The fact that citizen-elected commissioners have been tasked with reducing a state high-proposed levy of 19.88 percent by 10 percent should not be seen as an opportunity to willfully create anxiety and fear among county employees and valued service organizations within our community.
Responsible leadership should not exploit people’s emotions in efforts to get what it wants.
Assuming a posture of “us versus them” is not only divisive and unhealthy, but it also creates a culture that is oppressive when it comes to thoughtfully and responsibly focusing on solving tough budget issues.
This is expressly why, when asked, “What do you feel is the most important issue facing Cook County today?” I respond: “Certainly declining revenues is a major concern; however, I would argue, that declining social capital trumps revenues as the most important issue facing Cook County. It is foundational to every other issue we face as a community. Social capital addresses the issues of trust— people trusting their leaders as well as their neighbors with different social and economic backgrounds. Engagement—people actively engaged with their leaders and with each other. People taking part, being involved, doing something for another without any immediate expectation of return. When we as a community develop our social capital, we become less vulnerable to crisis and can more easily tackle problems . . . Like declining revenues that affect governments, school board decisions, or other enterprises and, ultimately, you and me and our families.”
As I shared, during last Tuesday’s commissioner meeting, the percent at which budgeted county expenditures are funded by traditionally budgeted revenues (this does not include levy dollars or draw-downs on our reserve fund) has declined from a high in 2001 of 77.9 percent to a projected 2017 low of 56.1 percent, that’s a 21.8 percent drop.
If you translate the difference between 77.9 percent and 56.1 percent to actual dollars, we would be looking at $4,213,612 additional revenue. Even if you took the average percentage of revenue to expenses since 2000, which is 64.4 percent, we would have $1,608,804 additional dollars to work with. Note: Since 2000 the county has been operating below this average.
To put this in perspective, if the county received, from its traditional revenue sources, just the average percentage of what we have received since 2000, we would have $908,804 surplus dollars over and above the $700,000 we need to lower the levy by 10 percent.
Sooner or later, the board of commissioners has to face economic reality! When expenses increase and traditional revenue sources decline, something’s got to give.
The reality is, “You can only defy gravity for so long.”
People of integrity are the same on the outside as they are on the inside. They are a person who can be trusted because they never compromise their inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so.
They are not afraid to respectfully challenge thinking, to make difficult or unpopular decisions. They understand the best decisions are founded on the most ethical judgments and that the toughest ethical challenges provide the biggest opportunities for growth. If we are always confronted with easy choices, we will never build character in our life.
We need to mine out the real needs of the county—not just the interests (wants) and be able to discern the difference between the two.
We need to be constantly observing— noticing, not ignoring—demonstrating a great sense of awareness; willing to serve all, not just the few.
Garry Gamble
Cook County Commissioner-District 2
Grand Marais
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