CCA continues to push phony issue
By Will Collette
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| Council President Carney (center) |
They took $1 million out of the General Fund to buy several properties,
usually at prices much higher than their assessed value and often at the behest
of CCA allies.
The CCA-led Council did NOT use bonds, preferring to
use cash and not coincidentally keeping the $2 million bond fund intact, presumably to allow
Ruth Platner a blank check to continue her land buying spree.
Voters did not give Platner carte blanche in 2015 – they issued
approval for low-interest municipal bonds. Using bonds to fund long-term
capital investments is prudent normal practice, just as it is when your own
family takes out a mortgage, car loan or student loan.
Taking $1 million out of the General Fund, as the CCA did,
had an immediate effect on your taxes compared to amortizing the cost over
years, as voters in 2015 approved. Taxes consistently rose during the CCA’s 10
years of control over town government.
This year, Town Council President Deb Carney has proposed to
redress the CCA’s disregard of voters’ expressed decision by issuing one
million in bonds to cover the money the CCA inappropriately used to make land
purchases and put that money back in the General Fund where it belongs.
And of course, the CCA screams its outrage, claiming that
Carney is betraying the 2015 voters and somehow paying twice for the same
property.
Bonnita B. Van Slyke is the CCA’s nominee in the December 2
Town Council Special Election. She
voiced the CCA’s new party line and added that “Certainly, the Town
Council should not float a bond without taxpayers being able to vote on whether
they approve of $1 million to $2 million in new spending in a general
election.”
I already
responded to this by noting that voters already approved the bonds in 2015.
Issuing a bond to replenish the General Fund simply redresses the CCA’s past
financial mismanagement; it's NOT about new spending.
Failed 2024 CCA Council hopeful Sarah Fletcher raises the same issues almost verbatim in the CCA blog. No matter how many CCA stalwarts repeat it, the facts don’t change. Voters approved long-term bonds for open space, but the CCA paid cash. By taking cash out of the General Fund, they bumped up taxes each time.
Carney wants to put that
money back in the General Fund which will give taxpayers a break on next year’s
tax bill, and not raise the tax rate by 3 cents as both Fletcher and Van Slyke
claim - without evidence.
Charlestown voters should note that the CCA’s
misappropriation of open space money spawned not just a series of shady land
deals, but also a whole string of CCA financial gaffs, including the “$3
million dollar oopsie” and subsequent
cover-up.
In a nutshell, the CCA had so many special accounts and cash
stashes, including a bloated
“Unassigned Fund Balance,” that they lost
(or “misallocated” as they prefer to call it) $3 million dollars for 2
years. Click on the links for more detail.
It took a while for Charlestown voters to finally absorb the
ways the CCA betrayed taxpayers’ trust by screwing up the money finally voting down all but one CCA candidate in 2022 (the year the $3 million oopsie went public) and then taking the last CCA seat in 2024
The CCA hopes to claw back a Town Council seat and
re-install their most inept member in the December 2 Special Election.
I warned you when the special election was announced to expect a torrent of
phony attacks and misinformation in expensive mailers from the CCA or “Friends
of Bonnie Van Slyke.” By the way, that “Friends” group is a CCA proxy that
helps the CCA to get around state expenditure caps on spending by political
action committees.
But you do have other choices and, for me, the best one is Democrat
Jill Fonnemann.
