August 17th, 2009
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1. NOT NEEDED, BUT WE NEED OUR OWN STATISTIC ANYWAY; NO CONCERN FOR SAFETY
An official County report shows that a dispatched New Smyrna Beach fire engine was told seven seconds after leaving the station that it was not needed, but it went to the accident anyway. Someone who posts on the BLOG and gives the fire department view it seems suggests that we wait two months for the City report. Who has the whitewash can? When it was almost at the South City line, that engine was ten minutes from Minorca. It was supposed to immediately return to its station.
2. RENOVATING THE GOLF PRO SHOP
Attached as a LINK is an invoice showing a charge of about $3,800 for labor in renovating the municipal golf course pro shop. We estimate that they spent well in excess of $10,000 for this useless project in a recession where even increased sales would not provide enough profit to provide a return on the investment.
3. THINK ABOUT IT
The Finance Director states that we have increased the City Reserves by $1 million dollars. $12,000,000. We had trouble with her arithmetic. City Manager (Khalid) states that the City Reserves are at only 130 days (about $4.2 million). Who do you want to believe?
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8/16/2009, 9:14 am
Wants To Know
Email: darksecret@nsb.com
Sally why do you use your EX Husband's name instead of your maiden name or your current husbands name ???????
8/16/2009, 7:04 am
Observant
Dark Shadow,
Once again you do a nice job of stating relevant facts.
Poor NSB is always looking for a helping hand from the outside and like the days after the War of Northern Agression, Carpet Baggers roam the streets with big promises and profitering in their hearts.
NSB has to work intentionally to make itself investment worthy. Can't always be looking for handouts.We are an island for gosh sakes. Investors like to invest where the locals are investing and being succesful. Savy Wallstreeters can spot local shade tree hucksters.
The problem is as you have aid is we have yet to elect or employ true chart readers
A common thread in the demise of most projects in NSB is the failure of the intrested parties to abide by some simple metaphorical precepts of business: 1. Look before you leap; 2. Count your costs beforehand; 3. Don't count your chickens...; 4. Don't build on shifting sands; 5. Be well funded! In the development phase the aforementioned 5 create STAMINA.
Island Town Center failed as it violated the above - had no stamina; was too ambitious and the problems faced were inherent of a lack of planning . Heck, they were "selling" boatslips before they had secured the permitting. Like many developers they needed to sell a number of units to secure needed financing, so they fabricated a prospectus. IT FAILED!
I don't find the Premiere proposal as "amazing" as you. We're seeing the same story unfold with Premiere. Hotel and zoning are not in sync. We want to believe 100% funding is in place. Using the worn and weak argument that this particular small hotel will do the trick and bring tourists to NSB.Look they are one of hundreds of upfront development and design consultants for groups of investors (used to be Doctors who put up the money) who will invest in the development of small overnight stay hotel chains eg Hampton, Hilton Gardens, etc...Their principal has a warm place in his heart for NSB. It is likely that the first investment group will sell the project before or at the time of completion to a group who has a longer return horizon and is in the business of running Hotels. Thats just the business. The City can't prevent the selling of the project.
8/16/2009, 6:28 am
NIMBY
Do you want an insight as to Rodi's operation of the U.C.? Go to the U.C, web site and notice that the minutes of the last meeting have yet to be posted. I wonder why. Do you?
8/15/2009, 10:07 pm
Geno
Shadow...you're the best!! By luck, I stumbled across your website. I live in Pa. but I just made settlement on a home in NSB (god help me!). I just can't believe what goes on in volusia county!! Just wanted to say "thanks" for your hard work and all the "sad, but true" info you provide. Hope to meet you some day, Geno
NOTES
1. WEBSITES OF CANDIDATES
FOR MAYOR
Sally Mackay - sallymackayformayor.com
Marilee Walters - marileeformayor.com
Adam Barringer - adambarringerformayor.com
FOR COMMISSIONER ZONE TWO
Jack Grasty -
Palmer Wilson - palmerwilsonforcomissioner.com
Steve Sather -
FOR COMMISIONER ZONE ONE
Randy Richenberg
Judy Reichert - voteforjudy.com
Frank Dalton
These will be updated as new information is received.
2. HEALTHCARE ISSUES ON THE BLOG
The Shadow is interested in health care, but despite some of the excellent postings on the BLOG on the issue, we must remove them because they do not fit the debate model we have set up. We were thinking of setting up some additional opinion pages as threads, but the effort to edit and monitor additional pages is substantial, and the limited time of those who write and publish the Shadow does not permit spending time on national issues. Besides there are sites that devote themselves to these issues. On the same topic of content of postings, accusing a public official of tax fraud or what appears as derogatory material of a non-public official is also not for the BLOG. We will stay with our current model.
3. ANTI BUSINESS AS USUAL
Rakowski who is the instrument that the majority of the anti businesses Commissioners have used to prevent growth in the City was at work. Clancy's Restaurant moved from the Publix plaza on 3rd Avenue to Flagler. It took over and renovated the building that once was the Hathaway grocery. Along comes the guy who keeps out business and taxes the one that are already here and hits the newly moved restaurant with a $12,000 “impact fee” study for traffic. The absurdity is that the comparison was the old grocery and there is nothing to compare. What is worse is why should anyone get an impact fee on a street which is supposed to be busy and whose last tenant was also a restaurant?
But then we turn to where was the Useless Chamber of Commerce? Not a word. And then the question is why the Commission did not just waive the fee as an absurdity. Moon Lady said she never voted for something that would punish an existing business. Not one of the Yo-Yos simply stated that they would vote to not collect the money. Clancy's would not sue. Nor do we believe that Rakowski can sue. In the Shadow's opinion Mr.Rakowski has done more to harm the reputation of the City than even the clueless Mayor and her current fellow travelers. The last we heard, for example, he was talking about suing Port Orange for approving zoning in Port Orange for a shopping center. The Shadow thinks he has lost it. And poor Clancy's gets the bill.
DEAR PAM
As we have stated in the past, we realize that the City Manager is limited in the resources available to her for pursuing cost reduction projects, so we have decided to help her out and provide draft letters for her review. As we have said, this will free her up for important things, like dealing with all the serious problems of the police and fire department pensions.
Dear Sally
Rakowski is off the wall. I would like to reduce his staff since he seems to have more resources than he needs if he can come up with nonsense like taxing Clancy's. I was also thinking of buying a roll of duck tape.
Pam
THE OLD HIGH SCHOOL RIPOFF
They lied to the Governor to have the Old New Smyrna Beach High School given to the State Environmental Agency. They told him the School Board requirement to give the property back to the State required it be used for educational purposes. It did not. They lied when they said that taking a $20,000,000 piece of prime property off the tax rolls could be developed as an eco-tourism center. They lied when they said that it would attract all sorts of projects, ranging from a $10 million dollar major marine center and a major State fish hatchery. Now they are down to trying to use a $20,000,000 site for a new home for the Marine Discovery Center to store the water taxi boats when that losing project goes down the tubes. They have a meeting scheduled this Thursday where they will discuss how to keep the property off the tax rolls.
The fact is that the property should be put up for bid and sold for future planned development. The State certainly needs the money. The County and the City needs the tax base, not another park nor something called a recreation development zone. The least these Commissioners should do is not vote on this issue before the election. Randy is protecting his neighbor who planted palm trees in the middle of the street at Beachway, and, now that he sees that the uses he claimed for the old high school will never be, he wants to put another hurdle in the way of reasonable development. Morgan Gilreath, the County Tax Appraiser, has stated that this is probably the most valuable tract of property in Volusia County. The City should put it back on the tax rolls as soon as possible.
On August 7, 2009 the International Association of Fire Fighters and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers dropped their Court appeals in the Vallejo, California, bankruptcy case. The Unions blinked and then caved in LINK .Would it be too much to ask Sally and her friends to conduct open negotiations on pay, pensions and benefits of all City employees and avoid bankrupting the City? Is it asking too much for them to act in the interest of the Taxpayers for a change? Over 60% of our fire department personnel now are paid salaries alone that exceed $60,000 a year. Poster Child for excess pensions is Cindy Richenberg. The police steward who demanded last year that he and his friends be given a 2% pay increase has a salary of $88,000. The current incumbents who voted for these raises need a reality check. These lovely souls even refused to insist the fire department personnel give up four hour a pay period of overtime. How about appointing a civilian to run the fire department? Not a fireman who came up from the ranks, but someone who thinks of the taxpayers as well as public safety wouldn’t that be a gas. Preferably one not related to a Commissioner.
After a month and a half, the Commission is finally is getting around to addressing the Angler' Club rip off lease. It has even invited the grifters to show up. Will they support an appraisal of the property's highest value as a marina, particularly if added to the present City Marina as a single entity? Will they support a public auction of the right to lease it until it can be sold to the highest bidder a few years from now when the market recovers? Show up and ask them. Also, ask a few of the big hotel chains to say what the property would be worth to them as a package for a 100 slip marina-oriented high end posh hotel site.
The City was accused by the Volusia County Home Builders Association of misappropriating over $900,000 collected by the City permit office to uses prohibited by State law. The City then claimed that it had used the money for uses permitted, such as paying half the salaries of the two City Fire Marshalls and, would you believe, almost $100,000 a year for rent for a portion of the City Hall first floor. The County tax appraiser states that the City deliberately misled his office as to the status of the Anglers Club, and never once challenged the unconscionable lease that it had for the most expensive City owned property for $25 a year. So let us see if we get this right. The City figures that the lease of an undecorated corner of an old building should pay about $100,000 a year but a valuable piece of City property should not be challenged by the property appraiser because it was rented by 90 white males who discriminate against most of the City residents---you know, blacks, Hispanics, Moslems, Jews, women, etc. They will have a settlement negotiation next week. The Shadow does not know how it will turn out, but if the City really believes that the rent it charged to the permit office was fair, the Shadow thinks a $500,000 lease for the Angler's Club also makes sense.
BERT FISH QUESTIONABLE MANAGEMENT
Last week we published a graphic showing that most of the residents in our part of Florida were insured. In fact we are in a part of the country that has the most insurance. Each health insurance premium paid by anyone includes a portion which the private insurer pays to hospitals for indigent care. But seven, count them, seven hospitals in Florida have taxing authority. Unfortunately three of them are in Volusia County. Even more unfortunately, one of them is in New Smyrna Beach.
Just to show you how badly this hospital is managed, for several years in the recent past it has not had a contract with some of the major insurance companies. Many City employees could not go to Bert Fish for the most part, and obviously no money for indigents was recovered from the payments for their care. It appears it has not negotiated rates for reimbursement that covers the cost for indigents now that it has reestablished relationships with these companies. Why should it bother? It can just raise the taxes on all of us and does not have to act efficiently like almost every other hospital in the country. The result is that if you did not live in the Bert Fish tax district, indigents would be cared for by a part of your health insurance you already paid, but here you not only pay for your own insurance and those of indigents, but are also taxed a second time to pay for the same thing.
Worse, the people who permit this mismanagement and unconscionable tax are appointed. Many of those appointed have no credentials for running a hospital and this even includes someone with a degree in auto body work repair from the community college. We found that three last year did not have the qualifications required by Stat e law. One of he Board members is the head of an organization that apparently only pays its CEO's health premiums and you pay Bert Fish to take care of the other employees as private payees or as indigents.
If you want to see just how unfair Bert Fish is look at the Power Point. LINK
Now the next question is how do they spend the money? We cannot yet figure it out. Other hospitals pay for indigent care for a fraction of what Bert Fish collects in taxes. In addition, Bert Fish must now make something on the payments of insurance claims, so where does all the money go? We do not know. Is it administration? Is it payment of medical personnel? Not from what we hear. So where does the money go? Maybe the Feds could look into it. Someone should!
