By Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon
At the March 27, 2007 San Bruno City Council meeting, San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson excused herself from the part of the meeting discussing the City's Home Loan Program. She excused herself because she stated that she is the recipient of a "City loan".
Why is San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson borrowing money from the City of San Bruno for personal purposes? What is the purpose of her "City loan"? How much does she owe the City of San Bruno? What are the terms of the loan?
According to the City of San Bruno Salary Schedule, the San Bruno City Manager (Connie Jackson) earns somewhere between $12,804 and $15,712 per month. In addition to her salary, Jackson receives a perk package that probably includes a hefty car allowance and/or virtually unlimited access to City vehicles, a generous medical / dental plan, a great retirement plan, expense account, and anything else she managed to get the fiscally irresponsible San Bruno City Council to sign off on when they hired her.
It isn't as if City Manager Jackson is an underpaid teacher who needs financial assistance so she can afford to live in the community where she works. Jackson's monthly earnings, estimated at somewhere between $12,804 and $15,712 per month, place her well above the median San Bruno family income of about $5,854 per month ($70,248 per year). Unless Jackson has horrible credit; her earnings, an expense account and car allowance would qualify her for a loan from almost any lending institution. Yet, San Bruno City Manager Jackson has turned the deficit ridden City of San Bruno, that she runs, into her personal bank.
Jackson was appointed as San Bruno's City Manager in 2003. The City of San Bruno has been running a chronic budget deficit in the $500,000 per year range and, in the words of San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson herself at the June 12, 2007 San Bruno City Council meeting:
"As the [San Bruno] City Council is well aware, the City of San Bruno has experienced a serious reduction in its ongoing General Fund revenue stream since approximately the fiscal year 2002 - 2003".
Jackson has been San Bruno's City Manager for about 4 years. Now, after 4 years of having Jackson as San Bruno's City Manager, the financial situation in San Bruno is so bad that in addition to all of the other tax, rate, and fee hikes San Bruno's residents are being punished with; Jackson and the San Bruno City Council are pushing to put a 1/2 cent San Bruno Sales Tax Measure on the November 2007 ballot that will raise the price on most things that San Bruno residents buy and raise the financial misery index for San Bruno's residents to a whole new level. San Bruno's City Manager and Council want to raise the sales tax by 1/2 cent because they have already mismanaged the City of San Bruno to the point of chronic deficit spending and now want more taxpayer money to waste. Voting to approve a 1/2 cent sales tax in San Bruno in the November 2007 election, to give these fools more taxpayer money to waste, is like pouring gasoline on an out of control fire.
If San Bruno City Manager Jackson wants to generate more revenue for the City of San Bruno and improve the City's financial condition, she can start by paying back the full amount of the loan (plus market rate interest) she owes to the City of San Bruno. She can do this by refinancing the loan she owes to the City of San Bruno at a commercial lender like a bank or savings and loan. While she is at it she can take a 25% or greater pay cut and reduce her perk package by another 25%-50%. Better yet, maybe San Bruno City Manager Jackson should just pay off the loan she owes to the City of San Bruno and resign. 