Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Prop S Wins

Tax increases are not easy things to ask you to support. Taxes — particularly property taxes — are an increasingly heavy burden on City residents. That is why, faced with some urgent public safety expenses, I — and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and the Board of Aldermen — asked you to increase the sales tax. Although sales taxes weigh more heavily on some residents than on others, they are also shared by people who shop in the City but live elsewhere.

The funds generated by Proposition S will be used to add police officers to the force, to improve the compensation of both police officers and firefighters, and to add funds to their pension funds. I am certain that the men and women of both great departments will work hard to merit the vote of confidence you have given them.

Later this week, President Reed and I will be conferring with Alderman Terry Kennedy and other members of the Board of Aldermen to discuss ways to use our resources to make all City neighbors safer.

Before the election, a very small group of people tried to make this a referendum on me. That was reckless for the City’s financial health and public safety — and, as it turns out, unsuccessful as a political tactic.