Over the years, Artesia’s budget process has gone through a very puzzling evolution. Prior to the current City Manager Bill Rawlings, the City’s budget was straight forward and easy to understand. In fact, it actually won awards for those traits! Shortly after Rawlings started, he hired a woman named Tracy Fuller to act as a consultant of sorts, and one of her duties was to assist with the City’s finances. Together, they created a budget that to this day makes both auditors and laymen scratch their heads. Fuller is no longer with the City, but Rawlings is still responsible for creating the budget. A Balanced Budget in 2020?   In June 2020, the City Council passed a budget along with a new contract with the employee union, which was a stark difference from what most other cities were doing. In the middle of the pandemic, most cities were preparing for a huge economic downturn and employee layoffs due to a massive decrease in revenue. Artesia was different. Yes, there was a project...

In Artesia, residents and employees are asking the same question Artesia, California. Mid-March has passed, marking the one year anniversary of the pandemic lockdown for many American workers.    In the City of Artesia, workers in Public Works and Public Safety have been working onsite throughout the pandemic, and even City Hall and Parks employees have been working most of the year on a rotating schedule, all of them keeping the City running and looking good. Even City Managers, the municipal equivalent of a CEO, are supposed to be on the scene. Throughout the nation, these appointed heads of cities are showing up at their respective offices to oversee and assure that their cities are being run efficiently. But in Artesia, City Manager Bill Rawlings has not been seen for almost an entire year. Employees and residents are wondering, “Where’s Bill?” “Good question,” said Andrew Perry, President of the Artesia employee union, AFSCME Local 1520. “I have heard that he works remote...