WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. June 13, 2006: Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio (1976-1993) delves into the need for checks and balances in government:
John,
Thanks. Apparently, the merging of the Budget and Finance departments is about to become a reality. Surprise, surprise.
Would the anonymous WP Citizen care to openly discuss why, and for what purpose, this merge is taking place.
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It will place all financial transactions in the hands of one person with absolutely no checks and balances. It's like merging congress into one body with no House of Representatives and no Senators, just one amorphous,shapeless blob. Apparently Budget and Finance are being housed together and the Budget Department computers are being "upgraded". Can WP Citizen tell us why this "upgrading" is necessary?
WP Citizen: "Were there instances of financial improprieties in White Plains prior to his (former Mayor Del Vecchio) administration whereas he felt the need to add a budget department to the city payroll?
That question is better answered by the prior administration.
However, the Budget Department in my administration was an outgrowth of an Internal Auditor I hired to give all elected officials in White Plains a better understanding of how and why taxpayer's money was being spent. Since our budget was $25 million per year spread over many departments, the council and I decided that the function would be performed better by a separate and independent Department of Budget instead of one person working out of the mayor's office. I agreed. I hardly think you can do justice to a $140 million budget in White Plains without an independent Budget Department!
In a similar manner, the council and I :
*Created a WP Citizens Budget Committee (when I was a councilman) to give citizens a hands-on experience of the Budget making process.
*Separated the department of Planning and Traffic and created a Department of Traffic to control the computerization of downtown traffic lights in a bilateral direction--the first in New York State which we helped research.
*We closed out the Urban Renewal Department, merging some of the 60 employees into city departments and helped the rest find other positions. The finance, building, and other departments were disbanded and, where necessary, the functions were performed by the city.
We did these things because they improved the operation of city government They are hardly "banal" as WP Citizen suggests in his ridicule of "Checks and Balances"
Alfred Del Vecchio
