2026 Bad News Budget Bloaters
I have complained at Board meetings since July about the budget secrecy and the fact that the public and the Village Board have been locked out of budget development. Dave Baker personally caused this when he set up this closed procedure for the budget development to be driven at private meetings by staff wants, needs, and desires, while refusing to allow the transparency of committee open meeting discussions or trustee involvement. I was the lone voice on the board, and unfortunately, the inexperience of the other board members perhaps inadvertently, caused them to follow the lead of Baker and Jacobs. Both Dave Baker and John Jacobs assured us that it would be a TIGHT BUDGET, but that it would still replace and provide the usual funds for capital road projects. I took a "we'll see" attitude, since I had no other support from the Board to do anything else. I did warn some people that I talked to that I expected a nasty "October surprise" and sure eno...