I find it comical that Santana reports that City employees are “squeezing” money from every available department to “cobble” something together. I have a more efficient idea. How about we cut the salaries, benefits and pension of the overpaid City Manager ($700K) Assistant City Managers ($300K each) and other highly paid personnel? Jennifer made around $250K a year and the City ran more effectively than it does now without all the drama. We do not need any more highly paid useless personnel coming from San Jose. Those deductions would free up quite a bit of money and would help with the City’s budget deficit. The residents need to be reminded of the taxpayers’ money spent on the City Manager and Assistant City Manager’s trip to France, etc. Neither of them needed to go or spend the money frivolously that the City doesn’t have. It was just there way of getting a free paid vacation at taxpayers’ expense.
Several years ago, Debbie Davis was put in charge of the Marketing Committee for the City. She was given $200K to rebrand the city. The following year she was allotted an additional $200K to complete the rebranding. This committee was abolished that year and actions were not completed. This committee was another waste of taxpayer’s money.
How much money has the City given to Dan Fenton to put together a CVB? It’s been over 2 ½ years since the City Council terminated the CVB employees and there still haven’t been any replacements. Since there is only 1 employee who sells the Convention Center, look at all the TOT money the City is losing out for the last 2-3 years because of their indecisiveness. And this has nothing to do with the COVID-19.
It’s also amusing that the both Santana and Mayor Gillmor are supporting the notion of looking to the City’s bigger businesses for money to help bail the City out. How much money has the City wasted on the many unnecessary lawsuits and the one sided audits in the last 3-5 years? I hope that when you look for assistance from the San Francisco 49ers and other City audited businesses that they laugh in your face. All businesses pay the City for business licenses and property taxes yearly, so why do they need to bail out the City’s overspending of City funds? No, the large businesses do not need to step up and help the City.
The City needs to have City Council members who really understand budgeting, will review expenditures and cease the overspending of taxpayer’s money and will stand up to Mayor Gillmor and her bullying. If the City Council members disagree with the Mayor they are always chastised by her in the City Council chambers.
Santa Clara resident
