Our Observation

Something pretty amazing happened in Maitland on July 26. Residents, probably many who hadn't stepped foot into a Council meeting before, swarmed Council Chambers charged up and ready to defend the Maitland Public Library.

Many spoke passionately about how much the Library means to them and their family. They urged the City Council not to shut it down just to save money in tough times.

Councilman Phil Bonus' proposal to "wind down" public funding for the Library within two years had spread like wildfire throughout the city in the preceding week thanks to an article in this newspaper, e-mail and social networking sites.

There was more to Bonus' budget savings proposal, but most opponents zeroed in on the Library item. While Bonus was probably a little surprised that the item got such negative attention, he didn't apologize for his suggestion, even with the mayor and another council member calling his proposal preposterous and questioning his character. He did apologize for the timing of the proposal, which was conveyed through a letter he wrote right before he left for vacation.

Bonus went on to say on July 26 that his proposal did exactly what he wanted — "… galvanize the community and take that energy to help us save [the library]."

Perhaps Councilman and future Mayor Howard Schieferdecker said it best: "Councilman Bonus got you all here. Give him credit for that. We need more participation. We need your help. Again, I ask you to come."

Council chambers are usually a lonely place during Council meetings — city boards such as the Planning and Zoning Commission attract even fewer attendees. Sure there's a host of familiar faces — the ones that often speak during citizen input at the meetings — and they're crucial to the city. We need more of them.

When citizens don't get involved in their community, what are the chances that they will ever get interested in being on a city board, or going for a seat on Council or even leading this city?

In 2009, the city of Maitland had about 16,000 residents and 9,840 registered voters. Only 1,697 people voted in the mayoral election — 17 percent of the city's registered voters. Mayor Doug Kinson was re-elected by about 300 votes — just 300 people decided who would lead a city of 16,000.

Its admirable that Councilman Bonus seems willing to sacrifice his popularity to get citizens to wake up. Although he's made a lot of people furious, he doesn't seem to have a problem with being honest with his constituents and asking the hard questions — the sign of a true leader.

The city is facing a growing deficit in the coming years. It's said that if the city doesn't change its spending practices, its reserve — the money used to pay for natural disasters and other emergencies — will be drained from $12.5 million to $5 million in five years as the city dips into it to cover budget shortfalls.

Right now, there are no service cuts or tax increases planned for the next budget year. Maitland is closing its budget hole by freezing unfilled positions or combining positions into other positions. There's only so many jobs you can give one person. A growing city can't keep reducing its city workforce year after year.

It's time to change Maitland's mindset on its budget. But it's going to take citizen involvement to figure out what services citizens are willing to do without or if they're willing to entertain a tax increase. They want to hear what you have to say so go to the meetings.

Making the city viable for the future is not going to be easy and no cost-saving ideas should be off limits — not even the Library.