Two-and-a-Half Cheers for Finlay

Columbia's newest city councilman has already shown himself to be its most fiscally responsible member. (While that may seem like a backhanded compliment, it is meant to be genuine.) Taxpayers can only hope Kirkman Finlay III stays strong enough to resist the fiscal quicksand that long ago sucked his colleagues under.

Though it may be true that any move toward fiscal responsibility on Council is welcome, Finlay's frankness in challenging the city's out-of-date, out-of-touch, out-of-money approach to municipal government is especially so.

Mayor Coble and company's "I'm for everything all the time" philosophy of politics, er, government, encourages even those who don't need it to seek funding from their friends at City Hall. Columbia City Council has long been a very easy mark.

Can Finlay change that? Perhaps. Case in point, Columbia City Ballet's recent bailout request.

After receiving approximately $500,000 in tax funds (the exact amount is difficult to pin down) to produce Off the Wall and Onto the Stage ‹ an original ballet that would purportedly forge our town into the national ballet consciousness ‹ the result was a wicked review in the New York Times (careful what you wish for) and $300,000 in additional debt.

While the intent was good and the arts merit public support, this was a fool's errand from the beginning in terms of the use of half-million public dollars by a city of our size and resources. Where were the grownups?

Fortunately, when Columbia City Ballet and its supporters came to Council looking for taxpayers to clean up their leftover $300,000 mess, a grownup did step forward in the person of Councilman Finlay. In spite of high-drama presentations about the very existence of Columbia City Ballet being in question if Council did not throw another $300K onto the bonfire of tax money, Finlay said no. He did it politely and persuasively, and best of all, unequivocally.

Seemingly paralyzed by the presence of logic and restraint in a budget discussion, the rest of Council pretty much sat mute as Finlay carried the day. What happened next?

Within a month, Columbia City Ballet raised the money to pay its debt from private sources. From gloom and doom without a taxpayer bailout to sunshine and blue skies with private sector support, all in a matter of weeks.

This good ending for both the ballet and taxpayers emerged only because Finlay was willing to rock the boat that City Council continues to sail ever closer to the edge of the falls. While that boat needs much more rocking, it is encouraging that Finlay seems inclined to provide it.

From voting against the latest double-digit increase in water and sewer rates (tax increases in disguise) to demanding regular, up-to-date budget information from the city manager, Finlay is working to change the fiscal culture of City Council.

That is a tall order. Indeed, when Finlay recently moved to have the city administration provide Council with quarterly financial updates on capital improvement projects, the chamber quickly grew tense. City Manager Charles Austin said Finlay's motion "sends a very negative message" and characterized it as a "consent decree." Apparently, melodrama at City Council meetings is not limited to ballet supporters.

Setting aside Mr. Austin's inexplicably ruffled feathers (in his defense, he has the almost impossible job of trying to find/shift/borrow/defer/accelerate funding to execute Council's endless spending initiatives), Finlay is clearly right to request the quarterly updates. Indeed, the fact that no other member had ever thought to do that speaks volumes about City Council's lack of attention to, or even interest in, proper fiscal oversight.

Alas, Finlay himself is not immune. The otherwise fiscally disciplined councilman lost his focus in going along with the 2006 homeless shelter fiasco, in which the city turned down the state's offer of a free, well located facility and $750,000 in state funds to operate it. Instead, Council opted to spend $400,000 (and counting) in city funds to put the homeless in the heart of the Congaree Vista.

Three cheers for Mr. Finlay on fiscal policy? No, but he deserves two and a half.

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