{"id":1235,"date":"2011-09-12T04:56:33","date_gmt":"2011-09-12T04:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=1235"},"modified":"2011-09-28T08:36:41","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T08:36:41","slug":"bigger-and-better-emeryville-finance-committee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=1235","title":{"rendered":"Bigger, and Better, Emeryville Finance Committee"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/span>I recently attended my first meeting of the Finance Committee as a resident member and came away with positive impressions.\u00a0 The Committee now has an expanded cadre: two city councilors, two business representatives, and two resident members.\u00a0 By the time we next meet, a representative of the labor community in Emeryville will be added.\u00a0 This is a striking improvement over its previous incarnation when just two city councilors served. Staff support for the Committee, led by Karen Reid, City Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, came informed and responsive to the queries of members.\u00a0 City Manager Patrick O’Keeffe and Assistant City Manager Dolores Turner also attend the Committee’s meetings.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For citizens interested in how the city fares financially, the quarterly meetings of the Committee are a great place to get answers.\u00a0 I found Reid’s “City of Emeryville Quarterly Financial Report: Fourth Quarter 2010-11, as at June 30, 2011” especially useful, with its comparative data between this year and last. (Look for it on the City’s website<\/a>.) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Given the shaky state of the national, state, and local economies, the Committee spent most of its time looking at ways to keep tax revenues in town and to manage our investments expertly.\u00a0 A comment from Mayor Nora Davis, who chairs the committee, sticks in my mind: “We must leave no stone unturned.”\u00a0 Indeed, and I get the impression from listening to members of the Committee, we won’t.\u00a0 Any negatives?\u00a0 Not really, but I’d like to know more about the city’s bonded indebtedness through its Redevelopment Agency operations and the annual cost of financing it, but my impression is all I need to do is ask.\u00a0 And so I shall.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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