information please

More info is needed- who watches the admissions gate? the city or the host team? Who actually sells the food at the concessions? Who is responsible for the totals? Who receives the admissions fees? what is the average revenue generated by heet sheets? What is the admission cost to get in for nonswimmers, etc? is $165 an hour the standard fee per hour of pool rental, or an average? How many meet hours are the pool rented for, usually? 6? 7? 8? Are the Devil Rays a nonprofit? Does the pool rental fees include the costs for cleanup afterward and setup before? How do we know if the numbers of admissions are accurate? concessions? heet sheets? number of swimmers at each practice? each meet? Do they register anywhere? if so, where? Would the heet sheets reveal any information about the individual swimmers? which swim team? where they live? Who would have a complete team roster? Pool officials? Swim team officials? Does the cost per swimmer per meet depend on how many events they are competing in? Or is it a standard charge for everyone, no matter how many events they are in? what do other pools charge for a meet? how do we compare? Who is in charge of admissions, heet sheets, and pool rental fees at other pools? Do other pools have a written contract with the groups that use their pools? Do most pools have a contract with Dade County schools? These are some of the pertinent questions that have arose so far. Help is needed to fill in these gaps. Thank you for your participation.

pool negotiations

Lets see, it costs $8000 a month to heat the pool during the Winter, just for the gas, and not counting any OTHER expenses. So if we sign a contract with Doral for 15k it will cover ALMOST two months of the 8-9 month off season. We, the residents, pay the additional 6-7 months at a cost to us of $50,000, minimum. AND Doral residents get full use of our facilities at the same prices that taxpaying residents pay, but without the bothersome burden of ACTUALLY paying TAXES! AND it would GUARANTEE losses of at least $200,000 per year for this year and next because we would be required to keep the pool open year-round. Is that about right? Does ANYTHING about this deal make sense for us, as taxpaying residents? We should make them a counter offer - you pay us 150k a year and we will allow your residents and swim team to use it year-round. We might even sign a contract to that effect.

commentary

Apparently there has been around 100k in electrical bills we have paid for Mr Santana since he has been at the CC. When exposed by Mr Dotson, the City Manager said it wouldnt happen again. Does anybody have any record of that continuing? Simple enough to make a FOI request tho. It is also rumored that the gym roof is STILL leaking, even after paying $45,000 for a new one less than a year ago. The contractor has made a few patches since but STILL it leaks. Did we, or did we not pay for a new roof that obviously shouldnt leak. Why havent City officials INSISTED on a new roof that DOESNT leak? Dont we have a contract that specifies that? and DEMANDS that? Or is this another deal WITHOUT a contract? like those at the pool? a handshake and a wink? Why are City officials NOT looking out for the residents best interests? ANY resident who paid for a new roof and didnt get one would DEMAND to get what they paid for! or take them to court for non-performance? Why arent our officials? A copy of the roofing contract would probably clear up a lot of that problem, no? We scrap runoffs to save 30k or so, and throw away 45k on the gym roof, 280k on the bathrooms, 100k for Santana's electricity, lose 200k at the pool for a handful of Springs kids, and almost 400k disappears on the CC addition. How many MORE free handouts to contractors and other special interests can we afford to allow at the taxpayers expense ? How much did we pay for those dugout roofs? Incredibly unbelievable mismanagement at best; fraud and corruption at worst. Help Me Howard is a lawyer, right? Honest outside investigations are needed NOW, before the rest of our money disappears. OR they raise our taxes and fees AGAIN, to cover their butts.

tax monies disappear AGAIN. STILL.

Is it POSSIBLE that the pool could be closed to residents for three days and a meet be held for the benefit of outside private parties at the expense of the residents (who cant use the pool during that time) and there is NO contract or protection from liability provided? I assume there are usually contracts for these meets, right? It just makes sense. Does anybody think that yet another sweetheart deal could happen WITHOUT the approval of the City Manager? How many of these meets have we hosted and paid for, but not benefitted from, this year? Past years? How long has this giveaway been going on? Its NO WONDER we are losing OVER 300k on the pool this year! More mismanagement, sweetheart deals, and freebies by the City Manager! If the standard fee for County meets is $165 an hour, why arent we charging that? Residents are paying thru the nose for a City facility that only a few can use (and NOT all the time) and getting little or NO benefit from - sounds a LOT like the Country Club. Where does that money go?

who is the City Attorney looking out for?

Is it possible that the City Attorney has written the bathroom contract like he did the CC contract? no materials specifications, do it whenever you get around to it, add on as amny change orders as you want, no deadlines, and no penalties for anything? A first year law student can write a better contract than that!! That was an open-ended invitation to pad the bill at the tax payers expense! and that's exactly what happened- we got hosed then, we are now getting hosed again on the bathrooms, and we will be ROYALLY hosed on this new gym project!! ENOUGH !! Find a competent attorney who can write a competent contract that protects the interests of the the tax payers, not the contractors ! And yes, I STRENUOUSLY object to having my pocket picked and money stolen. Most people would object to that, I believe. The only ones who WOULDNT object are the muggers and thieves themselves.
We do NOT pay him to protect the contractors interests. The CC contract was a contractors dream, unheard of in the construction industry! DISASTEROUS for the taxpayers! is he going to give away the store again? If past history is any indicator, we will be sold out AGAIN. The contractors dont NEED an attorney because they have the CITY ATTORNEY looking out for THEM. Why would WE pay him to represent THEM?