@billybob : You can read the budget in all of its 237 page glory hereFrom page 13: "Personnel Services - the salaries and wages for all City employees (excluding the Library) - total $62,422,035, an increase of 3.5% or $2,112,061."

@cjsummers : Should he get a raise after cutting jobs?I recall the fire dept voluntarily foregoing their raises one year to prevent layoffs. Then the next year the city manager wouldn't let the dept make cuts that didn't include positions.

@kraziebill : That unfortunately is part of the job of an executive. It is the job of any executive public or private to right size their enterprise to meet the needs of the business at hand.

Removed By Request

@kraziebill : City staff recommended storm water funds be used. I have not seen whether that was carried out using those funds. The purchases would not be out of the scope of the 'stormwater utility'. "The land known as the Simantel property, after its owner, is to help the city fulfill federal and state requirements related to when the RiverPlex Recreation and Wellness Center opened two decades ago.The RiverPlex was built on land in Riverfront Park, which was created through a public grant. To fulfill terms of the grant, the city had to procure greenspace to compensate for the almost 3½ acres the RiverPlex occupies."

so they buy overpriced land that will probably be under water 1/2 the time. I guess the grant requirements didn't make "usable 90% of the time" a requirement.

@ChefKevin : I guess that's where the "stormwater" part comes in.

The 'Stormwater Utility' has a mandate that includes erosion control and flood plain management.FWIW, I think it is wholly appropriate to convert the entirety of the riverfront that is not already industrial, into park space. Building anything in that 100 year floodplain is just plain stupid.The city paid $180,000 for it. Simantel bought it in 2004 for $300,000 !

@cjsummers : I got raises every year I worked, over 40 years at various jobs, 30 of those years were at one place.