Mayor Dan Coody's administration must be setting a record for the amount of tax dollars spent on out-of-state consultants, and most of it is being spent on reports and proposals that could surely be done by the competent people he has hired and that we pay. It can't be that difficult. Gary Dumas, Paul Becker, and David Jurgens are all smart white boys who together should be able to figure out the operation and finances of reducing pollution from the wastewater treatment plant, but I guess not.
On the consent agenda--meaning it will pass without objection--for the City Council meeting next week is approval of a $199, 883 contract to pay a Chicago outfit called Geosyntec to develop a nutrient reduction plan in accordance with an agreement between the city and the Beaver Water District. These consultants will compile data provided by the city, look at state and local regulations, "facilitate a stakeholder review group," and print a little brochure about their plan to reduce non-point pollution from phosphorus degrading Beaver Lake. That all sounds like something city employees should be able to do--or at least what we are paying them to do.
Will no one on the City Council speak up about the enormous amount of taxpayer dollars going to outside consultants? Will not one of them raise an objection to shipping $200,000 of our tax money to some out-of-state company when there must be competent local firms with the expertise to do work that is beyond the capacity of the Mayor's top administration go-to guys? Will someone at least try to compile a list of all the consulting contracts approved and the tax dollars paid since January 2005? The citizens deserve to know how their money is being spent, and they should be able to find out without having to search all the budget hidey-holes where it is hidden.
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