Posting for a friend:
Citizens of Miles City,
Please attend the Council Meeting on Tuesday, September 10th, at 7:00 p.m.
It is rumored that there is to be a possible mayoral veto of 2 individual line items
from the already approved 2014 Budget. One being the part-time minimum
wage Police Secretary's job ($13,345) and the other the full-time Animal Control Officer's
position to part-time ($32,150). We can afford the mayor voting to approve an additional
$21,500 for library carpet and other wants and money for a school resource officer that the
people of Miles City voted 70 % against & 30% for for funding in 2013 but is now back
in the city budget at $52,215 in 2014 but we apparently cannot afford these 2 long established positions.
Please come and voice your opposition to this injustice.

Certainly you don't think that the Mayor intends to go against the will of the people, do you? Our town is too large for part-time positions in what you mentioned. Goodness, having to drop strays at City Hall is a huge imposition:-) I also think that our Police Dept. has plenty to do without answering the telephone. Their training does not include secretarial. That could be a barrier. I am being facetious but, seriously, I would think that Mayor Grenz is aware of the necessity of both positions being full-time. Just sayin'!

I appreciate you posting this "for a friend", however, please make sure that your financial/budget information is accurate BEFORE posting on someone else's behalf.

The library did not receive "additional $21,500" for carpet and other wants. Please check your facts before posting erroneous information that damages the library's existing budgetary difficulties.

And I would encourage anyone who IS concerned about the budget and City Departments to attend not just this meeting, but to continue participating in the financial well-being of this fine city and working with your elected officials.

Thank you for your time and commitment to Miles City's future.

P & D - what name is listed on your library card?

Couldn't your "friend" have posted as anonymously as you did? Weak sauce all around.

The citizens voted against the City funding the School Resource Officer 100%. The whole point of the current situation is the city pays one-third, the county pays one-third, and the school district pays one-third. Very different situation. For one thing, the county has money set aside that, by law, can ONLY be used for SRO.

Jeri,
There is another whole side to the animal control issue. No. You would not have to drop strays at city hall. The same thing that happens now would happen. Police officers do a large part of the animal control. I have more than one friend who over multiple calls about strays never once had Brian Certain show up but always a regular police officer.

The only reason you're not seeing huge numbers of people opposing the full time position is that they are afraid. They love their animals and are trying to protect them. Sad that they have to do that.

If the city didn't have Brian in a full time position it would save the city money. According to the number of calls received there are only a few a day and amazingly they don't all happen during Certain's "hours" of duty. So all the other calls after he is off work and on weekends are already handled by police officers.

It would also save the city money on euthanizing animals. Seems to me there are an awful lot of animals being hauled to East Main and being put down and the city is getting the bill. There are many in Miles City who are willing to work on finding animals homes and spaying and neutering to control the animal population.

So talk to those who are afraid to speak because they are trying to protect their animals. Miles City is a small town. It's not hard to find out when someone is at work and when their pets are home alone and may be barking. Not too tough to write out a barking dog ticket to someone who says anything against Certain.

It's about being in control and intimidating people. And yes. He did it to me when I lived there so I have every right to say so.

^^^ The previous post was brought to you courtesy of Carlson Axe Sharpeners, where their motto is "If you've got an axe to grind Olive you should try our new "Tuffy-Duffy" model for a hatchet that is "spot-on" sharp." The "Duffy" model uses a diamond-anedimonium blade (aka our Di-ane technology) to manufacture an axe grinder that will last for years. So whether it's chickens to Butcher or Brush to control we are Certain that you'll be using an axe sharpener that will take a pounding for years to come.

I plan on attending and I hope others do also

cheers, Richard! Can I call 'em or what?

Someone once told me "I will never post in a thread where you've commented again", but they lied, which is really sad, because I bet I could make good money as a kacey-prophylaxis.

We have had nothing but excellent response from Brian. For some reason our home has been targeted for ferel cats and they are sooo cute...and, depending on what their condition is...I try to feed them and make sure they are okay, have their babies and...THEN..I call Brian who comes to our aide. We have had great luck in finding farms that will take them, thanks to him. Granted..it is not a popular position...but, needed. Thank heavens he will do it.

Really..when you think about any of the positions...working people are consumers...consumers create jobs...and, it is a win-win for Miles City. I would like to think that our Mayor and Council people know this and will approve the budget:-)

We all know Kacey's opinion. She has a right to it. However, she is also no longer a citizen of this town so the budget does not concern her personally.

Animal Control does more than round the animals up. Someone has to tend to them at the pound as well as the facility itself and be available to meet folks to pick up their animals. They also need to be taken to the vet for various reasons.

If I call for an officer and they're busy meeting folks at the pound to pick up their stray I'm going to be annoyed. Someone needs to be available during regular hours for all the work that goes along with that position. Not to mention making the position part time is a logistical issue because qualified good help might be hard to find for 20 hours a week at a position where the officer needs to check on the animals regularly. Having someone in there daily has built in efficiencies of its own.

Certain must have told Kacey she needed a kennel license for her 14 dogs. The nerve of the man!

He did do a veto and cut the police secretary

I missed the meeting what were the results?

Animal Control Stays!! Sorry to those whom don't see the after math of losing Animal Control in our community. Which some of you have use the services. For instance do you know about all the cases of hoarders that he has gone on calls and helped those animals out. The wild life he captures and releases out of city limits. The rabid animals, vicious animals. The city does not have enough in the budget to get the officers trained for animal issues and let alone vaccinate the officers for rabies if they have to deal with rabid cases. Yes Animal Control can not work over time, and does have days off so in that case they do send a officer over. Let alone officers are already short they are not allowed to fill positions, the secretary has been cut. So their time is also limited. The officers at the meetings even stated that the position is NEEDED.
Yes I stood up because I do know how many homeless animals, abused animals come through because people get them as a puppy then dump them about a year of age unaltered, or worked with and go get new one. Or how many just have an animal on a chain with no shelter, no food, or water. Do you guys know those numbers????

I don't know about you but my kids, animals and i would like to be able to walk down the streets with out vicious animals chasing or attacking.

We would not need animal control if we had more responsible people in the area. SPAY, NEUTER, AND ANIMALS SHOULD BE TREATED AS FAMILY AND NOT OBJECTS.

CUSTER COUNTY FUND FOR ANIMALS: Is an amazing group that came together as nonprofit and put on fund raiser to be able to disperse vouchers off of spay or neuters.

I did message Miss Carlson about picking my words out of the paper and slandering them with false accusations. She blocked me so what does that say. She was also told she can come and volunteer to actually grasp what all goes on at East Main Animal Clinic she refused by no answer.

Please if you want to complain or bicker you should know the full scoop of the situation.

"Buck Showalter" wrote:

Certain must have told Kacey she needed a kennel license for her 14 dogs. The nerve of the man!

I thought she was upset because Officer Certain asked to see proof of her rabies vaccination.

Well said, LCW!

I've given up hope of an intelligent sharing of info when it comes to kacey She's going to hear only what she wants to hear.

I'd love to see the day this town can support a no kill animal shelter, but as long as animals are deemed disposable to a great number of residents, it simply is an overwhelming task.

Bless those like Diane G. who are trying to beat the odds. It would be very beneficial for all factions of 'Animal Lovers' to put aside their differences and work together.

Mayor vetoes police secretary position

By Elaine Forman
In a line-item veto, the police department's secretary was eliminated from the budget Tuesday night at the Miles City Council meeting at City Hall.
Mayor Butch Grenz vetoed the $13,345 needed to fund the position because it would have required dipping into cash reserves to finalize the budget passed by the council August 27.
The council's vote Tuesday of 4-4 failed to override the mayor's veto. Six votes (a two-thirds majority) were needed.
In his veto, Grenz said he did not want to use cash reserves because the ambulance fund is currently $280,432 in the red, and "there are significant future expenses faced by the city and its taxpayers," including dike improvements (if grant money does not come through), waste water system improvements (to meet environmental requirements) and a local jail.
"I feel that it is important that the city's spending be limited to avoid the depletion of the cash reserves and further tax increases in the future, which will be a burden on the city's taxpayers, particularly those on fixed incomes," he said.
He said if the veto was challenged in court and the judge should rule against the veto, it was his intent to then veto the entire budget.
(Wednesday morning City Attorney Dan Rice said the above statement was according to routine failsafe procedure.)
The police secretary position was part time, therefore no benefits were included.
Grenz said the veto will require that calls to the police department be routed through the dispatch center when no one is available to answer the phones in the office.
Councilwoman Susanne Galbraith said she didn't think that $13,345 was going to make much of a difference in the budget.
"I can understand you wanting to save money, but the police secretary does more than handle the calls. She sends all the evidence down to the state. She keeps the sexual predator list updated and she does many other things. ... I think it's something we really need, and I think is well worth the minimum wage we pay the police secretary," she said.
Galbraith, Jerry Partridge, John Hollowell and Dwayne Andrews voted to override the veto and Bill Melnik, John Uden, Mark Ahner and Roxanna Brush voted to support the veto.
More details from Tuesday's council meeting will be featured in a later edition.

Council members Andrews, Hollowell, Galbraith, and Partridge should be praised for recognizing that now is the wrong time for austerity in local government.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but in the public sector (schools, city, county, state and federal), the time to hold the line on costs and to finance with cash is when the economy is robust. The time to pour coals to the infrastructure and/or staff, making liberal use of debt financing, is when the economy is anemic. Why? There are several reasons, but two of the most important are: 1) Cash reserves work harder in a strong economy and not at all in a weak one, and 2) The cost of money for public works projects and/or the in-house staff to perform them is highest in a strong economy and lowest in a weak one.

The economy is still anemic, based upon the cost of money, and the need for public infrastructure in Miles City is high. Does the city really want to wait until interest rates approach double digits before deciding to address flood abatement or otherwise prepare for growth?