#2, 3 & 4 - WHY I VOTED NO ON EVERYTHING DECEMBER 8TH This continues a post from last month that Id intended to finish sooner. Clarification: Ordinances are laws enacted by a local government. 2) NO - PASSED 4 to 2 - ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2015 COMPENSATION SCHEDULE EXPLANATION: I voted against the 2015 compensation schedule that sets wages and salaries for all city employees. The compensation schedule included several accompanying 5% raises (because of recent promotions and the promises of past Boards) over and above the normal 3% yearly cost of living increase given to all employees. It also included a 50% salary increase for the office of mayor - from $3600 to $5400 annually. In addition to my belief that we cant afford the raises, I felt the Board should first resolve the matter of who to hire as a Chief Financial Officer. Weve had someone acting in that capacity uncompensated for quite some time. To me, it simply felt wrong to settle on compensation for all city employees while leaving the matter of CFO unresolved. 3) NO - PASSED 4 to 3 (Mayor Forshee broke a 3 - 3 tie) ORDINANCE AMENDING BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION FEES EXPLANATION: I voted against amending the fees. Passage of the ordinance increased fees for building, development and other miscellaneous activities -- in some cases as much as 500 - 1000%. Some feel that Willards fees should keep pace with surrounding municipalities. I felt that before raising fees that we should first address the perception by some - whether right or wrong - that Willard has an unfriendly business environment. On the positive side, one substantial fee historically required from developers was entirely eliminated from the fee schedule. However, a majority of fees remain and were increased. 4) NO - PASSED 4 to 2 - ORDINANCE APPROVING THE 2015 LAND O FROST CONTRACT EXPLANATION: I voted against the contract accepting Land O Frost as the exclusive jersey sponsor for the Willard Parks and Recreation 2015 sports programs. In exchange for $9500 from Land O Frost, the contract obligated the city of Willard to exclusively advertise the Land O Frost brand on youth sports t-shirts, in Parks Department emails to parents, and in other communications. Im glad Land O Frost is willing to give the parks department $9500. Were nothing further required of the city then Id have been fine with it. But considering were accepting money in exchange for exclusive (monopoly) advertising, this raises the issue of ensuring that there are procedures in place to regulate governments ability to form or enable monopolies, which this contract creates. In other words, any opportunity to provide financial assistance TO government in exchange for services FROM government should be open to ALL interested parties, that is, other area businesses and organizations, through a transparent and competitive process, and not just Land O Frost. Land O Frost may very well be the only company willing to offer assistance for the purchase of jerseys in exchange for advertising. And its certainly not that I think wrongdoing has occurred or is even likely to occur. But to my knowledge, this opportunity was not offered to anyone else. Its our responsibility to ensure that procedures are in place and are followed to prevent wrongdoing (however unlikely) from occurring and to ensure that the opportunity is open to all interested parties. In the absence of these procedures, I voted against the contract.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 01:28:49 +0000
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