The City Council Votes To Run CRA Funded Staff Expenses With General Fund Money

"I think politicians should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we can tell their corporate sponsors." - Comment yesterday from a poster named Snarko

CRA Call to Order/Roll Call

Secret Conference with Legal Counsel - Apparently existing litigation stuff was talked about and a crystal ball was consulted to determine “facts and circumstances that might result in litigation but which the City/Agency believes are not yet known to potential plaintiff or plaintiffs.”

No reportable action taken in closed session regarding one case of ongoing litigation and one anticipated case.

Approval of Agenda, Approval of Minutes - Yes, yes, yes. It all got done. But really, does anyone at the dais appreciate the time and energy the City Clerk expends to produce the minutes for the Community Redevelopment Agency and City Council Meetings?

Mayor and City Council Reports - Not much going on here.

Public Comment - Guess what!! Our PUSD redistricting task force rep Bart Doyle is going to be invited to make a report to City Council!! Thanks Chris Koerber for bring this up! MaryAnn thinks the rep should come to every meeting and give a report! De Alcorn registered dissatisfaction with the secrecy of the closed sessions.

Presentation - Recognition of Citizen of the year, Richard Mays. Thank you Alma Mays for raising your boy up right. You should have been up there as well! A good man.

Consent Calendar

1a) Folks, they spent $684,593.66 up front – your tax dollars!

1b) And, another $391.67 in payments on behalf of the CRA;

1c) Removed part time employees from SDI.

1d) Chatted on about an RFP for audit services for the City of Sierra Madre, Community Redevelopment Agency and Public Finance Authority. Should be music to our ears that staff takes audits so seriously!!

1e) Second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 1322… Earl Richey demanded that a moratorium on all future building be enacted based on the Council’s comments at the last council meeting “until you can ensure water available and at a fair price.” Wouldn't that make a great ballot question for this November? Show us the water, or shut down all the irresponsible and unsustainable development talk.

1f) Second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 1327… Barbara Leigh pointed out how difficult it is to read smart meters and deal with tiered pricing, which results in many not knowing their water usage. Residents will be fined for water usage that cannot gauge.

Consent Calendar was passed unanimously.

2. Discussion – Resolution No. 12-012 Authorization for Appropriations of City Reserves for Costs Associated with the 2011 Wind Storm Energy.

Recommendation that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 12-012: Authorizing the appropriation of $936,000 from General Fund and $240,000 in Facilities-Internal Services Fund.

Elaine: Staff worked around the clock. 5,500 tons of debris moved; 6 months worth of trash. City spent $511,000. Want to appropriate General Fund reserves for these costs. Unmet expenditures, costs not incurred yet: $665,000. Generators, roofs. Both generators repaired – nice to replace, but not necessary. Need regular maintenance though, estimated amount $25,000 per year. Optional, $75,000 purchase generator as back up, and could use at Community Center. Council Chambers worked for a few people – not a big group. Roofs, $225,000. Can do spot repairs for $9,000. Just 2 city hall buildings. Tree $24,000 for trimming damaged but can live, $28,000 for tree removals. Down to $52,000. No replacements. $23,000 sidewalk repairs. Using in house staff, so that staff is not available to do other things. Replacement $225 per tree. 122 trees = $27,000. Arborists $40,000. Don’t really need, staff will make the call on iffy trees.

One note here. When the mountains of tree debris were removed from my street, it was done by a private contractor. I know this because I talked with those folks. The northern part of Grove Street was cleared by one contractor, and it was all done on a Sunday. I did not hear Elaine acknowledge that, or include contractors in her spoken list of expenses last night. Were they perhaps an Athens hire? I'm not saying City employees didn't work hard, but a lot of this work was done by contractors as well. And perhaps this was necessary, but it is something that we the taxpayers are now paying for. So as long as some people are attempting to take credit here, maybe we should thank ourselves.

Staff took a “sharpened pencil” to the recommended recommendations and a total of $695,000 was ultimately recommended.

John Capoccia, Chris Koerber, and Barbara Leigh tag teamed the Council during Public Comment.

Resolution No. 12-012 passed unanimously as amended

3. Discussion – Consideration of Resolution No. 12-14 designating the City as the Successor Agency to the CRA; Readopting the enforceable obligation payment schedules; designating the creation of the redevelopment obligation retirement fund; and consideration of the successor agency retaining affordable housing functions of the CRA.

Recommendation that the City Council and Agency Board provide staff with direction.

In other words, the City was using CRA money to run their day to day expenses over the years, and now that this money is gone City Hall is in a bit of a pickle. A practice contrary to most everything we had heard in the past about how this money was being used for its intended purpose, which was to fight our nonexistent blight problem (click here). Or to help to fund downtown's celebrated wine tasting room.

The Staff was asking for $500,000 so that they could have 4 to 5 months notice on job layoffs and program cuts. Josh Moran, perhaps not wishing to soil his soft white hands with such nasty work, recommended that Commissions look at possible cuts to programs and staff. Which, and excuse me if this seems harsh or uncivil, struck me as a rather craven copout. Volunteers should not be required to do the hiring and firing in this town. That is a job for elected officials.

Nancy Walsh wanted to spend upwards of $800,000 to make up for the CRA shortfall. Which shows that she would prefer to bankrupt this City rather than do what Josh had asked volunteers to do. Nancy took the lack of leadership we saw last night from Josh to a whole new level. Apparently buck passing was the order of the evening.

MaryAnn MacGillivray pointed out that this is not how moneys are spent in the private sector. The whole "spending good money after bad" concept being alien to the notion of profitability and sound budgeting good sense. Having myself worked on a floor where 30 out the 35 people working there were unceremoniously let go one morning (I survived), and were out on the street by lunch, I do understand how such unpleasantness is done. I'm also certain that it is not the taxpayers fault that the CRA is now gone, or their burden to temporarily prop up what is no longer financially sustainable.

John Buchanan helpfully pointed out that the City Council needed to cough up the money to keep "budgeted expenses going." The assumption being that if it is already budgeted, you must do it. Budgets being sacred for our Mayor. All of which to me was a good indication of just how weak the taxpayer bailout argument really was.

The best suggestion on the matter came from Barbara Leigh Cline who suggested that since the City Council lacked the will to do the job, perhaps staff should get together and vote to take the necessary pay cuts and save their positions that way.

The City Council directed that $250,000 be allocated to be used only if necessary while staff was directed to come back in two month with a plan to slash services, slash staff, and slash spending. A shortfall of $800,000 will somehow have to be covered if our downtown full employment greenhouse is to remain as it has been.

Quote of the Night: “We all have a problem. Get rid of properties in RDA, the city is not a developer. We’re overspending. We don’t have the money available for the services we have. We need to be realistic. This city council has not done a good job.” – Earl Richey

Resolution No. 12-14 passed with 3 ayes and a single nay. The dissenting vote coming from Nancy Walsh, who wanted to spend more than 3 times that amount. Nancy's compassion obviously being with City Staff and not the people she was elected to serve.

My take? With the passing of the CRA into the dustbin of history, so follows the business model of our current City Hall. The way government has been done in this town is no longer financially sustainable (to use a soft term for it), and running the City at a loss on the public's credit card is not the answer. What exactly will we get for our $800,000? Is it worth it to the tax payers to prop that place up? What exactly do we gain, and will it take a tax increase to make it happen? Those are the questions that need to be asked.

Delaying the inevitable with massive reserve spends is not the solution. Passing the responsibility on to volunteer committees is not the solution, either. This is a can that cannot be kicked down the road again. Or passed on to the next City Council.

The Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tem should do their damned jobs rather than trying to buy some extra time. There are far more important issues than Josh avoiding having to do the politically inexpedient dirty work called for here. That is what leadership really is, facing a serious problem and doing what needs to be done. Not passing the responsibility on to future City Councils, or volunteer commissions.

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