Grudging approval to new Walhalla budget

The divide was in evidence last night when Walhalla City Council gave preliminary OK on a 4-3 vote to a new budget for the next year.  Still ahead is final reading, along with a public hearing.  Meantime, however, council members want a workshop to better grasp the revenues and expenses the city will deal with in 2022-23.  They include a possible 10% pay raise for all employees, which Councilman Grant Keehn introduced to help offset inflation and award city workers who aren’t being paid enough.  He repeatedly expressed the fear that rising inflation has the potential to take a big bite out of the city finances.  Keehn wants a “lean and mean” budget in which every line item is scrutinized.  After being told by Mayor Edwards that a vote had already been taken on a greenway, Keehn was asked by Councilwoman Melendez if there is another part of city spending that should be targeted.  Keehn replied that, for the benefit of the common man, the city should move to close its financial arrangements toward fostering commercial development downtown.  He believes the Main Street program has succeeded to the point that merchants should be left to stand on their own.  On that, he got strong disagreement from Mayor Danny Edwards and Councilman Keith Pace, with the mayor calling attention to Main Street reports that highlight events, new jobs, and investment in the last year that amounted to nearly $4 million.  “And,” the mayor added, “for us to even have this conversation is ridiculous.”