forgetfulness

Competency in management is also a necessity. Looks like we are oh-for-three so far as the City Manager is concerned. What competent manager would FORGET to include water, sewer, and electrical hookups to bathrooms being built? FORGET to make them wheelchair accessible? Pay at least SIX times more than usual and customary costs to elevate the bathrooms AND hookup the sewers? THIS is efficient,rational, and cost-effective management from a person with years of job experience??? Please. He was responsible for the Country Club disaster and, after apparently learning little in his one semester in Gainsville, is continuing to mismanage the City at the taxpayers expense. How much longer can we allow this to go on? A local guy who has gone awry, or worse.

comments

The City Manager has 8 years experience as a Councilman and several years experience as the City Manager. Is there ANYBODY who is suggesting that he has ANY clue regarding construction projects? The bathrooms have cost us $400 a square foot SO FAR, when I can get construction built for $125 a square foot. Does THAT sound like somebody who knows what they are doing? It has been almost TWO years since it was agreed upon. The Country Club enclosure came in at $600 a square foot. Does THAT sound like somebody who has ANY clue? Both were several MONTHS behind schedule and after almost TWO YEARS the bathrooms arent even close to being finished! Does that even remotely sound like effective or efficient management from somebody with years of job experience? While I agree that education alone cannot guarantee results, neither can experience alone. The best combination is to have some of both, of course, but neither can replace honesty or integrity.

educatio, or not

Education is generally a good thing, and the reason why we encourage our kids to become well-educated, so they can become more successful in our society. There ARE exceptions, however. there are some City officials, for instance, who have risen up the ladder somehow, thru hook or crook, to fairly responsible positions. A handful have only a high school degree or maybe a semester or two at a state college. Education will never replace honesty, integrity, or character- you either have or you dont. Everyone will have to decide for themselves whether these City officials can be called a success or not. Examine their latest decisions and decide whether their life experiences have led them to any decisions that make logical financial sense, or NOT. If so, please explain how they make sense. If not,I rest my case.

contracts

The City Clerk says she has no knowledge of ANY contracts associated with the pool, not the scuba guys or anybody else. We allow them to come and go as they please? What about liability issues? We have NO records? MORE incompetency. Will it NEVER end?

numbers dont figure

I personally cant wait until the high school kids return to school for their junior years. I believe we have needed an audit for YEARS, going back to the Country Club project or prior to that. while we are at it we should do a forensic audit of the bathrooms, Santana, and the Rec Center. DOZENS of mistakes on official documents? Nobody has a clue. We need an audit to clear the deck and restore confidence in the City and the officials running it. TWO years later you might think they would KNOW what the real numbers were, but they dont, and some of the discrepancies involved HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars! Could there be TWO sets of books? Take an average? WHAT? We need accurate numbers, not guestimates. What auditor okayed the books those years? Who signed off on those numbers? Why didnt THEY notice these discrepancies? Are they licensed? Is this basic incompetency again, or something worse? Are the people signing off for THOSE records the same ones STILL signing off for our records? Why would we trust their numbers any more NOW, than before? Something stinks here and an audit by a reputable and capable firm is the ONLY way to clear the air.

FOIA and discrepancies

A partial FOIA request was received after only a couple weeks. The rest will take a LONG time and cost a Lot of money, Gorland indicated. A cursory inspection revealed so many errors that the numbers on the pages are rendered unintelligible. One example, the revenue from the water polo team and acquatics for 2005-06 is listed as 1250 bucks on one page, and 100 bucks on another page. Which number is an accurate account of the revenue taken in? Swimming pool admissions for 05-06 are listed as 39000 on one page and 52,899 on another page. There are AT LEAST a dozen other incongruencies that are revealed in a brief inspection of the proferred numbers. Revenues received from VG for fireworks oin 05-06 is listed as 6426 on one page and 4000 on another page. WHICH was it? Pelican Theater revenues are listed in 05-06 as being 2520 on one page and 2000 on another page. Which WAS it? Franchise fees for 05-06 are listed as 795,000 on one page and 966,572 on another page, a 175k discrepancy. Whose on first? TWO YEARS later and we dont know how much we collected in franchise fees? the 1 2 cent sales tax for 05-06 is listed at 841,464 on one page and as 925,018 on another page, a difference of 85k ! 2005-06 Clerk of Court revenue from fines was 130,181 OR 165,762? WHICH, if any, is accurate? YEARS later we still dont know exactly how much money we collected? Incredible!

poverty of Council common sense

Lets see, we lost 440k in revenue when the County took over The Water and Sewer Dept; we have added a new salary cost for a new Rec director; FPL will raise their rates to us by 12 %; automatic police pay increases will cost us $163,5000 more; COLA increases to general employees will cost us $86,950; health insurance will increase by 10-20%; elections will cost us 70k; AND we will owe an additional 130k in interest only payments for the new gym project. The City of Miami Springs will lose an estimated $279,305 THIS year and a projected $1,510,304 next year. New York City is projecting LARGE deficits out to 2012. Do THEY know something our illustrious city officials don't? Apparently yes. Revenues will be down and costs will be up, operating at a deficit already - does THAT sound like a time to take on MILLIONS more in debt? Moe, Larry, and Curly think the answer is to spend MORE money, go FURTHER into debt. Then ask the residents to come up with more money in higher millage rates, pleading poverty. Its like the kid who killed his parents and then threw himself at the mercy of the Court, asking for mercy because he was an orphan. If we allow Moe, Larry, and Curly bleed us dry financially with 400k+ bathrooms, etc. then we deserve to be bankrupt.

Festival stuff and audits

Does anybody know when the last time Festival books were audited? People with nothing to hide shouldnt object and it would give new members some piece of mind.

I do not always agree with the Gazette Editor, but I couldnt agree more with his stance on the Festival and the Forum. It is a 30+ year tradition here in the Springs, and is an oppurtunity for some wholesome, honest fun for ALL of our families and friends. The beer is reasonable and the memories are priceless.

Festival stuff

There is NO doubt that the Festival needs new blood and new energy. The next generation of leaders needs to step forward so the torch can be passed onto them. Some of the churches are involved but its a great oppurtunity for all the others to participate, along with the PTAs. The Festival has a 30-year tradition here in the Springs that needs to be preserved. The Festival cannot make or keep but so much money to maintain their nonprofit status but they should invest in themselves a little each year to maintain and upgrade the event. A permanent electrical upgrade might be a good place to start.

NYC budget shortfalls

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that NYC would prepare for the gloomy fiscal forecast by cutting spending 5.6 percent and delaying some capital outlays. "In the months ahead, we-ll have to keep a close eye on the economic indicators and take whatever steps are necessary to keep our budget for fiscal year 2009 in balance and keep our city moving forward," he said Monday, presenting the city-s financial plan to the state Financial Control Board. The bad news was to continue Tuesday when Gov. David Paterson prepared to discuss the state-s financial straits. As for the city, Bloomberg said that even if he rescinds the 7 percent property tax cut that was approved a year ago, the city faces budget shortfalls of $5.2 billion in fiscal year 2011 and $5.1 billion in fiscal year 2012. "Every economic indicator says that we have a problem and that we should act in advance of the problem," Why is it that New York City is in a recession and projecting Billions of dollars in shortfalls out to 2012, along with curtailing spending and delaying some capital outlays, while Miami Springs is INCREASING its capital outlays, debt, and spending? How RIDICULOUS is that? These guys are depriving a circus somewhere of some serious clown buffoonery. City officials are apparently the only ones in the nation who DONT know that we are in a recession and need to tighten our fiscal belt. Or perhaps, they DO know, but just dont care because they plan to raise our taxes and fees anyway to cover their butts? Is it possible that they DO know, but dont care because realizing their personal and political legacies is MORE important to them? Perhaps it is ALL OF THE ABOVE.

bikers

Bike cops are an idea whose time has come. For the little area we have to be covered they are perfect, as they can cover a lot of ground and make their presence felt while getting fresh air, sunshine, and a good exercise program to boot. Not all, of course, but a third or so, maybe. Being out of the car gives them additional oppurtunities to talk with residents and learn what is happening too, like foot patrols do. More motorcycles may be a benefit too. How long does it usually take for a Freedom of Information request to be honored?

FOP on annexation

It is clear that the MS police does an outstanding job for the residents. It is not clear that they are fully informed about all the annexation issues. The Water and Sewer services were turned over to the County because they had been seriously and stupidly neglected for the past 20 years by several Councils and had become more than we wanted to handle. Annexation COULD be a good option for MS IF the County commissioners ever decide to allow it to happen; IF the mitigation fees are within reason; IF the proposed lands are not polluted and require costly cleanups; IF the FEC property ever comes available to us; and IF we could have control over the zoning, to insure that NO residential highrises and/or low income housing is allowed to occur there. Hoping all those things will happen to our benefit will not make it happen. The pollution issues alone need an independent, unbiased expert to advise us regarding the possible cleanup costs involved, at the very least. How can we make another multi-million dollar decision without know all the unvarnished facts and options?
This is in response to an open letter to the public taking a pro-annexation stance by the FOP. I am glad to see the police taking an interest in the City's business but believe that they have only heard part of the story at this point, the Council's.

help for ex-felons

We need tot ackle the nexus of unemployment and crime in the inner city so that the men who live there can begin fulfilling their responsibilities. The conventional wisdom is that most unemployed inner city men could ind work if they really wanted to; that they inevitably prefer dealing drugs, with its attendant risks but potential high profits, to the lowpaying jobs that their lack of skilld warrants. in fact, economists who have studied the issue- and the young men whose fates are at stake- and found that the costs and benefits of street life dont measure up to the popular mythology: At the bottom, or even in the middle ranks of the drug trade, it is a minimum wage affair. For many innercity men, what prevents gainful employment is npt simply the absence of motivation to get off the streets but the absence of a job history or any marketable job skills- and increasingly, the stigma of a prison record.

It would be nice if the market could generate enough oppurtunities for all the innercity men who need them. But most employers arent willing to take a chance on excons, and those who are willing are frequently prevented by laws from doing so.

Government could kick-start a transformation of circumstances for these men by working with private-sector businesses to hire and train ex-felons on projects that can benefit the community as a whole: insulating homes and offices so they are more energy efficient, perhaps, or laying the broadband lines needed to thrust the entire community into the Internet age. Such programs would cost money of course, but, given the annual cost of incarcerating an inmate, any drop in recidivism would help the program pay for itself. Not all the hardcore unemployed would prefer entry level jobs to the life on the street, and no program to help ex-felons will eliminate the need to lock up hardened criminals, those whose habits of violence are too ingrained.

Still, we can assume that with lawful work available for young men now in the drug trade, crime in many communities would drop; as a consequence more businesses and employers would come to those neighborhoods and a stable, self-sustaining community would take root. Over ten to fifteen years norms would begin to change, young men and women would start to imagine a future for themselves, marriage rates would increase, and children would have a more stable environment in which to grow up.

What would that be worth to us, as a society? Its hard to quantify the value of such changes because they are immeasurable in human, social, and economic terms.

Obama

voter petitions

Is it true that there are over 200 voters who have signed a petition AGAINST this new gym and the higher taxes and fees it will bring? A couple hundred votes could make a BIG difference at voting time, actually deciding a couple races.