When the BEA, made up of Mayor Kamal Johnson, Council president Tom DePietro, and city treasurer Heather Campbell, reviewed the budget presented by the treasurer's office on October 30, the first thing they honed in on, according to Gossips' notes from that meeting, was a $1,663.81 stipend paid to the assistant treasurer, Matthew Parker. Campbell warned that if they removed it, the assistant treasurer would grieve, because the stipend was established past practice. DePietro argued it could be removed because it was not contractual. And so the assistant treasurer's stipend, along the cost of two new computers (an expense significantly greater than the assistant treasurer's stipend), was cut from the 2021 budget.
The assistant treasurer did indeed protest the effort to balance the 2021 budget by depriving him of a stipend that had been paid to the assistant treasurer for more than twenty years and filed a notice of claim against the City. On Tuesday, the Council passed a budget amendment reinstating the stipend. The resolution explains the reasoning behind this action: "It is in the City's best interest to resolve this claim with minimum cost and disruption by authorizing the Mayor to entering [sic] a settlement agreement reinstating the stipend and settling all current and future claims by Mr. Parker related to this matter." The details of the story can be found in the Register-Star: "Council seeks settlement with assistant treasurer."
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I’m no mathematician, but divide 1.4 to 1.9 MILLION by $1,663.81. That’s just petty cash. Very petty.
ReplyDeletePetty indeed. The mayor and the Common Council president use the budget process to punish a whistleblower for their own political benefit, while in fact the Treasurer's office is the only citywide office run by an elected official that seems to be run professionally and competently.
DeleteI'm glad Mr. Parker received his stipend back, and I hope voters remember the amount of time Mayor Johnson and CC President DePietro wasted on petty grudges this election season.
Assistant Treasurer Matthew Parker is the most efficient and pleasant person I interact with in City Hall. Between Matthew Parker and Heather MacDonald, the Office of the Treasury has improved 100% from how it functioned before.
ReplyDeleteParker has gone out of his way to clarify anything I do not understand when paying property taxes, school taxes and water/sewage bills. During this pandemic, he has been exceptionally helpful. Of all the people, he is the last person to even consider to doing this to. How insulting.
The way this unprofessional, myopic Administration thoughtlessly wastes our tax dollars, I find this particularly shameful.
I'm sorry. I meant Treasurer Heather Campbell, not MacDonald.
Deletei would like to know how much the city spent of tax payers dollars on lawyers to resolve this dispute. C Roberts does not do any PRO BONO work
ReplyDeletePettiness is expected from such a childish administration. Help our friends but not everyone.
ReplyDeleteAnother Thank You to Matt Parker and Heather Campbell for Honesty and Sanity.