City Controller Tom Flaherty has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Tom Murphy and City Council, saying the 2005 budget cuts to his office, which were required by the city's economic recovery planners, will prevent him from performing his fiscal watchdog duties. Tom FlahertyThe $417 million budget council and Murphy approved in December, after months of grueling debate, contained some $33 million in spending cuts, most of them involving the city work force. The Act 47 economic recovery plan called for 15 percent cuts in the three elected branches of the government -- in the offices of mayor, controller and council -- and the fiscal oversight board called for an additional 10 percent cut to the offices. Flaherty's office budget was cut from $2.58 million to $1.98 million annually. The controller's lawsuit says he will be forced to cut 19 workers to comply with the budget, leaving him with 44 employees, which the lawsuit says is too few people to run the office. Pittsburgh's controller is an in-house auditor, who performs yearly financial reports, studies government services -- through so-called performance audits -- oversees bidding and contracts, and cuts checks to employees and city contractors. So he ought to know about budgets and belt tightening. Oh wait, it's City Government... nevermind. Just keep spending. When Mayor Sophie Masloff tried to cut his spending in 1992, Flaherty also sued. He is used to getting his way. Since we all have to pay this $52 tax to bail these nimrods out of the ditch they continue to dig, I say we all should sue do to cuts in our own personal budgets. Flaherty, has been "lack of" controller since 1984. Would someone PLEASE vote this guy who oversaw all this disaster out of office.
No comments:
Post a Comment