The City Council's Modest Proposal

On her blog yesterday, Angela Hunt outlined, very simply, the proposed budget cuts she and 10 of her fellow Dallas City Council members sent to City Manager Mary Suhm. It's something Hunt's been working on since late July, if you'll recall -- back when she offered up $457,374 in suggested savings (everything from eliminating meals for the council to gutting the travel budget to adiosing "fleet fuel and lube") after Jerry Allen suggested she wasn't playing ball. The final proposal calls for $426,654 in cuts, with the biggest savings coming from the elimination of paper agendas ($148,000) and getting rid of two secretarial positions for council offices ($103,200), meaning some council members will share secretaries. The memo also calls for reducing Mayor Tom Leppert's office budget by $70,000.

But it's more interesting to see which cuts proposed in July didn't stick -- like the one adiosing the travel budget, which would have saved $60,000 per Hunt's original proposal. In the end, the council decided, look, sometimes it just needs to get away -- hence, the mere 15 percent cut, saving a whole $8,600. Then again, I hear Belize is nice this time of the year. And looks like the council will keep its lube. Hope there's enough to share.