Well, we’ve had our first budget meeting and it was a real eye-opener. The process promises to be grueling. The first meeting where we covered 4 departments lasted 5 hours. Every department makes a presentation to the Council and we go through it all. If my experience so far is any guage, we will find things that need a second look and we will find some things that need to go.

I suppose that my only beef with this particular process is that, by it’s very structure, it is intended to promote the status quo. This isn’t all bad as there is much the government does that is status quo: we have to keep the lights on, trash picked up, police on the street and the schools open. Those types of functions rarely change. However, the current budget process seems so insular that a status-quo outcome is all but assured. We need a process that is more reactive to the dynamic real-world outside the doors of City Hall. The council needs to consider strategic direction in advance, as a body.

So far, the only budgetary goal that is clear is to have a smaller budget. That is very Republican and a good thing but where should that reduced amount of money go? Shouldn’t we have a discussion ahead of time about the top 5 problems the City faces? Shouldn’t we also discuss the initiatives we favor to make the City a better place in the coming year? The answers to these questions can radically alter where our money goes.

Let me give you an example: one of the problems the City faces after the huge appreciation in home values is that too much of our revenue comes from real estate taxes. The way you fix this is to go get more businesses in Manassas. How, exactly, are we going to do that? Do we need a biz-dev expert? Is there something we are not doing? Should we try some more unconventional ideas like Gateway? I’ve got my own thoughts but bringing them up when staff is presenting their budget plan for the next year is about the worst time I can think of to do this. It promotes a very ad-hoc discussion in the middle of an unrelated process assuring chaos.

I’m the new guy and the old process has produced decent results but I think this is a step we should take.

The zoning initiative is like the energizer bunny, baby. It won’t die. A very slightly modified version of the initiative unanimously passed the Land Use (Me, Randolph and Way) committee tonight.
Mr. Way requested that we add some language defining proactive enforcement and also a requirement for reporting resources used in the future. Seemed like a good idea – he’s a smart guy and I’m happy to do it as it puts some teeth back in the initiative. It should be back in front of the council in 2 weeks. Show up if you support it!

Revised Text adds a definition of proactive enforcement and an additional reporting requirement. Changes in italic::

#2 Implement a staff effort to achieve proactive code enforcement, meaning that city employees who encounter apparent code violations during the course of their normal duties are encouraged to report them and/or initiate corrective action within their assigned responsibilities, even in the absence of a citizen’s complaint.

Reporting Clause is modified by adding: …including an assessment of whether these initiatives can be effectively managed within existing personnel and budgetary resources.

The changes are meaningful and I thank Councilman Way for working with me.