from this week’s paper:

By Tom Scanlon Editor, the North Coast News

The pessimists of the world, like your Dave Creightons, would say, “The sky is falling!”

To which a Dean Bunkers-type optimist would answer, “But at least it’s not raining. And as soon as the sky is done falling, we’ll be in great shape!”

Mayor Bunkers held a two-day retreat last week, with City Council, department heads and a volunteer facilitator. Creighton, easily the most outspoken and dark-viewed of the council members, often suggested the recent past is a cloud of doom over Ocean Shores.

“We had people spending money that anyone with half a brain would realize we couldn’t afford,” Creighton said.

from this week’s paper:

By Ike Saylors

Because of the closed door policies of the past city council and its city manager the city is in serious financial chaos. At the crux of the matter is the extreme high wages being paid to city employees leaving the city with no money for its own needs and the needs of its citizens? 

As a private citizen I am very concerned over the financial future of our small city and the burden this is putting on my friends and neighbors who reside here. The purpose of this letter is to make all of you aware of the seriousness of the problem involving the high wages being paid to city employees. 

     At the July 9, 2007 council meeting, after an executive session, a motion was made and seconded by the city council approving bargaining unit agreements. Six year agreements the City Manager (a former union man) negotiated with extra high wages. The council members, in the short time they were in the executive session, could not have reviewed or read the contract but must have taken the City’s Managers recommendation to agree to it.

from Rich McEachin, who prefaced it with “this is my final letter to the editor”:

Letter to Editor:

It’s ironic that anyone can possibly think one person, me, could cause the financial problems Ocean Shores is having today.  The reality is the blame lies with the taxpayers of the State of Washington. They are the ones that voted for a maximum property tax increase of not more than 1% per year, while the cost of doing business rose between 4 to 6% each year.

But in Ocean Shores specifically, the City Councils didn’t even take advantage of that 1% increase. I’m not sure why that occurred but you can ask Mr. Creighton why, he was sitting on those Councils. It worked for 10 years but has now caught up with us. If property taxes were raised by the 1% each year for the last 10 years, the general fund would be more than balanced today. Keep in mind; it is not the entire budget that has a shortfall. It’s only the general fund portion of the budget. The only revenue the general fund receives is sales tax, property tax, and cost allocation reimbursement. Today’s decline in  those revenues causes problems in the general fund. 

With layoffs on the line, it was a huge City Council meeting last night. Big crowd, many firefighters and other city employees, plus supporters of Library, Parks and other pet departments. Initially, Mayor Dean Bunkers unveiled an amended budget, calling for 13 layoffs of Full-Time Equivalents (FTE’s), including two Fire Department and three Police Department personnel. Later in the four-hour marathon, he gave a second amended budget, which he had been working on until late in the afternoon. It outlined nine layoffs, “saving” four jobs, including one each in Fire and Police personnel. No formal action was taken, although council advised Bunkers to “continue on his path” and look for possible ways to save more jobs. Council must pass a balanced budget by Dec. 31.