Cheng will accept only $1 pay
January 25, 2010 by admin
Filed under City/Gov, The Latest
Arcadia City Council candidate Paul Cheng called a press conference on Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, to announce that, if elected, he will not accept more than $1 per year of the approximately $6,500 per year paid to each City Councilman.
Cheng explained his announcement to ArcadiasBest.com the following day in the 3 1/2-minute video below.
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Mr. Cheng’s offer to accept only $1.00 per year is pure political grandstanding. It is a meaningless gesture. Councilmember’s pay of $6500 per year is a drop in the bucket of City finance. Why doesn’t he come up with real proposals? Mr. Cheng says he wants the City run as a business. Sorry, but no governmental entity is a business. When a business runs low on revenue, what do they do? They raise prices (witness the oil companies), or they stop providing services or products and perhaps even go out of business. So, Mr. Cheng, do you want to raise taxes? That would be the comparable to a private business. Or, maybe you want to stop providing services to the people of Arcadia. What is your program?
Dear Mr. Selmer:
Thank you for your email. Our rationale to take $1.00 was to bring attention to the plight of our city’s budgetary concerns and to spur comment.
Your reaction and subsequent question let me know that our goals have been met.
Even more importantly, you raise a very serious issue that should be discussed. Any person can say that they want to reduce the deficit and focus on the bottom line. But how do we do it without hurting Arcadians?
OPEN BIDS
One example of how we can reduce the deficit in our city (that neither reduces services nor raises taxes) is to allow for competitive bidding in our city.
City contracts should not be allowed to be doled out simply based on relationships. Instead, they must be given based on the best price possible.
Now, that may seem to be an indication that cheaper prices mean cheaper quality. Not true. Instead, we should set our floor for quality high. Then, anyone that can step up to the plate and provide high quality services at the best price should get the contract.
Some cities that have converted to competitive bidding have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.
CONCLUSION
Mr. Selmer: You have raised a great issue that I cannot fully elaborate here. But I believe that we must do everything we can to save money. Even if it is indeed a “drop in the bucket.” If every single City Councilman gave up their $6500 salary that would equate to $32,500.00 per year. That amount does not include the other benefits received as well. With that money, we could hire another police officer to patrol our streets or hire another teacher. And that definitely would be welcomed by all Arcadians.
Trust me, in this economic environment, every drop helps.
Contact me when time permits – 626-446-2200 or paul@friendsofpaulcheng.com
An additional response to Mr. Cheng:
Having spent my adult life as an administrator and executive in local government, I am most interested in your understanding of how a municipality operates under the law. Your comments about contracting suggest that the City of Arcadia does not use a competitive bidding process. If true, I believe we would all like to hear the specifics about this matter. Could you spell out some instances where you believe the City acted in error?
Also, I doubt that $32,500 would really pay for a police officer. You also suggest it would pay for a teacher. I hope you are aware that the City does not hire teachers. That is under the jurisdiction of the School District.
Dear Jerry:
Thanks for the email. Competitive bidding is subjective for many cities. At the end of the day, the City Council has too much discretion to award contracts based on relationships and not price. In our current fiscal climate, cities that take a hard-line stance against subjective contracts will save themselves money, hand over fist. I am not contending that the City Council has misappropriated funds. What I am suggesting is that we can do better.
You are right $32K will not hire a Level I Officer. (The cost is approx. $75-$100K per year). However, that might be able to retain a Level III Officer.
You are also right that the City does not hire teachers. The School Board is a creation of the state while the City Council is not.
Nonetheless, donating back to the community the $32K (I have not factored in the other benefits City Council receives) would definitely be able to retain another teacher or assistant. I am not suggesting that the City Council would make the decision which teacher to hire but that the monies would definitely benefit Arcadia in retaining one (even if Part Time).
Thanks so much Jerry !