This News & Observer story is a good example of why conflict over a budget is a good thing. The arguing that ensues tends to reveal some of the spending that is planned, spending that may otherwise have gone unnoticed and unchallenged.
In Durham, there’s now a debate over whether or not to spend $1 million to design a pool — a pool that may never be built. Mayor Bill Bell is in the middle of the fight. From the story:
Bell said cutting the design money would “send the wrong message” to Walltown residents, though he did question why it should cost $1 million just to draw up plans for a pool.
Bell’s blockade infuriated Councilman Eugene Brown. “I would trust my colleagues would do the righteous and obvious thing and that is to take away the $1 million to design a pool that we have yet to vote for and that we do not have the money to build,” Brown said.
“Even without the pool, Walltown will be… one of the most expensive neighborhood rec centers in the Southeast. We cannot afford in this day and time a pool and rec center in every neighborhood. That’s not an opinion. That’s a fact.”
The city council is set to vote on the budget tonight. Stay tuned.
