Its not a matter of there not being people willing to do the job. People are hard of for jobs, right now. Its that the union blocks the positions by limiting the number of hours one part-timer can work. It would be cheaper to add a lot of part timers (there are part timers willing to work more hours, even if benefits are not included but can't because of the union contract not allowing it)... or pay the extra benefits to add a few extra full timers and pay them straight time and not the OT. Right now, the problem is getting through the hiring process to get the drivers in. It take entirely too long to get through the application process, interview and actual start date for a person. So there are remedies for every problem. Futhermore, I agree with all your other comments. This is not a popularity contest and some people have no idea what it takes to run a city... I am not saying I know. The point in mention the bus drivers was to show how creative you have to be to find solutions... they must look at every nook and cranny. If they can even save some tax payer $5 by shaving cost somewhere else in the city.... its better. With the area being one of the highest areas in the state for unemployment, we must consider that people are NEEDING to be frugal and not wanting to be. In the past, Janesville tax payers have always been willing to have increases as needed to maintain the city and more importantly the schools....but when jobs are lost... and companies leave.... it has linger effects that we have to deal with.

Many good ideas floating around here but can they stand up to the scrutiny of real world implementation>
Bus drivers:
Yes full time drivers are being MANDATED to drive overtime because there are not enough drivers to cover all of the routes,people demanded to "cut the fat" and it was cut and when route reductions were proposed to balance the cost reductions the council refused to do that now there are not enough people to do the job. not enough people are willing to work the varied shifts of 2 hours at 7:00 AM and then two hours at 3:00 PM to fill the requirements and do the job. Full time drivers make more in overtime but it is less than it would cost to hire another full time driver and pay his true burden rate with health, retirement, unemployment and all of the other overhead items any full time employee requires.
Police and fire protection are 80% of the budget (YES 80%) yet anytime cuts are discussed the first thing off the able is anything to do with police and fire so that leaves the other 20% including EVERYTHING else done by the city for you. You can't cut that much when you remove 80% of the total before you even begin. When you want to cut you will lose something you want.
Can you get the majority of people to agree on what they want to give up? Referendum voting is one way to truly do this.
I for one am tired of council members who run on a single issue campaign like sidewalks and get elected and then realize they do not have the courage and intelligence to do the job they asked for.
TO truly run the city(state,country)you must be able to define the objectives required by the majority of the populace and then define the projects and tasks required to meet those objectives. this means if the MAJORITY want to cut spending then you need to define what they don't want and cut it. However if the Majority want more Police and Fire or more school funding then you put on your big boy pants and raise tax's to meet those demands and many times you will need to put aside your PERSONAL wishes and convictions and do what is necessary to meet the objectives defined by the majority.
I see a lot of talk about inefficiency in government but what about all the people elect to do a job that refuse to do what they were elected to do because they are beholding to some small very vocal special interest group and as a result refuse to work with fellow elected officials to FIND A SOLUTION instead just sit though and entire term in office and contribute NOTHING except commentary that further move us away from any solutions.
Being an elected official in not a popularity contest and this is not high school it is the real world with real problems and this demands real leaders who can make decisions and work out compromises to solve the problems not just blame others.
You ask for it you got it and its not a TOYOTA

Janesville is spending the money on the wrong things. I agree with those complaining about the recreational activities, the new garbage collection and even the sidewalks. However, there are a lot of employees that are making way too much money working over time. For example, the city bus drivers! The part timer are only allowed to work 29 hours a week. You always see ads for hiring part time drivers. There is a lack in the number of drivers so full timers are mandated and get to volunteer for over time.... So now, instead of paying a partimer 15 an hour, lets pay a full timer $30 ish or more in lots of their cases and hour to do the exact same job. Im sure this is a problem in other dept. of the city as well. Stop paying obscene fees in overtime and use that money else where. Also prioritize the needs of Janesville. Roads are a must! If you don't believe that, take a drive down River St. pass along the section by the bowling alley... pretty sure your vehicle will need new shocks. Fixing the roads will also help on the wear and tear of City vehicles... think of all the city vehicles that travel this crappy roads (buses, cop cars, water utility, plows, garbage trucks, etc.). The fees that are needed to repair those cars could be better spent too. Just sayin' creative minds can find creative solutions.

Mritalian before you go spouting off about reducing the police force maybe you should do a ride along and ask our current police force how much ot each officer does each week. Our police force is understaffed as it is. Adding someone who writes parking tickets isnt a bad idea but not if you plan on cutting actual officers

It is always a few dollars here and a few dollars there. Infrastructure is going to hell and yet we worry about sidewalks, recreational areas and so on. Sounds more like Janesville is living beyond it's means!

Tom

Great point. No matter what we say this is a problem that needs to be dealt with. If the number are as large as you say it is, then we can't stick our heads in the sand and ignore it
My point is before you start to ask the citizens for more tax dollars, don't you think you ought to look at your own house first?
I believe that City government refuses to look at more ways to cut expenses because it may involve reducing staff, among other things. I don't advocate laying off people but you need to look at the greater good of all the citizens in Janesville.
I seem to recall someone saying that we have a number of underutilized parks. Their is a savings of some $80,000/ yearly.
I understand someone floated the idea of CSO's. Community Service Officers. if that's feasible why noy consider using these and reducing the number of Police Officers we have.
What about the use of subcontractors to do some city work. i don't know if any of these make sense but at least look at the possibilities
Maybe some of the ideas we look at really won't make a difference. At least be up front and explore the merits. Perhaps a seperate committee needs to be set up, of independent business people, to look at those areas and give an unbiased opinion as to whether or not their are additional savings out there. We shouldn't have to do that, but if the current administration refuses to look at those difficult items we may not have a choice.

nOOb very well said!

I like the people on here saying,"No new taxes" or "I can't afford anymore taxes." I will tell you like many of you told union employees the past few year.....you must be spending outside of your means and need to cut spending. Also you are making DD sound like a hero for saying she can't afford new taxes. She must have a personal spending problem if she can't afford a few dollars more a month for taxes. You also bash Mr. Liebert for "living at home,""Working part time," and "Not paying taxes." NEWS FLASH: Mr. Liebert does not live at home, Has a full load for school and Works 2 jobs. I don't know about any of you but when I was going to school I didn't pay much for taxes either. If any of you actually knew him rather or took time to ask him questions you would know hes a good person who likes to help others out. I agree with some of you that spending does need to be cut from some were but not from police and fire. Unfortumtaly taxes need to be raised also. If we cut alittle spending and taxes are raised slightly this city would be fine. Also those stating they don't want to pay more taxes, you realize Janesville has some of the lowest property taxes in the state with comparable cities right? I know people who pay double my property taxes in similar size cities. So I say I would have liked to vote on the referendum and those council members who said "No" proved they don't trust me to help decide my city and will never receive a vote again from me.

OK so the elected officials have stood on their election platforms of no new tax but now the question we have to ask is
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
The last 3 council cycles have a touted during election cycles that they would CUT THE FAT and WASTE and after hundreds of hours of executive time spent analyzing every item in the whole budget by 3 different councils we still have a budget deficit.
What is it that is escaping everyone could it be that the government is actually running very efficiently and that there is no LARGE amount of waste or unnecessary employees?
Could it really be true that the City of Janesville actually has 1/3 less employees per capita than ANY other city in the state?
Could it be true that the budgets have been cut for so many years and enough employees have retired quit that there are not enough people left to do the work you expect them to do?
Yes we could contract out work currently being done by municipal employees but then we will have dozens of unemployed workers collecting unemployment and who will manage the hundreds of thousands of dollars in "Contract negotiations" and oversight required to keep us from turning into Chicago with vendors greasing the palms of everyone in site to obtain the right to collect those hundreds of thousands?
I know it fun to poke fun and demean public workers but watch out what you ask for because you might find the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence.
Could it be that if you cannot afford your tax's you are actually living beyond your means and YOU need to make some adjustments in your lifestyle instead of letting the city die a death of starvation from no revenue to keep the infrastructure up and running.

frogger -
If I recall correctly the wheel tax is estimated to collect around $500,000 of revenue each year. The city should be spending more than $3,000,000 on road maintenance each year in order to keep up with the aging infrastructure. Because the wheel tax does not collect nearly enough revenue to maintain our city streets, the additional revenue needs to come from somewhere (tax/fee increases or spending cuts in other areas of city government).

MrItalian,

Even if Mr Liebert is a net tax receiver, the referendum is a legitimate question. Let the citizens voice be heard loud and clear. Place it on the ballot-Im sure the city and the citizens have more capacity to be taxed at a higher rate and if they don't maybe some means tested citizens can be "asked" to pay their fair share......

Lemke...I understand that Sam Liebert still lives with his Mom. I wonder if you look at his W-2( Sam why don't you release that to the public) you will find someone that makes minimal income and pays little if any income tax. It wouldn't surprise me to know that he is receiving some type of state aid.
This "kid" is a self proclaimed left wing liberal democrat who loves to spend money and tax people. He loves to get public attention for his causes.
It boggles the mind that the citizens of Janesville elected him. I hope we don't make the same mistake again. He ran for the 44th Assembly seat and was soundly defeated. i hope that is a message of things to come.

BTW- CITY of Janesville wheel tax. Guess those who live in the County don't use the city roads.

1234... this is what WHEEL TAX is for!!!

saxcat is correct. Furthermore, we don't have street improvement, we don't have more protection.....but we have sidewalks being shoved down our throats! Add a sprinkle of new garbage trucks and containers that were not needed. Where are the priorities?
*
I agree with them in saying 'no more taxes' but...

Ridiculous !For the naysayers on here...Don't ever complain how bad our streets are becoming.Take a drive down Milton ave and you'll think you have a flat tire.Ridiculous,if you can't afford $50.00 added to your taxes it's time to sell your homes !Good roads are a need not a want along with public safety services.

Several posters here seem lost to the fact that these folks did not vote against spending the money, they voted against giving we the people the chance to tell them whether or not they should spend the money.

“I just want to say, I can’t afford to pay any more taxes,” she said. “I will not be voting in favor of these.”

I think an elected official should be cautious in using their own financial situation as the judge and jury of public opinion.

Libert has got to be in the 26-28 age range now and from what I assume based on articles in which he is mentioned, he still goes to school part time and works security, but yet he never misses a chance to get his picture taken if it involves the city or anything democratic related. That's someone I would love to see release a W-2 of how much they make in a year.

I am sorry to see that Ms D Adams is not going to run again for City Council. Another voice of reason lost. She is someone who certainly works hard in her profession and lives with the consequences of to many gov't regulations.That is something Liebert has not had any experience with.

Yeah....this Leibert clown has got to go! He clearly doesn't get it and seems very used to spending other peoples money $. Hobby?

My thought is they voted against e referendum because if there was won they would lose. You need to budget better and stop raising taxes and fees(taxes). Who can do something about getting these TAXES(fees) back on the property TAX bill where they belong!!??

Yeah...voting on the issue would have been sooooooooo awful!! :P

Twisted storm. Amen

I can't remember a time Liebert voted not to spend money. I sure hope thr voters take this into consideration this April.

Congratulations to the Four Council members who voted no on the referendum issue. Government in general feels the best way to deal with issues is to throw money at the problem.
There is little doubt in my mind that there is much more that can be done to cut back on expenses through efficency gains and digging deep to reduce obvious overhead expenses through cuts and layoffs of unnecessary staff.
In addition we need to do studies to see if we can reduce expenses through subcontracting work that is being done by city employess that may be able to be done by private contractors. i.e. park maintenance, greenbelt maintenance trash collection and snow removal.
There is probably more. you just have to dig!

I’ve always had an appreciation for any council member because of the time they put into their unpaid service to the city. I can’t even imagine the grief they must take for some of the decisions they have to make for the good of the entire city. Sometimes, those decisions aren’t popular but have to be made and that is why they ran; to make the tough decisions without having to weigh the potential popular opinion.

The referendum idea seemed to be a fall back excuse as to why some of the council members could use to vote for the higher taxes and then use the public opinion as their justification. I don’t always agree with DD Adams but I thank her for her deciding vote and agree with those council members that feel that there are more hard decisions as options and those have to get weighed and debated by the council.

Mr. Leibert, that statement that you made “for the record” after the vote, shows that you’re trying to make the council members opposed to your proposal as the “ bad guys” who don‘t trust the public. I don’t see it that way and you don’t deserve to be re-elected.

oldvet - I agree. I was just thinking about this on my way to work today, and here is good news!

It is rare but sanity, reason and common sense prevail...... FINALLY !