Tess Neff's Rebuttal To Laura Rodriguez-Carbone's Question One In The LO Candidates' Forum

Ward One Council Candidate Tess Neff has requested that the Lakewood Observer post a rebuttal to Ward One Candidate Laura Carbone's response to the first question in the LO Candidates' Forum.

Question One:

1.) Why should we vote for you and not the other candidate? (100 words). 

Laura Rodriguez-Carbone's response:

I have a clear platform and proven professional history of service. On the other hand, my opponent claims to personally oversee 600 employees as a court administrator and manage a budget of $60 million. According to the latest annual Juvenile court report, her job falls under the court administration division, which does not directly oversee the budget - the legal division does. This statement is misleading. My opponents campaign is also backed by the old boys network of money and political influence. This is not the kind of leadership Lakewood deserves.  

Residents in Ward 1 deserve a councilperson who will put their needs first, serve with transparency, integrity and be above undue influence. I am that candidate.

Tess Neff's rebuttal:

It is the responsibility of council to exercise due diligence when gathering all the pertinent facts  to reach an educated conclusion.

The statement by my opponent regarding my budget management for the Juvenile Court is factually incorrect. Internal documents unequivocally delegate the Court Administrator as the responsible individual for the court's budget. My opponent's response necessitates that I submit a rebuttal to correct the factually flawed statement in question 1.

It is a fact that I manage and direct the court's divisions: Legal, Court Operations, and Court Administration. It is a fact as the Court Administrator I am responsible for the court's budget. It is a fact that I direct the work of the Fiscal department to prepare an annual budget and maintain court operations within the budget.

This language is directly from the job posting from which I was hired over four years ago and I have assumed the budget oversight during the entire tenure.