“We have no capital budget,” Kenner Police Chief Mike Glazer
said as he pushed for his cut of the HRC money.
“We have no capital budget,” Interim Kenner Fire Chief Ryan
Bergeron said as he also pushed for his cut.
“The city has no ‘loss fund’ and hasn’t for years,” Zahn and
City Attorney Leigh Roussel said as they took the largest chunk of the HRC
money for a fund to cover the legal expenses of the lawsuit that Zahn’s
malcontent political appointees brought against the City to overturn a Charter
Change approved by 70% of Kenner voters.
While all may be true, and I certainly would never begrudge
the Mayor or City Council for spending more money on public safety (and, as I’ve
said for years, the KFD has been woefully underfunded and neglected by the
City), I didn’t think it was proper for the City of Kenner to renege on its
promise to rebuild the Hispanic Resource Center especially when money has been
set aside for years to fund it.
The capital budgets for the KPD and KFD along with funding
the “loss fund”, the rebuilding of the Hispanic Resource Center and improving Kenner's recreational facilities, could ALL have easily been filled from the City’s BP Oil Spill
settlement money, instead of spending it on more projects and buildings.
When you make up your monthly budget at home, you must set
priorities. Do we go out to dinner or eat at home and save the money for our
vacation? If we can afford a vacation, do we go to Gulf Shores, go to Disney or
go on a cruise? Do we go on vacation at all or get a new car or put the money
away for our children’s education?
When you don’t have an endless supply of cash (or a printing
press to make more) it is all about setting priorities and making choices.
When it’s the government and OUR tax dollars, we should all
want our government to make the right choices and prioritize OUR tax dollars to
fund the projects that will benefit the most citizens while also maintaining public
safety and fulfilling the commitments already made to its citizens.
Commitments like the Hispanic Resource Center.
But, when you don’t
fulfill your commitments and claim that the City is in dire financial straits
and has operated illegally without a “loss fund” for years, and then spend
Hundreds of Thousands of dollars on a “Freedom Festival”, which was really
nothing more than an excuse to throw more money at your campaign manager, and
on a “Christmas Village”, I call Mayor Zahn’s priorities into question.
For years, the City of Kenner operated a Christmas Village
in Kenner. It was always successful and drew large crowds that helped sustain
many Rivertown businesses. The Christmas Village was put on by the City and
City employees strung the lights and put up the decorations.
Not so this year. Zahn made the decision to pull the
Christmas Village out of RIvertown and move it to the other end of the City in
Kenner City Park.
And, despite Kenner’s alleged financial woes (which, if you
believe the monthly sales tax reports that Zahn gives at the Council meetings
are a complete fabrication), Zahn has spent and committed to spend several
Hundred Thousand dollars on the Christmas Village.
ClickJefferson has received documents showing that Zahn has
entered into a contract to supply lighting at the Christmas Village that will
cost taxpayers $75,000 per year for the next three years ($225,000 total) and
another contract for an additional $40,000 annually ($120,000) payable to Event Producers, a Harahan
company, to provide “Production Management Services for Christmas Village”.
$115,000 each year for the next three years and that doesn’t
include the bills for the ice rink, set up of the Christmas Village, clean up,
and other expenses.
Who knows what the final cost will be for the North Kenner Christmas Village?
Now, is the North Kenner Christmas Village nicer than the
Rivertown Christmas Village? Perhaps. But that isn’t the issue.
If the Zahn Administration needs to steal the funding for
the Hispanic Resource Center and literally beg City Council members for the
final $7,000 to fund new KFD gear, how can the City afford to put on festivals and spend Hundreds of Thousands (and commit even more for future years) on an elaborate Christmas Village?
Wouldn’t it have been fiscally responsible and prudent to
continue with the Rivertown Christmas Village instead of entering into Hundreds
of Thousands in NEW contracts for a North Kenner Christmas Village?
Wouldn’t the Hundreds of Thousands of tax dollars spent on
the North Kenner Christmas Village have been better spent on KPD and KFD
capital projects or increasing manpower?
And what about the “loss fund”? Now I'm not saying that the City shouldn't have events like Freedom Fest, even if its under the guise of "Tourism" and Zahn can't prove that City Hotel occupancy increased at all during the festival weekend.
And, I'm not saying the City shouldn't have an elaborate Christmas Village for residents and nearby visitors to enjoy.
But, I am saying that neither Freedom Fest or a North Kenner Christmas Village should be a higher priority than public safety, improving the City's recreational facilities or giving the Hispanic Resource Center a real building to replace the trailer it is in currently.
Clearly, if money needs to be “stolen” from a committed
project like the rebuilding of the Hispanic Resource Center, Zahn and the City
could have waited to move the Christmas Village and saved the Hundreds of
Thousands that Zahn has committed to it.
But, leaving the Christmas Village in Rivertown, fulfilling
the City’s commitment to rebuild the crumbling Hispanic Resource Center and
buying equipment for the Kenner Fire Department doesn’t get you votes.
Sadly, getting votes and getting reelected is all that Ben
Zahn and his Council Acolytes care about.
