NOTES
1. What happens when a call comes in from New Smyrna Beach or one of our sister cities to the 911 call center? If it is a medical call, the RCC dispatcher alerts the appropriate fire department. Each of the three jurisdictions then dispatches a fire truck. This has been the procedure for a long time, and the three departments in question dispatch fire trucks with EMS trained personnel, makes sense. When questioned about this procedure of dispatching fire trucks instead of EVAC units or rescue vehicles, one of the administrative staff stated he had worked in San Antonio, Texas (a city of 1.2 million people), and that they dispatched fire trucks for medical emergencies. Nope, a call to San Antonio's administrator for emergency dispatch elicited that ambulances are always dispatched for emergency medical calls. Only if extra personnel are needed (as an example, to move a very large individual), or if all ambulances in one area are busy, were fire trucks dispatched. Nevertheless, the fact is, the County will not issue a certificate to any of the Cities that would permit them to transport in ambulances or rescue vehicles similar to the Counties. So, even if the Cities determined that rescue vehicles with only two personnel made sense and would save a ton of money, without a certificate they must use fire trucks to handle the call. Taxpayers should not be stuck with huge extra expenses because of a turf war between the Cities and the County. This needs to be resolved, and fast!
2. Hire one auto parts salesman as a parks supervisor and you get a bonus as an employee who can run the motor pool maintenance function-- at least it is rumored that he thinks so. What a two-fer, except that the people who do the job think it would be better if he found some where else to tell everyone how great he is, and probably inferring that he can do their job better than they can. We wonder if he thinks he is winning friends and influencing people?
Having said that, here is rumor, not a fact. The current director will be transferred, and the Parks Coordinator will take her job. They will be able to say that since he sold auto parts at one time, he is qualified. By the way, he would get a $10,000 raise.
At times, it is hard to please anyone, not just everybody. You would think from a recent posting on the bulletin board that merely taking off vulgarity when some cretin resorts to publishing obscenities would satisfy all of the local citizens. Not good enough to erase it when we see it, we have to wash out their mouth before the garbage is put up or “we lose all credibility.” Give us a break. We have trouble understanding that mindset, since it would require prior censorship, which we do not agree is an appropriate way to encourage a free interchange of ideas. In addition, it is like saying that the mayor of a City with walls, you know that all houses and business essentially have walls, is negligent if graffiti with dirty words is splashed across those walls. It is not good enough that they hire people to erase the graffiti. Please, do not blame the blog for the behavior of miscreants. Of course, if you want to buy us a program that refuses to accept blogs with dirty words, we would consider that as a plus. But then we do not know whether it would be good enough to just pre-censor George Carlin's 10 dirty words, or must we delete even words permitted by the Federal Communications Commission to not incur the wrath of someone, who, apparently, sits just to the right of an unknown unforgiving cleric? So many questions, so few answers.
We are trying to pay catch up on the City budget. All departments probably look red, except maybe the golf course, which is so much in the red that it has started to glow, incandescent like our sun, imploding from the pressure of all the accumulated red ink. Tell us we are wrong. Where is the amortization table showing how Golf Course revenues will repay the $2.5+million debt incurred by the City Commission on behalf of us citizens? To date, they are not taking in enough revenue to cover their operating expenses, and they promised Mr. Hathaway they would!
Well, Dilbert (comic strip of January 27, 2007) says it all. First frame: (Boss speaking) “ASOK, your assignment is to buy a display case for our awards.” Second frame: (Boss speaking) “Then go to the awards store and buy a bunch of awards because we don't have any.” Third frame: (ASOK speaking) the next one is for 'Best unethical fill in of an awards showcase'.” When did Dilbert’s cartoonist come to New Smyrna Beach? Was he at the Atlantic Arts center unbeknownst to us? It looks like our auditor and Frank Roberts were in touch with him and told him about a couple of “awards” issued to our fair City. You know, like the “Best City Award” bought for $25,000 and the annual financial auditor award.
So, where does the money go, and go, and go? A few examples:
The Greens keeper $85,000 salary and 30% benefits
The golf pro assistant $11 per hour, for increased business. Really?
The City Marina $$$$ lost for under priced slips
The Anglers Club $10,000 to $20,000 annually if on the tax rolls
Two SUVs For police Sergeants to drive to and from work
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Time to wake up people!
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January 29th, 2007
The last meeting of the Personnel Board, City of New Smyrna Beach, was on April 21, 2005… 642 days ago. We will keep a tally until their next meeting.
For more information about the personnel policies of the city, go to the following website: www.cityofnsb.com, click on links, then click on municipal code, when the municipal code appears, scroll down on the left side of the window and click on "appendix A, Personnel Policies”, ENJOY!
THE BEACH
It appears that whether one keeps the beaches of Volusia County, as a viable tourist attraction is possibly an issue between the beach communities and the inland cities. We find it hard to believe that it is not of economic interest for the whole County. Tourist dollars and the value of beach property is as much a County issue as is flooding, and yet, whether there is a plan to maintain the beaches seems to turn on whether the County that took over control of the beaches by an overwhelming vote of the entire County, cares as much about them as the people who live on them. It is a sad comment that the inland contingent (Council Person Northey and Council Person Kelly) could not see their way clear to vote for tentatively accepting $6 million of State money while they determined whether us poor beach folk were willing to pay for a larger share of such costs.
We do understand that the presentation made by those charged with bringing the matter to the Council's attention was less then sterling. Worse, it was not timely presented; almost none of those knowledgeable people who would have joined in supporting this project were alerted that it was being hurried through the agenda on the January 11th. The entire project turned on the efforts of Council Person Jack Hayman who alerted the Council of the cut-off date and requested placement of the issue on the agenda as a last minute effort to get it approved. The failure of even the County manager to be fully apprised of this proposal until the last minute, if true, is inexcusable. Worse is the attitude that putting sand on a principal beach that serves as one of the main tourist attractions for New Smyrna Beach is a mistake, and they compounded their uncaring attitude by not even keeping the issue alive for the affected City Commission to address the issue. They could have voted for this proposal and not make a commitment for matching funds for two years.
OK, Question and Answer time.
Q. What happened to the sand that was put on the beach last year?
A. Prior to the sand replacement, there was not a drivable beach at low tide. Initially, it saved miles of beach front property that was severely eroded the hurricanes with buildings and residences spared from certain destruction. The limited amount sand placed worked perfectly, homes were saved, and the beach was once again drivable. The sand berm flattened out and raised the vertical level of the beach so that at low through high tide, there is beach driving on most days. Try it; drive on to the beach at one of the ramps South of Flagler and you can drive all the way to 27th Ave. The ramp there has not been rebuilt, so you must drive back as the water rises some times to the sea walls (it is the Counties responsibility to repair the ramp). No one expected that the sand would do otherwise. It is still there, and did what it was supposed to do. The proposed project would have placed substantially more sand on the beach for even better results and extended longevity. It would also serve as a protective buffer from the impacts of future storms. We do not, nor will we have such protection for a few more years thanks to the County Council’s action of declining the $6 million state restoration funds.
Q. What does the camera on New Smyrna Beach show?
A. A beach. It is there to attract tourists to New Smyrna Beach. Did you think it should show rocks, or, better yet a house floating out to sea? That was in 1947! No, better yet, the Breakers before it was repaired. Or better yet, the picture in the Sentinel of the breached seawall. Come on, did Council Person Northey think a camera designed to entice tourists would show anything but sand? She could have spent the time to come over and look before she concluded there was no need to accept the $6 million she refused to take from the State. Bet she did not rely on a camera shot when Deltona was flooded.
Q. How much does the County budget project for expenditures in 2007?
A. $680, 000,000, from which, the County Council would have had to find about $5,500,000 as the first tranche for executing the beach restoration plan worked on for the last several years by the State. At least the State wanted to help Volusia County restore one of the State's prime tourist attractions.
Q. How about 2008?
A. Same, same. Find the other half of the $11 million matching funds, except the budget will top $700,000,000. Wanna bet they could find it if they wanted to?
Q. What did Council Person Alexander think would happen in 2008?
A. That the State would put the $6 million back. Of course, they did not. Whoops! Only $2 million and the $6 million are down the tube. No one told her!
TAXES
The proposal put forward by the Volusia County Appraiser, and quickly adopted by many of the elected official, is for voters to accept cost of living plus 3% as an appropriate formula for tax increases, why not cost of living and nothing unless the voters specifically approve them, like capital improvements? The proposal assumes that a three percent increase should be the normal growth of government, and that we should all agree to it as being in our best interest for the future. We disagree. Local governments have been growing for years, and rather than increasing productivity, which in the case of government would be to provide increased services for a larger population by a non increasing, or better yet, decreasing number of employees, they have done the opposite. This proposal promotes additional growth. Municipal governments, for the most part, have expanded the number of employees without increasing productivity and increased the cost of government, without concern for taxpayers!
Why should we pay more taxes for the pension plans that have grown in large measure from the increased employment of more municipal employees, with no adjustments of these plans to reflect that the salaries are also increasing? Why have our elected officials not been forced to address salaries and adjust pension plans to match the increased salaries they have been providing to these employees?
Why not tell our elected officials to reign in costs, cut out frills, and stop funding more and more services that are more amenities and not needed to either serve or protect residents. How about deferring projects that are not necessary, repair what needs to be repaired, and not build new and munificent edifices merely because various groups of City employees want and will feel better in a new facility with more modern equipment. Remember, many of the original fire houses were either built or augmented by volunteers who sold barbecue on Saturdays to raise money for the buildings they then built with volunteer labor. There are no more volunteers because we now have a fully paid service, but if a major metropolitan area like Bethesda, Maryland, has a combination of paid employees and volunteers, we should be able to figure out how to make it work here. It would clearly enhance service while at the same time decrease costs. On the other hand, would it upset the unions?
Unless an employee has a contract of employment, the job can be abolished or the employee can be terminated. Of course, there are costs associated with any employment action, but it is unlikely that those costs would exceed the current costs of either the greens keeper at $85, 000, or the Parks Coordinator for $42,000 plus benefits for both at about 30%.
If the greens keeper making $85,000 is still within a probationary period, and can be let go at will, the termination costs could be negligible. Ditto the Parks Coordinator, and probably a whole slew of other jobs that we do not even know about. Not filling non-essential positions would be another way to pay for these increased costs. They should try spending less money instead of working on how to increase growth. The three percent annual increase over say a four percent inflation factor (2006) will result in an increase of almost 30% in tax needs over a four year period. We do not think this is a formula that can be justified. It should not be accepted as the answer to the current tax problem.
WE REPORT, YOU DECIDE
THE 911 CALL CENTERS AND TAX
A 911 call center is a world unto itself. It must operate every day of the year and, since week-ends, and holidays are its busiest time, new employees seldom see family or friends on weekends or holidays. Civilians man some centers and others are manned by police or fire personnel, who may or may not have emergency medical training. A well run facility in a big city can handle 200 to 250 calls per shift before the number of “dropped” calls reaches above 8% which is considered in the profession as above an acceptable limit.--- cutely called a benchmark and not a standard by its own trade association. Dropped calls, or abandoned calls as they are sometimes called, may have a different definition for different call centers but they are taped and are supposed to be called back within a short time. The ubiquitous nature of cell phones has complicated the job of call centers, in that multiple reports of the same event, called “bursts,” can be directed to the center. For instance, a highway accident will be called in by a succession of motorists until an emergency vehicle is on the scene. Cell calls are handled differently from land line calls by various centers, since the likelihood of a serious situation requiring emergency help may be more likely where a land line is involved. A recent study performed by the association of emergency call personnel, located by chance in Daytona Beach, was mostly crafted, personnel tell us, from the City of Phoenix. It sets out the problems and suggests levels of personnel necessary to provide public safety. Of course, not being a member, we were told that we taxpayers who paid for it could not get a copy upon request. Perhaps the City Manager can obtain a copy.
There are actually two major call centers in Volusia County. When 911 is dialed from New Smyrna Beach, a call center in Port Orange designated as the Regional Communications Center (RCC) will answer. This RCC serves Port Orange, Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach, and, recently, Ponce Inlet, Wilbur by the Sea, and South Daytona Beach. There are four other small call centers, but essentially the County center run from the Sheriff's office serves the rest of the County. It appears that all land lines and cell phones pay 41 cents and 59 cents respectively each per month for the privilege of supporting these centers. Or, as it turns out, a total of $3.467 million collected by the County (about $2.1 million per year with a reserve accumulated because there were no hurricanes this year). This is supposed to be distributed on an equitable basis to the call centers. All the money from this fund is distributed for equipment. The operating budget of $2.8 million of the RCC, however, is split among the three cities. Port Orange pays 44%, New Smyrna 34%, and Edgewater 22%.
The RCC organization is run by a committee of the three mayors, and the last minutes we have are from August 29, 2006. The three city managers hold monthly meetings. Ostensibly, they control how the RCC functions. The RCC has fewer than 40 employees plus their administrative staff: An Administrator, Assistant Administrator, Comptroller, Record Keeper, 2 IT persons, and a Training Specialist-----seven administrative people for a ratio of one administrative person per 4.5 workers. Analyzing the statistics supplied by the call center may be unfathomable by persons other than those who created the tabulations, but what is apparent, is that these are police and fire department expenses that have been rendered opaque and are not in the public eye.
Then there is the question of how the calls are labeled. A look at the printouts for police and fire reporting for our three coastal cities (we think of coastal and intra coastal as sort of similar) shows that a large number of calls are labeled fire calls which are really not house fire calls at all. “Structure calls” are fewer in the RCC report, for example, than what the fire departments label “house fires.”
We now look at costs. In addition to the tax on telephones, New Smyrna Beach paid $980,000 to the Port Orange center for its share of the costs to establish the RCC 911 center. This is a hidden expense for both the fire and police service we receive, and there is no question that everyone wants an emergency response number to call if needed. However, costs are essentially hidden and, trust The Shadow, it was hard to discover them until just the right questions were posed. The question is, however, whether the service is cost effective. Would it be cheaper to purchase service from a private company, or from the County who serves the other 350,000 residents of Volusia County? They may be totally justified and cost effective, but they should be easily and readily available for tax payers to examine, in order to determine whether they are reasonable, and whether the level of service is worth the expense.
The County center has 84 employees. There is an additional secondary center for calls that the central 911 service refers for fire and medical emergency. The principal call center, and the equivalent to the RCC, has 96 employees with a budget of $3,798,000. The County call center provides several services under its contracts. For example, it not only refers calls, but also dispatches the fire trucks in Daytona Beach. There is a separate call center for Ormond Beach, and two other small subsidiary centers. The County also has a secondary call center that dispatches the fire and medical EVAC vehicles operated by the County in the unincorporated areas. The costs for RCC as compared to the County seem to be very much higher. Beginning in October 2004 the County contracted to supply Daytona Beach 911 call service, and entered into a new contract in 2006 to provide the 66,000 residents service for $1.348 million a year through 2007—or a cost of $20.42 per person excluding equipment money that is supplied from the telephone tax. The cost for RCC that serves 102,000 people is $2.8 million, which is $43.27 per person on the average, again excluding the amount spent from the telephone taxes. See the chart below for the cost per person per year by city. Interesting, what? Why is New Smyrna paying almost double the cost of Edgewater for the same number of people? Could it be that his wife, the City Attorney for Port Orange, or his old friend the former City Manager of Edgewater influenced Frank Roberts, who was instrumental in setting up the RCC? Furthermore, the financial people at the city tell us that NSB actually paid $980,000, not $952,000 in 2006, and that equates to $44.55. Enjoy!
Having two separate call services appears to be nothing more than another expensive turf war between the County and the Southeast Coastal Cities, and the determination to have a separate service has been costly. Quite frankly, the Shadow's conclusion is that the extra expense which we all pay does not seem worth the price for a separate 911 call center to serve our needs. You have the facts and could reach a different conclusion. There have been no complaints that the County service is inferior, although its number of dropped calls may be slightly higher on average than that of the RCC. However, keep in mind, despite a lower annual average of dropped calls at the RCC, last December the RCC dropped almost 10% of its calls for the month. Switching calls from one center to another is simply a matter of reprogramming the settings on the transmission towers, so that either service is available if a jurisdiction wants to switch. How about asking the County what it will charge for handling all calls for the 22,000 residents of New Smyrna Beach?
“Best Blog of the Week”
Why the corruption is not
reported in the local newspapers!
Saturday, 1/27/07, 2:29 PM
Why isn't NSB in the papers is an excellent question. The City of New Smyrna Beach was busted two years ago on ABC FREAKING NATIONAL NEWS for buying an award for being one of the best managed small towns in the country. Frank Roberts and the City Commission paid $25,000 for the award. The award was a complete fraud and the people buying it new it (or should have known it) was a fraud. There was not a word about the FRAUD in the local newspapers? It makes national television and not a word about it in the local newspapers? The local newspapers are paid off with heavy advertising and the reports with promises of getting high paying jobs as public relations persons for the local government. Some reporters have been paid off with jobs given to their family members. DOES THAT ANSWER YOU QUESTION?
“Best Co-Blog of the Week”
EDITED AND CLEANSED NSB Taxpayer
Friday, 1/26/07, 3:31 PM
Excellent copy points, however theory and the real world rarely agree. First, consider that average pay in Volusia County - $22,000 I doubt very much that any benefits figure into this. In addition, any cost of living if the increase is not justified by an increased production or efficiency is absolutely a raise. Today I witnessed an accident. Some old FOGGY pulled right in front of two bikers. The bikers were going slowly as we were all stopping for a light. Still one went down and barely hit the car. The man was helping move his own bike but several citizens took over and he went and sat down. He said he was not badly hurt and was mobile. I pulled over when I saw the first police car. Within ten minutes, no less than two fire trucks one emergency vehicle and three police cruisers were on the scene. I estimate eleven city employees and saw six vehicles. The man was scratched and we were raped. Whine all you want wages, staff, and methods used by union employees are screwing us silly. This fender bender is repeated all over town every chance they get. Let’s put these jobs out to bid. 18 fires last year cost us millions. I wonder what they spent gawking, blocking traffic, burning fuel, soiling the environment, and pretending to be needed today. Let’s pit union speculation against reality. I dare you.
PONCE INLET PORT AUTHORITY
This is a fable. Thirty or forty years ago the great father decided that Ponce Inlet should be developed as a major point for shipping—the future Port Canaveral or Port Everglades. The Inlet authority was set up and a taxing district for all property east of the future I-95 was established to fund building this great future port in Volusia County. While the Ponce Inlet Port Authority ostensibly collects the taxes, in reality the County Council sets the millage rate and determines how much tax money should be collected.
This brings up a rather interesting point. This fund has grown recently to almost $7 million dollars in reserve, and yet, in the proposed 2007 budget, the millage rate will be the same as last year. It has only two employees, and spends almost no money. However, it had money to throw away by partly funding the dredging of Calore Canal. The important issue is that there is no reason for the Ponce Inlet Port Authority to exist. All of its functions could be, and probably are already being performed by other governmental bodies. Is there anyone out there who believes that at this date and in this environment Volusia County could create another Port Canaveral? How about we eliminate the tax for the Ponce Inlet Port Authority and return $7 million to the taxpayers who contributed to this County slush fund? Since they never give back a nickel, perhaps the County Council could use it for beach renourishment projects since this will benefit everyone in the county East of I-95.
