Original Blog Entry: To All City Employees Bring Your Own Toilet Paper

truesee — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:34:11 GMT

Cory Booker, Newark mayor, won't spend public funds on toilet paper for city employees

Aliyah Shahid

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, July 22nd 2010, 12:21 PM

Xanthos for NewsMayor of Newark, Cory Booker, has prohibited spending public funds on toilet paper.

For Newark city employees, there may be a new plan: BYOTP bring your own toilet paper.

That's because Newark Mayor Cory Booker, whose city is facing a $70 million shortfall, has prohibited spending public funds on toilet paper for city employees, according to the Star-Ledger.

We're going to stop buying everything from toilet paper to printer paper, the newspaper reported Booker saying on Wednesday. Call me Mr. Scrooge, if you want, but they'll be no Christmas decorations around the city.

The New Jersey city is struggling to make ends meet. Additional belt-tightening measures include closing all city pools on Aug. 2, prohibiting city council members from having gasoline debit cards, and demanding that 1,450 non-uniformed city employees work 4-day weeks starting in September (about a 20% pay cut), according to NBC.

The cuts are expected to save the city $10 to $15 million. Booker, 41, said he wouldn't cut property taxes.

In Newark, which has a population of about 280,000, a quarter of the residents live in poverty. Booker said nearly 2,500 homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments. An increase in property taxes could make things worse, he said.

The tough measures after the city council deferred action on creating a municipal utilities authority, something Booker has been pushing for. The council has not passed the mayor's $600 million budget, which was proposed last month.

Some councilmembers are not pleased with the new cuts, including Donald Payne Jr.

We continue to try to work with him to lessen the pain of the citizens, but at the end of the day, it's his obligation, he told the Star-Ledger.

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