Shelby County Commissioner Mike Carpenter thinks so.
In an article in this morning’s Commercial Appeal Carpenter takes Interim Mayor Joe Ford to task:
“The consequence to delaying the budget will be to provide political cover for those of us on the ballot on May 4,” Carpenter wrote in a letter that he distributed through his Twitter account. He argues the budget process takes weeks and the county should start right away.Ford says he has no political motives. He says the administration can’t finish the budget until property tax revenue reports from the 2009 reappraisal year become available.
“We can’t balance it unless we know how much tax revenue’s coming in,” he said.
The dispute over the budget takes place amid fierce political competition. Carpenter is running for re-election to his County Commission seat and is also backing Sheriff Mark Luttrell, a Republican, in the county mayor’s race.
I have no way of knowing if this is, as the Mayor says, an issue of not having all the information, a consequence of having a relatively newly appointed administration in place, or, as Carpenter states, a political move.
I do know that the people of Shelby County want to know what the future holds for their County government. Addressing this issue, and doing everything possible to ensure that there is no appearance of political motives is in the best interest of the people, and all the candidates who seek the Mayor’s Office. Delay only undermines the office and the public trust in the person occupying that office. From that perspective, delay doesn’t make much sense.