Dear Mayor and Commissionsers:
My initial questions and comments are enclosed. Please place the answers to questions 1-140 (including subparts) on the City's website by close of business September 14, 2007 and kindly provide them to me by fax and E-mail by that time.
Our City's budget appears bloated. There is a potential to save 10-30% of it. Please start learning to save money by spending it wisely, from this day forward. Please institute full transparency, cost-cutting and empower employees to work smarter.
As you know, there is no time limit for a citizen's comments in a TRIM meetnig. You have all been invited to a party by the power boat show proprietors at a time that conflicts with the first TRIM hearing, an action at least one Commissioner said was offensive. Please stay and complete your duties to obtain answers to these questions, instead of rushing off to a private party to which the public has not been invited (in possible violation of the Sunshine law).
I look forward to having every one of my questions answered commencing September 6th and continuing on September 20th. We look forward to your candid answers and resourceful thoughtfulness about rerforming our City government.
I will have more questions after these questions are answered on the City's website, and by fax and E-mail.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, FL 32085-3084
904-471-7023
904-471-9918 (fax)
ED SLAVIN
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ON Fiscal Year 2008
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA CITY BUDGET AND MILLAGE RATE, September 6, 2007
To the Honorable Mayor and Commissioners of the City of St. Augustine:
I will have more questions after these questions are answered, in writing, on the City's website and by fax and E-mail. Meanwhile, here are my preliminary questions on the proposed budget and millage rate:
1. REQUEST FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY: These questions are asked because our City lacks transparency and does not provide the requisite information on its website, while charging $15 for a singularly uninformative book (but not charging profit-making news organizations). Will you please place the answers to all of the foregoing questions on the City's website by close of business on Friday, September 14, 2007 (Constitution Day) so that we may discuss at the September 20, 2007 budget meeting?
2. REQUEST FOR DETAILED DOCUMENTATION: Will you please provide more realistic revenue projections, discussions and alternative budget options, including meaningful budget justification and expenditure documentation, which is sorely lacking in the materials provided by the City at and after the August 22 workshop?
3. REQUEST FOR REALISTIC BUDGET CUTS AND PLANNING: Will you please agree to make realistic budget cuts instead of proposing what CITY MANAGER WILLIAM B. HARRISS called a list of "mostly facetious" budget cuts (like eliminating Independence Day fireworks?
4. RAISES FOR AVERAGE WORKERS/LIVING WAGE:
a. Do the Commissioners agree that working city employees are underpaid and unappreciated, particularly policemen, firemen, women, African-Americans and persons with high school diplomas?
b. Will the Commissioners agree to support the Living Wage for city employees and employees of City contractors and City franchisees?
c. Will the City direct higher raises for fire, police and other employees who do the people's business -- most of the work in our City government.
d. Will you please include $10,000 in the budget for an economic study by a University of Florida economist on the need for a Living Wage for city, city contractor and city franchisee employees?
5. ST. AUGUSTINE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, SEASHORE AND SCENIC COASTAL HIGHWAY COULD SAVE CITY MILLIONS: What effort has the City staff made to consider the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Coastal Highway, which could save the City millions of dollars?
6. There is $2.337 million in the proposed budget for "Heritage Tourism." This is some 4% of the budget. It can be saved, in its entirety, by working to enact a national park bill in Congress, which will subsume under the St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Coastal Highway. What efforts have been undertaken?
7. There is some $1,436,000 in the budget for Parks. That is 3% of the budget. Some of these Parks, like the Slave Market Square (Plaza de la Constitucion) could become part of the St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Highway. Will you kindly direct the staff to work to transfer history and some park functions to the National Park Service and support the St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Highway?
8. Between Heritage Tourism and Parks, our City could save as much as 7% of the budget that could be saved by adopting national park legislation.. Will you work with Congress in assigning the National Park Service to the urgent task of preserving and protection the history and nature in and around the City of St. Augustine (while saving City funds at a time of legislatively-mandated budget cuts)?
9. WRONG TO MAKE "FACETIOUS" BUDGET CUT PROPOSALS:
a. Do you agree that proposing "facetious" budget cuts is irresponsible?
b. Who authorized Mr. HARRISS to come up with a list of cuts that included concerts and fireworks, but no cuts in the fact for the City Administration budgets?
c. Do you agree that is an unfair and deceptive practice for governments to release "trial baloons" of budget cuts that they don't truly intend to make (whether it is eliminating firehouses or school buses or health care for the neediest)?
d. Will you promise from this day forward to stop City Manager HARRISS from making any further "facetious" budget cuts?
10. INDEPENDENT BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Will you agree to appoint an independent budget advisory committee to propose savings?
11. HOMELESSNESS: What funds are in this budget for increasing the number of bathrooms or otherwise dealing with the problem of homeless in St. Augustine?
12. FEDERAL AND STATE GRANTS:
a. How much money and how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staffers are devoted to obtaining federal and state grants?
b. Is it true that one in the past was the City Manager's nephew?
13. NEPOTISM: What policies exist on nepotism? Can they be strengthened?
14. ADMINISTRATION: There are a grand total of over $3,000,000 in "Administration" costs spread throughout City of St. Augustine departments.
a. Why are there so many managers for our small City's government?
b. Won't you discuss in this TRIM hearing trimming the fat and waste, laying off nonperforming managers?
c. What can we co about managers who are rude to citizens and don't earn their pay, starting with those who don't live in our City (like City Manager)?
15. STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS: Will the Commissioners please direct the Independent Budget Advisory Committee and staff to help citizens better identify expenditure patterns and budget cuts that can be made from management and waste?
16. CITY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY: Will you agree to replace failing and unproductive managers?
17. Will you agree to a national search for the next City Manager, just as St. Johns County did for our new County Administrator?
18. Do you agree that' mismanagement must not continue to be rewarded after dumping the contents of our old city dump into our Old City Reservoir.
19. Is our City Manager "polling" our City Commissioners of their votes in advance of meetings, in violation of the Florida Sunshine law?
20. Does this would explain the City Manager's' refusal to cut 9% required by state law, assuming he already has 4 of 5 Commissioners in his back pocket (a supermajority).
21. CLEANUP OF OLD CITY RESERVOIR DUMPING: There is no money in the budget to pay for cleanup of the dumping of the old city dump into the Old City Reservoir.
a. This is an "unbudgeted item.' Why?
b. Please explain:
i. who will pay for the cleanup?
ii. how much it will really cost?
iii. why it has been delayed 1.5 years?
iv. Whether the total cost will exceed $1.2 million?
22. How much will it cost for the complete cleanup of the Old City Reservoir from materials illegally dumped there (30,000,000 pounds of contaminants including arsenic, sewage and bedsprings -- 20,000 cubic yards of pollution in a coquina pit lake that is an "open sore right down to the aquifer and groundwater," according to former EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator John Henry Hankinson, formerly with the St. Johns River Water Management Agency?
23. Didn't it encourage further waste and mismanagement in the City budget for our City to commend Mr. HARRISS on a job well done when he had illegally dumped into our Old City Reservoir?
24. The dumpnig took place 1.5 years ago. Why the long delay in cleanup?
25. Why isn't there a consent decree yet?
26. Why is this considered a "nonbudgeted item," as stated by Mr. John Regan, Chief Operations Officer?
27. Why did Mr. HARRISS believe he could get away with the illegal dumping?
28. Does Mr. HARRISS still believe that he made the correct decision?
a. If so, is that why he smirks every time the issue is raised?
b. Who authorized Mr. HARRISS to dump the contents of the old city dump into the Old City Reservoir and why?
29. Why did former City Attorney Mr. JAMES PATRICK WILSON leave City employment?
30. Why did then-Vice-Mayor SUSAN BURK move to accelerate Mr. WILSON's resignation, accepting it immediately at the October 13, 2006 Sunshine violation and proposing to pay him through January 31, 2007?
31. Why did the new City Attorney say that he learned about the caseload by talking to the City Clerk and Mr. Wilson's secretary, and never talked to Mr. WILSON?
32. What advice did Mr. WILSON give about the dumping and was it followed?
33. Do you maintain that insurance will cover intentional pollution?
a. Please provide documentation.
COOL CITIES PROGRAM -- REDUCING ST. AUGUSTINE'S CARBON FOOTPRINT
34. What funds can be reprogrammed before the budget is adopted to reduce our City's carbon footprint during the Fiscal Year?
35. ELECTRIC POWER CONSUMPTION:
a. How much do we spend on electricity each year?
b. What efforts have been made to investigate the possibility of a City municipal electric utility, cogeneration and waste heat utilization, or other alternatives to paying money to FPL, one of the worst electric utilities in the Nation?
c. Our City once had a municipal electric utility -- will you agree to explore this public power alternative, like 25% of Floridians (including those in Gainesville, Orlando, Jacksonville Clay County)?
36. GASOLINE, DIESEL FUEL, LUBRICANTS, PESTICIDES AND OTHER PETROCHEMICALS:
a. What is the total annual expenditure for gasoline, diesel fuel, lubricants, pesticides and other petrochemicals?
b. What City employee is working on reducing such expenditures with an eye toward reducing our City's "carbon footprint" and impact on global warming?
c. Is there any City employee with duties for environmental protection and energy conservation?
d. There is $7000 for pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides. Why so much?
e. When will our City stop buying organophosphate pesticides and stop polluting our environment -- kindly follow the lead of Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County and Commissioner Jeanne Moeller.
f. Our AMCD no longer uses organophosphate pesticides. Will our City agree to stop using neurotoxins to kill insects and use only natural pesticides like pyrethrins and Bti?
37. LIFE CYCLE COSTING. Until our City has a policy in place on "life cycle costing" and energy-efficient technologies that save fuel, will you please cease and desist from spending any more of our money on vehicles and other capital equipment?
38. TWO NEW GARBAGE TRUCKS: There is $337,000 to replace two refuse trucks, which are only 5 and 7 years old.
a. Why is there no information on fuel consumption?
b. Why is there no justification for replacing trucks less than ten years old?
c. Will you agree to postpone this item until further research is provided, including the fuel consumption of present and prospective vehicles.
39. MORATORIUM ON CAPITAL EQUIPMENT PURCHASES UNTIL COOL CITIES PROGRAM AND LIFE CYCLE COSTING ARE INITIATED: Will you agree to postpone the purchase of the new garbage trucks, and any other fuel-consuming capital equipment, until such time as our City has instituted and life cycle costing by City ordinance?
40. CITY ATTORNEY: There is $353,000 for the City Attorney's office.
a. Why is there no detailed justification?
b. Does the City Attorney's office keep time records?
i. If not, why not?
ii. If so, what do those records show?
c. Please state the ten largest projects on which the City Attorney's office:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
d. It has been 1 1/2 years since our City Manager and Administration were caught red-handed dumping the contents of our old city dump into our Old City Reservoir. Why have the City Manager (and Commissioners, the Mayor and present and former City Attorney) still not been interviewed by DEP?
e. What are the environmental impacts of delaying the day of reckoning?
f. Is this considered an accomplishment?
g. Does the current City Attorney live in the City of St. Augustine?
h. If not, isn't he in violation of our City Charter, which requires all City officers (other than the City Manager) to reside in our City?
i. There is $300 for City Attorney tickets to Menendez masked ball. Why?
j. There is in the City Attorney's budget an amount for travel, at $3426/year. Why won't City Attorney RONALD BROWN: stay home and do your job: start protecting citizens and stop covering up for City officials for a change?
k. Mr. Brown, if on your $120,000 salary you still need citizens to pay for your Continuing Legal Education (CLE), why wouldn't you need St. Augustine residents to pay for your airfare, hotel and meals to get CLE you get locally or online?
l. Why does the City Attorney need to travel at all outside St. Johns County?
m. Will you please provide all documentation regarding the prior City Attorney being a scapegoat for the City Manager on the dumping of the contents of the old city dump into our Old City Reservoir?
41. TRAVEL DOCUMENTATION:
a. What reports are required for City of St. Augustine employees on travel? No trip reports exist for such junket-flubdubs as the $8100 trip to NYC.
b. Federal employees are required to complete trip reports. Will you require the same from City employees, including yourselves, so that we can evaluate the costs and benefits of all travel?
42. MASKED BALL TICKETS:
a. In addition to the City Attorney's two tickets, how many other masked ball tickets are being paid for by City funds, at what cost and benefit?
b. Why would City Attorney RONALD BROWN or anyone else expect our City to buy them tickets to a fancy masked ball?
c. Is it true that several years ago, former Mayor LEN WEEKS said there were at least 125 complimentary tickets to the Menendez Ball?
d. Why does St. Augustine's putative aristocracy (and not particularly Thomas Jefferson's "aristocracy of virtue and talent, either") expect thousands of dollars in foreign and domestic travel, masked ball tickets, SUVs and glorified Politburo for incompetents who took the entire contents of the old illegal city dump and put them into our Old City Reservoir?
43. UNEARNED TITLES AND LOGAN ACT:
a. There are references in past City Commission minutes to former Mayor LEN WEEKS as being the City's "Ambassador." Was this facetious?
b. How much money was spent on bestowing this title of nobility?
c. What review has there been of possible violations of the Logan Act by use of this title?
44. CITY MANAGER: There is $616,000 for the City Manager's office, an increase over last year.
a. Why does City Manager demand an increase in his own office/s budget?
b. Why an increase when the four items the August 22, 2007 budget document gives as accomplishments are:
i. re-defining the city boundaries (e.g., to exclude this writer, the Clean Up City of St. Augustine blog author)?
ii. Work on the Visitor Information Center?
iii. Managing?
iv. Reorganizing)?
45. Will City Commissioners agree to provide WILLIAM B. HARRIS with a performance evaluation for the first time in his 9.5 years reign?
46. Please state the ten largest projects on which the City Manager's office:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
47. Please state what the City Manager did for the people of our the City of St. Augustine that would justify spending $616,000 (and change) on his office?
48. CAR ALLOWANCE FOR CITY MANAGER, $7800/YEAR. Will you agree to eliminate the allowances for the City Manager and others not required to drive a City vehicle? We're a small town. .
49. FREE UTILITIES FOR CITY MANAGERS: Will you agree to eliminate the free City utilities for top City employees who live in the City?
50. CITY COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE: There is $139,000 for the City Commissioners' office, an increase.
a. What is it that the City Commissioners do that requires that much money, when only one does his homework and the rest don't perform any meaningful oversight of City operations and are hostile to public participation.
b. If they don't do their homework, don't oversee the City Manager, why do they need an increase in their budget for work they're not doing?
51. CITY COMMISSIONER TRAVEL: There is $18,150/year for City Commissioner travel. City Commissioners: will you kindly stop the junkets and out-of-town Sunshine violations?
a. Will you agree to kindly "Knock if off?"
b. Will you agree to stay home and do your jobs, without fear or favor, to solve our City's problems, instead of junketing to Cartagena, Colombia; NYC; Spain; Germany and elsewhere? It's our money.
52. CITY COMMISSIONER UNIFORMS: There is $805/$525 for City Commissioner uniforms, including laundry.
a. Rather than rent uniforms, will you buy our City Commissioners one or two City logo shirts and be done with it?
b. Can't City Commissioners wash their own shirts?
c. Why can't our City Commissioners and City managers do the same?
53. CITY CLERK's OFFICE: There is $183,000 for the City Clerk's office, an increase.
a. Why should any funds be authorized for the City Clerk's office until the City Clerk acknowledges that she reports to the City Commission and not the City Manager, and that she has a duty of openness, candor and transparency, including providing documents by fax and E-mail and on the website, as her predecessor did?
b. Is the City Clerk in violation of its City Attorney's own illegally promulgated policy, which was never approved by City Commissioners?
c. Why are we paying for perks while expecting citizens to pay for copies of documents, and refusing to fax or E-mail documents?
d. Please state the ten largest projects on which the City Clerk's office:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
54. PUBLIC AFFAIRS. There is $552,000 for the Public Affairs Office.
a. Why is there no information justifying an office that has in the past provided wrong dates in signs for the Grand Illumination and given a wrong date to an Orlando high school band for an Easter concert in the Slave Market Square?
b. Why do we need this much money for PR?
c. How does this office serve average citizens?
d. What measures of performance exist (number of press calls, number of inquiries answered, number of visitors attracted)?
e. Why is there no performance data? There is no data.
f. Until our City has a policy in place on openness and candor and transparency, will you please cease and desist spending any more money on public relations?
g. Please state the ten largest projects on which the City Public Affairs office:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
55. ACCOUNTING: There is $234,000 for accounting, an increase.
a. Why should any more money be spent for accounting until City Commissioners require full public disclosures of all accounting information on the City's website?
b. Why did City Commissioners renew an audit contract without public debate, despite a request to do so?
c. Why was the auditor contract placed on the consent agenda despite my written request that it be discussed?
d. Why has the City had the same auditor for three decades?
e. What effort is there to comply with accounting standards that require changing auditors to avoid favoritism?
f. What reason exists for the accounting office's failure to reconcile promptly our City's books last year, as found in the recent audit?
56. PARKING: There is $437,000 for parking, an increase. There is no detailed justification for this amount:
a. When will our City come clean about the true cost of the White Elephant parking garage, its etiology and what we're going to do about it?
b. What regrets does our City Manager have about the size and location of the Parking Garage?
c. What options exist in suing the City's consultants for malpractice or negligence, as took place in the Spokane parking debacle (involving the same consultant)?
57. CUSTOMER SERVICE: There is $436,000 for "customer service," an increase.
a. Why should any funds should be authorized for customer service without standards being set by City Commission as ordinances, instead of policies being developed ex nihilo?
b. Do you agree that under Florida's law an Constitution, City Commissioners are the policymakers, not department heads?
58. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: There is $417,000 for Information Technology, an increase.
a. Why should any funds be authorized for Information Technology until our City's website provides ready access to meetings, spending, contracts, grants and proposed ordinances?
b. Why does our City spend $8000 for its website annually?
c. For that amount, why don't we have online access to meetings, spending, contracts, grants and proposed ordinances?
GENERAL SERVICES
59. ADMINISTRATION: There is $254,000 for City General Services Administration, an increase.
a. What is the justification?
b. What is being done to increase transparency, openness and accountability?
60. PURCHASING: There is $308,000 for purchasing, a $199,000 decrease.
a. Why can't more budgets be decreased this much?
b. The full-color budget document states that blanket purchase orders have been "streamlined."
i. There were over 400 blanket purchase orders last year; how many are there now?
ii. Is this statement pregnant with the admission that the ancien regime allowed employees to buy anything, anytime that they desired and that this is another example of waste, fraud, abuse, misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance that cries out for a new auditor (not the same one we've had for 30 years, recently renewed without discussion or debate despite my handing in a speaker card on August 27th)?
61. HUMAN RESOURCES: There is $335,000 for what "Human Resources," e.g., functions once more humanly called Personnel or Labor Relations.
a. Exactly what is the Human Resources office doing to protect City employee rights and inform employees of their rights to be free from sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation and discrimination?
b. When will there be an Ombuds to look out for and protect employees against sexual harassment and reprisals?
c. Please state the ten the largest projects the Human Resources office:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
62. FLEET MANAGEMENT: There is $413,000 for Fleet Management, an increase.
a. Why are there so many St. Augustine City vehicles on the road all the time, doing no perceptible work, driving to and fro?
b. What can be done to increase accountability and planning?
c. Why can't we post records on fleet management on the website?
d. Why aren't we using technology such as Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) monitoring, which is the standard of care?
e. What don't we cut this item?
63. FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: There is $1,290,000 for Facilities Management, a decrease of some $410,000.
a. Why can't more City offices be cut this much?
64. RISK MANAGEMENT: There is $1,282,000 for Risk Management, an increase.
a. How is our City's history of torts and crimes, including slamming a man into quadriplegia outside Christopher's ($2.5 million out-of-court settlement, only $1 million of which was paid by City insurance) and dumping the entire contents of the old city dump into the Old City Reservoir affecting our ability to obtain insurance?
b. Would we get cheaper insurance if we discharged wrongdoers and re-wrote the City Manager's contract to deny him severance pay in the event he leaves under other than honorable conditions?
c. To what extent could we become self-insured?
d. What efforts have we made to reduce wrongdoing to reduce the cost of risk management?
e. Please state the ten largest projects on which the City Risk Management office:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
f. Why is police training being decreased and how does that effect risk management?
65. PROPERTY SERVICES: There is $907,000 for Property Services, an increase.
66. How is this money divided and accounted for between projects?
67. Why isn't there specific timecard detail for employee work on City construction projects?
68. Doesn't this mean that every building and alteration cost provided Commissioners and auditors and bondholders for City work is potentially inaccurate?
69. Will you direct that the City staff assign specific accounting codes to be sworn to on worker time records?
70. FACILITY OPERATIONS: There is $709,000 for Facility Operations, a decrease. To what extent have further reductions been identified in future years based upon the institution of Life Cycle Costing, thereby resulting in lower Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and energy costs?
PUBLIC WORKS
71. PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION: There is $187,000 for Public Works Administration, an increase.
a. Why are we increasing this item?
b. The position of Public Works Director is being advertised. How long has the position been vacant?
c. Willl you please provide all documentation regarding the prior Director of Public Works being a scapegoat for the City Manager on the dumping of the contents of the old city dump into our Old City Reservoir?
d. Please state the ten largest projects on which the City Public Works Department:
i. plans to spend its time in FY 2008; and
ii. spent its time in FY 2007.
72. PARKS: There is $1,436,000 for Parks, a decrease of $15,000.
a. Why are we reducing spending on parks?
b. How much of the park budget would be saved through enactment of the St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Highway law?
c. When will our City consider the costs and benefits of the proposed national park in a workshop?
73. ENGINEERING: There is $570,000 for engineering, a reduction of $87,000.
a. How was the proposed savings achieved?
b. Why can't more departments be reduced by similar amounts?
74. STREETS: There is $1,239,000 for streets, a $270,000 decrease.
a. How was the decrease achieved?
b. What is planned for Riberia Street, and when?
c. Why has the street been permitted to deteriorate?
d. Is this another example of institutional racism in our City?
e. How can we reduce other budgets?
75. STREET LIGHTS: There is $220,000 for street lights, a reduction of $52,000.
a. How was this reduction achieved?
b. What can we learn from it for reducing expenditures in other departments?
PLANNING AND BUILDING:
76. PLANNING AND BUILDING ADMINISTRATION: There is $320,000 for Planning and Building Administration, a reduction of $47,000.
a. How was this reduction achieved?
b. Why can't other departments be reduced by similar amounts?
77. PLANNING: There is $235,000 for Planning, a decrease.
a. How was this achieved?
b. Is it in the public interest?
c. If so, why aren't other budgets being reduced by similar amounts?
78. BUILDING REGULATION: There is $313,000 for Building regulation, a decrease of $120,000.
a. How was this achieved, is it in the public interest and if so, why aren't other budgets being reduced by similar amounts?
b. Can there be further decreases?
79. ARCHAEOLOGY: There is $136,000 for Archaeology.
a. Why is the archaeology function still reporting to and susceptible of being bossed and bullied by the controversial City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS and Director of Planning and Zoning MARK KNIGHT, who have no qualifications as an archaeologists?
b. Why should an archaeologist report to an arachnid?
c. Why isn't this a separate office and part of a Department of Environment, Safety, Health and Archaeology (ESHA), reporting directly to the City Commissioners?
POLICE DEPARTMENT
80. POLICE TRAINING: There is a decrease in the police training budget.
a. Why? This is supposedly justified by reference to fewer recruits, but the need for training is continual.
b. Should funds be restored?
81. POLICE ADMINISTRATION: There is $541,000 for Police Administration, a decrease.
a. Can this amount be reduced further?
b. Why are there so many managers and so few street patrolemen?
c. How many officers are ready to retire?
d. How many jobs will be lost by "attrition" or through "buyout packages?"
e. What would be the costs and benefits of consolidation of police services with the St. Johns County Sheriff?
f. What do St. Augustine police officers think about consolidation?
82. POLICE COMMUNICATIONS: There is $600,000 for Police Communications, an increase of $39,000.
a. Why so much money for communications for a small, compact city?
b. How is this divided between people and equipment?
c. What savings can be achieved through better contract decisions?
83. POLICE INVESTIGATIONS: There is $439,000 for Police Investigations.
a. How many full-time investigators do we have and need?
b. Is this payroll-padding?
c. What activities does this include?
d. What do they do all day?
e. Are they investigating our City Manager's dumping the contents of the old city dump into our Old City Reservoir?
f. What is being done to investigate wrongdoing by City employees?
g. What is being done to investigate white-collar crime?
h. What is being done to investigate white collar crime by foreign-funded land speculators and "developers," like those accused by the Ponce family of fraud in the purchase of Conch House Marina?
i. What role does the City Manager play in directing the actions of SAPD?
j. Is there a conflict of interest when SAPD investigations, or potential investigations, bear upon City management's possible malfeasance, waste, fraud and abuse?
k. Wouldn't a strong Mayor form of government eliminate the conflict of interest in the City Manager's supervision of the SAPD?
84. POLICE PATROL: There is $3,284,657 for Police Patrol, an increase of $111,000. There are 59 full-time equivalent police officers but only four officers on duty at any given time.
a. Why so few officers out working on the street, yet 59 on the payroll?
b. Will you consider cutting funds from the office of the City Manager, City Attorney, Public Affairs and other offices and add foot patrol officers?
c. How much of this item is spent on managers and supervisors?
d. How could money be used more effectively by community policing, including more bicycle and foot patrols, and less use of expensive gas-guzzling vehicles?
e. How much is spent for police overtime?
f. Why are six officers living in city limits allowed to take their vehicles home? Is this cost-effective?
g. What data exists?
h. Are those vehicles actually in better condition than others because those officers drive the same vehicles every day?
i. Would police vehicles last longer if more officers drove the same vehicles every day, even if in shift rotations?
85. POLICE RECORDS: There is $194,000 for Police Records, a $6000 increase.
a. Are free public records provided to profit-making news organizations but not to citizens?
b. Will you please provide all pertinent accounting records on fee waivers to profit- making news organizations?
c. What computer programs are used and could these records be handled more effectively?
d. What safeguards exist over access to the NCIC terminal to prevent its abuse for non-police purposes?
86. FLORIDA LAW ENFORCEMENT MANUAL: There is $2000 for Florida Law Enforcement Manual, 2007-2008.
a. Will you please provide all documentation for this expenditure and its efficacy, including more cost-effective alternatives?
b. How many copies of the manual are to be purchased and for whom?
c. I am unable to find any publisher on the Internet advertising this book, which is apparently written by a criminal defense lawyer and is said to be a book for police recruits.
d. Please provide a copy of any prior editions of the manual and all purchase orders for inspection. St. Johns River Community College (SJRCC) uses a book Gould's "Florida Crimes and Related Laws." which is sold for $40.64 plus tax (or $22.95 for an older edition).
87. FIRE DEPARTMENT
a. Why is the Fire Department budget justifications for each accounting code so much better written than all of the others, with more supporting detail and backup information?
b. Could the Fire Department budget person help other city departments and agencies do their jobs better?
c. What would be the costs and benefits of consolidation of fire services with St. Johns County?
d. What do St. Augustine firemen think about consolidation?
88. FIRE ADMINISTRATION: There is $188,927 for Fire Administration, a reasonable number.
a. Why are the Administration of other city departments, with less important functions, so much larger?
89. FIRE PREVENTION: There is $112,281 for fire prevention, up some $10,000.
a. Is this enough?
90. FIREFIGHTING: There is $2,507,179 for firefighting, an increase of $300,000.
a. Are firemen finally getting the promised raises for which fire fees were raised several years ago?
b. Will our City agree to kindly follow OSHA standards for firefighters and all other departments?
c. There is an item in the fire budget for replacement of an item of stolen rented equipment.
i. Please provide details on why this is a budgeted item and not covered by insurance?
ii. Why would an item of stolen equipment be a budgeted item but the remediation of the Old City Reservoir is not a budgeted item?
iii. Was a police report filed on the theft?
iv. Has anyone been arrested/charged?
(1) If so, has restitution been sought?
UTILITY FUND
91. UTILITY FUND ADMINISTRATION: There is $340,000 for Utility Fund Administration, a decrease of $89,000.
a. Why can't the Administration costs in other city departments be reduced by similar amounts?
b. Willl you please provide all documentation regarding the prior City Utilities Director being a scapegoat for the City Manager on the dumping of the contents of the old city dump into our Old City Reservoir?
92. WATER TREATMENT: There is $1,444,000 for Water Treatment, a decrease from $1,540,000.
a. Why can't more budgets be reduced by similar amounts?
93. METER MAINTENANCE: There is $424,000 for meter maintenance, a slight decrease.
a. Do we need workers driving pickup trucks to read meters, or would smaller vehicles suffice?
94. TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION: There is $1,511,000 for Transmission and Distribution, an increase. The reason for the increase is inadequately described on the shallow one-page budget justification.
95. WASTEWATER TREATMENT: There is $1,511,000 for Wastewater Treatment, an increase.
a. Please explain.
b. How many wash trucks does the City own?
c. What is the utilization rate?
d. What potential exists to share them with other jurisdictions?
96. PUMP STATIONS: There is $662,000 for Pump Stations, an increase.
a. Please explain.
97. STORMWATER TREATMENT: There is $605,000 for Stormwater Treatment, an increase from the previous figure of $477,000.
a. Please explain with particularity.
98. SOLID WASTE: There is $2,769,000 for Solid Waste, an increase from $2,556,000.
a. Do we really need twice-a-week trash collection?
b. Are we still contracting with labor leasing services for garbate pickup crews? If so, why?
c. How much "profit" are we making on recycling?
d. How can our recycling program be improved?
99. MUNICIPAL MARINA: There is $2,320,000 for the Municipal Marina.
a. Is this a core government function or one that could be leased/sold?
b. Have any studies been done?
c. Are local residents disfavored by the marina staff and patrol?
d. Are local boaters subjected to discrimination when they pull up to our marina?
e. Why is our City government to provide marina services for rich snowbirds while depriving African-Americans and Lincolnville and West Augustine citizens of basic City services?
f. If the marina is operated at a "profit," as stated in the budget workshop, what principled reason exists for our City to undercut private marina operators on price?
g. What justification exists for Commissioner DONALD CRICHLOW's proposal, raised as a trial balloon at the budget meeting, to purchase ROBERT MICHAEL GRAUBARD's CONCH HOUSE MARINA? Is this another City bailout of ROBERT MICHAEL GRAUBARD and his cronies, whom the Ponce family has accused of fraud in purchase of CONCH HOUSE MARINA?
h. What documents exist to support CRICHLOW's proposal?
i. What studies have been done?
HERITAGE TOURISM
100. VISITOR SERVICES: There is $950,000 for Heritage Tourism Visitor Services:
a. Do you agree that this function would become a part of the St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Highway?
b. Why hasn't the City conducted any workshops on the proposal. See November 13, 2006 City Commission presentation and March 26, 2007 St. Augustine Record column.
101. ADMINISTRATION: There is $1,387,000 for Heritage Tourism Administration.
a. Do you agree that this function would become a part of the St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Highway?
b. When will the City conduct workshops on the proposal? See November 13, 2006 City Commission presentation and March 26, 2007 St. Augustine Record column.
102. PIRATE UNIFORMS: It has been suggested by a Key West mayoral candidate that Key West city employees (and the homeless) dress up as pirates to attract tourists.
a. Given St. Augustine's piratical history, do you plan to dress City employees, our Mayor and Commissioners as pirates?
b. If so, would you provide the uniforms or rent them?
103. NORTHEAST FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CITIES EVENT: There is in the budget money for a poorly-described Northeast Florida League of Cities event, $4750.
a. Is this event fairly described as a "party" for city officials from the region?
b. Can this party be dispensed with next year and for all time?
104. VIDEOTAPES, COFFEE AND WATER FOR MEETINGS. There is $2500 for videotapes, coffee and water for Commission meetings.
a. Will Comcast Cable buy its own videotapes to cover our meetings?
b. What provisions cover this issue in our City's poorly-drafted 10-year franchise agreement, adopted without a promised public workshop last year?
c. Why can't St. Augustine City Commissioners drink tap water, instead of bottled water, which wastes money, petrochemicals and pollutes landfills for eternity?
105. MEDIAN STRIP MAINTENANCE: There is $314,000/year for maintaining median strips.
a. Will you direct medians be planted with native plants and minimal maintenance, thereby saving money, calming traffic and reducing potential liability by discouraging jaywalking?
106. OVERSTAFFING OF MANAGERS?: There are 350 full-time equivalent employees for a city of only 13,000.
a. Is it true that only 43 of 350 City employees live in our City?
b. If so, is this because our City has become unafordable and wages and salaries for hardworking City employees have not kept pace with housing costs?
c. Top City managers (except for the City Manager himself) are required by the City Charter to live in our City.
i. How many of them don't live in the city?
ii. Which ones don't live in the City?
iii. Is the law beihg enforced?
iv. If not, why not?
v. How much money could be saved by declaring vacant the office of City Attorney and other top jobs encumbered by nonresidents?
vi. How would the city defend against a quo warranto lawsuit for systemic violations of the City Charter?
vii. Would such a quo warranto lawsuit be paid for by insurance, or by the individual officeholders who are out of compliance?
107. SMALL EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT: There is $24,000 for small equipment replacement. No details are provided.
108. MARINA PHOTOS: There is $2100 for marina photos.
a. What is the justifiation?
109. CITY COOKOUT: There is $6500 for the City cookout.
a. Who attends?
b. Is there Sunshine notice?
c. Is it open to the public?
d. What is served?
e. Is it catered?
f. How much does it cost.
110. COPIES OF PUBLIC RECORDS -- ILLEGAL SUBSIDY TO PROFIT-MAKING PUBLICATIONS AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST OTHER NEWS MEDIA: How much money is received and projected as income from public records requests?
111. How much revenue was waived by giving free copies of documents to profit-making news outlets, speculator-developers and others?
112. How many times have free copies of documents are provided to profit-making newspapers?
113. Is the City staff in violation of its City Attorney's own illegally promulgated policy, which was never approved by City Commissioners?
114. Why are we paying for City Manager perks while expecting citizens to pay for copies of documents, and refusing to fax or E-mail documents?
115. Will you please list the total revenue for each department from records requests?
116. Why are free copies of city documents provided to profi-tmaking newspapers but not to bloggers, independent media, the Collective Press and others? Since our City has admittedly waived fees on documents provided to profit-making newspapers for years, what justification exists for ever charging activists and bloggers any fees ever again in the future?
117. How much money does our City spend on subsidizing profit-making organizations with free photocopies each year?
118. What accounting records reflect the number of copies?
119. Have any of the profit-making newspapers (and television stations) provided with free copies ever offered to pay? (e.g., for the expensive but uninformative document distributed at the August 22, 2007 budget workshop)?
120. Why did City Finance Director MARK LITZINGER demand to take back the copy provided to www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com at the end of the August 22nd budget workshop?
121. Why did Mr. LITZINGER show favoritism by allowing, at the same meeting for the same document, a profit-making publication to keep its copy, which Mr. LITZINGER admitted he had provided for free?
122. Isn't this unlawful fee-grabbbing and price discrimination among news gatherers in violation of the First and Ninth Amendments to the United States Constitution?
123. Will our City of St. Augustine agree to extend equal fee waiver courtesies for all www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com requests from this day forward?
124. If not, will the City of St. Augustine agree to Open Records arbitration by the State Attorney General's office pursuant to the Open Records Act? Has the City Attorney opined on this issue?
125. Were City Commissioners aware that after the August 22 budget workshop, City Finance Director MARK LITZINGER whined about me not returning his uninformative color budget brochure (provided free to a daily newspaper reporter) to the Chief of Police, demanding that www.cleanupcityofstaugustine pay for our copy of the budget document when LITZINGER provided the Record's copy for free? Do City Commissioners approve of this action?
126. For what purpose did CHEF LOREN LUEDERS start making a cellular telephone call in response to Mr. LITZINGER's please as I was uestioning Mr. LITZINGERr's discrimination?. Was this for the purpose of calling a police officer to harass me? Please provide his cellular telephone records for August 22nd.
127. BUDGET CUTS AND OTHER ACTIONS REQUIRED: Wouldn't it be fair to say that 10- 30% of the City of St. Augustine budget could be cut? What do you reckon?
128. INSPECTOR GENERAL -- Time to Eliminate Waste, Fraud, Abuse, Misfeasance, Malfeasance and Nonfeasance:
a. Will you please place on the ballot an amendment to our City Charter appoint an independent Inspector General and an Ombuds?
b. What other steps can we take to help identify waste, fraud, abuse and budget cuts, thereby saving money by eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance, mediocrity and nonfeasance?
c. Will you please act now to save our Nation's Oldest City and protect it from the piratical behavior of foreign-funded speculators ("developers")?
d. Will our City government kindly stop showing fawning obeisance to speculators appearing before the Commission?
e. Will Commissioners kindly require disclosure of all LLC owners in projects?
REVENUE PROJECTIONS AND FISCAL HEALTH:
129. What assumptions about real estate prices were made in past budget decisions?
130. What University of Florida or other economist has ever guuided the City's revenue projections?
131. Why is our City contracting with the same accounting firm it has had for decades?
132. What effect does the mortgage market debacle and delays in building SEBASTIAN INNER HARBOR, MADEIRA, CONCH HOUSE MARINA and RED HOUSE BLUFF projects have upon the City's likely future income from ad valorum property taxes?
133. What effect would the default of any or all of those projects have upon future millage rates?
134. What economic assumptions were made in construction of the White Elephant Parking Garage?
135. What possible theories of liability might bondholders have in the event that it is shown that htere was fraud in the inducement or execution of the Parking Garage? Would the Jackson parking consultancy or our City be liable, or both?
136. Could our City evaluate the possibility of selling the parking garage?
137. What is the possibility that our City will be in severe financial problems owing to the mortage lending crisis and projected increased foreclosures?
138. What steps have been taken to minimize the impact on our City and its residents?
SWORN TESTIMONY REQUESTED AND EXPECTED
139. Will you please direct the person(s) preparing these answers to swear to them before a notary for inclusion in the record of the public hearing?
140. Will you agree that citizens have the right to call each sworn question-answerer to testify under oath before conclusion of the TRIM public hearings on St. Augustine's FY' 2008 budget and millsage rate in event of vague answers?
CONCLUSION:
Our City's budget appears bloated. There is a potential to save 10-30% of it. Please start learning to save money by spending it wisely, from this day forward. Please institute full transparency, cost-cutting and empower employees to work smarter.
As you know, there is no time limit for a citizen's comments in a TRIM meetnig. You have all been invited to a party by the power boat show proprietors at a time that conflicts with the first TRIM hearing, an action at least one Commissioner said was offensive. Please stay and complete your duties to obtain answers to these questions, instead of rushing off to a private party to which the public has not been invited (in possible violation of the Sunshine law).
I look forward to having every one of my questions answered commencing September 6th and continuing on September 20th. We look forward to your candid answers and resourceful thoughtfulness about rerforming our City government.
I will have more questions after these questions are answered on the City's website, and by fax and E-mail.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, FL 32085-3084
904-471-7023
904-471-9918 (fax)
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