It's a holiday out there, although it is not a holiday in here. It might as well be. It seems that whenever the government takes a break, it leads a slow news day. Although the chance to catch up on some email and clean my computer's desk top. I gave a half-hearten thought to also cleaning my physical desktop, but that one never manifested itself in action. So it goes.

I did spend sometime reviewing Commissioner of Finance Kenneth Ivins Jr.'s proposed 2010 comprehensive budget, and noticed one job not currently on the chopping block is the Director of Public Works, currently held by Billy McTygue. The only reason this is noteworthy is that the job was one of a few slated for elimination during the mid-year budget amendment cycle, and was saved by some last-minute wrangling. The post pays an annual salary of about $100,000.

While some people (including Independence candidate Ed Miller) feel that this position is underutilized, others feel that it is not necessary in a department with a full time deputy commissioner. Of course, there is also no escaping the assertion by some -- whether or not it's accurate -- that the job was created as patronage for McTygue by his brother Tommy, the former Commissioner of Public Works.

I don't know exactly where Commissioner Scirocco stands on the necessity of the director position, although he did choose not to eliminate McTygue in the mid-year amendment process. As the budget moves forward, this is one position that I will be keeping a very close eye on.