Politics & Government
Letter to the Editor: We Need New Faces on the LFP Council
LFP Gov Watch spokesman says Cathcart has strong financial management background
To the Editor:
Brian J. Cathcart will work diligently for all the citizens of Lake Forest Park. You will learn much more about his strong financial management background in the coming weeks.
Apparently, the fact that 78 percent of the citizens of Lake Forest Park (LFP) expressed support for the basic elements of the LFP GOV WATCH platform is lost on Ms. Dahl. It also appears that she hasn’t looked at the GOV WATCH platform (www.lfpgovwatch.org) or she would know what creative ideas Mr. Cathcart and GOV WATCH are putting forward including, 1) new criteria for comparable cities that are actually comparable to LFP and have similar commercial tax bases to establish employee salaries and compensation, and 2) establishing measures of effectiveness to ensure ongoing increases in efficiency.
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The attitude conveyed in Ms. Dahl’s statement, “GOV Watch folks have one and only one agenda and platform - "78 percent of voters opposed Prop. 1" -.blah! blah! blah!” is precisely why GOV WATCH was formed. The current Council and Administration have lost sight of the fact that they were elected to represent all the citizens of LFP not just 22 percent or less of them.
Brian Cathcart didn’t need to be in the Mayor’s inner circle, on a commission, or a task force appointed by the Mayor to understand how the City functions or how it has gotten into the current financial bind.
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Cathcart’s opponent, was the Chairman of the Financial Futures Task Force that recommended Proposition 1 as the only way to cure the City’s financial problems. Amazingly, her task force recommended the largest tax increase in the history of the City that promoted additional spending in hard times. Unlike Ms. Stanford, he would not have supported putting Proposition 1 on the August ballot when numerous citizens asked that it be on the November ballot (public hearing 4/22/10).
Mr. Cathcart knows what is needed to restore fiscal accountability to the City and represent all of our citizens. His years of experience in finance has taught him that if you have a spending problem, the obvious solution is to stop spending, but he also knows there are creative ways to budget and to affect efficiencies while honoring our citizen’s priorities.
Brian Cathcart is endorsed by LFP GOV WATCH because he is very well qualified and because he, like GOV WATCH, is dedicated to ensure that the City of Lake Forest Park remains liveable, affordable, and sustainable by encouraging, supporting and promoting a responsible and effective City Government.
Tony Holman
Lake Forest Park