The Way I See It!

Here is a Challenge to Cudahy Director of Economic Development Lara Fritts

Posted by Randy Hollenbeck on Oct. 30, 2009

Budget, Cudahy, Development

How about on the front page of your website Cudahy4business you place a thermometer, pie chart, graph, balance scale (you pick the representation/graphic) that shows just how you and the city are doing in turning around the percent of taxes ratio of business to residential paid. 

You told us at the neighborhood watch meeting to know if you are doing your job, the percent which currently is 70.4% of taxes in Cudahy are paid for by residents would be lowered.

I ask you to stand by your word and show us the proof!  I think most of us in Cudahy are originally from Missouri in sprit the “Show Me State”!

I am an honorable man of my word.  Now let’s see if you are an honorable woman of your word.

It would be nice to give us updates (hard data/numbers) to the goals you listed in your PowerPoint presentation and handouts including your slide of, “How do we know if we’ve been successful?”

• Increase in commercial tax base (which I talked about above)

• Number of business retentions

• Number of businesses recruited

• Execution of Work Plan

Now that the Mayor has placed the city budget up online (To read the online budget click here.  It is after the letter from the Mayor), looking at your budget (on page 129 of pdf above) I just wonder why we have $20,000 budget for KRM station design?

I find it confusing that you moved surveys from the titled area of “Economic Development” to show a decrease of $400, but have it listed in the general area showing a new charge of $200.

I don’t see where you show the cost of the “Design Guidelines Document” which was a one time combined with the Market Analysis $50,000 (which I do see on the budget) cost of $125,400.  It might be possible that you labeled it “Façade Improvement” $75,000 and combined it with the surveys $400 (which is now not a one-time cost any more?) to total $125,400.  Changing the labels from your PowerPoint to the budget makes it hard to follow the money trail.

I do see that the Facade Improvement Program to Continue.  I find it odd, since the budget you had last year contained the same label program.  Is it possible an error in labeling, a shell game or was it transferred out of the budget to appear like a decrease on paper?  Was it possible that it was just wrongly used in the first place?

Taking out the one-time costs of $125,400 against the decrease shown of $116,227 shows the budget after one-time costs subtracted is up $9,287.

I give you kudos for offering to freeze your pay for the next three years voluntarily, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Let’s evaluate at the one year mark the progress made and the continued value forward.

We don’t want to put the cart before the horse and it wouldn't be prudent to make a blind rapid judgment without hard data to back the worth.

Update – I just received word that the $20,000 for the KRM station plans has been taken out of the budget on Tuesday, but Mayor McCue and Ms. Fritts are fighting to get it placed back in. 

The flowerpots were voted to stay in with only Alderperson Joseph Mikolajczak voting “NO”.  It is just too bad with all the time Mayor McCue, Ms. Fritts and her interns have that they didn’t attempt to solicit from the local businesses on Packard Ave to help pay for it or work with the Cudahy Chamber of Commerce on it!

Correction from a reader.  On issue of the flowerpots - the fifth district council member did vote for the flowerpots.  The first district council member wanted it taken off the budget and no one else would 2nd the vote to remove so it passed.

I am hearing chatter that one intern might be taken out of the budget as well!