 |
| God save the Queen - click here |
Needless to say, The Tattler will be with you every step of the way.
Tuesday evening's meeting kicks off with a closed session, which has two lawsuits on the docket this week. One is from the Sierra Madre Police Department, the other I can't quite figure out. The Government Code Section for the mysterious one is 54956.9(d)(4), which is a little different from what we usually see. Here is what the on-line legal authorities of the State of California say:
54956.9. (d) For purposes of this section, litigation shall be considered pending when any of the following circumstances exist: (4) Based on existing facts and circumstances, the legislative body of the local agency has decided to initiate or is deciding whether to initiate litigation.
So what it looks like is the City Council is deciding whether or not they want to sue someone. Perhaps this would be a countersuit to the one the Hildreth's have launched against the City? The Hildreths are also suing individual members of City Hall personally, including the City Manager and the Development Service Director. So obviously this one has turned into a full-fledged war of attrition. The question all of this raises here is that if the Hildreth's case is so weak, how exactly has it gotten this far?
Of course, it could be an entirely different lawsuit the City Council is working on. We just don't know at this point. Teresa the Belle of Barstow certainly does have her attorney operation in gear. All of it being run on your dime.
After rituals rooted in the very beginnings of our civilization are conducted, plus a ceremony commemorating the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide takes place, the spending of money begins. This part of the meeting is always at the beginning of the evening's events because what could be more important than spending money? It is at the very core of what we as human beings do. We consume, and the many prosper.
The total spend this time around comes to $497,809.77. Included in this nearly half million dollars is $6,301.56 for the Library, $380.63 to the Mountain Views News for ordinance publication, $25,986.32 for John Buchanan's employer, $2,052.94 to Verizon for cell phone service, $10,951.09 to First Transit for those almost always empty buses you see roaming around town, and $30,097.95 to Liebert Cassidy and Whitmore for their hard work squeezing even more money out of the residents. Sierra Madre is a very busy place.
Item 1b on the Consent Calendar has to do with the purchase of water infrastructure software from a company called Byrd Industrial Electronics. This is required for a "SCADA System" upgrade. Our Water Department, which is stone broke because people thought they were doing the right thing by curbing their urge to consume water, needs $59,497.62 to make this essential upgrade happen. I am sure the money will be found somewhere and spent. This will bring the total spend for this week to $557,307.99.
Here is an aside. If the Water Department is broke, and if the City is running out of water in a few months as Bruce Inman has claimed, is there enough left to sell and bring it back to solvency? Just thought I'd throw that one out there.
Item 1c on the Consent Calendar comes from our estimable Administrative Services Director and it is the Third Quarter Financial Statements. The news contained there would be considered highly favorable to many of the hundreds of California cities and towns currently teetering on the precipice of financial disaster, but here it will be spoken of as a further indication of just what will happen to the City should the UUT extension do-over vote meet the same fate as last time. From now until April of 2014 every report of this kind will contain the same somewhat skewed conclusion. Needless to say, we are now starting to feel the pull of the next municipal election cycle.
Item #2 on Tuesday evening's agenda contains one of those thick as mud ironies you find in these reports sometimes. Check this one out:
At the City Council's April 4th Strategic Planning Retreat, a task was established under the goal "Maintain financial stability and sustainability." Specifically, the task is to "present a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a water rate study and a sewer rate study to the City Council for consideration."
So in the name of financial stability the City Council is considering hiring a consultant for around $20,000 to $30,000 to study water and sewer rates. All being done to justify some of the approaching rate increases, rumored to be among the highest in this City's history. The City Hall money grab, which includes hikes to just about every kind of rate, license, fee and tax currently in existence, is in full swing. And, as in the case of the Police Survey consultant Councilman Harabedian wants to hire, you will pay for the arguments being used to defeat your interests.
If you are not disgusted, then you have probably stopped breathing.
Item #3 is near and dear to the City Manager's heart because this is where the reasons for the City Hall money grab, especially the UUT extension do-over ballot initiative, are revealed. In an opaque sort of way, of course. Here is a key passage:
Attract, Develop, and Retain Quality Staff - Three objectives were identified to address this 3-year goal. The first objective directs staff to begin the meet and confer process with non-police labor groups. This is intended to begin by April 15, 2013. Secondly the City Council can expect to receive a presentation on a Recruitment and and Retention Plan by October 1, 2013. Finally, the October 8, 2013 City Council meeting has been selected as the target for staff to recommend a prioritized list of delayed projects for consideration for the best utilization of staff.
What is not said here, and for very good reasons, is how exactly Ms. Aguilar wishes to grow her little downtown empire. To the point, how does the City plan to recruit and retain "quality staff?" Obviously the only realistic way to do that is to increase salaries, benefits and pensions.
Which, of course, is at the very heart of this effort. The idea here being to bring Sierra Madre in line with the kinds of remuneration systems employed by cities much larger than ours. Los Angeles being a good example. Pensions being one of the larger expenses involved, and the driving force behind the wave of municipal bankruptcies sweeping the state.
Sierra Madre is community of less than 11,000 people, and it is hardly within the power of its taxpayers to fund such an operation. That is unless a considerable increase in revenues is to be found. Which is why everything the City controls is now going up. Walsh, Harabedian and Moran are completely on board with committing this City to what will be a very large increase in spending on staff. All of which will come out of your hide.
The question you need to ask is - for what?
Once the City Council majority has committed itself to selling out our interests to a few Municipal Employee Unions, they will then begin to give each other some awards. Because let's face it, if they didn't give themselves awards, who in God's name would?
Then comes the reorganization of the City Council. Perhaps the least qualified individual in Sierra Madre's history, Nancy Walsh, will become our next Mayor. If it is possible for there to be a step down from Josh Moran, she is it.
The Councilmember who has proven himself to be as green as his tie, John Harabedian, will likely become the next Mayor Pro Tem. He will continue to offer us nothing beyond his complete obedience to the L.A. County political machine he so desperately longs to join.
All of which could make you wonder if this town can survive in its current form. I do not believe it has ever been quite this bad.
http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com
