new Council is the CURE, not the cause

Liers????? Please. Spelling is a basic building block to good communication. Some would say its even necessary. Is this, by any chance the same person who last August assured us that we were NOT in a recession, just a little inflation and a minor stock market correction? How did THAT prediction turn out? We are in an economic crisis that is worldwide, national, state, county, AND local- due to greed, corruption, and a lack of oversight by our government officials at every level. A new Council hasnt even been seated, yet it is somehow THEIR fault that we are in this situation? It isnt the cluelesss idiots who preceeded them? A new Council could be the CURE for our city, not the CAUSE of our ills - if their predecessors havent done too much damage by the time they get in. Change is needed, because look where these clueless, if not corrupt, clowns have gotten us! The only stealing that has been shown clearly at this point is yard signs, but it is still early. Time will tell. Dr. Mel P. Johnson

pool audit needed

The legal technicality MDAC has been hiding behind is that they are not LEGALLY COMPELLED to show proof of payments to anybody YET. Even IF those payments were to be MIRACULOUSLY found at some point in the future, the whole secret backroom handshake deal process needs to be reviewed and assessed in an independent outside audit, along with the pool operations. Why have the Mayor and Council NOT spoken out? At LEAST on the fabricated Optimist connection? The claims of the young ladies? ANYTHING!!?? Can it be that they are STILL awaiting Gym doing damage control and directing them what they should think and say? You MIGHT think they would be embarrassed and ashamed but that is unlikely, as they have demonstrated NO signs of either of THOSE emotions while depriving the residents the right to vote on the gym and annexation, their failure to oversee and supervise the City Manager in ANY of the construction projects (both the Cc and bathrooms taking well over two years and TRIPLE what they were originally priced at), or any of a half dozen other fiascos in the City over the past five years. Except for Dotson, they have firmly taken up positions astride the fence, as usual, and are just awaiting Gym's directions. Dotson will get the residents some answers. Only an outside independent audit will get ALL the answers tho.

focus on missing revenues

Are we saying all this is a squabble between two swim team coaches? It is still not clear how someone could fix a swim meet. Facts are needed, and until they are presented and verified it will be hard to give much credence to unsubstantiated claims. While some questions WERE answered at the last Council meeting, the important ones werent, mainly because the memo wasnt presented until AFTER the meeting. The next meeting will NOT be about closing the pool. It will be about the fabrications, handshake deals, poor accounting methods for revenues, and uncollected rents. it would also be interesting to hear the City Manager's and Council's take on the taping incident- what happened, was the tape ever really turned in, what is currently being done to protect the employees, now and in the future, where does the City stand on this situation, etc? It will also be interesting to see how the Mayor and Council respond to the Optimist fabrication, the annual revenues fabrications on the website, the lack of rosters and verification of Springs swimmers on MDAC, and why MDAC was given an $1100 per month discount from standard fees charged at the junior college when it benefits the swimmers NONE - only the owners. If MDAC is there they can show the cancelled checks, bank statement, and deposit slips from their payments to practice at the pool since they came here. Gym can confirm the payments were received and applied to city accounts with bank statements, deposit slips, and quarterly reports for the past three years. Then he can show us how they all ( Columbus $1500, Reagan $1500, MSSH, middle school, meets, polo team practices, MDAC practice fees, polo camp, vending machines, private parties, etc.) total up to $2150 in Aquatics/polo revenues. The focus will NOT be on closing the pool. It WILL be on getting some answers to these questions.

outrageous

So for MOST of December, January, February, March, and April we pay to heat the pool for the MDAC swim team, and a couple locals? Maybe the polo team, sometimes? We pay that 20k+ for a team that is overwhelmingly nonresidential and doesnt even pay the $200 a month rental pittance but occasionally? And the Asst City Manager and the City Manager allow this? What does the Mayor and the Council have to say about this? This is preposterous!

pool audit needed

The Council sets the rental fee schedule for all of the city facilties- swimming pool $60 an hour, gym $200 for 4 hours, pool $30 an hour for nonprofits, etc. When and where did the Council authorize the City Manager to charge whatever he wanted? Was the Council aware that we were only charging $200 a month for swim team practice, and hadnt collected THAT in years? If they didnt know that, WHY didnt they? They ARE supposed to supervise and oversee the City Manager, right? Did the Council know that there was poor documentation and few controls regarding admissions at the pool? The Asst. City Manager told Mr Dotson that there was NO way of knowing exactly what revenues were taken in at the pool! Why wasnt THAT a hint to them that something was fishy there? After over FORTY YEARS of having a pool, we have NO idea or system in place to tell us how much revenues we take in ???? Incredible! Ridiculous! The City Manager tells a resident he has NO idea how the lump sum revenue numbers listed in the budget were derived? NO DETAILS!?nothing itemized? Yet at the same meeting he pulls out a quarterly report that he says has ALL the details, and that he follows VERY closely! It seems he was saying that those details were ONLY for his eyes, because he didnt offer to share them with the resident or anybody else! It made NO sense- "I dont have those details", on one hand, and then pulls those very details out in a quarterly report and shows them briefly to the inquiring residents! Were the residents to believe what he SAID? or what he showed us? The details either exist, or they DONT! WHICH is it?