THE PEOPLE'S BUDGET

The debate over the Federal Budget shouldn't be relegated to the center-right proposal of the President and the far-right proposal of the GOP. The People's Budget brings the voices of the middle class back to the conversation.

KINGSTON BUDGET TALKS 2010

 

I had the privilege of visiting the City of Kingston Finance Committee this Monday night. Chaired by Charlie Landi, the agenda featured the KPFF as the main attraction as the city budget talks continue.

Once again, the subject of deferring their contractual raises that were deferred last year, one more time. I dont think it's going to happen this time. The President of the FireFighters 461, Tom Tiano, sat in the hot-seat for the duration of the interrogation. 

Although a prior vote of his membership indicated that they weren't willing to revisit such an act heading into 2011, he did open the door to one proposal that developed in the meeting. An idea of staggering the implementation of the impending raise in steps during the course of the year. 

Another key element to the negotiation was the proposal made by the Mayor and discussed with members of the County Executive's office pertaining to merging the emergency dispatch duties between the two municipalities. Bringing one or more employees from the City and placing them in the county 9-1-1 Emergency system. 

The big problem lies in the personnel area, in that the contractual obligations and retirement packages have to be compatible or at least sweetened through other means. Thats if the unions even deem the merger in their best interest. 

Tom helped paint the picture of complicated negotiations between the parties should the Council and Executive engage the move. When asked, I told the committee that although the Legislative body was barely aware of the depth of the negotiation, I had heard the leadership was eager to get the merger done.

Chairman Landi had heard the same thing. He and Hayes Clement said they had conversation with Executive Hein on the merger issue and got the same positive feedback as the Legislative Majority and Minority leadership. 

Whether the proposal makes it as a shift in both budgets heading into the final days of both of our cycles, remains to be seen. 

Executive Hein has yet to place someone from the current test list into the open position pending direction from the Common Council. 

How the new form of 9-1-1 dispatch will affect the city and the 6,000 calls we get annually will be the true test of the new system. Remember, thats just the calls for the Fire Department. KPD handles almost double that annually. 

Can one dispatch employee handle almost 20,000 additional calls and still keep the City of Kingston and the rest of the county safe at the level we feel today? I'm not sure. 

Might consider having yet another dispatch employee on duty once the shift is implemented and the probation period is evaluated.

And might I say, the issue of giving the CityBus routes to UCAT never came up. Damn!

NY BUDGET: WORTH THE WAIT?

I know everyone is aware that New York's budget finally passed by now.
The knuckleheads in Albany finalized one of the latest budgets in our state's history Tuesday night. So what did we get after about four months of negotiation overtime?

The approved legislation will raise roughly $1 billion, primarily by increasing taxes on clothing and businesses. Isn't that just what we need? I suppose it's nothing compared to whats been pulled out of our schools, hospitals and infrastructure.
For those of you making hundreds of thousands in the stock market; great news! They resisted adding a new tax that had been proposed for hedge fund employees. Although the hedgefund tax would only seem right, the fear that the 30% of these folks who still live in New York State would flee to Connecticut was to scary.

Why Connecticut? That state is encouraging firms to leave New York, promising a more favorable tax regime, a strategy often seen when local governments race to the bottom to attract business.

In a quote in The Wall Street Journal Tim Selby, president of the 'NY Hedge Fund Roundtable' said it was: “More painful than necessary for the legislature…to come around on this issue. Nevertheless they got to the right result.” He added that he did not think Connecticut was done in its pursuit, and that New York “should be more proactive in developing a better relationship with the hedge-fund community.”

A portion of the very people who helped bring on the financial collapse to Wall St, got their way. How will the state close the gap? By increasing its revenue share from video gambling machines, and allow New York’s casinos to stay open longer.

Kinda funny to contrast the blue collar gambling in casinos and the white collar gambling on Wall St in the same budget. Having visited Turning Stone a few weeks ago, I'll tell ya...not too many high rollers from Manhattan gambling in those smoke filled Poker Rooms.

KINGSTON: DELAYED BUDGET VOTE

The Common Council vote on the 2010 city budget will be postponed until this Thursday Dec 3rd. Reason? To give our unions one more shot at negotiations with the Mayor as we head into the final hour.

Last night's meeting, was a headache in the making. As it sits, homestead property owners will likely see a 3.5% increase in what they pay in taxes next year. You will also find fewer police, fire and DPW employees on the job starting January 1st.

Regarding police layoffs, the PBA had a special vote among their membership where the overwhelming defeat of the deal was handed to the Council. If today's negotiations with the Mayor yeild no changes, the two options are all we have to chose from. If the PBA resorts to the current offer, they reinstate most of the officers slated to be cut.

The Council already accepted their proposal last week in hopes that the membership would see the value of keeping their brothers employed. Now we wait and see what transpires during today's rehash with the main office.

It was nice to see the 50 off duty officers come in to show support. They know we are faced with some difficult decisions and they are one of the three groups facing this dilemma as we head into the worst financial situation in recent history. There have been small offerings from the Fire Dept but nothing from CSEA. So much for saving jobs in the city.


The Council, during the Budget/Caucus Meeting managed to scrounge another 100K from different sources, but that it. The really big issues like eliminating failed offices, shifting departments to the county and cutting the City Bus "financial black hole" out like a cancer, we left off the table. Looks like the "Friends & Family" operation will be intact when I leave the Council December 31st.

The move to reinstate the Rec leaders was important. The Mayor's budget decimated that department, and for no good reason. Well, outside of personal reasons. You've heard the saying...Without Recreation; there's Probation? It looks like the Council has taken that concept to heart. And just in time.

In the year to come, expect the Council to take up the issue of trash collection, moving Human Rights and Civil Service to the county and maybe the brilliant idea of letting UCAT take over our city routes. Who knows. I'll do my best to help with those efforts so that the taxpayers can support the programs more centrally needed in the city.

Meanwhile, Ill see whoever shows up tonight, Thursday and maybe December 15th at the final meeting of "The Madness" at City Hall.

MONDAY'S MARATHON BUDGET MEETING

As you are all aware, the Common Council is still having meetings during most evenings up until Tuesday nights vote. The Council must vote on our own version of the 2010 budget on Tuesday to reserve the right to override the possible VETO by the Mayor at the regular scheduled meeting Dec 15th.

One of the last budget meetings we had at City Hall was no less tense than the previous meetings. The chief negotiators for the three Unions and some commentary by DPW Super, Mike Schupp provided little in the way of altering the expected lay-offs.

What was intriguing was the progress being made in the KPBA regarding their offerings to the Council and the Mayor. If all goes according to planned, the police department is set to lose less personnel than expected.

The issue of merging dispatchers came up again as did the suggestion of turning one of the Fire Houses over to volunteers. There has been little follow-up on either of those ideas. (to my knowledge anyway)

Many of you are aware that Charlie Landi has been a constant reminder of the financial crisis that we face, he does so while reminding everyone of the possible option of Municipal Bankruptcy. To the level that we now have copies on what that process is...in detail.

We also had quite the conversation regarding City Bus. What the revenue/expense numbers are, how it's funded, whether to purchase the large buses every year and if we should turn the whole operation over to UCAT.
Alderman Hoffay took the charge, backed up by Bill Reynolds, pressing the issue that City Bus is a no win situation, with less funding offered by the Fed to cover costs. The loss in 2010 and 2011 will only deepen and truly warrants further discussion.
Should we offer our bus service to the County? Raise the fares from $1 to $2?

Another point that hadn't been addressed is the non-aligned staff and the expected pay increases slated for next year. I think we should ask for the same pound of flesh from that group as we are asking of the union membership. I've got that list with me and plan on asking John Tuey (who is on that list) to put those numbers together for Monday night's meeting.

Question for my readers: What do you think about giving the Civil Service and Human Rights duties to the County? I'm sure they could find room in that huge office building on Fair Street.

CONTINUED 2010 BUDGET TALKS

No-one needs to be told that the Common Council is faced with severe staffing cuts, diminished funds and a population saddled in the middle, with our Mayor, the Unions and the Department Heads bickering in the press and the Blogs.
What hasn't been discussed is whether certain offices and programs can function with fewer personnel and funding. I think we need to look at the impact to our "quality of life" issues as this budget matures.

Our Recreation Department has been decimated by these cuts and the Clerks office will be in deep crap if we don't restore a few needed dollars. And frankly; what we see in the level of Police protection and the expected cuts in that department, scares the bejesus outta me.
The fighting between the Mayor and the Fire Department, I'd rather let them fight that out amongst themselves. There are issues there that need to be settled in court and I'd rather all of us Aldermen stay out of that one.

However; there is promising news from the CSEA situation (City Hall & DPW Employees). Continuing negotiations between the Administration and the Union, may yield some movement that might actually help employees and taxpayers. We'll watch and see.
As for the tax rate...remember the 10% rate increase is not what you pay. It's based on your assessment and the expected 8% decrease in residential property set for 2010. The diminished value of your home is what caused the high number in the first place; even with a 0% budget increase. The average property would see a 3.5% increase out-of-pocket at the current rate.

What concerns me is the expectation of additional sales tax revenue slated for 2010, which comes from the projections coming out of the county budget. I think the County estimates of a $26Million increase in sales tax revenue is artificially inflated, so we are likely to have funding issues by this time next year.
(We get a percentage)

Get ready to float another Revenue Anticipation Note this time next year.

MAYORS PROPOSED BUDGET PACKS THE CHAMBER

A great time was had by all. Seriously, this is what the civic process is all about.
This past Thursday, the Common Council provided a public forum to hear the opinions of those who wish to address the Mayor's 2010 proposed budget. And speak they did!

With attendance exceeding 300, the room was filled with mostly employees of the city with a few civilians mixed in, but all spoke with a sense of unity when each of the 40+ took their turn at the podium.

The theme: Urging the Council to reject the Mayor's budget and return most of the jobs that have, what is considered vital significance to the quality of life, be restored to the budget.
The personnel and programs that were highlighted, would increase the tax burden for every property owner in the city, but when asked if anyone wanted their taxes to go up, only Mary Ann Parker raised her hand, knowing full well that safety comes first and at a price.

The proposed budget, with an increase of 9.6%, has 30+ fewer employees than 2009. As scary as that sounds, the select few who have looked deeper into these numbers, also know that the average residential property diminished in assessment 8% for the coming year. Puting those factors together, the average home will increase from 1% to 4% in the dollar amount you shell out in taxes.

Did you get that from the local paper? The cost per household vs. tax rate issue had been explained in detail to the Freeman, but hey...that's less scary than just blasting 10% all over the front page. At least the Record got it right.

Want a homework assignment? Look at your City Taxes, increase it say 3%. Now imagine the amount you'd be willing to "take on" to save Police officers and DPW services as well as our Rec Department. Mary Ann Parker may be the only one who sees the bigger picture here.

Oh, don't get me wrong, this council will find additional cuts in this budget. We always do. But the need to negotiate with the Union leadership in all it's forms is far from over.

I will close by saying how truly impressed I am with the turnout for this year's budget hearing. The speeches were eloquent and from the heart. Some even made suggestive offerings, but there's still time and we have many crucial meetings ahead. Review the budget, do your research and know what's legal, mandated and contracted when offering suggestions. The community is a wealth of ideas that should be tapped during these tough times. The Council looks forward to hearing from you.

NEW NEW YORK PLATES? THE MONEY GRAB

Tell me the people in Albanyland have lost their minds! As part of the new budget for 2010, both houses and the Governor have included a mandatory trade-in of all vehicle licence plates starting in April. At a cost!

For $25 dollars, you will have the privilege of heading to DMV and handing in your old ones for the new ones. There's no indication as to the design they have in mind. Their excuse? The reflective coating has worn off by now.

In reality; this is just another way of opening our wallets to offset the fiscal travesty the State is facing. But on the drivers in New York State? Thats almost as absurd at the commuter tax they levied on the residents along the Metro North railway. Yeah, people who never ride the rail pay for the thing!

Anyway, I digress. In addition to the fee, there's another cost if you want to keep your old number or specialty plate after the exchange. Nice huh?

The New York State Association of County Clerks has also voiced its opposition to the plan, and the group's president, St. Lawrence County Clerk Patty Ritchie, began circulating an online petition this week to shore up opposition.

She said the association's effort was attracting attention from across New York, drawing more than 17,000 signatures as of early Friday afternoon.

The state expects to raise over $250 million over the next two years by rolling out the new plates. Do you see this as anything other than a new way for the state to take our money? How bout making the state more business friendly and get that damn commuter rail on this side of the river.

State lawmakers have already approved the license plate replacement program and would need to vote again to revoke the measure. Should we start calling them now?

Sign the petition at www.nonewplates.com

KINGSTON: CITY BUDGET 2010

Well, you've heard the impending increases rumoured for weeks. Now the papers have the hard copy that the Mayor intends to offer the Council. Makes a life threatening story for the people of this city.

Cutting Police Officers, accepting the early retirements of several Fire Fighters and shutting sown the programs in our Recreation department. You might think this is the end of the process, but it isn't. Now it's up to the Aldermen to slash what's left.

We are faced with property taxes up by nearly 10 percent and eliminating 28 full-time jobs. There will be plenty of overtime to cover those police shifts. I'm not sure this will be the end result after we get our hands on it.

The public wants to know what we are going to do with the Fire Department. That too is part of the continuing debate amongst the nine of us.

The Mayor was quoted: “This is obviously the most difficult budget that I have had to put together in my tenure as mayor." I would have to agree with him. This has been a perfect storm brewing for quite a while. We all watched as the pieces fell together since last fall. Now we are faced with the repercussions of a failed Federal and State economy, where neither the City of Kingston, nor any other towns in Ulster County can ignore serious course corrections.

You'll notice that next years budget is lower than this year. That doesn't dismiss your tax increase. A little more than half of the budget is revenue based. Monies come in through fees, payments, property sales, mortgage & sales tax revenue. With a good portion coming from the State and Fed. When those income levels drop, the burden shifts to the property owners to make up the missing revenue.

You didn't need a budget lesson here. You need US to set a course that runs the city safely and efficiently, without taxing the citizens out of their homes. We've done this before and we'll do it again. Not to this extent of course, but you should expect no less from us on the Council.

The Mayor pointed out that the rising pension and medical insurance costs, along with declining sales and mortgage tax revenues, are to blame for much of the city’s weak financial condition. We know the pension loss is tied very closely to the stock market. The medical costs...well, just follow the national headlines and watch the Congress squander an opportunity to make that less expensive and the sale of housing in Kingston? An all time low. Fewer people are willing to part with their hard earned cash at the local market, never mind buy a new house.

All I can say is allow us the next few months to digest this document and make the changes we deem possible. Now that the budget process has been shifted to the Council, I will delve more into the process here online.

Ulster County Budget 2010

So, our County Executive and his staff have offered the Legislature a budget with an increase under 4%. In these disastrous economic times, that is astonishing.

What's even more revealing is his ability to cut county jobs to make this happen. Trimming government jobs through attrition and layoffs may sound painful, but it is so overdue.

The county's Way & Means Committee will now have their stab at the document. Whether they find more cuts or put back some of the employees will be up to the committee starting the 30th. I'm sure the members will be reviewing the options amongst themselves in the coming weeks.

Without seeing the document myself, I was told the board of Elections will be missing a few employees as a part of the personnel cuts. Lay-offs reaching 30+ will send a number of former employees either heading south or visiting the very programs that were administered by the county to make ends meet. Not what anyone wants to hear.

The county budget is 10 times the size of the City of Kingston, but with less than 10% of the county's population, the burden is much greater per city household. Let's not forget just how many of those households are outside of the tax base in Kingston.

The future isn't pretty here in Kingston. I would count my lucky stars that the Legislators are starting with a 3.5 increase to try and trim, we Aldermen will not be so lucky. If our Mayor hasn't drawn enough blood from the budget when it gets to us, we will set to the task of choosing who to lay off and what programs to cut. Dont expect me to bring anyone back this time.

Congrats to Mike Hein & Co. for this offering during this crucial financial crunch. A higher number was expected. Not that I wanted any increase at all, but...

BUSINESS COMMUNITY ALDERMANIC FORUM

The members of the three business districts here in the City of Kingston, joined forces this Tuesday evening at Seven21 Broadway, to host the Aldermanic candidate economic forum. Almost all of those seeking a seat for the Common Council showed up.

With all the candidates seated along the side wall, the questions were handled by KJ McIntyre and administered by Kevin Quilty. In pairs or singled, they delved in matters of commercial taxes and the ability to continue doing busuiness within the city limits. Whether they answered the questions clearly or made their own statements close to it, they all made their individual impressions on the business community.

At one point, Kevin asked if I, as a current Alderman, or any of the other Legislative candidates would like to say something. I actually went up and found the others didnt follow. I floundered a bit, but got some points across. I think I stopped breathing at one point.

I told Jesse Smith of the Kingston Times, that if this successful turnout sponsored by the business community, is what we can expect in the future, then we are poised to see great changes at the merchant level.

Considering the economic road ahead, not everything said sounded like your typical canned "Lower Taxes-More Service" rhetoric you'd expect during a campaign. Everyone seems to be a realist and we all know that our expected budget is going to be real test.

Yes, the dual tax structure was an issue, as was the lower cost/sq ft operating costs in the neighboring town of Ulster, but the drive for all of those seeking the position of Alderman, to work with the business community was expressed well.

Look for many of the faces here tonight to appear on the newly revived Channel 23 primetime schedules during the comming month.

EVERYDAY HEROES IN OUR EMPLOY

Every once in a while, we get to witness the DPW crews performing some of their expected tasks. Friday, I stumbled upon the storm drain vacuum crew digging away on Andrew Street. You cant help but hear the machine in action when that shoot is poking around the drains.

Here you'll see just what is clogging this storm drain. Tree roots. There's no limit to what you'll find in one of these, but when organic destruction like this plays a significant part in the continued repair cycle, you begin to understand why we visit them so often.

Eric Wiley and Louie Palen managed to scrape this one clean, but I know there is no end to the repair list that's waiting for them. My hat is off to the unsung heroes that keep this city working in every department.


May you all survive this next budget crisis.

PATERSON UNCORKED A BIG ONE!

The glass is half empty! The glass of wine anyway.

Governor Paterson has proposed in his budget, a provision that would allow wine to be sold in grocery, drug and convenience stores across New York State. He's looking for that one time shot of revenue from the tidal wave of liquor licenses from all those stores to help with this year's financial shortfalls.

What he doesn't understand is that the traditional liquor stores, even if you disagree with alcohol consumption, tends to be small, family owned, establishments in our struggling business districts. Districts we are scrambling to support in these tough times.
[Madden's Spirits on Rondout pictured left]

Imagine a Big Box store having a fine Merlot. Yeah right. now imagine the young, untrained cashiers at WalMart responsible for keeping the goods out of the wrong hands on a Saturday night. It's not going to happen!

What's better; you're expecting someone in the produce section to help you pick the right wine to go with your Duck?

This issue came up at this months County Legislative meeting, where the memorializing resolution to dissuade Paterson from implementing this crazy scheme, got a unanimous vote.

Liquor and wine store owners across New York State have united against this proposition. For a one time $100 million shot in revenue for the state in the first two years, thousands of jobs would be lost and businesses would close as liquor stores became unable to compete with big chain grocery stores.

Gary Bischoff of Saugerties went into a dissertation on this ill-conceived budget proposal, imagining a colorful exchange between he and an employee at Sam's Club and asking about the selection. Jon Decker of Lloyd chimed in saying what selection? It would be all Chinese like everything else in that store.

The place broke out into laughter.

Humor aside, Governor Paterson's attempt to balance this years budget with these thinly veiled gimmicks have got to be an embarrassment to those who saw so much potential in his accidental leadership.

The County may only have authority to send Dave their plea to rethink this one, but at least they are showing us they understand the threat to small business.

BARE BUDGET MY A$$

One of the annual rituals we experience in the first few months of each year, is the internal budget transfers. Almost every Department is guilty of this phenomenon.

This month we received an internal request from the Rec Dept. asking permission to shift $130K back and forth throughout their current budget.
I'm having difficulty understanding, If the financial needs of the Rec Dept surpassed the amount of money the Council offered in the way of a working budget, how is it they found this much scattered throughout their existing budget to shift?

We asked if the leaders of the Rec Dept would please come to Caucus, or at least the next Finance Committee, to explain how it is that they found extra/expendable funds in any accounts to pull money from for the purpose of suring up other accounts?

Didn't we hear the cries of poverty during the budget process? Didn't we lose a few positions?

There's more...$31K is expected to come out of the Fund Balance to sure up these accounts. Bob Senor made the right complaint when he said: "When the Council tapped into the Fund Balance last fall to provide some resemblance of tax relief, we were scolded by the Mayor for doing such, but here we are allowing the Rec Dept to do the same with his permission! Who's running this ship?"

Well, I'm just looking at two pages of account numbers and dollar amounts showing credits & debits. Some lines as high as $15K and $10K. What lines in their budget had that much fat?

That Finance meeting, March 18th, is going to be interesting!

OBAMA'S FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY SUMMIT

One of the biggest burdens for corporations and municipalities alike, is the cost of Health care. So much of what we do in our fiscal budgets is based on how much is left after the mandatory expense of contracted health programs, both for current and retired workers.

With the economy in the slump that it's in, Americans suddenly seem willing to consider sensible ideas that other developed countries have done to solve problems. Problems that have baffled us for generations.

It looks like we are going to have a temporary Nationalization of our major banks. Many feel this is far more prudent than handing over billions of dollars greedy bastards who wrecked the financial system in the first place.

Privatizing Social Security is history. Who knew just a few years ago the push from the White House for privatization would be so evidently wrong. Even a money guru like Alan Greenspan, just shakes his head and wonders where they went so wrong.

So President Obama has convened his "Fiscal Responsibility Summit". What was in it surprised many on both sides of the issue; A cognitive plan to deal with the swelling price of health care for the retiring generation of baby boomers and its effect on Medicare and Medicaid. This is considered to be the biggest threat to America's future solvency.

The rate of cost increase per beneficiary combined with the sheer numbers of the Boomer Generation is what threatens the system. I found this article to be most helpful by Ezra Klein on the American Prospect website on February 23.

After the abuse of tax shelters by the super-rich, and the absurd rip-offs by military contractors, the biggest money is in the health sector. The collusion between the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry have not only drained our individual pockets, but have devastated our municipal budgets.

Here is a chance for a new direction bringing reform to the way we finance and deliver medicine. This is central to the Obama Administration's fiscal plan. He's looking to other countries that provide quality care to all of their citizens, spending less than half what we do and achieving better outcomes.

Those countries have shifted their focus on funding their resources into energy and education programs while we try to keep our hospitals open. We witnessed the long struggle to merge Benedictine and Kingston Hospitals only to be saddled with the higher bills anyway.

I realize that change will come slowly. Its human nature to resist change, especially for those of us in the Boomer population. You'll agree that the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies don't want this reform any more than the oil companies want alternative energy development. But I look forward to the day when our private and municipal pockets are less burdened with the rising costs of healthcare. Americans are more open to these progressive alternatives.

Most of every tax increase we experience in Kingston and Ulster County is a result of the these untouchable entitlements, so when the method of healthcare shifts to a more manageable and less expensive program, I expect the masses to rejoice.

So, as I wade through the hours of cable news and witness the banter on this issue, I can only hope the Obama Healthcare Plan succeeds against the entrenched "Party of NO" and that the legislation has teeth.

SOTTILE'S RETIREMENT BUYOUT

For how long have city taxpayers been asking the Council to do something about the tremendous cost of running the Fire Department?
Sure there are minimum staffing requirements dictated by the State, but the perception on the street is that our paid fire-fighters are in abundance and an extreme cost to the city.

You'll notice that Mayor Sottile has revealed his offering to the press regarding retirement buyouts. We knew this was coming and knew it was a good idea, but had to be hashed out with our Departments. There are contract issues that had to be reviewed as well.

Sottile's proposal would allow city employees who are eligible for retirement to receive about $12,000 buyout. Doesn't sound bad on the surface right? That's because the money offered the retiring employee would be taken out of the proposed salary of that employee had they continued serving.
Point is, the position would not be filled after the employee left.

Jim quoted in the Freeman: “This is going to create more in the way of overtime, but there will be a larger savings in salaries and benefits.”

In these tough economic times, the temptation of a buyout might push a few employees to jump at retiring, but the reverse is true too. These trying times may cause eligible employees to work a few more years to build a bigger "nest egg". So these numbers could go either way.

I would be concerned if there were a rush to retire in the Police Department. It's pretty thin on the streets now and the officers are already above average on overtime. I would also note...crime isn't going to decrease anytime soon.

This isn't much different than what most of the larger private corporations have done in the past. However that was the past. In these times, those same companies are plainly chopping personnel without regard for the employees. The City of Kingston is more like a big family and would never do anything so rash. Sometimes to a fault.

Thank you Mr Mayor, we will be anxiously awaiting your proposal in committee and expect countless hours of reassurance that this is the course that's best for the city.