The Mayor's speechifying aside; the numbers are speaking for themselves. Mayor Richetelli has proposed an average 4.6% annual increase in spending during his tenure. This year's 5.7% proposed increase (City Side) is just icing on the distasteful cake.

This spending frenzy had not been kept in check until last year; when the Democrats took control of the Board of Aldermen. Here are the facts.

Since his first budget proposal in 2002, Mayor Richetelli has requested increases in spending that should have made the "fiscally responsible" Republicans blush. Unfortunately, all Republican controlled Board's of Aldermen rubber stamped his proposals. Thankfully, the Democrats took control of the board in during the election of November 2007 and literally reversed this trend by rejecting the mayor's spending requests. Count on the Democratic majority on the Board of Aldermen for more real fiscal responsibility this year.