Creating a swirl of controversy

So apparently there is a bit of controversy swirling around city council...and I have found myself sort of in the middle. I got an email from Tom Edwards (city councilman) discussing the problem with the city's healthcare benefits plan. The exhorbanant costs of which, in Tom's view, are holding the city back from meeting many of its other responsibilities. The email outlines the costs associated with one month of claims and Tom encouraged me to forward this to other folks...which I did.

I forwarded the message to 6 people (you know who you are) with the comment "Interesting." And that is where the controversy begins.

Apparently this email (with my name attached) got printed and circulated to many (if not all, as far as I can tell) of the city employees. These folks, who obviously benefit from the package, were not pleased with the email's content. I found this out at lunch this week as a couple of city employees showed me a copy of the email (with my name attached) and pointed out its flaws.

Now, as I understand it, the email has been included in the city council's packet for discussion at this week's meeting. And, as I understand it, some folks are encouraging Tom to "cool it."

So at the end of the day, here's my take.

Though Tom's email was a bit caustic, (and I appreciate why city employees would have been upset with the tone) he brings up a VERY legitimate concern for our local government. He needs to answer to his constituency about why streets are not being paved like they would like, or parks are not being funded. Tom sees the largest number in the budget column as a way to improve life in Coshocton County.

And even city employees will concede there is a need for change. These are reasonable people who want the city of Coshocton to thrive as well. In a short coversation we came up with a couple of ideas for ways to comprimise on the issue:

1) City employees get a raise for the first year to make up for an increase in benefits cost. The city would either take a hit (or break even) the first year in order to have long term savings.

2) Both the city and the city schools are separately self insured. Would it make sense to combine the two for further savings?

Maybe neither of these are the answer...but in order to find it we have to be willing to ask the questions, publicly!

So I would tell Tom NOT to cool it. Though this email has obviously fired some people up...maybe that is exactly what needs to be done to begin the discussion. Tom's email wasn't perfect (and I don't think he intended it to be) but it is the kind of passion that Coshocton City sometimes needs.

Okay...I want your thoughts...but let's keep it constructive!