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Fresno County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Smart Voter

Return Stability and fiscal responsibilty to City Government

By Tito Balling

Candidate for Council Member; City of Coalinga

This information is provided by the candidate
Majority council has wasted taxpayer dollars by ignoring employee contracts which resulted in expensive lawsuits against the City. City Attorney fees have sky rocketed.
The majority council ignored the citizens message about Measure D; the measure to prevent the council from putting themselves directly in charge of the police chief, which was overwhelmingly defeated by the voters. Approximately 20,000 taxpayer dollars was spent to put the issue on the ballot but when the outcome was negative the majority council ignored it by forcing the city manager to fire the police chief and then firing the city manager themselves. These actions resulted in over $350,000 of taxpayer dollars being spent to settle a lawsuit and contract pay offs. For more information on Measure D please go to http://www.defeatmeasureD.com.

I also want to empower the police to fight gangs in our community. I will work to have the City return to the PERS defined benefit program.

Morale has suffered in recent years as the majority council "micro manages" departments. Coalinga is a Council/City Manager style of governement; the most common type of local government in the US. The City Council's role is to hire a City Manager who is responsible for day to day City business. The Council's role is to work through the City Manager to implement their goals. The City has good employees who are dedicated to their jobs. I will not interfere with their daily work. I will make decisions that will make the staff feel valued and appreciated again. Everyone is more productive when they feel valued.

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ca/fr Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 11, 2008 17:54
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