Posted by Hidden Agenda, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 5:14 am

So, the Town Council laid-off the Public Works, Building, and Parks employees under the premise that they were in the hole by $856,000. But, the number was actually $456,000. The Council discovered the error before they pulled the trigger, but let everyone go anyway.

The Mayor speaks often of a Moody's study he says places Atherton's "unfunded liability" in the area of $30 million. But, the number is actually somewhere well south of $2.5 million.

Without the parcel tax, the Town spends $600,000 more than it takes in. But, the parcel tax brings in $1.8 million, so the Town really operates about $1.2 million in the black.

In addition, the San Mateo County Assessor says Atherton can expect a 9% increase in their tax rolls. The Town assumed only 5% in their budget forecast, resulting in a $318,000 windfall.

It would appear the driver for the extreme actions against the unrepresented employees is something other than dire fiscal conditions. The Mayor wants to eliminate the parcel tax, but has not provided an explanation for how he plans to replace the $1.8 million. Given the property tax windfall, he has only a $300,000 gap he needs to close to achieve his goal.

The Mayor's goal is easily obtainable through compensation reductions, additional outsourcing, and service cuts.

Posted by trust, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 5:58 am

It appears that Mayor Widmer, Jim Dobbie and Kathy McKeithen have had this hidden agenda for some time but it now is seeing the light of day.

In all probability it was hatched during Interim Manager John Danielson's tenure and as WMD say they have been studying it for some time after the dismissal of the maintenance people. They have hooked Lewis and Carlson into this scheme using incorrect and obfuscating correct numbers which does not reflect well on any of the Councils credibility.

It is time for the new town manager and new finance manager to completely review the state of Atherton's finances and accurately represent them to residents on a continual basis. These numbers should be the only basis for Council Members decisions in the future and they should not make up their own numbers. This goes as well for the finance committee as seen in the last video of the meeting are clearly befuddled about the numbers as well.

This whole episode of the last minute vote on the unrepresented employees compensation is wrapped in the same WMD stench of the library in the park council vote.

Posted by Right, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 8:10 am

Unlike every other city in California (and the United States), Atherton actually has a surplus instead of a deficit. Any financial statement to the contrary is a WMD conspiracy. WMD probably got all the newspapers, such as the New York Times, to falsely report on the dire situations of all the other cities, just to make it look like Atherton might have a problem too.

I wonder if Malcolm Dudley really knows what he's talking about, since while he was on the council, there was never an audit that actually had a passing opinion. The finances are completely unknown.