The Not Ready For Prime Time Budget

Call it the $1.2 billion budget that isn’t ready for prime time.

Not yet, anyway.

City administrators sent out press releases and made phone calls to reporters at 10 a.m. Thursday, saying City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. was to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. to present his version of the 2007-08 city budget.

City spokeswoman Meg Olberding said at 10 a.m. that the budget was “at the printer,” so the actual document couldn’t be released to an Enquirer reporter. But, she said, there would be a presentation about what was in the document.

At about 11 a.m., Olberding called the Enquirer, angry that we had announced on the web that the press conference was happening.

At 12:28 p.m., Olberding sent out a press release (no phone calls) canceling the press conference. “More time is needed to ensure that the entire budget is ready for release,” the press release says.

So what happened between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.?

When reached by phone, Olberding denied any political pressure was put on the manager to cancel the press conference, and denied saying the document was at the printer. “I said it was going to the printer,” Olberding said.

That’s not what Dohoney told members of city council in an 8:15 a.m. e-mail announcing the press conference to city council members.

“Given that we will all have to work together to come up with a final product I thought you or perhaps one of your aides would be interested to hear what I will be presenting first hand,” the memo says. “The budget materials are not back from the printer but we will use visuals to explain the administrations proposals.”

The mayor would like to do several things in the next budget – expand his own staff, open new government offices for environmental issues and planning – that some council members are against.

After those concerns were expressed, Dohoney agreed to postpone the press conference until next week, the sources said.

The situation is yet another example of how some council members are distrustful of the mayor.

Another clear-cut example happened Wednesday.