Dollars and sense in the city
The operating budget that Mayor Andy Berke presented to Chattanoogans this week does not look like any other budget we’ve seen here.
Sure it has spreadsheets and columns of numbers, like before. But it also has several things we aren’t accustomed to seeing in a municipal budget. It has goals — not just bottom lines. It has committees for input and oversight — not just bean counters. It has a promise of hundreds of Web pages with continually updated statistics on dollars spent, man-hours worked and outcomes achieved (or not achieved).
This budget funds things never tried here, too:
• An ex-offender workforce development initiative called Hope for the Inner City to help previously incarcerated men ages 18 to 25 get job training, counseling, addiction treatment and help with GEDs so they can enter the workforce and return to their community productively.
• A Chattanooga Baby College that will prepare expectant mothers and fathers to be their child’s first teacher so the children can learn the language skills needed to succeed when they start school.