And yet … you and Frank are right. St Wonkita should have had a better answer to that question. Are there SOME jobs or departments that should be outsourced in her view, or NONE? I’m sure she knows an answer, but maybe she’s just being a smart politician for now. I’ll ask her again myself, after I hear the tape again. I do remember that John Stephens came up with “payroll” so the Courtier-Columnist wasn’t entirely accurate.

One place the Courtier-Columnist was WAY off base and dishonest was when he wrote that the victory of Wonkita’s slate would “risk the city’s slipping back into the don’t-ruffle-any-feathers malaise that led it and just about every other city to give police and fire pensions that allow them to retire at age 50 at 90 percent of their highest (sometimes overtime-spiked) annual salary.” Sandy’s tenure in office (1988-96) was marked by budget surpluses and tough-nosed but fair negotiations with the public employee associations. She would NEVER have supported 3% at 50.