Given the ruckus raised by Joe Jordan's FOIAs email, you'll be disappointed to learn that I send few email to the City Government, and the ones I send are mostly technical discussions about the Budget.

Also, I've had no time for the past three months to be involved in City issues.  My job at the Federal Office of Management and Budget requires most of my time from Nov-Jan.  For example, I worked every day in January, except for New Year's and Jan. 30th.  (Ok, I read some budget-related stuff on New Year's but I'm not counting it because I fell asleep in the middle of it.)  Getting up at 5:30 to go to work and returning home after 8:30 at night, 7 days a week, leaves very little time for anything else.

Sorry, I'm a budget wonk.  I never claimed to be exciting.

I asked the City to publish on the City website all of my email covered by Mr. Jordan's FOIA request.  Let the public see the emails that that seem to have generated such so much anxiety for Mr. Jordan. 

On March 2, 2011, the City denied my request.  I then asked for copies of all of my email and promised to reimburse the City for the full cost.  I also pledged to reimburse the City for the cost of providing copies of my email to Mr. Jordan and made good on that pledge the following night by leaving a check at the reception desk for the full amount.  I received paper copies of my email via snail mail on March 4th.  I have scanned all of the emails that I sent to City email addresses and posted them here.

I highly recommend reading the first three emails on the list to the left.  I'm a budget analyst by profession, and I write serious emails on substantive issues.  These three emails are important analyses of the issue of using taxpayers' dollars to bail out the golf course. 

The 7/14/2010 email lists 10 serious questions that should be answered before the City decides to continue to subsidize the golf course.  To date, Mayor and Council have failed to answer most of these questions.  The RedGate Advisory Committee just ignored them. 

The 9/6/2010 email to Mayor and Council describes how RedGate's $1.8 million debt had impaired the General Fund reserve, reducing it below the 15 percent minimum that is considered prudent.  I confirmed my analysis with the City Finance Officer in the 9/3/2010 and 9/2/2010 emails listed to the left.  More ominously, RedGate's projected deficits for the next four years threatened to eat up more than 40 percent of the General Fund reserve.  This was a surprise to Mayor and Council because the budget documents said that the reserve stood above the 15 percent minimum, and based on that, Mayor and Council had dipped into the reserve for the past two years to balance the budget.  A week later, Mayor and Council responded to my email by unanimously voting to use an unexpected 2010 surplus to replenish the General Fund reserve and bring it back above the 15 minimum. 

I've spent 27 years dealing with government finances.  We are over-extended at every level of government, and we need to begin to make smart spending decisions that require efficiency and economy in the use of taxpayers' money.  That's why I'm speaking out against wasting taxpayers money on the golf course and why I led the successful Rocktrash effort in 2007 to implement once-weekly trash service City-wide, which is saving each household $100 per year.  I'm sick of silly political games, and I'm angry at the efforts to harrass City staff who are doing a great job under tough conditions.  I don't waste my time writing frivolous emails that harm the public interest.  I'm certainly not going to be silenced by Mr. Jordan's FOIA frenzy.

Spend a few minutes reading the first few emails.  You might not agree with my conclusions, but I'm sure you'll agree that I'm not involved in trivial pursuits. 

Regards,

Art Stigile

www.ROCKTRASH.org