Sunday, September 21, 2008

Centerville Residents Challenge City's Spending










Why did the City purchase a new public works building (left) for the sum of 1.4 million dollars while the current building (right) appears sufficient?

UPDATE!
At its July 11, 2007 meeting, the Centerville City Council officially approved the purchase of the old Centerville Redi-Mix site as the city's new Public Works Department base.
The city will pay $1.4 million for the property, with $800,000 of the initial funds coming from the general fund, $400,000 coming from the sewer fund, and another $200,000 coming from the water fund.
The city is planning to receive approximately $400,000 for the sale of the current public works property, although no time frame has yet been established for that sale.
As of today the building sits... UNSOLD!
*The Citizen

Group gathering signatures to petition state for an audit
By Brady Gervais
bgervais@pioneerpress.com
A group of Centerville residents concerned that city officials are on an unnecessary spending spree want the state to audit their city.

There were some rather interesting quotes in the article. Some of the printed story has been omitted online.
"You can say we shouldn't have that much debt," Larson (City Administrator) said. But it is not improper. It was just a decision that was made and a debt that was incurred."


Residents leading the petition effort are doing so for personal reasons, Capra (Mayor) said. Those backing the petition have "either been directly or indirectly upset with an action of the city," she said.

Why was it a necessary "decision" to incur this debt, Mr. Larson? Exactly what was the justification?
Why does the Mayor make her statement? Hasn't every resident been affected directly or indirectly by the actions of the City? Further questioning may be in order.

dlarson@centervillemn.com Dallas Larson
capria@comcast.net Mary Capra

Please read the printed copy for full story.
Partial Story Here

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to know how much debt Cannon Falls incurred under Dallas Larson. Was this part of the reason he was fired?
Mary's argument does not make any sense. People that are upset should be dismissed? Maybe she should be dismissed!

Anonymous said...

This ticks me off!! Time for a changing of the guards!!! VOTE OUT THE INCUMBENTS!!!!

Anonymous said...

Having a neutral third party look at the books will give us all peace of mind. If Centerville can spend over half a million dollars for streetscaping (which we never had), the least we can do is pay to look into our books and find out why.
I was at the meeting on the 16th and will volunteer the first ten dollars, which is the estimated cost per household for the audit.
It's time to hold them accountable for a balanced budget.
They remind me of a bunch of drunken teenagers running around with mommy's credit card!

Anonymous said...

What do you mean "it's not improper" Mr. Larson? Oh yeah, you don't have to pay the taxes here. You live in Cannon Falls. Basic finances 101. If you don't have it, don't spend it. You ever balance your checkbook Dallas?