Time for future alderman to face hard financial facts

Public Forum:

It has been my pleasure to serve residents in New Berlin on the School Board for two terms and the residents of the city's 6th District for an additional two terms. I have been fortunate to work with a dedicated mayor and excellent city staff.

It is now time for another to serve.

My hope is that the new alderperson will be elected to counter the present trend of unsustainable government funding.

Selection of New Berlin as one of the 40 best American cities in which to live requires a superior quality of life. Recent New Berlin Common Council action to decrease staffing in the departments of Police, Parks and Recreation, Streets and Community Development and efforts to privatize basic city services will only serve to undermine that quality as more employees are laid off or future budgets increase dramatically.

I wish our district's new alderperson well in attacking these challenges as part of a hoped-for change in the makeup of the council, as the present council's ill-advised, no-tax-rate-increase budgets for 2010 and 2011 will result in an outrageous $2.9 million shortfall in 2012, according to our director of finance.

William Moore

Alderman, District 6

New Berlin