Gary and Clive vs. The Budget.

Gary Rosen and Clive McFarlane tackled the city budget this week, and both came up lacking.  Perhaps it's the limitations of print media- if they could link to the budget, perhaps they could point out specific cuts to the budget.  Very rarely do you find print media in Worcester specifically pointing out where our tax dollars are wasted.  Instead, you get generalizations like these:

"City officials need to take some creative, courageous and painful steps that surely will anger special interest groups and some employee unions. But cutting spending, eliminating more overlap and waste, streamlining city government, and finding new revenue sources are what’s best for Worcester’s future." -Gary Rosen

That's the best you can offer as a former City Councilor, WPS employee and School Committee member?  Give us concrete details.  Call out positions and people by name.  Do some legwork and get some sunlight and accountability to save our tax dollars.  Otherwise I'm going to have to question an article that regurgitates Research Bureau talking points (privatize everything, PILOTs, soak our unions, and lower taxes for businesses.)  I've always voted for Mr. Rosen- he was always accessible to his constituents, and for the most part, we've agreed on the major issues.  As a journalist, he leaves a bit to be desired, unless he starts to use his experience to better tell his readers about the issues facing the city.

Clive McFarlane went a few steps further in his piece, but still fell short.

"I did, and here is what I found: Too many departments top heavy with chiefs, assistant chiefs and assistant to the assistant chief and assistant to the assistant to the assistant to the assistant to the chief."

 Which ones????  Point it out to us.  Please use your journalist skills and list the departments and positions.  If you don't, it feels like you're just filling out another column....much like the irrelevant golf columns.

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These are two of our better journalists, and writers I respect.  I had high hopes for both columns, and came away disappointed.  I know this is a city that behaves like a small town, but good government should trump any desire to avoid calling out individuals who are getting fat at the public trough (if they exist.)

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Postscript:

Rosalie Tirella had her say about the budget, specifically the WPS side of the ledger.  Let's just be nice and say I don't agree with her take on things.

Shooting from the hip.

Apparently Rosalie had a deadline to meet and needed a quick and easy fill.  If you base your argument for a rise in premiums based solely upon the top wage earners, you ignore what sort of effect it will have upon the bottom wage earners. 

The starting salary for a WPS teacher listed here is $40,378.  Paying 25% of your premium, plus co-pays, deductibles and prescriptions gets expensive. 

Rosalie also ignores the history of contract negotiations with the City.  Throughout the 80's and 90's, the teachers consistently took less in raises in favor of generous pension and health benefits.  Concessions on the wage side equaled a fair health care plan that compensated for lower salaries. 

If the City raise health care premiums under the new contract, will they return to previous contracts and give these teachers the raises the passed up?  We know they won't.  The lower premiums are something the teachers fought for and earned with their hard work.  Raising it now in the face of rising health care is the wrong message, and punishes long time employees of the school system because we have a new City Manager with different goals then previous City Managers.

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On the grammatical end, its sinecure, not sincure.  Calling a teaching position a sinecure is a cheap shot and an insult.  It's a difficult, emotionally draining and frustrating job at times.  While there are some deadbeat teachers out there, most are hard working, caring individuals teaching because they have a calling to teach.  Teachers do take their work home with them at night and on weekends.  All teachers have extra help sessions after school, and thanks to education reform and dwindling staffs, most prep periods are full of responsibilities and paperwork other than correcting tests.