Dissecting the Mayor's Press Conference

Last Thursday, only hours after Judge Winkler's ruling came down, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory held a press conference at which he laid out the desperate fiscal situation the City finds itself in under his stewardship.

Please watch it here as it contains six minutes of remarkable admissions of failure on his part.
COAST below dissects his presentation for you:

"Due to the economic downturn, we have taken in less money than we typically need in order to function. And over the last three budget cycles, maybe four, we have had to talk about the possibility of laying off employees....Time after time we have come up with alternatives to laying off employees, because we really don't like to have to do that...."

Here, the Mayor admits his budget strategy is not to run a lean, efficient City, but out of misplaced "compassion" to continue to employ people past the point where we can afford them.  We call that fiscal malpractice.  It is a remarkable, breath-taking set of admissions.

Then he continues:

"So, budget after budget after budget, we have avoided layoffs, and in order to get past this last hurdle of this budget deficit cycle that we seem to have been in for several years now, the Manager and his team proposed that we lease our parking assets, so that we can unlock restricted revenue under state law...and allow us to use that money on the operating side....This would get us past the next two budget cycles."

Again, the level of irresponsibility to which the Manager admits is simply breathtaking.  First, he acknowledges that his goal is just to get past his "retirement" as Mayor on November 30 of this year,.  After that, he could give a damn about how the City's going to pay its bills.

Then, he acknowledges intentionally evading well-considered state law that forces Ohio cities not to divert parking revenue, but to improve parking facilities in the City.  He of course misses the entire point of such a law -- to assure that irresponsible cities like Cincinnati do not piss away what are capital proceeds to be invested in capital projects on operating expenses.  Legislators know that cities -- essentially run by union bosses -- can't help but spend every last nickel on fat union contracts -- leaving nothing for the infrastructure of the fair cities they are supposed to safeguard.

Thus, the Mayor, the Manager and the City Solicitor admit a broad plan to bankrupt the City under their stewardship.

It is a damning tape that should be replayed over and over and over, to remind us what not to do.