It's 8am Thursday and according to our records the City Council of Alexandria is meeting with Mayor Jacques Roy to comb over the 2007-2008 budget. If the council can not find middle ground with the mayor none of the budget changes the administration is proposing will go into effect, as the deadline is Friday.
During Tuesday's finance committee meeting council members expressed concerns over some of the additional positions on the mayoral payroll. Mayor Roy countered the concern with various statements about having discussed the appointments with several city council members before hand. He also says he delivered letters to the council detailing the additions. To be clear the mayor has the right to appoint positions which serve at his leisure, but the issue of how they are paid falls within the city councils jurisdiction.
And there is the rub. If the council is micro managing the administration can they really expect change and progress? On the flip side, if financial concerns have city council members looking for ways to communication fiscal responsibility to the City of Alexandria residents should they allow the mayor a blank check regarding staffing?
What do you say? And do you care? Does this all really boil down to trust between the city council, mayor and the people they serve?
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