Let the cutting begin!

It seems that Mike Buscetto's cutting of the budget is very unpopular. Why? Paying higher taxes is unpopular, but cutting departments and rearranging employees to save money isn't making people happy? Or is it just the positions he wants to cut that makes this decision so controversial? Joseph Celli is too new an employee to have made any difference in the downtown area at all, so getting rid of that position shouldn't make anyone upset. The office of OPD hasn't really been effective, evidenced by all the empty spaces in downtown. This "parade" issue is just one more idea to try and jump start the already lifeless body of New London. No one will want to come to a drug and crime ridden city to visit or to open a business. Mike is correct to want to add more police officers and make public safety a priority. If the way things are now are not working, then a change is in order. Peg Curtin's plan to make a tax free zone is another idea to bring more people into the city, however, this again will only work if the city is safe and clean. No one will want to come to shop if they don't feel safe! Let's make New London the place that businesses want to come to open their doors in and consumers come to spend their money in. We cannot do that by paying big salaries to non-performers or creating positions for musicians. If that means that there are employees of the city (people that work for the taxpayers!) that have to lose their jobs because they either are not performing or we as a city need to re-evaluate the allocation of our manpower so that the city runs more efficiently, then so be it. It is about time that somebody has the courage to sit there and make the cuts necessary even if those cuts are not popular.