Clovis Quits: What do YOU think about City Manager Retiring Early?
High-Speed News Analysis
Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson has announced he will retire in three months, earlier than announced several weeks ago, and, according to critics, under an ugly fiscal storm cloud that gathered after it was revealed the City, on his watch, spent almost $1.5 million in emergency reserves rather than scale back government initiatives, projects, staffing and salaries.
Clovis Watson, Jr.
Mr. Watson’s announcement also coincides with a proposed 17 percent tax increase that residents and businesses in one of the poorest counties in Florida would seem ill-able to pay at any time – much less during a deep national recession.
For the record, if your taxes have been running $1,000 per year, a 17 percent increase will add $170 to the bottom line, enough to pay perhaps half of one of Alachua’s notoriously inflated monthly electricity bills.
So what do YOU think about the announcement and financial condition of the City as it has played out under his tenure?
Vote quickly and anonymously in our poll – or, feel free to speak out for the record and in detail using the comments box on this page.
