Glen, what do we have to do to force the city to cancel these raises? Does it take a recall of the four council members who voted for them, or is there another way to stop this!

Glen, thank you for taking the time to make these clarifications.

Glen, why can't you find highly qualified volunteers to staff the city for free?

This, coming from a person making $250k (salary and bonuses) a year as a city manager. Classy!

It's time to cut the budget, not grow it. I agree with Jeff -- how do we reverse this? What do we have to do? This increase is ridiculous. The unions have total control over people like Andy and Kelly. If nothing happens, we should start a RECALL!

check out the staff report on Tuesday's council meeting, no wonder it's at the end of the meeting.
Huge $3 million shortfall!
Escalating expenditures, declining revenues.
The worst is yet to come.

"fiscal insanity"

What staff report are you talking about? The agenda for next Tuesday's meeting (1/27/09) does not show any such staff report. As noted in another thread, they are gong to spend the whole council session on "Green"

The green theme is 6-7 special meeting.

Regular meeting begins @ 7pm. Information Item I-1 is the operative document, end of the meeting after most folks have tuned out.

I believe we should all ask ourselves, knowing what we know about the economy in general, do you think that Menlo Park will be immune from the economic downturn? The staff report answers this somewhat. But, I think our instincts and observations will answer this as well. Do you believe our retail sales are down our up from last year? Do you believe our home sales are down or up? How about our revenue from building permits and developer fees? Do you know anyone who is having a difficult time selling a home? Do you know anyone who has been laid off, worried about being laid off, or worried about salary cuts?

My guess is that the Council will want to raise the UUT. But, I remember when we polled the community to gage the support of a UUT, the majority of poll repsondents stated that they did not want the UUT to be used so as to enable out-of-sinc City employee salary and benefits .

I worry that our city leadership is not listening to we the residents. And, to tell you the truth, I feel very powerless and frustrated.

Glen, coming from someone making $250K a year, plus other benefits, your response is exactly what I would expect.

You NEED people under you to make big dollars, otherwise your salary will be out of line.

I cannot wait for what is coming to you, and that is less of my and my fellow residents money.

Listen people, do not vote for any tax increases that WILL be coming very soon to a ballot box near you. These people will tell you that the money is for schools, police, fire, etc. It just goes to support an even high level of life for those at the top. What do you think all these guys do on administrative retreats? (they tell each other what schemes they are using to make themselves richer)

When have services to residents increased in MP, WHEN???
Oh yea, we have a community engagement manager now... Still waiting to be engaged...

But back to the point.

Glen just told us we HAVE the money "no problem" for paying for all of this. (We just don't understand I guess, what would we know, we work in the real (non-government) world and as "suckers" read: tax payers, we just keep on paying... This time, they won't be able to raise revenue fast enough with tax increases to keep with the steep drop off that is coming.

I know as I type this, it will fall on deaf ears....but, anyway, I'll feel better-wake up Menlo Park, your problem and the hope of eventual solution is NOT the very qualified professional staff and management who are trained in what they do. You people keep talking about transparency and communication--your City Manager responds with a very well thought out and thorough explanation of the real world, and you folks just ignore that fact and go right on with whatever agenda you had before he attempted to enlighten you. The problems sit in chambers every Tuesday night--I believe the vote on this issue was 4-1---embrace the 1 and reject the 4. Hold them accountable!

Wow. Lots of anger and panic out there. Why don't we all take a breathe and get involved with the budget process that begins Tuesday? I think there is a lot of questionable "facts" here that I can neither argue or support and the topic is just too darn important to address from the bleachers.