Edmonds

Quote from the 2009-2010 Mayor's Budget message, "As I look to the future, it is clear to me that we will not be able to operate with the number of employees that we have even today. We must become dependent on technology to lead us into the future. Computers don’t require cost of living increases or ever increasing health benefit packages. We need to allow for Edmonds residents to do all their business with the city online. Receive and pay their utility bills online, file building permits and pay for them online, obtain city licenses online as well as what we already do online with giving our citizens the ability to select and pay for recreation classes online and be able to do all their correspondence with city employees online. Our website is sorely lacking in customer service capabilities and it needs upgrading to facilitate becoming the interface between citizens and city employees. In order to make that happen in the future, I have added 3 positions to our IT department

This article " Crisis as Opportunity " (click on title for link) makes some very salient points about the current opportunity and how the crisis, if handled properly, can have a very positive outcome on the future of our community. The very first paragraph, government is in trouble, less money for our youth and seniors. My oh My, the Mayor is not willing to even consider across the board budget cuts, nor look at the current budget for genuine waste and opportunities for savings. Everyone including Youth and Seniors should accept reductions but not at a 100% level. Ask the Mayor, if the staff does all the work, why do we need you? Ask him to take a 100% pay cut. It's draconian to cut off the youth and seniors in community with a simple stroke of the pen, same with the Mayor's salary. The sharp point and underlying message of the Mayor's Press Release is "Forget the Past and Give up on the Future." The Seniors who have long contributed to our community d

Dear D.J., If you get a chance, I would appreciate your sharing the attached PowerPoint with the Citizens Committee. This information provides evidence, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the City of Edmonds has been providing Fire and Emergency Medical Services for less than the cost of service to the unincorporated Esperance and Fire District No. 1. I'm hoping the group will truly look to Budget before focusing on just the taxpayer's pocketbook. The question I ask you; Is the newly created EMS Transport fee required for the subsidization of the two interlocal agreements with Esperance and Woodway ? The council, mayor and staff have not done proper due diligence of the current and passed city financial decisions to start requesting more and new taxes from the citizens. Fire District No. 1 collects tax revenue 1 million City of Edmonds charges 300,000 for service. City of Edmonds makes annual payment for Station No. 10 to Fire District No. 1 65,000. City of Ed

Press Release City of Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson March 13, 2009 For Immediate Release To: Edmonds City Council The Edmonds Beacon editor@edmondsbeacon.com The Edmonds Enterprise edmonds@heraldnet.com The Everett Herald newstips@heraldnet.com Contact: Mayor Gary Haakenson 425.771.0247 Mayor makes service cuts to city budget (Edmonds - WA) Mayor Gary Haakenson has announced the following service cuts to the City of Edmonds’ budget that will be implemented immediately. Since the approval of the 2009-10 budget in November of 2008, the City’s sales tax revenues have dropped dramatically. Consequently, we have adjusted our estimates for the balance of 2009 and all of 2010. With this reduction in revenues, our ending cash balance is in danger of dipping into negative territory, so we can’t wait until after the proposed November 2009 ballot measure to make service cuts. The cuts must begin immediately. This is the first of several budget cuts that will be implemented in the next 60 days. Unf