hard deadlines

Town Clerk Kathy Viera-Beaudoin reads the offical tax ordinance as the Council looks on.

After months of wrangling, it all came down to a deceptively short — 70 minute — meeting during which Portsmouth Town Council and School Committee fielded a few questions, heard a couple of rants, and made some law.

There were only about 40 citizens in attendance, and Council President Peter McIntyre tried to run a tight ship at the podium, keeping speakers on task and moving the agenda along.

The usual process is to read through each item in the budget and ask if the public wishes to speak. The school budget is item one, and there were a few folks there to defend arts education. Clearly, there are concerns floating around out there about the possible impact of not recalling the folks still out on non-renewal. These were short, impassioned pleas for maintaining important programs for our students. But there weren't a lot of picky questions, and the agenda moved on.

As soon as we got to the Town side, Larry Fitzmorris from the PCC got up to repeat many of the same critiques he's been voicing at sessions all spring: unfunded retirement benefits, insufficient fund balance, unidentified cuts to close gaps in both the school and town budgets. "I recognize that you find yourself in a difficult year. But every year can be difficult if you can't find the courage to deal with these problems," said Fitzmorris. "This thing will eat us alive."

Mark Katzman rose to object that he thought the Council was doing a good job, and that "there's only so much we can predict." Then, he wandered off into a critique of Tailgunner Gleason's claim that she could find ten places to save money in the school budget. Now you know me. There ain't nobody in this town who thinks I'm too soft on Gleason, but this was just not the right time or place.

But while I might have thought Mark Katzman was a bit over the top, the main attraction this evening was Joe Lorenz, who launched into a diatribe about America. "Our country is in serious decline, in my opinion," said Lorenz, who admitted he had only lived in town "three or four years." Then he focused his ire at the Council. "The state has opted for short-term solutions, and I have a concern that may be creeping into the mentality of those who sit in front of me." Since unemployment in RI was 9.3 percent, he wondered, had 9.3 percent of the Town staff been cut? Of the school staff?

Superintendent Susan Lusi responded quite reasonably that since there was only an enrollment decline of 27 students across all grade levels that staffing had to be essentially flat.

"I'm standing here as a taxpayer," said Lorenz. "What if both sides had to eliminate 9.3% of staff. People are being laid off." He recited numbers about GDP and 401K and "big time hits" to the value of people's houses. "If you are aware of all these things, it becomes difficult to see why you would heap upon us another 4%. [...] Mr. President, where are the people in Portsmouth going to get the money to pay the taxes that you are forcing them to have to pay?"

"You sent me these ideas, I'd like to take action on some of those." McIntyre tried to talk him down, but Lorenz was having none of it, asking why McIntyre wanted to shut him up.

"Am I harmful to you? What is it that's causing you problems. I pay my taxes. I'm grousing for a lot of other people. A lot of poor people, A lot of young people. Were all of you aware of all the things I've just related?" (Nobody answered) "Yet you feel fit to raise taxes on the people of Portsmouth?"

Apparently, they did.

With a couple of minor text changes, the ordinance was officially read by the Town Clerk, Kathy Viera-Beaudoin, and then Huck Little made the motion, and it passed 6-0 with 1 abstention.

Yes, that's right.

Tailgunner Gleason abstained. And here's what she said: "I feel personally that more information is needed due to the negotiation with unions still going on. I feel that existing contracts should be honored as is. We find ourselves today in a real struggle, and because we don't have all the answers tonight, I'm going to abstain. I wish that we didn't take that vote, and maybe come back tomorrow night." She did say that she does respect her fellow Councilors for their votes and "hope they respect my abstention."

Then Council President McIntyre thanked the citizens who came, the people on the Council and School Committee who had worked so hard on the budget process, and the department heads who put it all together. And the budget for this year was done at 8:11pm.

I'm too exhausted to even comprehend some of these positions, much less comment. Maybe some other day I can get my head around why it makes sense to cut 9.3% of your staff to match the ambient rate. I just can't see why anyone would pick that needle to chase. And as to abstaining on a budget vote? WTF do we elect people to the Council for if not to display their best judgement under conditions of imperfect information.

Update: Minor typo correx throughout.