CLT Blog

photo credit: Justin Ritchie

CLT Blog and WTVI are hosting a 3-part series about the budget crisis facing Mecklenburg County. We, like many of you around town, were concerned and confused about how we arrived in our current economic position.

When all the fear-mongering and scare tactics subside, we’re left with questions about how we got ourselves into this mess. What are those questions? We need your help deciding what to ask our county leaders.

We will be interviewing:

• Management and Budget Director Hyong Yi
• County Manager Harry L. Jones Sr
• BOCC Chairman Jennifer Robert

You can submit your questions here using Google Moderator. These interviews will not be livestreamed, so now is the time to let us know so we can prepare.

Our first interview Thursday evening. Help us out!

watch this video in HD on YouTube

This is the first in a series of conversations we’re having with county leaders about the current budget crisis, and specifically, on how we got to this point, and what our options are moving forward.

In this episode, we’re talking with Hyong Yi, Mecklenburg County Director of Management and Budget. We asked him the following questions:

• How did we get here? Why is there such a tremendous budget deficit?
• What steps have already been taken to reduce the deficit?
• A lot of people are confused about where the line is between City & County budgets? Can you help clarify this a little? Who is responsible for what?
• From Anonymous on Twitter: Why aren’t elected officials taking pay cuts alongside teachers?
• From Raquelita on the blog: It seems like incredibly short notice, and drastic measures are being taken, considering cuts for public libraries and schools. How could we have prevented this?
• From Rolf K Jaeger on Facebook: What have we learned?
• From Veronica Richardson on Facebook: How are we deciding on what teachers to layoff?
• From Tim Osmar on Facebook: Why is money from the state education lottery being spent on the prison system?
• From JRD on the blog: Why can’t we use reserves to balance the budget?
• From Sara on the blog: Have you done anything to try to raise money (auctions, fundraisers, donations) as a county?
• From Desiree on the blog: What’s the most important budget line item to you and why?

You can follow Hyong Yi on Twitter at @budgetbadger.

Hyong mentions a presentation he gave on the county budget situation with more in-depth data, charts and information. You can view that presentation here, courtesy WTVI.

Special thanks to WTVI (@WTVI) for allowing us the use of their studio, and for manning the cameras and audio during the shoot. We’re still experimenting with how best to use a studio setup for our interviews, so expect us to switch up the aesthetics and format with each iteration as we find our sweet spot.

photo credit: unnamed via Creative Loafing

We’ll be interviewing Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones today, at 6:00 pm. This is the second interview in a continuing conversation with county leaders on our budget deficit, the goal being to get real questions answered, and allow both the county and its a chance to better understand the current situation.

What should we talk about? You can submit and vote on questions via Google Moderator, or leave us a comment.

We’ll be livestreaming the broadcast this time, and soliciting feedback during the interview. So feel free to stop by cltblog.com/live today at 6:00 PM pm and join in the conversation. Questions submitted during the broadcast may be relayed to Harry Jones live during the broadcast.

watch this video in HD on YouTube

We took questions earlier this week via the blog, Facebook and Twitter; as well as assembled some questions of our own.

On Tuesday, we sat down with County Manager Harry Jones and asked the following:

• What do you do as County Manager?
• How did we get here? Why is there such a tremendous budget deficit? (1:45)
• From Rolf Jaeger on Facebook: What have we learned? How can we avoid making the same mistakes the next time we’re in a boom economy? (5:20)
• Did county employees salaries and benefits raise unjustly? (8:45)
• What are your thoughts on a city/county consolidation? Is the city absorbing the county? (9:48)
• Is the county doing anything to acquire funds from the city to dull the pains of these budget cuts? (11:39)
• Who do you think is hurt most by this budget right now? (13:05)
• What happens if the county stops paying off its debt? (16:33)
• How are you and the county deciding what areas to cut? (17:03)
• From Desiree on the blog: What’s the most important budget line item to you and why? (21:05)
• You’re responsible for taking people’s jobs away. But people seem to forget you’re a person too. How do you cope with this burden of responsibility? (23:02)
• From Mary Williams on Facebook: Everyone’s talking about what the County should be doing differently, or what you should be doing differently. What can we be doing differently? How can we help? (25:06)

We covered a lot, and ventured into areas not specifically touched by the questions listed above. This podcast is definitely worth a watch, or even a listen, if you’d like to stick it on the background.

We’ll be interviewing Jennifer Roberts, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, today at 5:30pm, about the county budget.

You can follow our live-tweets of the interview with the hashtag #meckbudget.

Last Tuesday, the board approved a budget of $1.35 billion for 2011. Their $71 million in cuts, is actually $9 million less than County Manager Harry Jones put forth in his recommendation.

“This budget is the most difficult one I have faced in my 3 terms as a County Commissioner. (…)

It is a budget that has been very painful to discuss, when we feel that most of our choices are not really choices but rather attempts to do the least harm.”

Jennifer Roberts, at DavidsonNews.net

What should we talk about with Jennifer Roberts today? What questions should we ask?

Leave your thoughts in the comments, or over on Google Moderator.

watch this video in HD on YouTube

We’re wrapping up our series on the Mecklenburg County budget with County Commissioner Jennifer Roberts. Questions indexed below for easy reference.

• Just last week, you and the Board of Commissioners approved the final Mecklenburg County budget for the 2011 fiscal year. How do you feel now? (0:19)
• How do you deal with the pressure? (0:57)
• These are important decisions, but a lot of people aren’t engaged. That is, unless they’re part of an organization receiving big cuts. What’s wrong with the process? Why aren’t more people involved in the public debate? (3:26)
• You just got back from Boston on this year’s Inner City Visit. How was that? (6:07)
• Boston Mayor Tom Menino made a point to offer his assistance in bringing the 2012 Democratic National Convention to Charlotte. Are you involved in this process? What are city and county doing to bring this to Charlotte (9:56)
• The Board of County Commissioners managed to to lessen the blow of cuts by almost $11.5 million $14 million compared to the recommendations given by County Manager Harry Jones. How is this possible? Where does this money come from? (10:55)
• The libraries alone received $3.5 million less in cuts than recommended. But even that still leaves a $10 million dollar cut. A lot of people are asking how the county can justify taking so much money away from libraries, but I want to play dumb for a second: why are libraries important? (14:48)
• Some people might be surprised to find that it’s not all cuts across the board. Why are any programs at all seeing increases in funding from last year? (16:52)
• Let’s talk about city and county consolidation. I know this is a topic you and Mayor Foxx are particularly interested in. What are your feelings about this idea? (21:38)
• How does the board get along? Can politics get in the way of effective decision making? How do you manage this? (28:19)
• What role has media coverage of the budget played in your decision making? Do you feel coverage has been fair or too sensational? (32:08)
• Who can people talk to with questions about county operations? (34:50)
• What are we looking at next year? Do we have more cuts in store? (36:47)