no problem, Gym

Not following the hiring policies and procedures is just ANOTHER failure on Gyms part and his way of thumbing his nose at the Council and Mayor. To allow that disrespect and disregard by the Mayor and Council is THEIR failure. The nose thumbing and disrespect by the City Manager to the Council has been richly deserved over the years, as they have failed to supervise and oversee the City Manager since he has been here, allowing him to do whatever he wanted however he wanted. Handshake deals at the pool- no problem Gym! Give away city facilities for a fraction of what they are worth- no problem, Gym! Pay TRIPLE the going rates for the bathrooms- not a big problem, Gym. Pay $600 a square foot for the CC enclosure- no problem. FORGET to include water, electrical, and plumbing connections to the new bathrooms- no problem. Pay $33,000 for a sewer hookup to the bathrooms that should have cost $5,000- no problem, Gym. Pay $38,000 to elevate the bathrooms that anybody else could have had done in one day for 6k- no problem. Pay $414,000 for the bathrooms that SHOULD have cost $140,000 (which includes a fat 25% profit for the contractor)- no problem. The Mayor and Council has had NO PROBLEM wasting our tax monies by the TRUCKLOADS! No problem, Gym. When the monies run low, we will just raise their taxes and fees! No Problem! The taxpayers may whine and complain but, DONT WORRY! We know what is best for them and really DONT want or need them to rack their brains deciding anything in an election! WE will decide whats best for them! No matter WHAT the cost! The costs are immaterial! Of NO real consequence to us! No problem, Gym. After all, its NOT like its OUR personal money disappearing now, is it?

Gymbos giveaways

I have know Paul Dotson for years as found him to be an honest and smart guy with a LOT of experience and common sense. He has brought up several times in the past the City Managers secrecy and lack of transparency, horrible construction performance, misleading statements, and failure to respond in a timely fashion to requests by residents, and himself. All of that SHOULD have been duly noted at that time- agreed. The good things Gym has accomplished should also have been noted at that time, like..... uh... well.. it only took TWO YEARS to get the bathrooms built, and uh.... the only cost TRIPLE what they should have cost.... and.. we finally DID get water, sewer, and electric connections to those bathrooms! Yeah ! Hooray for Gym!!! And at only 300% to 400% more than they usually cost anybody else!! To those naysayers out there who say he is a horrible and deceptive manager and control freak I say, take that! Yes, Gymbo gets things done! And he has NEVER quibbled about paying several hundred thousand EXTRA dollars in the process to GET them done! Git 'er done, Gymbo! Unemployment at a 14 yr high? Gymbo helps reduce that number by hiring his high school buddy for 100K! What a guy! Naysayers may say that everyone else in the country is REDUCING their payrolls, and only if absolutely necessary, hiring people with real qualifications and experience, but not Gym! Those details do NOT stand in HIS way! He stands resolute against the economic facts and figures that might concern the average guy. He discerned early on that, if we are going to be able to pay for all the legacy projects the Council would like to have, our taxes and fees were WAY too low, and recommended that they be raised. Yep, Gymbo DOES get things done.

Of course it would be better if those with valid complaints posted them here AND voiced them at the Council meetings. The City Manager and the Council are counting on people getting discouraged and/or moving on to other topics. Make a Freedom of Information request and keep a copy for yourself, whether its an email or a paper request, so you can document when the request was made and what it covered. It will be ignored otherwise. Good documentation and persistence increase the odds of getting a response of some kind, altho it may have been massaged and manipulated prior to handing it over. At least they are on record attached to SOME numbers that can be scrutinized for accuracy and appropriateness. For example, the bathrooms came in at 414k, which may be accurate BUT are certainly NOT appropriate, since it can easily be built for 140k. Where did that extra 275k go, over and above what the actual costs are? That is an easy TRIPLE of what it SHOULD have cost, close to $400 a square foot.

deja vu all over again

OF COURSE there will be change orders from the beginning to the end, DOZRNS and DOZENS of them, ALL at OUR request because we have only given them a vague outline of what we really want. That will lead to repeated costly cost overruns, just like they did in the past two city construction projects. The $360,000 cost overruns on the bathrooms and the $400,000 that was wasted on the CC enclosure will pale in comparison to the MILLIONS of dollars of steadily disappearing money that this gym project will entail. Council will make excuses and offer lame explanations when costs rise steadily and they rage out of control-just like the last two times. After the Council has run thru the first 2.5 million they will raise our taxes and fees again and ask for MILLIONS more in loans, until we are bankrupt. They will blame it the recession, etc., but it will really be the result of their mismanagement, ineptitude, outsized ambitions and egos, lack of common sense, fiscal responsibility, and/or the presence of corruption (your choice, any or all of the above).

bathrooms redux again

Are there REALLY people who are more worried about a few soccer players than the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of our tax dollars in excess profits that have disappeared into those contractors pockets for those bathrooms? Is there ANY proof the soccer players damaged the old bathrooms? or was it kids? Neither would be okay, of course, but vandalism is always a possibility. Its a LOCK that we were HOSED again on the bathrooms for at least $360,000, probably more, and the City Manager is responsible, AGAIN. STILL. ALWAYS.

bathrooms redux

What are the final numbers on the bathrooms? The over/under was 500k and at last look it was over 414k. That was well over six months ago however. I am sure they have cost overruns of at LEAST 500k! That would put the total costs of these TWO little bathrooms at close to $500 a square foot, and almost exactly FOUR TIMES what it actually costs! Where did all that money go? That is approximately 360k that has disappeared into SOMEBODYs pocket! We KNOW it should only cost 140k to build those bathrooms, and INCLUDES a fat 25% profit for the builder. TWO YEARS later and 360k over budget, are they open yet? Are there any mop sinks or water fountains yet? Can you imagine what the new gym project will be? Incredibly botched by the City Manager from start to finish- AGAIN.