Dear Editor:
To the attention of the mayor and city council of Watonga: I was both surprised and disappointed to learn that the mayor and city council attempted to exclude certain city council mambers whose view didn’t alight with their agenda, crating ethical and likely legal liabilities for the city and for those responsible. The fact that the meeting was posted on the city’s website (although the cancellation was) and was canceled upon Mr. Riley finding out about the meeting strongly suggests that this was not an oversight but a deliberate exclusion. People in Watonga are asking :
What is going on?
It is hard to reconcile the claim that the city needs to raise utility rates just to pay its bills while at the same time holding an unannounced meeting to consider giving the city manager a $25,000 pay raise.
What deost eh city get for this $25,000 raise? More budget over runs? More pot holes? Fewer city services? More secret meetings and less visibility for the citizens who are paying for it all? Only a few months ago, the city manager was on her way out. Everyone should be asking what changed.
Many families in Watonga are already making hard choices – between medicine and groceries, or cutting back on essentials for their children just to keep the lights on. Does the city council and city manager understand this isn’t their money to give away? You are spending the money of people who trusted you with their vote. Is this what we can expect from this council?
Will all city employees be receiving benefits equitable to the city manager’s? Police, firefighters, light and water employees?
If we used $100,000 for 10 years, that is a million dollars that the city could use for infrastructure or to reduce rates instead of paying a city manager.
This matter deserves outside review. We need an audit completed and made public so that we can get the answers we’ve been denied.
I didn’t want to write this letter, but I felt that Mr. Hampton and Mr. Riley need to know that a lot of the people of Watonga appreciate their common sense, honesty and integrity in trying to do what’s right for the good of the city.
Respectfully, Terry Nitzel, Watonga