In this past Saturday’s edition of the Laconia Daily Sun (pg. 4), the Gilford Town Administrator Scott Dunn decided that insulting a town taxpayer was well within his purview simply because she asks hard questions, demands answers, and is willing to go toe-to-toe on the discussions. The relevant part of his Letter to the Editor was to play the Class Card in an attempt to shut her up; to embarras her by belittling her success. This from a man whose compensation is $94,275 in wages and $134,731 in toto; not shabby at all. Anyways, the relevant part of the Letter is this (whole thing is after the jump):
Fact # 9 — There are no town employees who own two homes on Governor’s Island with a total assessed value in excess of $2.6-million.
And I laid into his absurd claim on “Fact” #8 that only the Public Sector has had to do more with less. As a blogger, a member of the Gilford Budget Committee, and a Gilford taxpayer, I could not let either go unchallenged (added emphasis now):
To Town Administrator Dunn and Selectmen Benevides, Hayes, and O’Brien,
To say that my ire was raised as I read your letter, Mr. Dunn, is an understatement. A citizen has the perfect right to address their concerns of their Town’s labor costs in a public forum as Ms. Aichinger has done. In fact, it is one that I share. Yes, factually, your Letter is correct, but it misses the mark in three very important areas.
None of your points address the relatively high unit labor cost that Gilford has overall compared to comparable towns (as my Salary Study showed a few years ago). Again, while your noting that several positions no longer exist on the Town payroll, they have done nothing to address this fundamental and structural problem. The cost of globalization has now reached the public sector – it is past time to recognize that simply cutting positions is the way to keep labor costs in line with what is happening with those that actually pay those high salaries – the taxpayers of Gilford. Continued on to its illogical end, we could end up with one very highly paid employee that would yield a still “lower labor cost than last year” but the necessary work would not be accomplished.
Which brings me to my second point. Your “Fact #8” is completely wrong (“Unlike the private sector”) – The private sector has dropped jobs far faster than the public sector, and because of the misdirected “Stimulus” monies that propped up Government spending, for a far longer period of time. I believe you have missed the chart outlining how much more productive the private sector has had to become – economic output has all but regained its previous recession levels but with millions of fewer workers. It has found a way to continue the same level of output, and more, with fewer hands to actually do the work because it HAD to – either they meet the constraints placed upon them by the Marketplace or they go went of business. You have a choice, Mr. Dunn – either more people at a lower cost to do the work or fewer number at higher costs – you have chosen the latter. Which, at some point, will become more and more untenable just as it became in the private sector.
The worst, however, is that you used your position to publicly humiliate a private citizen by using the property holdings of Ms. Aichinger as a club – how DARE you! Yes, assessments are public information but you have used that information to belittle someone that pays your salary (and, to keep in the same vein – BOTH of your retirement programs) and attempted to publicly discredit someone who is simply trying to advocate for taxpayers. Did the Selectmen approve a contract clause that permits that kind of activity? You already tried to do this with your comment of “no town employee owns two homes on Governor’s Island” in a lame attempt to play the Class Card – you have now done so again. That is NOT what I expect from Gilford’s Town Administrator – which is how you signed your Letter (and not as a private citizen).
I am demanding a public apology to Ms. Aichinger for your lowbrow and low class tactic. Failing that, I will not run for the School Board as originally planned but run for re-election for the Budget Committee instead and urge Ms. Aichinger to run for the Budget Committee as well. Then we can both “talk some facts” during the next budget cycle – I bet that would overjoy you.
Skip Murphy
Gilford Town Administrator Scott Dunn’s Letter to the Editor:
No Gilford employees own $2.6M of real estate on Governor’s Is.
To the editor,
I am writing to present your readers and the citizens of Gilford with some factual information in response to the letter from Mrs. Barbara Aichinger published on December 16.
Fact # 1 — the FY2012 municipal budget presented (and recommended) by the Board of Selectmen to the Budget Committee REDUCES the total amount of wages and benefits paid in FY2011 by $179,272. This was done despite an increase in the cost of retirement benefi ts amounting to $19,644 that is mandated by the State of New Hampshire; however it should also be noted that the proposed budget does not result in any reductions in the emergency services provided by the town.
Fact # 2 — Since 2008, the town has eliminated four full-time positions, two part-time position, and converted two fulltime positions to part-time with no benefits. In addition, the town has reduced its contractual fees that are paid for assessing and computer technology.
Fact # 3 — The REDUCTION in wages and benefi ts in the upcoming fi scal year is the result of reducing the size of the work force, requiring employees to pay more for their benefits, increasing the amount of health insurance co-payments required of employees, and decreasing the overall level of health insurance benefi ts.
Fact # 4 — The selectmen recently concluded negotiations with the Teamsters Union employees (at the Police Department) that will result in no increases in the contract cost items over a two year period.
Fact # 5 — The selectmen have recently revised their FY2012 budget recommendation to REDUCE the proposed budget by an additional $20,839.
Fact # 6 — In the past three years, the selectmen have amended the town’s personnel policies to REDUCE employee benefi ts and the cost of these benefits that are paid by the taxpayers on seven separate occasions.
Fact # 7 — Since 2008, pay increases for town employees have been based strictly on merit; the town does not provide employees with step increases or cost of living adjustments. And FY2012 will be the second year in a row that the town has not budgeted merit increases for department managers or the town administrator; while the selectmen have voluntarily relinquished their annual stipends for the last couple of years as well.
Fact # 8 — Unlike the private sector, the workload in most town departments has not diminished during the economic downturn. This is especially
true of the Police Department and Library. Meanwhile, the roads must still be maintained, emergency medical technicians are still expected to
show-up when someone calls for an ambulance, and the work goes on in the administrative offi ces.
Fact # 9 — There are no town employees who own two homes on Governor’s Island with a total assessed value in excess of $2.6-million.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to set the record straight. Concerned citizens are encouraged to scrutinize the town (municipal)
budget in more detail at www.gilfordnh.org.
Scott J. Dunn
