture that showed the City Council and Mayor can honor their promises.
We fully believe that the Mayor was not being totally honest about knowing what expenses would be involved but the end result should please the citizens of Gastonia. Councilman Burkett commented that he felt like the Council should honor their promise to not spend tax dollars on the award and argued that point throughout the meeting. Councilwoman Craig was also in favor of not breaking the promise not to spend tax dollars but on the final motion voted no. Craig stated that is was the principle and that the Council should have stuck with their original agreement. She felt like the rules were changed. Councilman Tidwell was against taking money from the utility funds and said it wouldn't be right to take money from the funds when people were out there hurting and the city just raised utility rates.
Councilman Kirlin asked how close the city was to reimbursing the $30,000.00 initial fund set up for the award advanced from the city budget. Mayor Stultz replied that over $35,000.00 dollars had been raised with a few outstanding receipts yet to come. You could see the surprise on many of the Counciil members faces and the Mayor claimed that she only got that information late in the afternoon. It was obvious that she was the only one that had knowledge of this and Life in Gastonia has been asking to see the figures since last week, so it was a surprise to us as well. Since the fund raising was $5,000.00 over budget the question of why $8,000.00 was being requested has to be raised again. Why not just continue fund raising and leave tax dollars out of the equation completely.
Several Council members brought up the idea that donations and contributions were the best way to secure funds for the post award events and expenses and we couldn't agree more. Councilman Reid asked Chuck Dellinger some questions about ball tournaments in the city and as usual had nothing worthy to contribute to the conversation. As of today, we have never gotten a response from Councilman Reid in regards to questions we have asked and really have to wonder if he is effective at all in his position.
In the end we are pleased that no tax dollars were used. The Council was able to keep their promise to the citizens and still find a way to finance the wants of the mayor. We would like to point out however, that Councilwoman Craig has refused to accept the stipend in lieu of insurance and now is being asked to help pay for the Mayor's pet project. It is Essy for other Council members to agree to help pay for it because they receive an extra benefit from the city anyway but Councilwoman Craig is giving up the most and we have to think that she is true to her word and her values and sense of loyalty to the citizens of this city are beyond reproach.
To read our Editorial click HERE.
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