Cut garbage, get to work

Feeling a tightening budget’s stabs, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine sloshes ax in hands into the rising red tides. Elected officials have sensed squeezes in Waynesboro, too, though here the pinch for some has been to their pride, something more prized than budgets. So into the garbage they trudge, balancing chips on shoulders.

Having wilted in recent months, acrimony on the City Council bloomed afresh Wednesday when city staff, in a feat of audacity, proposed slashing the refuse fund budget by $42,000 and trash pickup rates by $6 annually. This offended the sensibilities of councilwomen Nancy Dowdy and Lorie Smith, who caught whiff of a stink and then made one.

Setting her sights on Vice Mayor Frank Lucente, a favorite foil and the only one available given the reticence of one of his council allies and the waywardness of the other, Dowdy fretted over the prospect of poorer service, the potential impact on the general fund and the graver implications of Lucente “driving the discussion.”

Declared Dowdy: “I said, you’re driving this, and you are driving this, Frank. You’ve sat here and driven it all night long.”

“I’m one vote,” Lucente interjected.

“Can I finish?”

“Yes.”

“I let you finish. Now may I finish?

“Finish.”

Shortly thereafter, the recess bell clanged and the children scampered back to class. Or to be less metaphoric, Mayor Tim Williams interrupted with a call for civility. At some juncture, the council voted 4-1 to approve the refuse fund cuts and a reduction in monthly rates from $15 to $14.50. Smith dissented, citing general fund fears. Dowdy sided with Lucente and then they hugged. Literally.

Still yet to be embraced is the idea of hiring an economic development director to replace Meghan Williamson, who departed over the summer. What of coping with Kaine’s proposed cuts in state money for municipalities, specifically in per-pupil aid? Or what about the impact of restructuring and layoffs at Invista, which will cost the city $450,000 in lost machinery and tools tax money this fiscal year? All of these topics, presumably, paled in significance when considered in light of garbage rates.

Let us first dispense with what strikes us as obvious. If city staff can find ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency, then the council by all means ought to approve the action. Council members who see flaws in the plan ought to voice their concerns. Dowdy and Lucente need no prodding on this point; neither fears riling others and, in fact, they appear to relish doing so. There is value in this.

But contrarians can be like comics who work the same punch lines to flattened pulps: at first they may amuse but eventually they vex. Nettling Lucente over whether his meddling prompted a negligible reduction in the refuse fund is akin to screaming at the sky for being blue. Vote to cut the refuse fund or don’t, then move on to topics of real import.

Even Kaine, whose pattern on the budget and things economic has been to notice the darkness 10 minutes after the lights go out, has awakened to the necessity of pulling his face from the canvas for a look at the larger picture.

The City Council has more and better to do than quibble over who initiated a move that led to a tiny spending reduction. The city’s economy, along with the nation’s, is showing cracks. An economic development director needs to be hired. Jobs are needed. Real work needs to be done. Council, for the good of Waynesboro: Hop to it.