Our Opinion: Vote reveals credibility problem in city government

News Tribune editorial

Thursday, August 9, 2012

In the end, the credibility of Jefferson City government proved the greatest obstacle to a sales tax proposal for the Fire Department.

Proposition 2 on Tuesday’s ballot failed with 57.6 percent of voters rejecting the issue — 5,187 votes opposed and 3,816 votes in favor. The proposal would have enacted a 15-year, quarter-cent sales tax for the fire department and eliminated a 9.61-cent property tax for the Fireman’s Pension Fund.

The campaign was not without missteps.

A brochure touting a 17 percent decrease in the property tax for city residents incorrectly implied city residents would see that percentage of savings on their overall tax bill.

Correct language would have specified a 17 percent decrease in city property taxes, which are a fraction of total property taxes paid by residents of Cole County. The overall savings was calculated at 1.7 percent — a significant difference.

We advise campaign organizers for future ballot issues to avoid promises, language and implications that are blatantly incorrect or could be construed as false.

The campaign hiccup contributed to a prevailing sentiment that voters were being asked to pick up a ball that was dropped by their elected city representatives.

We heard and read sentiments from our readers that although they supported the firefighters, they didn’t trust the city’s financing priorities and decisions.

Readers said they were reluctant to enact another dedicated funding stream, similar to the parks department’s sales tax.

In addition, readers said they were fearful the fire tax would free other revenues city officials would misdirect.

Proponents of the tax tried repeatedly to refute that perception — an effort undercut in the eleventh hour by a contradictory statement in an e-mail sent to city employees by City Administrator Nathan Nickolaus.

He wrote: “The money which is presently spent on these items (for firefighters) will be available for increased funding for all general fund purposes.”

The e-mail prompted at least one council member to call for the dismissal of Nickolaus, which will be the topic of a special City Council meeting Friday.

Tuesday’s election revealed city government has a credibility problem. Too many residents don’t trust their elected representatives to set proper priorities and make good decisions regarding tax dollars.

Rebuilding credibility will be a process — a process that must begin with leadership.

More like this story

JCLifer 10 months, 1 week ago

The first step for self-help is realizing there is a problem. The second step is taking personal responsibility for the problem. Good luck with that.

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 1 week ago

When you find yourself in a hole, you have to stop digging.

spelchek 10 months, 1 week ago

"We've got a big hole that we're digging ourselves out of." - President Barack Obama

Sequoia 10 months, 1 week ago

The local Chamber needs to take responsibility for failing to challenge the ideology of the national Chamber.

Nationally, the Chamber of Commerce has transformed from a pro-business organization into a mouthpiece for the Republican party and particularly the "conservative movement," an advertising campaign and con job that uses populist, anti-government rhetoric to sell policies that favor a few cororporate oligarchs. Any effort by the people to organize and use the government to protect our families and businesses from corporate power is loudly denounced by the national Chamber as "liberal," "leftist," "socialist," etc. The National Chamber only represents the interests of a few large corporations, not the many small businesses like the kind we have in Jefferson City.

Now the chickens have come home to roost.

The local Chamber is a mostly progressive, forward-thinking group that wants to use the power of the local government to improve the Jefferson City marketplace, so that our city and its businesses can compete with other locales for new residents.

But the local Chamber's efforts are running into the brick wall of "movement" conservatism, with its "starve the beast" no-tax scam introduced by movement star Grover Norquist. All that garbage about liberals and socialism peddled by the national Chamber is killing all the initiatives the local Chamber (and many others) support to try to improve the community. Anybody at the NT have the guts and the chops to report and write this story?

Local moderate conservatives need to take a look in the mirror and decide how much longer they're going to tolerate the elite East-coast right-wing media like Fox News deciding what is "conservative" and what is "liberal."

Local conservatives... are you going to let your city go down the toilet while the Tea Party huffs and puffs that taxes are tyranny? Are you on the side of American history, with its long list of successful public/private partnerships? Or are you on the side of the true tyrants using populist rhetoric to fool people into supporting policies that only benefit the economic interest of a very few?

Local conservatives... are you going to speak out against the conservative "movement"?

It's not easy. It takes guts. You might get called a "liberal."

Is your city worth it?

earlsmusic 10 months, 1 week ago

Interesting. Make sure to remember to blame the City Attorney for all of this.

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