A Discussion of the Changes Ahead: Capraro and Augustine Talk Reform with Ted Baker

Due to a scheduling conflict, we missed our regularly scheduled radio interview in May. But June 20th found us back in the WGVA studios, getting back to business with morning show host, Ted Baker. (Click here to listen to the interview in its entirety)

The interview began with Ted’s appreciation for what makes this blog unique. In presenting a fact-based point of view, our focus is on the facts and not so much on the point of view. The way we see it, anyone could tell you what they think is going on with government. What we want to do is give you access to the documents that show what’s really going on and then to share our perspective of how those pieces fit together to tell a larger story of community decision-making, for better or worse. Capraro captured the essence of our mission very succinctly when he said that our readers are looking primarily for the documents and resources that we link to and the point of view is something to “take it or leave it.”

A point of view we hope you’ll take is that the city manager selection process, despite its rocky start, got back on track and ended successfully with the hiring of Matt Horn. Augustine praised Mayor Einstein’s resolve in bringing the process back to the people of Geneva to ensure that candidates were screened according to the community’s priorities. Capraro said that the selection process ended up being a real “feather in council’s cap” because council abandoned the sense of urgency that was initially expressed by some members and instead trusted the existing staff and Acting City Manager Jen Slywka to keep the city moving while Council took its time to choose the best possible candidate. We agreed that having Slywka at the helm “demystified” the process and ended the ‘city manager mystique’ that had left the former council stymied. Now council understands that city hall can work collaboratively with council to achieve City priorities and the pressure will be off of manager Horn to be the “control guy.” This gives us hope for a better work environment for staff and council in the years to come.

That work environment will be important as council wrestles with the budget and the outcome of the lakefront planning process. Both issues should be the main topics of conversation in the coming months, and we previewed some of our blog posts during the interview.

Of particular interest to us is the need for local and state government to look at both sides of the property tax equation: Expenses and Revenue. Municipalities cannot continue to rely on property tax to fund operations. Alternate revenue streams must be developed and the state may be able to help in that. But municipalities also have an obligation to look at their expenses, to explore shared services and creative ways of maintaining or improving upon what’s offered to residents. We also encourage the state to look at the regional amenities that cities provide (schools, hospitals, parks, churches, etc.) and find a way to equitably distribute the strain of the tax-exemptions that those amenities carry. It is agreed that those services and facilities are valuable to communities beyond just the city center, but the cost of maintaining and servicing them is borne almost exclusively by the host community. There are state laws that could change that.

Issues of taxes, lakefront development, and good government processes in general will continue to be the focus of the blog. As always, we welcome your ideas for issues you’d like to see addressed with “No Strings” attached! Just click on the ‘comments’ button below to leave your thoughts.