City Council voted unanimously June 22 to put the utility users’ tax measure (Measure K) on the November ballot. This issue is not going away nor are we going to cover it like the tax is the best possible solution to save positions in the city’s General Fund. We’re going to cover the issue fairly, looking at all sides.

Most City Council members probably have the same basic concerns as other Lincoln residents.

Just like my neighbors, council members most likely want to ensure their family members are safe, healthy and happy.

And I’m sure that council members want the city they’re in charge of to run efficiently and honestly.

But council members, along with their city manager and assistant city manager/chief financial officer, are making it harder these days to believe what they say at public meetings. That includes statements from the proposed utility users’ tax to what salaries city officials are making.

A glaring example is the city’s Fall/Winter 2010 Recreation Guide brochure recently mailed to Lincoln households.

I eagerly await receiving the seasonal brochure to see which fitness, dance and gymnastics classes, along with sports leagues, will be offered by the city’s Recreation Department. I keep hoping to find a dance class that I can take after work or on the weekends.

But my anticipation reading the city’s Recreation Guide last Friday quickly disappeared when I saw the guide’s third page.

Instead of featuring a table of contents or talking about highlights of featured classes, the third page contained 11 paragraphs on the city’s budget problems.

With a “Recreation Programs Cut in Recent Budget” headline, the guide’s first page talked about how Measure K being approved by voters in November “would help the City maintain the three police officers, a police sergeant, as well as library and recreation services that are currently only funded through the end of 2010.”

The next paragraph stated that, “Without an additional, long-term revenue stream, these positions and services may be cut in January 2011, with virtually all library and recreation services completely eliminated in July 2011.”

I got the city’s message, loud and clear, pushing for Measure K.

The problem is that City Council and city staff are not allowed to advocate for Measure K.

I first heard that city representatives couldn’t promote the proposed tax at the July 13 City Council meeting.

That’s when Mayor Tom Cosgrove told a community member that the city was consulting with the Lew Edwards Group for $54,000 “to provide information to the community.” That was because, “as city employees, we cannot advocate for or against it,” Cosgrove explained.

During several City Council meetings since then, council members have repeatedly stressed that city representatives cannot advocate for Measure K.

And when asked two weeks ago by The News Messenger if they were in favor of Measure K, City Council members Linda Stackpoole, Kent Nakata and Cosgrove said they support the measure, speaking as private citizens and not as council members. Councilman Paul Joiner responded in an e-mail, “As you know, once Measure K was put on the ballot, council members cannot advocate against or for the U.U.T. Were I to give you my personal opinion for publication, that would in fact be advocating.”

So how could a city publication include such a blatant PR piece for Measure K?

I guess it depends who you ask.

If you ask the city’s public information officer Jill Thompson that question, she’ll say the page isn’t a campaign piece.

“Does it say vote for Measure K? It tells everyone what Measure K is, information, what it will do and the consequence of it not passing, what it will mean for the city,” Thompson told our reporter.

“Everything we send out now needs to have clear messaging about where the city is financially. We just want residents to be aware of our current fiscal position. Whether or not Measure K passes, citizens need to know what services can and will be affected. We have a little less than 2 ½ months to make sure people have the information they need so they can make an informed decision on how to vote.”

The page didn’t have to say, ”vote for Measure K;” the paragraphs dictated that action.

Governmental agencies are not allowed to advocate for the tax, according to Roman Porter, the Fair Political Practices Commission’s executive director in Sacramento.

Porter told our reporter that only impartial information could be given on that page. But that page includes emotional and scare tactics.

If the way the city’s advocating for the tax isn’t enough to give us headaches here at The News Messenger, then the way City Hall has handled our requests for city salaries could give us migraines.

In March, we asked for salaries and benefits of top city management. We only received salaries. Thompson said then that benefit packages of top management “are different” and “the benefits are drawn out in contracts.”

We’ve asked since then for the benefits as well as for council salaries and benefits. Thompson e-mailed the reporter in June that “I am still working on the list of ‘other’ benefits, because each department head gets the same benefits, but in addition may get a car allowance or additional management leave days, etc., which I have to pull together for you for an accurate accounting of benefits.”

We never got that list.

Last month, the Sacramento Bee published higher salaries than we listed for top city managers. When our reporter asked her about the discrepancies, Thompson said that the Bee reported salaries for the 2009 calendar year while we reported salaries for the fiscal 2009 year.

For this week’s salary discrepancies story on page A3, our reporter asked Thompson again for city management’s salaries and benefits. It took a five-minute phone conversation between Thompson and the reporter to define what “all benefits” means.

We want the city to fix its current budget problems by increasing revenue while keeping city services intact.

But we also want the city to do what staff says, i.e. not to advocate for Measure K if staff is not allowed to do so.

And we want the city to respond to our requests for employee salaries and benefits.

That way, the public is kept informed about all aspects of the city’s budget.

Carol Feineman can be reached at

carolf@goldcountrymedia.com