On Tuesday February 26th, Mayor Bob Steinkamp delivered his state of the city address. In this address it is clear that he feels the city must "develop" its way into the future. And to accomplish the development we need to spend and to spend we need to borrow and to borrow we need lots of leverage so we can borrow big, only then can we develop enough to save the day.

His speech failed to give the state of the city's cash position which is roughly 1/2 of what it was in 2005. In his speech, the mayor acknowledges that prior administrations committed the city to projects inconsistent with voter intent,  what he doesn't make clear is the impact of those decisions on the city's fiscal health. Underfunded mandates, like Fountain Bluff, though there are others, has created a serious cash flow problem for the city. He fails to acknowledge that poor spending habits have continued on through his administration.

Liberty Forward would like to thank the Mayor for acknowledging our efforts. In his speech he says:

"As is the case throughout this country, and as it should be, there are citizens within our community that scrutinize all things government. Groups in this community have spent considerable time and effort looking into the decisions and actions of past administrations. Like some of the residents, I have voiced concerns over decisions related to Fountain Bluff and other aggressive projections and questionable strategies of former administrations. With the benefit of 3 years in this position, it is my belief (mayor Steinkamp) that practices of the prior administration followed an overly broad interpretation of what voters might expect from the use of those tax revenues....."

IN THE COMING DAYS LIBERTY FORWARD WILL POST THE ENTIRE SPEECH TRANSCRIPT  FOR YOU TO READ.

Liberty Forward has spent both time and money to uncover these practices the mayor mentions in this speech, and the facts are undeniable as the mayor is acknowledging them publicly now, however televised council meetings and mayoral forums does not equal behavior change.

Growth is only one aspect of the solution. Fiscal accountability is the component to the solution no bureaucrat or long time elected officials wants to address. A citizens oversight committee is a start, but the jury is still out. Currently the proposal limits the citizen oversight to special purpose sales tax revenues (those underfunded mandates from the prior administrations) and does not allow for a budget review as it pertains to those taxes. Four councilpersons agree, that by excluding the budget from the oversight process there is little substance to the process.It becomes little more than an election tactic to pass the tax extension.

The mayor goes on to urge citizens that we must renew the 1/2 cent sales tax for a *minimum* of 20 years. Are you kidding me? You just acknowledged how poorly it has been used but turn around and ask to extend the tax for a period of twice as long as the past? Why should the citizens trust you especially with no clear cut solution to the spending problem city staff has?

It is becoming clearer and clearer that the only solution to the fiscal problems is a State Performance Audit.  To our knowledge the city has never had a full performance audit. A performance audit is quite different from the process audits the city obtains annually. These annual audits do not address the appropriateness of spending patterns nor inquire about things like city staff credit card usage, personal cell phones, or contracts with former employees.

In the coming weeks Liberty Forward will begin to bring forth what occurred in the City of Springfield Missouri and its recent performance audit. In addition we will bring forth the case for a Performance Audit along with the petition process that is necessary to get the audit started.
 
Liberty Forward would consider supporting a tax extension in excess of 10 years IF the ballot language calls for a State Performance Audit in 2009.

Come on! What do you have to hide? An unbiased outside look at the city’s operations over the last 10 years is exactly what we need. This is the tool that will allow us to finally stop gathering old data and move forward. We urge Liberty’s elected officials to voluntarily submit to the Performance Audit as part of the tax extension.

Let us know what you think? Would you support a Performance Audit by signing a petition? Go to the “Links” section of our website and click on “Vote Today on a City Audit!” and tell us what you think.

In the mayor's speech he says: "We need to act now. We can no longer afford to sit around and wait." We could not agree with him more.

For the record, we think the mayor is a good man.

Stay tuned.......

Check out more at http://www.libertyforward.org.

I am not sure you heard the same speech I did yesterday. I thought the Mayor was very responsible in how he worded his comments regarding growth, the 2010 tax, and the acknowledgments of past administrations. I didn't see anything on your site mentioning the attempts to correct accountability such as the bonding process that requires voter approval or the citizens over site committee. If you are going to comment on a speech, please be responsible enough to include the whole thing not just part of it. It gives your group a bad reputation as a bunch of gripers instead of a group for positive change, which is what you claim to be.

You must not have been at the same meeting I was! To take a segment of a speech and claim it is your reason to do what you do is wrong. History is what it is, history. Unless Liberty Forward has invented a time machine, no one can go back and change the past. What is able to happen today is to make sure it doesn't happen again. Seems to me the purpose of cash reserves for a municipality is to bridge the shorcomings that happen during slower times. The purpose of development is to keep the slow times from coming back, right? Just wish you would have been there yourself to hear the spirit and intent of the talk. Words on their own only make half a speach!

This comment is way out of line! To take an excerpt from a speech and say it compliments your purpose is short sided. I don't recall seeing you at the luncheon yesterday. Last I knew words only make half the speech. You can misconstrue words however you wish. Being there and hearing intent is best! The past cannot be changed no matter how bad you may want to it only causes new pain. Why not put a good foot forward like the rest of us are and be good stewards of this community?