That is the title of a document that I received last night
in an email. Upon reading I thought it warranted and I agreed to posting it for
all Cooper City voters to read. It does raise the concern, “Were the voters of
Cooper City in the last ballot change to the city’s charter hoodwinked into
believing that the statement on the ballot was accurate description of the
actions to be taken or were they deceptive and as a result lost a “charter
right”, that being the right to approve certain major financial expenditures by
the city commission when it exceeded a specific amount?”
One can only assume that there may well be some truth to it
and should be viewed by the current sitting commission as an egregious
transgression by the previous commission. A quote from a past virulent and
outspoken dissident, who has receded into the background and is rarely vocal and
then only acting as a surrogate for the Mayor or Commissioner Mallozzi.
“Unity among
commissioners should never be an issue.
The issue should be five individuals bringing their own independent
thoughts and ideas to the people, and doing what’s right for this city, not
agreeing with each other just to have a commission group hug. We’ve had enough so called commission(al) harmony, being nothing more
than rubber stamp voting. The people
demand you represent us, NOT each other.
Also, please don’t
claim our finances are strained until a forensic audit is done, and our books
are looked into in detail. You might be
surprised at what you find, or don’t find.”
[verbatim comments of Diane
Sori, resident, @ citizens concerns during a Cooper City Commission meeting.]
Emailed as Follows;
This
is the part of the old city charter that was removed in November of 2006 which
was not properly described in the ballot item and as a result can only be
described as the
The Great Power Grab Caper
by the
Elected Officials of
Cooper City
Mayor Debbie Eisinger
November 2006
Section 5.15. Requirements for referendum.
The City of Cooper City may borrow money, contract loans and
issue bonds payable from ad valorem taxes and maturing more than twelve months
after issue only to finance or refinance capital projects authorized by law and
only when approved by a vote of the electors of the city.
(Added to the
charter.) The city shall have full power and
authority to issue municipal bonds or
to borrow funds [or municipal purposes to the extent authorized by and subject
to the limitations provided in the Constitution of the State of Florida, the
Municipal Home Rule Law, other applicable statutes and this charter.
(Deleted from the Cooper City Charter.)
The purchase or construction of a capital project or
facility or the purchase of capital equipment, the cost of which shall exceed
seven and one half percent (7.5%) of the then existing current budget as
adopted for the fiscal year, and which requires the borrowing of funds by the
City or the issuance of bonds to fund such expenditures shall require prior
voter approval of a majority of the electors voting at an election.
The referendum requirement of the section shall not apply to
capital projects within the water and sewer utility systems of the city. Nor
shall it apply to expenditures mandated by federal or state governments.
Section 3.13. Initiative,
referendum, recall.
I leave it to
you the reader to determine for yourself the following questions;
What is the significance of this?
Were we told of this?What should be done to restore the voters charter rights?
Your comments
are most welcomed.
