At last Tuesdays meeting of city council there was great concern expressed over the budget presented by the mayor. Councilman Reggie Brown rose twice to ask the citizens to help the council in this endeavor. Friday I spoke at length with Council President Bill Bishop and some other top city officials. There are serious concerns over what Councilman Shellenberg calls "phantom expense cuts and revenues" and how to cut this budget.
Here is the reason I am posting on this site about the budget. I believe the members of Metro Jacksonville are uniquely qualified to identify what should and should not be cut in the areas of Public Works which is facing severe cuts. The mayors office suggested things like mowing public areas four times a year and ignoring repairs to some public structures and other scary things. Since the members here know so much about our city, its structures and needs in these areas, I am thinking you guys and gals would do an excellent job scouring this (and other) parts of the current budget. Please consider it, because those making the decisions need informed, insightful and meaningful input. I have already offered to check into the specific areas of the budget that I am most informed about and that help was enthusiastically accepted.
For folks who may have never looked over this city budgets before, keep in mind that what is posted online does not show the more minute expenditures in each department. You need to get this information by requesting it from the city. It is important because this is where questionable spending can be found.
The finance committee meets every first and third Tuesday at 9:30 AM.
Members are:
John Crescembeni (Chair) JRC@coj.net
Greg Anderson (Co Chair) GAnderson@coj.net
Lori Boyer, LBoyer@coj.net
Johnny Gaffney, Gaffney@coj.net
Bill Guilleford, Guilleford@coj.net
Stephen Joost, Joost@coj.net
Clay Yarborough, Clay@coj.net
*I find it worthwhile to copy all of council*
Diane Melendez
I'll say one thing, it was stupid not to pursue the rollback rate. Lost revenue without raising taxes.
I am sure a lot of people think the same thing, but the rollback decision has been made. The question now is, what can be done to deal with the budget shortfall while not greatly compromising needed services. I think Metro Jacksonville can help with that.
Diane Melendez
Why the mayor states he has a pension plan that he cannot discuss until December is irresponsible. The Pensions, as shown in the Times Union today are what are killing the City budget. The Police and Fire Pension is the primary target, in 2003, the City share was only $9,734, in 2012 that number was up to $77,284.
You don't have to look far to find the reasons why our other city services are suffering, our future is being leveraged to pay for pensions that the city cannot afford. Fix the pensions first!
^ AGREE!
And while this probably will not come close to fixing the budget woes of the city, stopping demolitions that are absolutely not necessary at all would save them some money. In this regard, you would think our city has a bottomless pit of money. Board up structures. Far less expensive than demolition. so empty structures attract vandals and taggers. You're kidding yourself if you think they don't tag and vandalize occupied buildings. Point is.. a lot less to mothball and secure than demolish and call that a final remedy. That would be one way to save a lot of money annually.
The pensions are not killing the city budget. The citys failure to fund the pensions as required, both contractually and legally, has come back to bite them. Taking a "holiday" from contributing to the pension fund while the economy was doing well is why there is a shortfall now. The real question should be what happened to the money that should have been going to the pension fund. Fiscal responsibility all the time, not just when it's convenient.
QuoteThe real question should be what happened to the money that should have been going to the pension fund.
How is finding out where the money was spent going to fix the problem at hand? The elephant is in the room, we all know it, but no one has a solution, and the city continues to cut services. We cannot wait until December for plans on how to resolve the pension issues.
^ We are probably waiting until December because they still do not know how to resolve them.
Welfare- The Government will pay you if you don't work.
Glorified Welfare- 2005-1007
Bankruptcy is a viable option. free parking for everyone. 2012-202. A new Authority is the answer.
Legislative actions by both republicans and democrats over numerous administrations have led to a situation of Unsustainability.
Public Service- Cha Ching!
Bankruptcy is a viable option. The Public Trust destroyed.
The Code of Ethics that was in our charter in 1968 and removed in 1972 is being restored.
So who wants to kayak and fish Downtown under the brand new No Fishing signs that was never before Waterways? We do want to say Visit Jacksonville. Don't we?
It's a good thing that I'm a member otherwise I couldn't understand why I am still waiting for a letter of support from the Riverkeeper, Administration on saving and using the Historic Promised 680' Downtown Public Pier for Public Access and Economic Opportunity for the people of Jacksonville. Nobody would believe me if it wasn't heard and asked at an Urban Core CPAC meeting.
We are so LOST.
Correct about an "elephant" in the room. But that "elephants" name isn't workers pensions. And that "elephant" didn't just show up. That "elephant" has and continues to steal from the taxpayers of this city and then points the finger at its own labor force when it can't balance its own checkbook. It is our duty as citizens of this city to demand accountability. These are our ELECTED officials. Shrugging our shoulders and just accepting that money can't be accounted for is, quite frankly, lazy and unacceptable. Who gets led to slaughter the next time the books can't be balanced. What services do we forfeit next?
The below is my post concerning an earlier thread about the JSO in the news category of MJ. I thought I would repeat it here because the JSO is such a large part of our city budget. My opinions of the nature of governmental agencies seem to be relevant to this thread too. I might mention that although we might groan and moan about property taxes, let's be honest. We, as citizens, must pay for the services we need. However, this does not mean we must accept perpetual mistakes, decisions, and habits of waste in our city government as a result of ineptness and complacency born out of some feeling of comfort, perhaps as offered by the conservative bent, or perhaps too, by the comfort and complacency cultivated by the religious component in our city government.
I suspect that citizens will be more willing to pay more taxes if they are confident that those in power, both officially and peripherally, are effective, with a mind set for efficiency, with the well-being of "all" citizens in mind. I suspect too that most citizens will be willing to pay more taxes if they see that decisions are being made via thinking as a consequence of reason, sound economics, engineering, and science, and without excessive reliance on faith. There is a place for prayer. But I suspect that most want it somewhat removed from efforts to solve the problems in our city.
The below is the former post:
Thanks for the video Cat. I ate the whole thing.
The safety of individuals, as related to injury or death, is given a high priority in city budgets. Therefore, anyone attempting to cut a sheriff’s budget is portrayed as being careless or negligent, with the result that during good economies, an emotional component can push the sheriff’s budget to absurd levels.
In a similar way, church leadership, by this mechanism of emotion, encourages believers of the necessity to insure the safety of their souls, as if they existed, by extracting money from members so that the church can continue to save souls by way of the reigning god.
These fundamental protectors of the body and soul are powerful forces, giving free reign to those desiring to capitalize on threats to the accomplishment of either. Anyone apposing funds supporting either might be portrayed as being foolish and careless, even dangerous to the stability of society, or, as in the case of the church, as siding with an imaginary devil.
“JSO: Same Revenue or Same Service, Not Both.â€
So went the headline on the 7/13/12 issue of the Financial News & Daily Record. We know what the JSO budget has been, and what is proposed. But how can anyone possibly know the quality of the service rendered by the JSO? How does one really know the efficiency within it, the waste, the quality and effectiveness of the training, and the individual performance and effectiveness of the officers? How does one know the quality of the leadership in the JSO?
The JSO is not a private firm having the benefit of the powerful pressures of a competitive marketplace. It is a governmental organization, and because the powerful market pressures enjoyed by a private firm do not exist for a sheriff’s department, and therefore cannot encourage excellence and efficiency, these qualities must be achieved by aggressive and competent leadership from the Sheriff.
Whereas the consequence of poor leadership in a private company is failure, the consequence of poor leadership in a governmental agency can be a bloated and mediocre agency, supported by an unnecessarily swollen budget. Most sensible observers will agree that it is typical of governmental agencies to attempt to achieve objectives with "quantity", avoiding the challenging task of striving for "quality", as the latter requires those irritating things called self discipline, work, and sacrifice.
I don’t know all of the dynamics involved, but I do "feel" the problem Mayor Brown engages as he attempts to balance the budget by cutting waste. So I support his effort to withhold funds from governmental organizations such as the JSO, thereby forcing them to look inward to achieve efficiency and excellence. The fundamental force for efficiency and excellence in the private world "is" the competitive marketplace, while in a governmental agency, it is strong leadership at the top.
The statement from the sheriff, “Same Revenue or Same Service, Not Both†offers the assumption that everyone agrees that the JSO service is efficient and effective, and that the leadership and training is acceptable.
The sheriff suggests that there is a direct relationship between the tax revenue dumped into the JSO, and the level of safety given to the population. This kind of emotional thinking only perpetuates bloated budgets for the JSO, and reminds me of the charlatan evangelists talking of sin and forgiveness, all with the objective of extracting money to support not only their power trips and luxurious lifestyles, but their shameful and insane message of religion. Most of us, if we are to contemplate honestly, will understand that the quality of the service delivered by the JSO is a function of several things in addition to the revenue given it. One might call these things dedication to efficiency, professionalism, and the quality of the performance as tuned by proper training.
In my business experience, both as an employee and a business owner, I’ve become aware that without good leadership, many work force environments are set with a condition wherein 60% of the work is done by 30% of the people. And I’ve come to the conclusion that, by changing attitude alone, and given focus, an employee can produce twice the work as might earlier have been the case.
Because they have no competition, governmental agencies tend to gravitate, unless countered by aggressive leadership, toward mediocrity, toward inefficiency, and in general to a condition wherein they produce perhaps sixty to seventy percent of their potential. This is not to say that all governmental workers contribute equally to mediocrity, as there are dedicated individuals who, by their excellent performance, struggle to offset the poor performance of others so that the overall effectiveness of their organization might at least achieve survivable levels.
I can only imagine the challenge the sheriff experienced when he first arrived in office, as he perceived the waste and inefficiency embedded and practiced over many years prior to his taking the job. The huge task of recognizing the department deficiencies, and then the even greater task of overcoming the momentum of many years of mediocre performance, must have been daunting. Any new sheriff has a choice. Roll with it, or fight it. Be complacent, or be concerned. Change it, or seek more funds to obscure the waste within.
Given the probability that the above might offer some measure of truth, we might consider that instead of increasing funding to the JSO, or even maintaining old levels, we might first consider questions about waste, about the real effectiveness of the officers, about the quality of their training, and perhaps more important, about the motivation impressed upon them to exert all their resources, including focus, integrity, sacrifice, and dedication to achieve the objectives to which the organization has been charged.
I am convinced that there are many dedicated JSO officers, many who discharge their duties with great skill and efficiency, and without the arrogance which sometimes emerges as a consequence of one’s possession of a temporary power over others.
But I am also convinced, as I have experience first hand with it, and have listened to others who've experienced the ineptness, arrogance, and indifference within JSO, that within the JSO are individuals performing at 60% of their potential, who are complacent to the point that their focus and training is deficient, and who, by their view of having a measure of power, are arrogant and indifferent to those they are set to serve, protect, and respect.
Nobody will suggest that the job of being a police officer is easy. They must at times engage on the streets some of the most depraved and brutal individuals humanity has ever produced, and must quickly decide if a new encounter concerns one of these beasts, or only a citizen who would never think of harming any other citizen, and certainly not a police officer. I suspect that the constant change from dealing with a pleasant citizen to a seasoned thief or killer, and then back to the other in the next hour, is a source of stress which only they can know.
I am not proposing to know what amount of money must be applied to the JSO. I am only suggesting that there are very important factors affecting its performance "other than" the dollars given to it. I am suggesting that it is time, especially during this economy, for the JSO leadership to examine certain realities regarding training, efficiency, motivation, and priorities assigned so that high levels of efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved.
All things begin in the mind, giving credence to the idea that leadership is the key to performance in any organization, especially the governmental. Leadership can inspire. It can show clearly the goals. It can demonstrate. It can lead the way to excellence, where increased amounts of money will only perpetuate mediocrity.
North Laura Street Business and Governmental Consultation Service. Ltd.
"If an offense comes out of the truth, it is better that the offense come, than the truth be concealed."
St. Jerome
I think everyone understands that Pensions need to be dealt with. The administration and legislation are all aware that this is the "elephant" in the room. I am hoping that Metro Jacksonville would look at areas like public works in the budget where there is no obvious "elephant" standing there. That is where some direction to this council would be very helpful. Other areas would be the building department and planning and development.
The experience of some on this board can help to make sure that when cuts are made (and cuts will be made) that those are done with some wisdom and insight. For instance, not maintaining public spaces and structures in a timely manner. When do cuts go from necessary to too much and how does that negatively impact the city?
It is no secret that this nations infrastructure is in serious decay. It behooves our city to spend the money necessary to make sure ours is up to standards and not decaying around us. What is missed when folks start swinging a budget ax is that somethings must be taken care of, like road repairs and maintenance to public buildings. This is fiscal responsibility. Not doing these things now will only cost us more dollars in the long run.
The time frame for budget is really a short window. I have chosen four areas on which I can focus in an effort to help this city balance the budget. My hope is that others will use their insight and expertise to do the same in other areas like the ones mentioned above where they have greater experience and understanding.
Ron, JSO is one area I too am looking at regarding budget.
Diane Melendez
Hey Cat!
Nice to have you in the trenches again! Welcome home.
OCK
One solution I would like to see explored is allowing more control at the neighborhood level regarding right-of-way maintenance. The current philosophy at Public Works regarding maintenance is one-size-fits-all. This city is too large for that approach.
Cutting the grass 4 times per year may work in some of the rural areas without devaluing the property (and these are the properties that have more right-of-way to maintain and are paying lower property taxes).
In the urban neighborhoods, where the per-acre taxes are much higher (because of greater density), allowing the right-of-ways to deteriorate will result in devaluation of the properties, and eventually the tax base.
If we put in a system that provides a budget for right-of-way maintenance that reflects the tax investment being made, those areas can choose the level of service they want. Then add a mechanism where neighborhood associations can add to that budget for certain areas (like the towncenters), or create self-taxing areas that could contribute through Business Improvement Districts.
It isn't likely that we will ever be able to deconsolidate the city government, however, we should take steps to decentralize that power.
Excellent, excellent, excellent Doug! This is what I am talking about! Bells were ringing and your words are exactly those that need to be quantified and presented to council as "options" to the old way of doing things is this city. Clear thinking and alternative solutions. Love it!
Perhaps some on Metro Jacksonville can form a group, take your ideas and input on the budget/city business together and get it to them. Excited by the potential here. Doug, I hope you will take your post and send it on to the entire council. You make wonderful sense.
Ock, Thank you my old friend.
Link to Council Members: http://www.coj.net/city-council/city-council-members.aspx
Diane Melendez
Timkin, Call the mayors office and ask for a copy of his speech given 7/17/2012 during the dedication of the Historic Brewster Hospital. It contains comments by him speaking to the importance of the preservation of historic structures that should be helpful to your efforts.
Thanks, Diane. SMPS and SMMA have been talking to our District Councilwoman (Lori Boyer) about it. She is as concerned about the right-of-way issues as we are (if not more so), and appears to be open to finding creative solutions to solve the problem. It won't happen overnight, but I am optimistic that we can take steps to solve the problem.
Quote from: Cheshire Cat on July 30, 2012, 01:19:34 PM
Timkin, Call the mayors office and ask for a copy of his speech given 7/17/2012 during the dedication of the Historic Brewster Hospital. It contains comments by him speaking to the importance of the preservation of historic structures that should be helpful to your efforts.
Will do, Diane. Glad to have you back amongst us. ;)
Quote from: dougskiles on July 30, 2012, 12:59:00 PM
One solution I would like to see explored is allowing more control at the neighborhood level regarding right-of-way maintenance. The current philosophy at Public Works regarding maintenance is one-size-fits-all. This city is too large for that approach.
Cutting the grass 4 times per year may work in some of the rural areas without devaluing the property (and these are the properties that have more right-of-way to maintain and are paying lower property taxes).
In the urban neighborhoods, where the per-acre taxes are much higher (because of greater density), allowing the right-of-ways to deteriorate will result in devaluation of the properties, and eventually the tax base.
KA-POW! Great idea Doug, I've long thought our right-of-way landscape and maintenance is so poor that it hurts us severely in attracting new business.
When I was on city council in Oklahoma, a major corporate relocation to OKC was rejected when the CEO took a drive around by himself and decided OKC was dirty and had little pride. OUCH! Since those days OKC has remade itself into a sparkling model city on the prairie... How many CEO'S leave the northeast or midwest daily and whisk the family through Jacksonville only to get to the same conclusion as that long ago OCK embarrassment? The airport road exit, I-95 between I-10 and 20Th street as well as large sections of other roadways in town look like open sewers. I realize it might be impossible to quantify the impact that rejects us, but one only has to go as far as Disney to see what might have been.
^I think this is just going to be the way of the future. No surgical cuts are going to get us out of a deficit this big, especially when we wont be adding any revenue. Unfortunately, our better equipped neighborhood groups may just get stuck with handling maintenance if they don't want the work left in the hands of an even more ennervated public works department.
Also: Disney never seriously looked at Jacksonville.
Two sayings come to mind. "Don't count your chickens until they are hatched" when budgeting and "Do as I say, not as I do" when a politician.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/400601/ron-littlepage/2012-08-26/ron-littlepage-little-humor-mixed-drafting-city-budget