You’ll notice that this isn’t marked under news but blog. I almost didn’t write this article at all. In fact, today was almost my last day in the career track of journalism.
After this post, I’m switching focuses. I’ll still attend meetings and write about anything that intrigues me, correct the record and all that, but I’m staying away from the city that I grew up in.
It’s two-faced.
Janus will say that he hates the local political games, hate-bating and pandering and that he wants to change things. As soon as you walk away however, the Port Jervis god will only spit profanities and vitriol on your journey home.
Liars. Or are they? Where exactly is the truth in what people say? There has to be some somewhere.
That’s one thing I may stay in town for though it doesn’t come close to the higher purpose of rending the newsworthy facts that citizens need in order to live, learn and grow.
It may be interesting to know how much of a statement is true or honest when people say marvelous things. I’d rather learn how we can all create a common ground, but that doesn’t seem to be the place people like me. I’ll just keep smiling silently then.
It’s not easy being the one to tell others that more communication is necessary, because if they don’t communicate already, they don’t believe that they need to. Omitting the truth is just as much a lie, no?
Here’s the story:
I was hot on the trail of a risk assessment — a “pre-audit” — in the city, performed by State Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office.
The glance at documentation tediously gathered by the city clerk’s office is a determining moment before deciding whether there were next steps for the city to take or even a full state audit to be conducted.
The state risk assessment began Jan. 23.
Mayor Kelly Decker replied this morning that there was no such necessitation according to what the state had concluded that day.
However, that doesn’t end the journey of auditing.
The city performs its own annual internal audit as well. This is when the firm Bonaddio comes in and does a thorough search through the city’s documentation. This organization has been used for years according to City Clerk Robin Waizenegger.
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“…closer to 4%.”Kristin Trovei
Even with the consistent auditing the city’s fund balance has fallen in the past decade to more than “unhealthy” lows.
In an article in the Times Herald-Record, responding to the village of Walden’s status, Brian Burry, spokesman for the state comptroller’s office, stated that having a fund balance of ten percent of total municipal expenses was a “healthy” goal.
Waizenegger sallied that fifteen percent, or just under a sixth of the city’s expenses, was a more appropriately called “healthy” fund balance.
That’s the process that the city goes through every year. To be clear, that’s enough for me. If there was to be more done, that would have been fine too.
This brings us back to my rant at the beginning.
Most people use Facebook these days. According to Pew Research Center, only eleven percent of people in the U.S. don’t use social media. Of the other eighty-nine percent that do, more than half use Facebook, and more than half of that half, use it everyday, multiple times a day, to read, take in news, and catch up with friends and family.
For that reason, I’ve been taking my calls for sources and comments from Twitter to Facebook.
Most recently I called attention to feelings about budgeting, finance, spending and city revenues following this pre-audit.
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“…negative posts…”
It got the usual respondents, those that may have something negative to say. Those that still don’t feel that their representative government is taking the right actions in allaying these worries. Yet, there are also those that are more optimistic.
My question was plain, and any more middle of the rode it would have been flying high up next to the pie-in-the-sky.
The difficulty in remaining, and being seen as impartial, was turned on blast when politics stepped in on the post: a blanket shaming that served to discredit the question and any comments anyone had in the thread.
Even though replies were asked to be made as a “DM” or direct message to me, rather than comments.
The most heartbreaking part was the source of the political reaction. Someone that I had interviewed several times and was starting to feel friendly towards.
Perhaps there’s something to be learned in the old saying, “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
Brienna Parsons 