The Cooper City commission is really out of touch. The writers strike is over. If you want to create a drama to entertain the relatively few people who can stomach the meetings you have truly succeeded. Based upon the comments in the Sun-Sentinel article online edition the last commission meeting has so confused the issues that no one can hardly get to the critical issue.
The increase in the BSO level of coverage is an issue that one would think is at least the most important singular one that effects every person in Cooper City. The restoration of the full complement of patrol officers seems like a no brainer which the commission finally understood and agreed on. The increase of officers was not perceived as something that was needed. It is as though adding officers would in some way create a problem of incalculable dimension. It only amounted to $200,000. Several election candidates had campaigned on it. The city manager had announced at the last commission meeting that $3.952 million in excess funds from the previous year was now available. He was supposed to tell the Commission that information within thirty days of the close of the fiscal year. To you financial types that means the city took in more than it spent, and it tried very hard to spend it all.
The drama of the night continued with a subsequent ‘love feast’ of adulation of some of the commissioners to each other and then gave way to a harangue starting with Mallozzi and her spontaneous version of ‘plagiarism’. ( So much for the GED diplomas.) This then lead to Bart Roper’s soliloquy of his fictional version of ‘The Dastardly Acts’ of his fellow commissioner John Sims. Hardly in keeping with Mr. Roper’s more than 10 years of commendable service to this community his final comments were disgusting. The nature and tone of those comments should bring shame to the record of this commissioner. This part of the show appeared to be a repetitive final act of the last three meetings. One begins to assume that this reoccurring theme has been planned and probably choreographed by someone. The facial expressions of the chairperson, Mayor and leader of our community pretty much indicates who the author might be. What pray tell doth that mean?
Well, fellow citizens of this once well respected community in the western edges of Broward, (other local municipal personnel are now calling each other with the latest about Cooper City Shenanigans ), ‘the game is a foot’ as the English would say.
One wonders, ‘What is it all about?’ Look to the underlying element, the ’Hiring Manual’ for the city manager. Yes, that’s right a hiring manual. The reason for the ad hominem, (personal attacks repeatedly forbidden and so conveniently overlooked by the chairperson) is that a proposal has been laid on the table. It is the work of a state government and others, modified with the permission of the state for the purpose of providing a specific plan to enable municipalities, such as Cooper City which does not have an HR dept., to have a working document to aid in the hiring of the singularly most important person in the city administration, the city manager.
Why the commotion? Well, the main reason is that someone had the audacity
to obtain and modify and prepare a manual to be used instead of using the vast expertise available from the commissioners who have had extensive working knowledge and background to draw from in the new hire process. (This would be only the second city manager hired in the entire history of Cooper City, the resigning city manager has served 27 or so years and at least three of the commissioners have never had to hire any significant executive or high level manager.)
I think Not. What really makes sense is that the Mayor who has known for quite some time that Mr. Farrell would be going one way or another, had someone in mind for the job and the last thing the Mayor will allow to happen is for the search for a new manager would reach out across the milieu of 27,000 or more municipalities and find the best available candidate for Cooper City. And we all know by now that the judgment of others, especially those who are not part of the Cooper City Cabal, should not have any part in selected the manager. It is best if the individual has been thoroughly vetted by the Mayor and the ‘King of Cooper City‘, her husband, and then presented as the preordained city manager. (Cronyism never seems to disappear.)
Yes, it is possible that the dots have been misaligned in the dramatic scenario portrayed . Only a careful scrutiny of the yet unfolded scripts can really tell us the egregious plan. Cooper City deserve and can easily afford a well qualified, experienced professional city manager. One who is not the chosen one by the Cabal but one who will begin to restore the integrity of the position and one who can provide the necessary leadership to the employees, citizens and commissioners in the years to come as the problems that this city may yet confront can only be described as challenging.
Keep your Tuesday nights free (viewing should only be on the older TV in case emotions become physical) as this could be an exciting if not exhilarating ride thru the pages of local politics as its very grittiest.
2 comments:
By the way Lori Greene, could you please tell me if MINORITY Mayor Debby (Remember Lori- your Goddess Debby wasn't elected by the majority of our city)has given any thought to the qualifications a city manager should possess? I would assume NOT!!!! Her (and Mayor Dennis)are simply going to hire their friends and cronies from a neighboring city I would suppose!
Also, if you call Sims proposal plagerism then I would call Debby's resolutions and ordinances plagurism of the first degree! She's drafted ordinances directly from other cities without giving them credit!!!!! Why didn't you mention that fact??????????
Don't try to create controversy in the hopes of taking the focus off the real issue where Debby and the other former commissioner morons (thank GOD I can say 'former')screwed Cooper City once again by voting against more police protection! How reprehesible! At least Sims stands up for the public he was elected to represent.
Residents are being gouged with obscene property taxes and homeowners' insurance bills, while Cooper City continues to find inventive ways to further gouge residents.
Last April, the "Landlubbers Gang" raised the water and garbage bills by 25 percent. Now residents have just been given notice of additional new fees on their water bills. New service deposits are $150 to $200. The new account initiation fee is $20, delinquency fee, $20; disconnection service charge, $25 (this is both to turn on and turn off water). Tis is turn followed by a 70% increase in water rates over the next few years. All on top of us watching our water flow out to sea from the lakes & canals...
Not only have we been presented with new and higher fees now, after the mid-year City budget was approved, but, in my opinion, we are being prepared for an increase in the basic fee for water usage after the FY 2008 budget message from the City Manager said "no increase in water/sewer fees for FY 2008". The majority on the Commission passed it at the end of September and again in February.
In my opinion, the staff and some on the Commission should have known or suspected as early as June or July, that water consumption was way down with the water restrictions imposed. They, with their self proclaimed skills, had to be able to figure out that this would affect water/sewer revenues and put them in danger of not meeting debt covenants, etc.
That is, that either a fee rate increase and/or a big draw on "unrestricted" reserves would be necessary. Yet there was very little in the way of specific facts and comprehensive, meaningful discussion about this issue during the budget meetings wherein the public should be largely informed by the staff and Commission as to the specific economic impact of trends and events on the city budget, fees, taxes.---especially negative ones.
They certainly felt informed enough to opine clearly about uncertain things like potential disasters [hurricanes] and "super exemptions" re" taxation, neither of which have happened.
What did the staff do between July and the end of February to inform the residents meaningfully with substantial facts? Nothing, except for Commissioner Sims, who asked serious, direct questions and was attacked by not only the rest of the Commission along with the Mayor, but also residents, in order to hide and keep everyone's mind off of the real facts and issues.
Now, however, we have had the staff not even willing to explain the mid-year city budget, after the budget was approved.
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