Auburn and Lewiston are both great cities with their own attributes, strengths, weaknesses, debt and revenues. Lewiston, however, has more debt and has attributes that Auburn doesn’t want (the rain tax). Its welfare budget is so high that Auburn can’t support it.
Auburn likes its neighborhood school system, and though Auburn’s union workers make less than Lewiston’s, Auburn can afford to keep everyone. When people are eliminated, others have to do their work. Do that 100 times and you get a work force that is overworked. If 100-plus positions are eliminated, those people will have to find work, possibly out of the community. That isn’t growing the community, it is throwing a wrench into the lives of residents. If one manager and an assistant manager are eliminated, would they stay in this community, own a home, spend money and pay taxes here?
To even think that any money will be saved is ridiculous. Elimination of one manager and an assistant manager to save $300,000 a year is a long way from $4.2 million. A former city manager of Auburn, tried doing just that in 2010. He eliminated $1 million worth of laborers, all of whom had to be re-hired by the next new council because their jobs couldn’t be done by those who were left.
City employees are in their positions because they are needed. To think that people are a commodity that can be eliminated by the stroke of a pen is ludicrous.
Let’s stay L-A.
Jan Biron, Auburn
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