Next Wednesday, the Council will “review options for trimming the 2009 Budget expenses to match revenues and provide budget policy guidance,” according to the City’s website. Although most of us don’t have enough familiarity with the day to day operations of City Hall to decide which specific cuts should be made, we all have opinions about the general areas of City spending that should be saved or axed. Some people even think we should raise taxes or issue bonds. How do you think the administration and Council should approach its budget problems?
If and when the Council cuts the arts and social services out of its budget, how should we shore up those crucial aspects of our community? Anybody have any ideas–aside from more private donations?
On a related note, the off-island conventional wisdom about Bainbridge is that we’re a bunch of spoiled rich people. How are you feeling these days? Are you still affluent? Comfortable? Scared out of you mind? Have you changed the way you live or work since the downturn? Have you stopped spending–because you don’t have as much money, or because you aren’t sure how bad things will get? Will this affect your May vote on change of government, or the school district’s bond to rebuild Wilkes School?
Start with pay cuts for city staff. That’s what we did at my job. That way, we saved a few jobs. City employees make an average of 6 figures and management makes more. also, we don’t need as many police as we have. We shouldn’t be spendingcity money on the arts in these tough times either. Get rid of HHHS, that’s another layer of administration. But give more to the agencies. Don’t spend on big infrastructure projects right now. Do what we’re doing at my house, only spend on the bare essentials.
Cutting pay as proposed for our City workers is only delaying the inevitable. The fact is and we have data as a City to prove it, we are way over staffed and our wonderful Mayor that we have, who pushed for and hired all these folks can now deal with telling them GOOD-Bye.
I am not cold hearted as it might sound but trying to be realistic, something the fabulous four and the Mayor haven’t the ability to do based upon what we have seen to date. An example is Barry the spender, is, you guessed it, out spending what we don’t have.
I trust when this house of cards collapses, Sir Barry can be put away as Madoff has been! Maybe they could even share a cell.
I don’t believe in pay cuts, or bonuses for that matter. Let’s pay people what they’re worth, and not penalize the good employees for carrying the dead wood. We also need to prioritize our needs. If necessary, let’s lay off the weak employees and transfer the good ones into their jobs.
Part 2: On this sunny afternoon, it is in many ways exciting to consider that we may be at the point of great change, an inflection point in our economy and ways of doing business. Are we going to use this to change the way our government works as well? We have an opportunity here. Will we seize it?
The moment is changing the definition of conservative and open minded, of those clinging to the past and those open to the possibilities of the future. Barry Peters, for example, that former head of “Sustainable Bainbridge”, that very model of the “Yes!” society of progressives, is emerging as a defender of the old order, of large budgets, bureaucracies, mega projects, and top-down decision making. Barry sought control of this system and he hates to see it go. He thought the brass ring was within grasp, and that particular merry-go-round has stopped.
Hilary and Kjell, not exactly known for their progressive or participatory attitudes, are standing in the middle of the road, wondering if the earth has not moved after all, and that perhaps ground conditions are now different after all.
And there’s Bill, calling us to emulate Kenmore in doing things differently, to try out new models, to think differently. This from a former military man and pilot! How’s that for a defiance of stereotypes. Barry has hunkered down, Hilary and Kjell are walking bewildered down the road, and Bill is thinking ahead.
Are we as an island really as progressive and open-minded and interested in possibilities as we say we are? We think of ourselves as the opposite of Los Angeles in every possible way, and yet that place is one of the true incubators of the new in the world, or at least in America. L.A., miraculously, is ever morphing and reinventing itself, trying out new things, moving ahead. Yes, we are a beautiful place, but are we fundamentally still a farming community with a very Midwest, farmer-style reluctance to try new things? How far this place sometimes seems from the currents of change and diversity that characterize places like Los Angeles, Vancouver, Mumbai. We are stuck in who said what to whom 15 or 20 years ago, and still in a develop-and-profit economy. Concerned about what the economy will do to the number of employees on staff. Yes, these are employees, and they are people, but the goal here is to make this place work, to effectively provide public services, and I wonder what evidence there is of this government being able to do anything over the last five years or more. What do we have to lose by trying some radically new approaches to government? Perhaps we, Bainbridge Island, that place of New Age attitudes, might actually become a leader in making things work in new ways. Or are we too afraid to try, Barry?
Painful but necessary: back to the basics of what a municipal government HAS to do.
1. Public Safety
2. Maintain roads, sidewalks and bridges
3. Provide Sewer, Water and Storm Water Utilities
Note: Water and Sewer could be done differently, but that would take at least a year to change.
4. Run a Municipal Court
Note: Could also be done differently, but not this year.
5. Collect funds and pay city bills.
6. Perform legally required planning functions.
7. Protect the natural environment per legal requirements.
8. Manage lawsuits (City is a legal entity)
Just doing those (list is not fully comprehensive) isn’t going to leave much for anyone or anything else.
The annual RED envelope is going to hold a lot of the answers. And frankly, that isn’t a bad solution to those who think government should not bloat into all the areas and organizations that want public funding.
City staffing has been (finally!!!!) reduced. A few more permanent cuts are still required, but the city has to deal with unions, and that may not be great news for taxpayers and efficiencies.
Increased taxes can be discussed when the city is sized right and efficiencies have been instituted … but do the hard work first or the efficiencies will never happen.
The good news is that they are actually making some progress. Mark Dembrowski has walked into a storm, but he
is both talking and acting like a responsible manager.
Wednesday’s decisions will be shocking … IF they are made. My best guess is that the Council will gridlock and not emerge with a path of financial enlightenment. Nobody is going to walk away from that meeting pleased.
My guess is San Carlos may have marked increased liquor sales that evening.
Perhaps BI will be forced to go with the revolutionary concept of limited government rather than the expansive “progressive” big spender, big budget, big concepts we have seen from COBI Council. I would applaud COBI to follow this path voluntarily but given the fiasco we are in, let’s give limited government-option. As to “New Age” solutions, keep those in the private-business realm and I wish them great success.
All we ever see from our candidates are big spenders, even bigger spenders and gigantic big spenders. There must be fiscal conservatives here on Our Island who want to see limited government succeed.
Look carefully at our current mess and tell me which COBI Council member, past Mayor or current Mayor is not culpable.
Dear Dyslexic Observer-
You came close to a good description of our imfamous four. The one problem is you forgot to address the least capable- Mr. Snow, who hails from the Federal Gov’t. That about says it all, heh. Spend, and Spend, and Spend, and spend ad infinitum.
We sure do owe Bill, Kim, and Debbie allot of thanks as they were able to hold back the apparent upcoming bankruptcy for months otherwise it would have already been all spent.
As for eliminating arts funding, it is my understanding that the NEA is offering grants:… “jobs for which you request support must be critical to your organization’s mission and core work, and they should be in jeopardy because of the current economic situation…The NEA funds may be used for full or partial support of one or more salaries.” Sounds like a fit to me. Either 25k or 50k is available. Shouldn’t we be considering grants for all our arts and social services groups to keep our good people running the shows? If there are stimulus funds available maybe we should get in line. I think community bake sales and auctions just aren’t going to fix shortfalls this time. Individuals who can afford to step up to the plate should not hesitate to give generously. We are a good community of good people. That’s what makes us unique. Our social fabric doesn’t have to shred.
Hi Black and White–the NEA grant funds would be a great resource for local arts organizations. Unfortunately, one of the criteria is that applicants must have received an NEA grant within the last four years. I believe the only arts organization on the island that would qualify to apply for NEA stimulus funding is BIAHC.
Susan, this is great information! Thank you for letting the island know that BIACH qualifies for an NEA grant. Who is going to write it, you perhaps? It looks like we have about a month before the doors are closed. So, the question is, who has the time and ability to write such a grant? Surly someone on our beautiful isle can donate the time, energy and funds necessary to apply.
Hi Zeke–not to split hairs, but I’m not 100% certain that BIAHC qualifies for the NEA grant, just that they are the only organization that meets the requirement to apply. While I would love to work on the application, I’m kept pretty busy these days working to help keep Bainbridge Perfoming Arts afloat. I believe BIAHC is working on the grant application, or intends to, at any rate.
Maybe Barry Peters would sponsor in his front yard a rock concert with admission monies going to the various community needs he is proposing to cut out for street beautification?
Nancy,
Don’t want to get snarky here, but two of your three heroes have been on Council since 2002 and consistently voted to support the bloated civic empire.
Winslow Tommorrow, Quay, the big payraise, WWTP (up until this year when the community finally alerted them to the cost), and virtually every social program that came along. They voted for every one of them.
They claim they were misled.
OK.
My suspicion is they wanted to be popular and get reelected. Reading city financial documents doesn’t generate votes.
Your idea of them “saving the city” is different than mine.
This may or may not be relevant to your point Robert…but have you ever tried to get financial info out of the City? It’s like drowning in a swamp. It took me a month of begging, plus a letter from a law firm to pry complete information about the senior management bonuses from the City.
I have seen Councilors with such different outlooks as Nezam Tooloee and Kjell Stoknes asked pointed questions from the dais, and receive such incomprehensible, misleading or inconsistent responses that they either snapped in anger or slunk away in silence.
Just this past Wednesday night, Stoknes made a simple request of Elray: write on a piece of paper the amount of cash the City has. You were there. Did you hear or see any answer?
It took the City staff 2 years to publicly admit the City was spending more money than it was taking in. That’s unconscionable.
No council member is perfect, and all are subject to political motivations and pressures. Some are better at reading financial statements than others. But no one can make good decisions without timely, reliable, credible information.
Looking at the historical facts, Mr. Dashiell is right. Peters may be getting all the bad press lately but at least 2 of the 3 are no better or worse than him when you look at their votes since being on the council. “No good cause goes unvoted for” seems to have been (and continues to be) the mantra. I really like Mr. Knobloch but his actions (even as recent as the last meeting) are not consistent with his exclamation of “we cannot keep doing business as usual.” Since you cannot logically save $3-6 million dollars in 8 months simply by “right-sizing” city hall, it will be interesting to see the arguments on the 18th. You cannot make everyone happy, might as well face it that some are going to be “mad” at you. Especially in the current economic climate, special interest pandering is not acceptable. I am looking for a council person to come forward with a list of cuts to hit their goal. Mr. Knobloch, will that be you?
Althea, your 10:49 post is spot on.
Althea — I was at the Council meeting, too. I heard Stokness make his simple request and watched Elray squirm in dead silence for about 30 seconds.
If I recall correctly, Stokness wanted four numbers — cash + proected income – projected expenses = what’s left at the end of 2009.
To avoid answering, Elray put a sheet on the monitor with so many tiny numbers on it that no one in the history of human eyesight could possibly read them. Obfuscation.
The council and everyone in the audience could have understood Kjell’s simple formula and its result. Instead, a pile of confusion. If I had been on the council, I would have demanded that the mayor instruct Elray do as requested or fire him on the spot. (One good reason I will never be on the council.)
Notebook host wrote: “This may or may not be relevant to your point Robert…but have you ever tried to get financial info out of the City? It’s like drowning in a swamp.” As far as the culpability of past or present COBI councilmen, all council members are articulate, Type A and men and women of the real world. If a defense is raised by Council (or their fans) that they Council) did not know the TRUTH, I find the case very weak. The fact is it is their business to know. A line in the sand could have been drawn years ago on having open books at COBI. It all seems like a case of implausible deniability and a chance to make Mayor K the fall gal.
You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Just for the record, I submit many Public Record requests from the city. I have been given good service and usually comprehensive answers. About half my requests involve financial matters or summaries.
I can also find most of what I need on-line … I research extensively.
I don’t always get an answer in five days, but I also know the city clerk is almost overwhelmed with Public information requests. I saw her correspondence list last week … exceeded 2000 messages. Roz is a very busy city clerk, and she has one great attitude.
And while I’m again standing on my soapbox, the question to Elray the other night was not simple one to answer. The city’s financial and cash position changes almost by the minute. The city has thousands of accounts … and to answer an off-the-cuff “simple” question of how much cash the city has on a Wednesday night, 11 March is NOT a simple question to answer contrary to the opinion of the lawyer who hosts this blog.
For the Council, they should be able to read and basically understand the monthly financial statements. If those are too complex, then the council should collectively decide on what they want to see (so every member isn’t asking for a different report or format) and ask the administration to prepare a report to their comprehension level. Not every council person has financial DNA, and what is important is that they understand the big picture financial position and direction the city is moving.
Robert: You don’t expect Elray to know in general terms how much money the City has on hand and what his revenue and expense projections are. And yet you expect the Council to understand the “thousands of accounts” or the shifting, often inconsistent ways the city summarizes them.
Elray is the Finance Director. If he can’t give a clear answer–with all the caveats he wants about how it’s only his estimate, as of the end of last month, or whatever—then he is doing the Council no good. How can they get the big financial picture when he can’t/won’t give it to them?
I’ve been on many boards–for-profit, non-profit and governmental. I admit to being a finance-challenged ex-lawyer, but on all of those boards, the CFO took it as a primary responsibility to make sure we understood where the organization stood. If we didn’t, they felt they weren’t doing their job.
As to records requests, Roz is never the problem. She is every bit as professional as you say. The delay is in the management response.
Hi Hunter and Robert D:
I want to thank Althea for her comments. It saves me a lot of typing. For the record, at the beginning of Winslow Tomorrow[2003] the city had over $7,000,000 dollars in the bank. There was never any mention of borrowing money when we sat and constructed the Capital Facilities Plan. We turned to the Finance Officer and said; “Ralph, make it happen.”
The rest of history reveals the waste and mismanagement that followed WT down the road to the point we are presently at. We, and that included several well known council members, always voted very carefully when asked for progressive funding. Finally, it became evident that our income and spending did not match. This, while City Administration continued the need for more spending that included, at one point, a million dollar fountain loaded waterfront bathroom. When the smoke cleared from that irrational behavior, the city consultants started to abandon ship. Then council vote showed a definite split as the true nature of city finances became apparent.
The spending on the 2007 capital facilities plan was so bad that after a Jan 23, 2008 new council vote to approve, I was told three weeks later that the money for major projects was not available. I did not vote for the 2007 budget. We voted only for basic operational expenses until we could balance the books.
Finally, I will make only two more points;
1. I had command of a carrier squadron after many years as executive office. I knew how much money we had every day and how we planned to spend it for the next six months. That included many changes to operational planning. The information was transparent and timely. It had to be. Why not now at city hall with all the technology that is available?
2. I have a web site at http://WWW.BILLKNOBLOCH.COM. It is from my summer campaign of 2007. I left it up on purpose. I knew then what was going on with WT. The comments reflect my voting history since then, despite the politics of money being played being played by elected s and citizens alike.
As for the cuts at city hall; city council has the responsibility to set monetary policy for the City Administration. We decide how much money the city has to use via the revenue stream. We also set the priorities along with the Mayor. Sometimes that does not work if the Mayor continues a program despite the obvious lack of money………………. borrowing can be a narcotic.
The details of what is cut is helped in part by the community priorities and council recognition of them. After that, it is up to the Mayor as to who and what department/program survives. Council then, and only then, will approve or make changes.
Just remember, there is no borrowing history for the city, except for voter approved open space bonds, since city hall construction. The serious debt started Dec 2007 in a mad rush while the old city council was yelling loudly that there was a negative imbalance for city finances.
From Hyannis MA, respectfully, Bill
Bill Knobloch — when are you going to announce you are running for Mayor. The suspense is just soooo thick.
Bill, I appreciate your recounting of how the city got to where it is currently. My feeling is that there is plenty of ownership to go around and it is not any one person’s fault. There has been (no doubt) misrepresentation, incompetence, or omissions along with healthy amounts of votes to spend. It is time to repair, heal and move forward. To get down that path, some tough decisions need to be made by both city admin. and council. “Community Priorities” are absolutely part of our government. But for the short-term unless these community priorities are a part of essential government services, you aren’t solving anything financially. Yes, it is going to be painful. Yes, some folks are going to get upset. Yes, it cannot continue to be “business as usual” but with less staff.
Council has the purse strings here. I would make the department directors justify their spending. Even all those little items that seem to sneak into the budget. We should not be paying for magazine subscriptions, dues for organizations, cars and trucks to sit in parking lots, and extra staff that is not absolutely needed to get the job done. I am hopeful for a collaborative meeting towards a common goal on March 18th.
Start the firing with Elray of course.
Could a citizen initiative bring back a town pillory?
To stimulate the Arts Economy, at least at my house,I have slashed the already reasonable prices of all of my original artworks by 50%, effective immediately.
Hunter:I can briefly say that we have to think seriously about changing the present structure of government. This not only includes whether we should have a Manager/council but also what serious adjustments we have to make that fits what we can afford. Really!………………
I am talking about how we conduct business. Out source?…
or………… how much can we do for the community along with what kind of reorganization it takes to deliver those services. Remember all…………this is about the community and not preserving “business as usual.” Respectfully, Bill
We have now six or seven years of experience with this Mayor! We have all come to understand that we should never never expect the truth and facts on a timely basis. If anyone believes otherwise I have a bridge for sale. The Council can not make a good decisions without the facts and the facts in a timely manner are purposely withheld by the Mayors edicts. With this in mind then, I believe we can safely say that nothing in Gov’t on the Island will change until we rid ourselves of this pestulant.
As confused as Elray might be he is just following the bad direction and orders of his boss. Probably a total house cleaning at City Hall would give the City Manager an opportunity to hire, with the help of the Council, competent people.
So step one would be to take away more of the Mayor’s power and reduce her spending approval limits even further and do this immediately.
Step two, find a way to do a major house cleaning at City Hall and rid ourselves of the lackey’s who do nothing but bow and scrape to the Mayor’s wants. Yes, here the task is complicated by Unions, but somehow we as a Nation are going to find a way to rid ourselves of poor teachers with tenure, we can find a way to rid ourselves of these poor cow towing employees at City Hall also.
So lets get this underway NOW!
Thank you Bill, I understand where you are coming from. I will add that giving money to the Arts is not simply throwing away tax money. I believe that the Arts does generate money back into our local economy.
On the lighter side, someday I will be able to afford a J. Haydon original and not some knock-off.
Bill K, you said, “I am talking about how we conduct business. Out source?”
Not sure exactly what you mean, but the city has done far too much outsourcing already. It seems like we have more consultants and lawyers than dogs (a non-snarky reference, since I once put kibble in my bowl as a consultant).
One suggestion. I’ve heard people in the know say that our city attorney spends most of his time dolling out cases to outside lawyers. Why don’t we fire him and hire a paralegal to doll out the cases? Or, perhaps council could suggest that the mayor start managing her staff in such a way that the number of cases filed against COBI is dramatically reduced.
At the same time, a great leader might emerge who could counsel city activists and aggrieved citizens that our island has an abundance of worthy ideas and only 9500 families to pay for them.
Bill,
Sorry, I’m going to get mildly snarky again.
You quote:
“I had command of a carrier squadron after many years as executive office. I knew how much money we had every day and how we planned to spend it for the next six months.”
Having been on the US Navy Inspector General team and the prime augment to both Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific and Atlantic for financial and logistic matters, I want to refresh your memory that air squadron accounting was done ashore, not at the squadron level. The only funds you might have had daily knowledge of was a small petty cash fund, the squadron poker/beer fund or a recreational fund.
Most squadrons received a monthly computer generated report. And money was near the bottom of a squadron XO or Commander’s worries.
Too many years in the business to let your comment pass on face value.
Bill, keep that outsource thought alive & active. Private enterprise would perform twice the work at half the cost. Cut way back on the consultants & law firms . . . focus on reforming public works, police functions, large swaths of planning, tech support, managers of dead end projects. Do away with most of admin, etc. Way too much navel gazing and hand wringing going on at city hall, not enough timely, sensible decisions that get implemented properly. Very poorly run operation in my opinion. And sorry, continued support of civic groups will have to be shelved. Remember . . . finding $6mm of savings will take an “all hands on deck” approach to further the naval slant on things.
Bob: In the 70’s we did have control of our finances. Computers were in their infancy and we did manage how we allocated our pool of money. [I run the risk of dating myself.] I was asked to join the inspection team for other commands when we passed our Operational inspection evaluation with flying colors. I also was able to evaluate other commands as part of that group.
I find your attempts to be “snarky” more of an opportunity to find fault or publicly embarrass public officials an interesting part of your community involvement.
My comments speak only to personal experience or factual data. I hope in the future we can stick to working out solutions for the community and not look to ways for finding fault. Respectfully, Bill
I would expect Mr. Dashiell to apologize at this point if his was a sincere attempt at dialogue
OK … I think we are about the same age and if you were a Squadron XO/CO, we were pretty close in time on those same oceans.
My point I am making is that you are providing an impression in a time of city financial crisis that your military background in financial management (daily balances, knowing six months ahead of time where you were going) … is important.
Squadron XO/CO are important positions, but squadrons don’t have personnel costs or disbursing to be concerned with. Your biggest concern was fuel cost and Temporary Additional Duty when the boys flew off and stayed the night somewhere.
Training and safety were your primary responsibilities. I just got upset you are touting a skill quality that was a very, very minor part of your squadron responsibilities.
Your Navy responsibilities aren’t much of a concern to the general public, so this is the last I will say on that subject.
It’s clear that I think you, of all the people on the City Council, should have recognized what was happening to the city’s finances. You are on your third term, you served on Finance and Public Works Committees, and you say you have the financial skills.
As you are the senior city council member, i am looking forward to your leadership path to financial health for the city. I will give you full praise and credit if you have a workable plan … but that should become evident Wednesday.
Respectfully, Robert
My Dear Respectfully Robert-
Where have you been? Mr. Knoblock has been for literally years trying to inform us, the public of (1) the major difficulties he has run into trying to get financial data from the City, (2) How the monies have often been mis-spent on projects of low priority, (3) How the Mayor has herself given edicts to the staff to not give info to the Council, (4) How over staffed the City is and has been, (5) etc, etc. Again I ask where have you been?
This City under its current leadership, the Mayor, is a disgrace and there are four Council people who fall into the same category. Mr. Knoblock is not one of these poor excuses for leadership at City Hall. He and three others have been fighting a Mayor, unfortunately we the people elected her but have found out she has zero leadership skills, no financial intellect, and no ability to work with the majoritiy of people on this Island. What she does have is a voodoo skill and has used this to mesmerize four Council people who haven’t apparenty the ability to think for themselves.
We have a huge mess on our hands as you are aware and Mr. Knoblock and two others have been thwarted by the Mayor and her four henchmen in their attempt to clean up the mess!
You owe Mr. Knoblock a better apology than that which you inadequately penned! Were it not for him we would have multi story downtown parking garages, a totally new downtown we don’t need, huge numbers of add’l City employees, an Opera Hall, Airport, and who knows what.
Robert: We are finished discussing this. My last comment is to point out that consistently the vote has been 4-3 against any motion that I make to provide a solution and strategy for restructuring the city and the finances……….I will not waste the space here giving you chapter and verse of my actions for the last 2 1/2 years attempting to do what council should have been doing; controlling the public purse.
Many of the blog comments above are right on point about council receiving timely and up to date information. What you fail to grasp is the fact that the government has been hijacked by certain elected officials and that the Winslow Way project, THAT YOU SUPPORT, is going forward no matter what the finances for the city can support……….Not to mention the rate payers that you are not part of. End of story for now. Respectfully, Bill [from Hyannis]
Bill, I second that motion.
Bill from Hyannis
I am surprised Mr. Knobloch that you spent then energy you did to communicate what is obvious to most. You are a saint but I also understand that as a Councilman you have to deal with all kinds.
Since when in the buzz of the Notebook has there not enough room for both Councilman Knobloch’s self assessment and the assessment of the Knobloch assessment by citizen Dashiel? Free speech is a wide path.
And all this call for apologies from back benchers is unseemly. Stop with the thought control. I have read nothing libelous or even cutting.
Hi Bill. How is the weather in Hyannis? It has been snowing, blowing and raining here, with occasional sun breaks. Best Regards.
Bill,
Tell us you will be there Wed? Kim, please dont let the staff off the hook. You are stronger with every week but dont back down.
The odds are there will be a freeze and that is the worse case. The group couldnt agree to the budget number last week, what is going to be different this week?
At the end of the day our Mayor will get her way, she always does, clever as a fox. You can’t begrudge her that.
I am back on the island catching up.
As for free speech, I am all for whatever it takes discussing issues based on accurate data that allows decision making that includes common sense. Comments that deviate from proper civility and question personal integrity does not fit into my exposure to what constitutes an “Officer and a Gentleman.” Both gentlemen understand exactly what I am talking about.
The next few days, including today, are very important, to say the least, as to what direction we are going to take changing the way we do business at city hall. It can be business as usual or we can realign our thoughts as to what kind of government [read size] we really should be. Thanks again to all for your excellent dialogue. Respectfully, Bill
Clarence,
We still may get the downtown you’re describing. Everyone should be paying attentiont to the Housing Design Demonstration Projects (aka HDDP, Innovative Housing) ordinance.
As Robert pointed out elsewhere, developers can achieve up to 2.5 times the density through this ordinance.
Right now it’s restricted to Winslow and NSC but people like Winnie Jones are urging that it apply Island-wide.
Bill-
Please explain how one goes about being civil to, lets say for example Mr. Peters. We mistakenly elected a dunce and he proves it almost everytime he opens his mouth.
We all should be kicking ourselves for not seeing the real situation when the Mayor made too many on the Island believe that the previous four Council People were the issue when in fact it was the Mayor herself and now we have her to thank for Peters, Snow, KJell, and Hillary.
All one can say is WHAT A MESS! There is no way to be civil!
Bill – stop playing the victim. Such behavior doesn’t become Officers and Gentlemen, you know of whom I speak. Assuming anyone had the surplus of time to follow the thread back, they could read your statement here on the Notebook or in political literature about military experience vis-a-vis being an elected. You raised the issue. Another citizen gave a counterpoint. Nothing wrong with that. No apologies necessary.
Yes, policy should be first and foremost area of discussion but we have people left-and-right (mostly left) running for political office. If the shoe fits, wear it. In the political realm comment is appropriate and well within civility and good taste.
If the Change of Government passes and Darlene becomes the 8th council person, is it also possible for her to be appointed as the new city manager by the majority 4?
Is there language in the Law that allows for this?
More questions for Bill (or someone):
If C/M passes and the mayor becomes the 8th council member, will she still get her mayoral salary? What will her powers and duties be?
How will the powers, duties and responsibilities of the original council members change with the adoption of C/M?
With an 8 member council, how will a 4/4 tie vote be decided?
If C/M passes, when will it take effect? Will we have from- say, May to December 31 with the 8 member council, or some shorter time?
I worry that there is too much opportunity for a pro-Mayor majority, and a former Mayor-now council member to sow a lot of mischief seeds in those months, should retribution and bitterness creep into city hall.
My understanding is that Darlene becomes the eighth council member for the remainder of her term (through 12/31/09) at her current salary, that there is the issue of a 4/4 split, and that the council would need to hire an interim city manager. In practice, Darlene is already on the council, controlling it through Kjell. Yes, there would be a 5/3 split, but would the result really be anything different than what we have already? There is also the possibility that, seeing her lose her position, her friends in the 23rd District Democrats will desert her, she will lose some of her clout, and that people like Barry Peters will step forward and try to take her leadership role away. Not positive in itself, but an interesting change, and certainly one that will partially break down that voting block. My guess is that the dynamic of the election is going to change things for her, for this election is partly about her past performance, and partly about how to make the whole system run better in the future. The “cloaked” question here, assuming that you don’t directly take her on, is how you protect our government against more people like her in the future.
Speaking of Peters- Haven’t we had enough of the barristers on the Council? Look what we have gotten at least from two barristers, those being Peters and Franz. A MESS- These two know how to blab but not listen to what the majority is telling them. How would you like this representation in court? WOW and help
Why Bainbridge people haven’t raised all kinds of hell about the spending and the lack of financial understanding by the four and the Mayor I can’t fathom. We should be hearing noise equal to the outrage as regards AIG. It is our money these five are waisting. People out of work, can’t pay their morgages, can’t pay for food, living in tents, and you name it while the five fritter away valuable resources of the people!
Where is the loud visible outrage. Maybe people just don’t care anymore? I do! Hence this very civil note.
In a recent City Ordinance, time was created, retroactively, to stretch out a recession that might otherwise seem precipitous.
Such a sudden event would be bad for business, and distract us from loudly visible change.
Greetings all: Your questions are germane to the issue at hand as to what the change of government means not only immediately, but long term as well.
1. If the Change of Government passes and Darlene becomes the 8th council person, is it also possible for her to be appointed as the new city manager by the majority 4?
Ans. In our democracy, it is possible but not very likely. The dynamic on council will change as a result of the community mandating the change. Part of that change is bringing in an experienced city manager till a formal interview process can start. They are called range riders by the professional organization. We have several living in the area. The present Mayor does not have the necessary qualifications as explained by the professional City Manager Association. The council hires and fires the city manager. i.e. the City manager serves at the will of council.
2. Is there language in the Law that allows for this?
Ans. The law allows for the best qualified person to apply and win the job confirmation by the council. I cannot imagine the council nor the Mayor trying to subvert the people’s message if the vote passes.
3.If C/M passes and the mayor becomes the 8th council member, will she still get her mayoral salary? What will her powers and duties be?
Ans. The mayor was elected at a salary for that position. As a council member, I will ASSUME that the council salary will apply. At this point, I have not checked the appropriate RCW. Her duties would be that of a council member and nothing more or less. I was told that to date, no Mayor that was removed for Change of Govt. has taken the council seat.
4. How will the powers, duties and responsibilities of the original council members change with the adoption of C/M?
ans. No change. The City Manager reports directly to the council. A vote will be taken by council to select a Mayor among the council with very limited duties to represent the city.
With an 8 member council, how will a 4/4 tie vote be decided?
ans. A tie vote is a failed vote. i. e. NAY!
If C/M passes, when will it take effect? Will we have from- say, May to December 31 with the 8 member council, or some shorter time?
ans. Takes effect immediately after the vote is certified by the county auditor. For seven months, if the Mayor does take a council seat, we will have to work with that situation. Remember, November elections will have three council seats up for election!
I hope that this helps. Please email me if you have further questions. [billknobloch@aol.com] I enjoy the Q & A and thank you for your interest, Bill