City spending

Dear Editor:I'm writing regarding the hire of an emergency deputy city manager by the city. It concerns me that now we have three or four deputy city managers. Is Downey that difficult to manage? I want to know what emergency I'm being protected from that legitimizes this kind of overspending by the City Council. Since The Downey Patriot states that we are already well protected from an earthquake or a plane crash, it appears that the water problem brought this on. Perhaps the city should have the water checked by two agencies, thereby eliminating the need for this expensive overpaid position. I guess we should be grateful that the Assistant Fire Chief position has been eliminated. It makes me wonder if one was really needed in the first place. Not from personal knowledge, but from The Downey Patriot, we've learned that there were internal problems in the Fire Department, so instead of solving them it appears they just made a new, higher-paid position. Has Downey fallen into the same pitfall as our federal and state governments have? They don't know when to quit spending. People are losing their jobs and their homes. Many have lost a lot in the stock market. Orange County is laying off employees, but Downey is hiring highly-paid employees. Again, I'd like to remind the Council that the president of the United States only makes $400,000 a year. I'll end this by asking if the pensions in Downey are funded. Many in Downey would like regular town hall meetings so we may have our questions answered and also express our views. Please review and rescind this latest decision of hiring another deputy city manager. - Elsa Van Leuven, Downey ********** Published: January 16, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 39