Council, Wilder should do honorable thing, reimburse city for salaries paid from July 1 until they do their job and agree on a budget.

Goldman for Mayor - 25 July 2008 - For Immediate Release - 804-833-6313


First City Hall, First City Council in Richmond History to Fail to Agree on a Budget By July 1

"The Mayor and City Council should follow the lead of those members of the General Assembly who did the right thing, and refused to accept pay for the Special Transportation Session since it achieved nothing. The Mayor and City Council should reimburse the city for their salaries from July 1 until they both agree on the single most basic responsibility of any elected official: passing a budget each side accepts as the operative city budget for the new fiscal year."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is time for City Hall and City Council to accept responsibility for the an unprecedented budget fiasco, the first time in the history of Richmond that City Hall and City Council have not agreed on a budget by July 1, the starting date of the fiscal year."

"I don't think any of this would have happened if the Mayor and Mr. Pantele, et. al knew they would not get paid for failing to fulfill their most basic responsibility, passing a budget each side would accept as lawful on July 1, the starting date of the city's fiscal year" Goldman said.

"The City Charter has a clear procedure that would have resolved these matters by now had the Mayor and the City Council done the right thing and followed the law. As the RTD editorial page notes this morning, I was the only candidate they could name who "has addressed the budget and related items" in my efforts to remind city officials of the Elected Mayor law revisions to the City Charter that reinforced this procedure."

"While the Pantele-led Council puts all the blame on the Wilder-led City Hall, and vice-versa, the truth is this: Both sides are to blame for the current state of the budget fiasco."

"Accordingly, starting July 1, 2008, both sides share responsibility for the unprecedented budget fiasco."

"Thus, given this continuing failure to do the most basic function of their jobs, each side should do the honorable thing and agree to reimburse the city for the salaries they will be paid from July 1 until they agree on a budget as required by the City Charter."

"Moreover, the longer these budget follies continue, the greater chance all Richmonders, or at least some of the citizenry, will be unnecessarily and unfairly hurt by the political fallout."

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