Amateur Hour at City Hall

"Council President Michael Passero said it appears the city is facing about a $4 million shortfall in the current budget, but he does not believe there is a "significant budget crisis," as Finizio characterized it. He questioned why the mayor would choose a Friday evening press conference to make such an announcement.

"In an $82 million budget, it can swing one way or the other," Passero said.

"There was no public necessity that required Friday night's dramatic announcement. The bottom line is, we are doing all right." 

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Ok, so let's see if I have this right. The mayor calls councilors to a special meeting to discuss the sale or purchase of real estate, then finds out such a hasty and unposted meeting would be illegal.Then he has a press conference on a sudden budget crisis he compares to Benedict Arnold's burning of New London. I am not making that up. Watch the video.

He says there are no specific real estate sales pending, but he wanted to discuss options with councilors. Hmmm. Let's see. What big land sale involving millions of dollars has the city been considering lately? And those New London loves the Coast Guard signs are all over town. Instead of using the calculators to figure out the budget gap, maybe people will need them to count council votes for a park sale. Or will there be a vote?

Or maybe the mayor just wants to discuss selling Ocean Beach.