Taxpayers keep paying - the compass building

Not once, not twice, but many times LWM has received calls about poor morale at the utility and other departments. As we all know morale starts at the top and trickles down so it was interesting to hear that LW employees are so crammed for space that they now have four employees working full time in the lunch room at the utility.

In the midst of our financial crisis, where the burden of keeping the city solvent has fallen on residents who are paying additional taxes in the form of 30% more for electricity (projected 48% within two years) and water rates increasing through the roof… the city manager and commission decided to spend more of your money to bail out Compass to whom we were already renting 12,000 sq feet of premium office space a stones throw from city hall… for a lousy $83.00 a month!

That's correct... $83.33 to be exact and the only caveat was that Compass was going to spend lots of money on the building so when we got it back decades from now... it would be in decent shape. But Compass reneged on the contract and rather than use common sense and seize the opportunity to serve ALL of the people by getting our building back…the commission and city manager did the opposite and politically expedient thing and bailed them out AT YOUR EXPENSE. Why? Because the commission wants those special interest votes and that's the bottom line reason why.

This has nothing to do with Compass and its mission... it could be a green energy producing company for that matter... it makes no difference. The guiding principle is "what is best for the people" not "what's best for a special interest group that has already gained exceptional advantage from taxpayers."

It's all about serving the people or serving a minority special interest group and now the whole issue of the commission's failure to perform basic obligations to the people has been brought forth.

It is patently insane under the present circumstances in which our country finds itself 12 trillion dollars in debt and adding entitlements over the next decade that will soar to 38 trillion. And here we have a bankrupt city keeping itself afloat by stealth taxing the public through abnormally high utility rates and again and again, the people have been subjected to the humiliation of picking up the tab for a commission that is out of control with its spending. In this case, it’s all about politicians and officials catering to a special interest group to get their votes and taxpayers are subsidizing it without any recourse other than to recall the bums and throw them out. But we all know that isn't going to happen until it's much too late.