New Mexico News
| Brasher Says Budget Approval Too Quick |
| Posted by () on Jun 10 2008 at 7:28 PM |
City councilors approved a budget last month after hours of meetings and testimony from almost 100 people.
It was a six-week process.
Bernalillo County, by contrast, presented and passed its budget in just one meeting. No one showed up to testify.
County Commissioner Michael Brasher wants to change that.
"It's imperative that we hear from the public on important issues," Brasher said Friday in an interview. "We need to work on the process."
The county adopted its $203 million operating budget on May 29 after a presentation from county officials. It was approved 4-1, over Brasher's objection.
The plan calls for reducing spending about 3 percent over the next year, a consequence of the tightening economy.
Brasher asked commissioners to postpone action on the budget, but no one else agreed.
County Commission Chairman Alan Armijo said waiting didn't make sense. The budget had been available the previous week and posted on a published agenda.
"I had no calls" from the public, Armijo said. "I don't know what a delay would have done."
Armijo, like Brasher, is a former City Council president, so he's familiar with that process, too. The city draws a crowd some years, he said, because it has more money to spend on social programs.
Commissioner Deanna Archuleta said the county budget offered no surprises, anyway. It closely mirrored the budget already in place because directors were told to submit requests in line with what they had spent the previous year.
"I felt like the community had ample notice that the budget was going to be heard that night," Archuleta said.
Brasher said that, despite his concerns, he isn't trying to criticize his fellow commissioners. He recognizes that they might believe the public isn't interested.
But the process should be changed anyway, he said, by adding a meeting in which the budget is introduced but not acted on.
Comments
Add Comment