St. Augustine Beach Vice Mayor Maggie Kostka is the one Commissioner consistently questioning entrenched City Manager BRUCE MAX ROYLE's maladministration, sloth and torpor.
Here is Vice Mayor Maggie Kostka's backgrounder on the contents of five back-to-back Commission meetings the City Manager scheduled between August 31, 2020 to September 2, 2020\:
Some background:
*request from Max/Bev for each commissioner to schedule a 2 hr meeting with staff on mon 8/31, 9/1 or 9/2.
*on 8/20 I responded to max (email copy sent to you) about my concern for lack of public input and waste of resources and lack of opportunity to hear other commissioner's concerns. A single meeting would take 4 hours of time, allow for DISCUSSION amongst commissioners as well as public input instead of 5 separate meetings for a total of 10 hours equal to 70 man hours (7 staff participants- Max, Bev, Patty, Bill, Brian, Chief, Anthony).
There was no new information presented other than the wage increase from 3.5% decreased to 3%. The budget was ALREADY balanced at 3.45% not 3.6%.
Staff agreed that the financial situation has been created over time and worsened by COVID. They have proposed 2 separate pay comparison studies but neither compares our city to other like small cities. The argument is the City of St Augustine and the county are our competitors in the job market. Turnover is looked at as "bad". Why? sometimes turnover can bring fresh, new ideas. Why is the city manager allowing the same evaluation form to be used for heads of department and hourly employees? Why no personnel development plan? Where are goals and expectations documented?
At a time when the public has had to adjust to a variety of financial issues due to COVID: loss of employment or lower wages, it is unfair and unjust to burden the taxpayer with the responsibility of making up for the financial poor planning of the city. We have already saddled them with a 70% increase in trash collection and every property owner has had a 10% increase in value assessed to their property. For the past 3 years it has been brought to the commission's attention that the cost for salaries, wages and benefits exceeds the property tax revenue. Apparently I am the only one who finds this alarming...
No alternatives were suggested instead of raising taxes. This is concerning. When businesses are faced with similar financial situations, a variety of actions would be considered. Many corporations are temporarily decreasing wages. Some businesses are restructuring their debt and their organization. Most other cities have chosen to freeze wages AND put a hold on adding/filling position. Why is our city going in a different direction? None of these were suggested by staff for SAB. We have a property that is in despair but very valuable that we could consider selling. We could outsource some of our services. Has an agreement between the Sherriff's office and the SABPD been considered? Although these ideas may not be popular, they are worth at least discussing.
No workshops have ever been suggested. This is the taxpayer's money we are talking about spending. Why are they excluded from the conversation? Why is a loan so quickly and easily dismissed when rates are at historical lows? Why not look at this as a good opportunity to restructure our debt (give ourselves time to figure out a substantial plan/direction that would include a Capital Improvement Plan-like other cities) and restructure our organization?
Perception is reality. To the public, these meetings look secretive, where is the transparency in governance? Why was the public completely left out of discussion about how THEIR money is spent? Other cities conduct workshops throughout the budget process. Why does our city leave out the taxpayer?
In further response to staff's request for increase in pay-In the world, there are large corporations and small businesses. There are benefits to working for both and disadvantages of working for both. In our country and state, there are counties, large cities and small cities, like ours. We cannot offer the same or equal benefits as counties and larger cities can provide. we must find ways to work within our parameters.
On a different note, as corporations and small cities face financial issues they are looking at taking a loan and restructuring. Why is our city so adamant about continuing on the same unsustainable path??
Maggie
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