Dear Editor,

It was obvious to anyone paying attention that the government for the City of the Village of Clarkston has little fiscal responsibility.
On Monday, September 14, 2020, the city council again made it official with a unanimous vote to charge the residents and business owners more to cover the ongoing excessive, uncontrolled, and discretionary spending by the city.
They decided to put together a special assessment (Chapter 32 of the City Ordinances), where they charge everyone more than they already are without a public vote. They will do this under the pretense of paying for regional sanitary sewer work.
The reality is that they borrowed money from the sewer fund, and more, to renovate the city hall with such things as private offices, private toilet rooms, reserved parking, and greater security for the part time employees. We all know how dangerous Depot Park can be. The cost of this work has far exceeded the “not to exceed” amount and continues to grow with no overall accounting.
To compound the problem, they took the extra funds from the last special assessment district to buy nicer looking street signs instead of paying down the self-incurred city hall debt. Now in addition to the 15-year loan for the city hall, they are going to charge all of us more for the sewer fund they borrowed from.
We must also remember that the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled against the city. This could cause a huge legal expense that also has no funding even as the city continues to spend as fast as it can.
We all know who will be paying all these costs in the end. Meanwhile, this and other legal costs continue to increase without any control or limitation. Our city council refuses to publicly discuss any of this.
I could list all the financial improprieties in our city government, but it is obvious that our city leaders do not care as long as they can continue to have us pay for their ongoing negligence.  

Sincerely,
Cory Johnston
Clarkston