This from the office of Burlington Mayor Kiss:
“I have accepted Jonathan’s decision with regret,” said Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss. “I want to thank him for his hard work and personal commitment to the City throughout his career. Among many other accomplishments, Jonathan’s management of the budget has resulted in 5 straight fiscal years of a level general services tax rate and an increase in the City’s undesignated reserve fund from $75,000 to over $5 million. Jonathan has also built a strong management team in the Clerk-Treasurer’s Office which will ensure a successful transition.”
Leopold’s resignation letter can be seen here. Here’s the quote that most will notice:
I regret the difficulties the City has faced as a result of the BT controversy and I hope the
City is able to resolve these issues. In hindsight, I believe that we could have made a more complete disclosure of the violation of Condition 60 when we first learned of it in November 2008. This has resulted in an unfortunate division within the city.I believe it is time for Burlington to come together and move forward. I do not want my continued role as Chief Administrative Officer to polarize the City further or hinder progress in addressing the challenges of the future. I will work with you to develop a sound budget for FY 2012 and to provide a smooth transition
Mr Leopold did a good job with the city money. It is indeed too bad he is/or was made to be the BT centerfold. Wish him well.
a couple BT investigations going on in some capacity?
The Burlington budgetary issues have never been about Leopold and/or Kiss. They are historical and go back decades. Dozens of city councilors, several mayors and any number of public employees have simply failed over the years to develop a systematic budgetary process which is transparent, financially sound and technology driven. Blame can be cast in many directions and over a substantial number of indiviuals. Many of those who have come late to the party tend to ignore the historical realities. At this point, the only solution is a comprehensive rebuilding of the city’s budgetary process, coupled with a new and robust technology backbone. Any thing less is just more politics and more money down the rabbit hole.
However, as to the city finances, they are actually far better today than when Kiss and Leopold took over. It is pretty remarkable that with the $17 million loan to BT, the coffers still have a $5 million balance compared with the $75,000 that was there when Kiss took over.
No General Fund tax increases in 5 years (yes, they asked for one this year for the first time…and lost).
Most other cities in America are envious of the relative financial calm that the management of Burlington has created.
As I stated in the “subject” there are communication issues. But the overall financial scenario has been lost in the blame game around BT.
and should have resigned long ago for the good of the city to restore the trust of the voters.