June 8th, 2009
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1. NO BLACK MAN HERE
We were not surprised that Commissioner Plasket t was not present to vote on the vote to enhance the ability of the police to harass fisherman on the Barracuda Bridge or on Beachway. What a gas. And they expect us to believe that the only reason they did this was to clear up a couple of details in the current ordinance. We bet no African American or Hispanic believes that lame piece of garbage of an explanation.
2. STOP NIGHTIME FALSE ALARMS
We were trying to figure out, given the few fire calls that are received (three real fires ALL year and a total of about two calls per station per month)why Commissioner Richenberg wanted to fine businesses that generated occasional false alarms. The fire department needs the numbers and, unless you go behind the numbers themselves, you would not know whether it was smoke from a barbecue or a real fire call. If you recall when the pay issue on the last contract for the fire department was discussed by the City Commission the engines roared by to a false smoke alarm fire on Canal Street. But then again, if your spouse was awakened at night from a good deep sleep, maybe, as someone suggested, you would want to get rid of a night call or two. It is certainly not wear and tear on the equipment as had been put forward because then you would not go to Publix or send three fire department vehicles to fender bender accidents. Nor would you have a fire truck follow an EVAC vehicle to a medical call.
“Best Blogs of the Week”
(Edited for grammar and punctuation)
A POTPOURRI OF CITIZEN COMMENTS IS
AGAIN PROVIDED THIS WEEK IN ORDER
FOR YOU TO GET IN TUNE WITH THE
MOOD OF OUR READERS
6/2/2009, 4:57 pm
Think about it.
I worked with Hagood for almost 20 years, I am ashamed for myself and the city of NSB for the way Sally, Lynn and Randy treated someone who gave almost 30 years to the citizens of this community . He gave us stability and integrity. I also know this was a political ploy, in an election year. These 3 thought it would be better to have someone from public works with no management skills, become the interim cm and increase his salary by at least 20k. And then hire a recruiter (pay recruiter at least 20k) to look for a new cm and then pay new cm at least 40-50k more than Hagood. When in fact we had as the Shadow mentions Hagood whom new candidates qualifications will not ever come close. Forget bringing him back as CM, bring him back as MAYOR.
Hagood think about it!
NOTES
1. SUPRESS ANY STUDY THAT SHOWS SAVINGS IN CONSOLIDATING ORANGE COUNTY FIRE SEVICES
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has sought to suppress a study in Orange County that presented large savings in consolidation the Orlando and Orange County Fire departments. LINKMay 27,2009.
We did not find it astounding that the IAFF would go to court to try and suppress a study they did not like. We were not surprised. They think that they control not only the elected officials but also the media. They do not want facts about their operations publically discussed. This study would abolish one of the management functions of at least one of the duplicate services. An overlap map of all stations by both jurisdictions indicates unnecessary redundancy and a single consolidated department would close in all likelihood a number of unneeded stations. Each station, assuming four to a station per shift even in not highly urban areas, is 16 or 17 employees and a savings of a couple of million dollars. each That is why the IAFF does not want you to read the study. You just might agree with the conclusions.
2. TAXPAYERS IN THE DARK--AGAIN
There are secret negotiations between the County and City to set up as poison pill contracts to frustrate any real consolidation of fire departments.
Look at the following question by the Shadow and the answer given by the City Clerk:
“Q. Last week I [The Shadow]requested all information concerning the negotiations of the City of New Smyrna Beach with Volusia County and the other Cities in Southeast Volusia County concerning fire department consolidation or the exchange of facilities and who would be in control of fire stations. I want to know the dates of each meeting, who attended, and any papers or briefing type documents which may have been produced by any of these meetings. To whom in the City did the City negotiator report? If these documents exceed more than several pages I wish to inspect them.
REPLY
No records of such meetings exist in the City of New Smyrna Beach. City staff has suggested you contact Volusia County and/or the City of Port Orange regarding the matter.”
The County is supplying to The Shadow the 85 page memorandum of understanding negotiated by, among others, the City of New Smyrna Beach and the County. The simple fact is that it looks like the City lied. We will publish the document next week after we receive it. The only people left in the dark are the taxpayers. If the County fire stations in Silver Sands and Oak Hill are included the whole deal is a sham and will result in nothing more than shoveling County money into Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach. County money is also your money. We believe it is a lie that no records exist in New Smyrna Beach.
3. FIRE CHIEF LEAVE OFFICE
Fire Chief Hawver is leaving City employment in July we are told. Now we think he retired several years ago, but is just now leaving this July. Remember he was in the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Program) and was receiving an extra, we figure, $60,000 two or three years as a separate “kitty” payment. The State has stated that they can not even tell you how much he is walking away with. Some open government.
Have you noticed that the elected worthies are replacing department heads as fast as they can figure out how. Just more distractions. All the temporary “savings” in personnel by the way are a fraction of the waste just in buying Esther Street for $4.3 million.
DEAR KHALID
As we have stated in the past, we realize that the City Manager is limited in the resources available to him for pursuing cost reduction projects, so we have decided to help him out and provide draft letters for his review. As we have said this will free him up for important things, like dealing with all the serious problems of the police and fire department pensions.
TO: MAYOR MACKAY
From: From: Khalid Reishdat
Dear Sally,
One of the City Commissioners running for re-election this year has asked a number of people in town whether they would support him for mayor. Now I do not think he would have done this had he not had some signal that you were planning not to run despite your public statement that you wanted a second term. I am confused at this point. If you are really not planning to run I think you owe it to the employees to not delay in telling us if you have changed your mind.
Your friend,
Khalid
NATURAL GAS BOOM
In an article on April 30, 2009 the Wall Street Journal put a stake in the heart of the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission flim-flam proposal to put a garbage burning small and inadequate generating facility near Venetian Bay and Sugar Mill. LINK
Huge discoveries of natural gas have been made and there is no foreseeable limitations on use of domestic natural gas for maybe the next 100 years. Compared to coal and oil, it is clean even if it is a hydrocarbon.
A garbage burning plant may look green, but it seems to be both a terrible insult to the environment as well as the pocket book. Rodi holds a degree in political science and we do not think any of the Commissioners has an engineering background. If they do, they may have forgotten everything they learned because the more we look at this proposal the less we think it makes sense. But it keeps rolling along in the semi-dark as can be seen from the April 20th minutes of the Utilities Commission. LINK page 14.
There has been a few knowledgeable posters on the Shadow’s BLOG commenting on the Utilities Commission’s plan. Some one at the Utilities Commission has responded, we believe either Rodi or maybe it is the salesman trying to sell this garbage facility. The City should invite an independent analysis at the Federal and State level because, if any of the postings are correct criticizing this garbage burning project, it would represent a colossal mistake to even to consider any further involvement by the Utilities Commission in this project. Wrong place, wrong size, wrong vendor and who knows what else is wrong.
MORE THOUGHTS ON SECRET PAY RAISES
FOR CITY EMPLOYEES.
Poor Commander Drossman was making less than the sergeants. What a shame! Apparently the personnel director and/or the Police Chief were not doing their jobs. That should have been fixed when he was promoted if it was justified. Why now when the City has money problem. What to do, what to do!! Give him a raise of course. The City’s solution to every problem. Simple, spend more taxpayer money. But do it in secret (see above) because the taxpayers might not like it.
Did Frank Roberts tell him to demand it? Drossman and Roberts seem to meet from time to time. Somebody did. We thought at first that it was probably the guy that sells the Grand Marquis cruisers to the police chief, but we now know it was Khalid and Carol Hargy.
Commander Drossman’s salary was raised from $29.27 to $32.20. They call it a “market adjustment” which is a fancy way of saying they gave him a base raise of $6,300. He is a Commander, a senior member of Pagano’s staff, and should not be paid overtime. He is management. None of the city department heads should be paid overtime. They are already sufficiently compensated for their efforts. Obviously the City Manager has the authority to authorize a pay raise, but we cannot imagine that he would have done this without consultations with the worthy elected officials. We wonder if the employees who work for businesses that are going to hell in a hand basket think that raises for City employees are a good idea. Of course it seems that the elected worthies here think so. But make sure it is done in secret .
To put this latest raise at the police department in perspective, the good folks in Deltona pay the Volusia County Sherriff about $100 per resident for police protection as good or better than ours. We pay ours about $325 per resident. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
NO SUNSHINE HERE
One of our esteemed readers has favored the Shadow with an interchange between the City of New Smyrna Beach and his demand for information as to what authority permitted the City, in particular Commissioner Richenberg, to hold secret meetings on the issue of the so-called “Pocket Parks” (PPs). On its face any such conduct violates the State of Florida Sunshine laws. We all know that the issue of PPs is no more than a cover to prevent any action against the “thief” who appropriated City land for his own use and, in the process, just happened to make it difficult or impossible for most blacks and Hispanics to fish off public land.
The exchange so-far has been the usual City run-a-round. Commissioner Richenberg has been authorized to head up the study of the issue, name an advisory Committee, and come up with an “answer”---- all without public scrutiny. The issue that brought this into question is his next door neighbor. The code enforcement inspectors have refused it appears to issue a citation for the obvious violation of planting trees in the middle of a public right-of-way. The City clearly does not care to confront the issue. Richenberg is the protector for his neighbors on Peninsula Avenue who does not want undesirables fishing or accessing this public land.
It is only fair to state that there have been two publicly noticed meetings on the matter of pocket parks and that citizens have been permitted to make comment earlier on this farce. But the issue is that the members of the citizen committee who were selected by Commissioner Richenberg are not being bound by the Sunshine Law and that they are discussing committee business in the shade including with Commissioner Richenberg. If they are responsible for recommending public policy to the city commission then they are bound by the Sunshine Law. The issue, therefore, is no longer just the bigoted efforts to deny fishing. It’s the absolute violation of the Sunshine laws and the effort to deny the public from the deliberations of how decisions will be reached. A month after inquiring about the legitimacy of this “advisory citizen group” the City Clerk and City Attorney were still giving the inquirer the run around.
One could complain to the Florida State offices that are supposed to enforce the Sunshine Laws, but then the City Attorney would just hire a Tallahassee lawyer and you will not hear about it again for a year or two. Some open government promised by the Mayor. It looks more and more of PP on you as the pocket park issue goes along.
THE TAXABLE VALUE OF PROPERTY
IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH IS DOWN BY 21%.
IF THEY SPEND THE SAME MONEY AS LAST YEAR, YOUR TAXES COULD GO UP THE ENTIRE 21% . IF YOUR “SAVE OUR HOME” BENEFIT IS MORE THAN 21%, THE FULL 21%, OR WHATEVER LEVEL THEY CHOOSE TO RAISE THE CITY MILLAGE RATE, MAY BE APPLICABLE TO YOUR PROPERTY TAX.
[see paragraph 3 in letter below]
We thought you should read the letter that the Volusia County Tax Appraiser, Morgan Gilreath , Distributed This week.
(click image for full size)
THE BUDGET SEASON IS JUST STARTING. OUR WORTHIES HAVE NOT PREPARED FOR THIS DECREASE IN REVENUE. RANDY DOES NOT EVEN WANT TO ADDRESS BALANCING THE BUDGET WITHOUT RAISING TAXES. UNLIKE YOU, PERHAPS WITHOUT A JOB OR ON A FIXED INCOME, HE DOES NOT HAVE YOUR PROBLEM. HE WILL NOT CRY IN HIS BEER BECAUSE OF A TAX INCREASE FOR WHICH HE VOTES. YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND, WILL HAVE TO DO SO WHEN THE TAX BILL HITS.
WHERE OH WHERE IS OUR 2010 PROPOSED BUDGET !!!!!
