City Manager Tosses Softball, It's Hit Out Of The Park

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City Manager Tosses Softball, It's Hit Out of the Park by Dave Barger , posted Apr 28 2012 12:07PM
This week Altoona City Manager, Joe Weakland, was quoted in the media as saying, "I would challenge anyone on council - or anyone - to find any other" expenditures to cut. So I thought I would take up that challenge. Let’s see... what to cut, what to cut? The ideas began pouring in. I’ll limit my discussion here to just three easy ones. Let’s start with city vehicles. Eliminate all city automobiles that the city provides to employees. We could start with your automobile Joe. You could lead by example. Hand in your city car keys. You and everyone else that has a city car; code enforcement, inspectors let the bureaucrats ride bicycles. Then we can eliminate all those reserved staff parking spaces around city hall. Make them available to the tax payers. After all they pay for them. Then install a bike rack just like the bicycle rack that you want private businesses to install. So put those helmets on the bureaucrats heads and start peddling. We’ll save money right away on gasoline, maintenance and insurance for starters. Then maybe we will finally see the $300,000 bike path to no where get some use. Of course we would want to issue a bicycle to each member of city council. (Their bicycle, of course, would have a bell.) Then the same people leading the city no where can ride the bike path to no where. Do you see the irony here Joe? Back to Joes challenge to cut expenditures. One need only to drive on Eleventh and Twelfth avenue downtown at night to recognize a prime opportunity for savings. Apparently there was a sale on street lights when they were installing these. Most likely it was a two for one sale. All that extra illumination might be fine for a night football game or in an operating room but in downtown Altoona? At night? All those glaring street lights are wasting tax payer dollars. Just say “no!” Joe to wasting the watts. Shut half those lights off. There is only time and space for one more expenditure cutting idea. This is just so obvious that I feel I should not receive any credit for it. Here it is: Get rid of every third person working in City hall and on any city crews. You know the ones. You always see them. Inside or outside of city hall, they are always holding a coffee cup leaning or sitting or reading a newspaper while the two other employes in the group are working. Just let that third person go and watch the savings add up. You have them in your office too don’t you Joe? Wait a minute. I’ve heard that you are usually the one with a coffee cup in your hand. Challenge issued, challenge met. Now where’s my coffee? Tags : Locations : Altoona City People : Joe Weakland Back To Blog

04/28/2012 12:07PM

Weakland Tosses a Softball, We hit it out of the park

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06/01/2012 8:53PM

Cuts to the City!!!!

I am sure many cuts can be done in the city which will incur savings or debt repayment. Salaries are one of them and the number of people working for the city is another. Not just police and fire fighters. Public works, and the Parks and recreation are needs looked at too... The notion that there are no other places to cut is total BS. People will certainly lose their jobs and that is the sad facts of life...

Dave's Place

City Manager Tosses Softball, It's Hit Out of the Park