frugal vs folly

When the City Manager says ".. we have always been a frugal city", hes joking, right? Does he call paying 280k OVER AND ABOVE the actual cost for the bathrooms being frugal? Does he call spending an extra 350k over and above the actual cost of the CC addition being frugal? How so? Can he explain that? IF we had that 630k that disappeared from those TWO projects alone the proposed 1.3 million deficit would be cut in HALF! IF we put a new roof, floor, walls, plumbing, electric, and sprinkler system on the current gym for TWO million INSTEAD OF the 6.8 million in additional tax burdens of a new gym, we would have plenty of money left and NO NEW DEBT. THAT is being frugal, while getting the job done with the money we have on hand. It is living within our budget and doing what we can afford. HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of our tax dollars disappearing is not frugal; it is folly, or worse. Dr. Mel P. Johnson