You quoted Town councilman Larry Cusack as stating, Throughout my first term on the Town Council, we have continued to operate a conservative and balanced budget …
(Cusack seeking re-election to Apple Valley Town Council,
Daily Press, July 4, 2016). As Inigo Montoya would say, I don’t think that means what you think it means.
According to Town reports, in December 2012 (one month after Cusack took office), the total funds for the Town were $63,089,658. Three years later in December 2015, that figure had dropped to $28,480,064. In addition to this miserable track record are the loans, money transfers, and other chicanery the Town has employed under the horrible fiscal leadership of Town manager Frank Robinson, treasurer Marc Puckett, Town attorney John Brown, and all five Town council members, which includes Larry Cusack.
To put it another way, if the Town really was doing well financially, it wouldn’t need to seize Liberty Utilities — sticking ratepayers with the bill — just so it can get the cash flow.
The Apple Valley Town Council likes to present itself as being conservative, but their readiness, willingness, and ability to wreak havoc equals that of free-spending progressives.
Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA
