Questions to be asked

Imagine you are a city council member.

It's summertime, and you are working on budget plans for the following calendar year.

Money is tight, and you are trying to make sure there's not an ounce of waste in the departmental budget before you.

Every time you attempt to squeeze a little more savings out you are told that every dollar is essential, that there's no fat to be trimmed.

Now, imagine you are the same city council member several months later when you learn that the current year's departmental budget has a little leeway in it, so much so in fact that it's possible to find $30,000 to buy an SUV that may or may not be needed.

You've got to wonder, in those circumstances, how much actual fat or cash cushion was hidden in the budget you worked so hard to trim last summer. Does it, also, have $30,000 tucked away a little here and a little there? Will there be a similar spending surprise a year from now when the new calendar winds down?

But most of all - if you are a member of the Dunkirk City Council and have gone through this sort of shenanigans - you have to wonder who you can trust to tell you the truth. - J.R.

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