The Hunt for the Budget

I'm still trying to locate a copy of the County budget. The Mayor's website only has the summary and then the document listing his proposed cuts. I called the Mayor's office this afternoon and got hold of his Commmunications Director, Susan Adler Thorp. She said that her office hadn't even printed out the full budget yet, then recommended I call the County Commissioners' offices to see if they had it.

I'm not so surprised it hasn't been printed out, as it must be a huge document. But I got a sense that things were kind of in the air. Still, how can you know what you're cutting if you don't know what you have? That was my point to Ms. Thorp and she never quite answered it. She was a good lieutenant and stuck to the party line in our conversation. I pressed her about the ludicrousness of the Mayor's actions and she did a verbal shrug.

I did ask her about programs, sports facilities, arts and grants, etc., but since I didn't know what to ask about, it was more like a fishing expedition. She did indicate that the County does fund some arts and civic agencies, but not many; she said that the County had been phasing out that kind of expenditure for a while. Thorp did email me later to admit that the County does fund one public golf course, but she also said it was profitable.

Tomorrow, I'll have to call the County Commission to see what I can dig up there. Onward and upward!