Despite frustration with the amendments to the 2015 budget, Mayor Paul Soglin announced he will not veto, instead letting it pass without his signature, according to a statement released early Wednesday.
Soglin said the general problems between the mayor’s office and Common Council were “different values, different priorities.”
“After three years of steady progress in addressing the issues of fiscal responsibility and a commitment to solving the challenges of poverty and equity, the amendments made to the budget represent a step backwards,” Soglin said in the statement.
Soglin noted significant step increases in capital expenditures as preventing the city from working to close income, opportunity and educational disparities, as well as an increase to revenue without working for equality for city employees being “not acceptable.”
Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, said he thinks the short time frame they were given to address the amendments was one main cause of conflict. He said he thinks the budget is “as good a budget as any” they have passed recently, but there will always be disagreements in the democratic process.
Schmidt said the council agreed they would like to see parity for employees, as well as an additional half percent in wage increases for non-police and fire department workers, which Soglin pushed for in his amended budgets.
“However, they didn’t fit in with the other priorities that had already been chosen, like additional money for childcare support services, community engagement programs, cost of living adjustment for our community service providers, contracting community service providers, additional neighborhood officers and crossing guard and all these other amendments that the council made that address the basic needs of the city,” Schmidt said.
Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, who is running for Mayor this Spring election, said he was comfortable voting for the budget as amended by the city council, though he wishes they were able to accomplish more in the budget.
The discontent between the city council and Soglin came from lack of transparency and communication from the mayor’s office, Resnick said. The council did not receive Soglin’s proposed amendments until nine hours before the meeting, he said.
Resnick also released a statement Wednesday, saying Common Council “rejected Mayor Soglin’s futile attempt to broker a backroom deal as a means to address his own executive budget woes.”
Resnick said the mayor blamed increased expenditures on people like former mayor Dave Cieslewicz and current Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, as well as the state and federal government.
On whether the disagreements between Common Council and the mayor’s office will have an effect on next year’s mayoral election, Schmidt said he hopes the issue will be over and done with by then.
Resnick, who is running against Soglin in the election, said the important thing is what can be taken away from the disagreement.
“I don’t want to speculate on the 2015 election,” Resnick said. “I think the most important takeaway note though is that there is a sense of failed leadership from the very top. This top-down approach to manage the city government is failing its residents.”
