Mayor Purzner's Take on the Meeting.

Edited at 5:00PM on August 16th 2006 to add: Well the news box on the Mayor's web site is down (http://www.annpurzner.com/). I imagine that it is possible that they are changing what is posted there due to citizens like myself calling the Mayor on what it says. If it is changed then obviously the post will not match it. However, what follows was quoted from the page at the time.

Mayor Purzner's personal website has a new post about the City Council Meeting held on August 14th 2006. I would like to take it on, point for point.

It says that the Budget cuts the "exorbitant salaries" of department heads that are out of line with surrounding communities. Which Communities Mayor Purzner? I never heard of a town called comparable. I have done research on this subject, so perhaps you, or the people behind you would like to that on my research concerning the City Clerk (found here) and the Chief of Police (found here and here)? I would really like to hear what you have to say about this. The Chief of Police and the City Clerk are NOT overpaid Mayor Purzner. That is clear when someone does legitimate research.

It says [it restores services] "without reducing employees".

Though it is true the city is not laying anyone off, the city is not funding the replacement of people who have left for one reason or another. 2 Police Officer, 1 Dispatcher, 2 Public Works employees, gone with no replacements authorized.

It says the Legion Pool will be returned under this budget. Really? Where is that line item? The only thing I see is that we are going to pay someone for a study to determine the costs of restoring the pool. And why are we doing this? I am quite sure we could get free estimates from pool contractors all over town. The Mayor states that there is a Grant of $130,000.00 to restore the pool. For what I have heard it will cost more then that, but what I really would like to know is, where is this grant? Where did it come from? and do we have the money already? Please Mayor Purzner, answer these questions for us.

It says the budget "provides funds to restore the free trash to the people". OK, well how did we come to the figure presented? Does it cover the entire fiscal year (July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007) less the time of that fiscal year that has already past? Does it include the same services? You yourself Mayor Purzner said at the August 14th 2006 meeting that the city had not talked to trash hauling companies and had not received any bids. If you have not done this how can you possible assume that the trash service cost would be 1/2 of what it was going to be increased to when the city decided to stop the service? What is the source of the numbers Mayor Purzner?

You reference Councilman Owensby's statement that "Mr. Herman was draining off all the city's funds in massive lawsuits". Well, libel and slander issues aside, can we see some actual numbers on this please? I would like to see what this statement is based on. Only the publicly available information is needed, the names on the suits, the names of the attorneys, who filed vs. who defended and then the records of the city concerning what the legal costs were. I will look forward to seeing you provide this information Mayor Purzner. And while we are at it, who is paying for all the legal expenses concerning the various legal cases we are currently involved in that are the result or you not following the Missouri Statutes and Overland Ordinances? Not to mention the suits we can expect from your latest moves regarding pay.

Then there is the winner: in regard to Councilmen May, O'Connell, Corcoran, and Schneider, it says: "The admitted that they were more concerned the the Chief of Police receives over $82,000.00 in salary and the City Clerk receives over $67,000.00 in salary than representing the needs of the people. Mayor Purzner, it is my opinion that you are dangerously close to libel here since those councilmen NEVER SAID THAT. They did say that the did not want to see those salaries cut, but they said the the budget was dangerous in that it keep the Police Department and the Public Works Department undermanned. They thought that those CUTS IN SERVICES TO RESIDENTS we unacceptable.

Mayor Purzner, I sure would like to know more about this reference to the utility tax and former Mayor Norman Meyers promising to put the Utility Tax towards trash pick up. I would also like to see where, in the 14 years you were on the council that you raised this issue or attempted to correct it (assuming it is an issue at all). Please feel free to respond on this with some actual facts.

Why would residents like myself want to pay for trash pick up? Because I can afford it and I would rather see more police officers on the street. You called for letters from residents who do not want free trash service. Mine is on the way. For the rest of you please feel free to send a letter to Mayor Purzner explaining that you do not need free trash service at your home:

Mayor Ann Purzner
9119 Lackland Road
Overland, MO. 63114

or email it to: mayorpurzner@overlandmo.org

or call City Hall for the Mayor at: 428-4321

Mayor Purzner, you say:

"It is unfortunate and disturbing that Councilmen May, O'Connell, Corcoran and Schneider could be so callous to the needs of the people who they are supposed to be representing. They would rather see that a handful of cronies at City Hall receive huge pay increases than restore the services to the approximately 17,000 residents of our community".

Mayor Purzner that is an outright lie. Pure and simple. NO ONE has ever suggested a "huge pay increase" to anyone. They opposed your huge pay cuts, nothing more. The ONLY pay increase that has been put forward was Councilman O'Connell's suggestion that they give the City Employees a 6% rather then a 3% increase for cost of living to make up for the fact that they received no increases in the previous year. Are all the non-supervisory city employees the "Cronies" you mentioned Mayor Purzner?

worse still every single one of those councilman have repeatedly suggested that the city look into ways to subsidize the cost of trash service for those residents who cannot afford it

In my opinion, the truly callous actions here are those of yourself Mayor Purzner, as well as Councilman Owensby, Councilman Knode, and Councilman Sellers. You are all willing to let those residents who cannot afford to pay for the trash service continue to do so rather then come up with a compromise that would address their needs. Your 'all-or-nothing' approach is hurting the less fortunate here in our Community. It is time you stopped worrying about 'winning' on this issue and started working towards a solution that is best for the community.

Mayor Purzner, If you want you claims to be taken as anything other then the pack of half-truths and misrepresentations (not to mention one outright lie) that they are now, you need to start adding some verifiable facts and sources to what you say there. Otherwise, your site is not better then a Tabloid and cannot be taken seriously.

I would LOVE to meet with you at City Hall on these issues Mayor Purzner. PLEASE feel free to email me at: overlandsailor@aol.com so that we can schedule a time were you can provide the facts and figures that back up your claims. If you do this, and I can verify them I would be happy to post it all here to prove you're right. I look forward to hearing from you Mayor Purzner.

For those who have not visited the site since Tuesday, please remember to scroll down to see my take on the Overland City Council Meeting of August 14th, 2006.