 |
Howl |
As everyone is certainly aware,
City Council meetings happen only once every other Tuesday evening. They could happen every week I suppose, but then who would go? Well, OK, nobody hardly ever goes now, so I suppose the point is moot. Would things improve if the meetings were held monthly? Or even quarterly? How about only when the moon is full and the forests ring with the fearsome howls of the
Wolfman? All here have heard those anguished and lonely cries, and certainly that would bring some immediacy to these proceedings. We could hang religious sacraments from the
Council Chamber doors and offer sanctuary to all who might seek it. Trust me, there would hardly be an empty seat left.
But I digress, and perhaps badly so. Tuesday evening's meeting has some important issues on tap for us, especially regarding certain exorbitant water and sewer rate increases. A topic which, a few years back, would have brought out angry mobs armed with pitchforks and torches. Kind of like those nights when the moon is full and the
Wolfman begins to howl. We trepidatious villagers must always be vigilant about the dark forces that move among us.
Tuesday's meeting begins with the secret session. It is where the many legal entanglements our city government faces are discussed, and tomorrow there will be two such topics on the docket. The first one reads this way:
Existing Litigation: Case No. GC046442
Case Name: City of Sierra Madre v. Jeffrey M. Hildreth and Taryn N. Hildreth d/b/a The Sterling Oak; Suntrust Mortgage, Inc. a Virginia Corporation; and does 1-50 inclusive.
This item continues the death match between the
City of Sierra Madre and the
Hildreth family. The latter being folks having the temerity to try and start a wine business in a zone that city favored development interests had designated for their special brand of junk redevelopment. As
Vin Scully might say, "This one could go all the way!"
This matter should have been settled amicably years ago, but that didn't happen. The resulting legal costs to the taxpayers caused by
City Hall's intransigence are already immense. And wait'll you see the bill if the damn fools lose this case. Which they very well could. You never know.
The other item is a bit more mysterious. Here is the agenda take on this one:
Pursuant to Calif. Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4)
The City Council finds based on advice from legal counsel, that discussion in open session will prejudice the position of the local agency in the litigation. Initiation of Litigation: Number of potential cases – Two
Channeling
Vin Scully one more time, it looks like a doubleheader.
Government Code for the item is identified this way:
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.
We have seen this particular code number several times before, so obviously the city is still looking to change its luck and go on the offensive over some things. Who they are planning to sue is anyone's guess, however. Maybe they'll just do like everyone else and sue themselves instead? It would certainly be a unique way of dealing with the situation, and perhaps that way they could win.
After the
City Council concludes its secret deliberations it will enter
Council Chambers for the public portion of the evening's event. The usual rituals will be practiced, cleansing the area of evil spirits and other annoying impediments to true government process. Each Councilmember will then speak about their deeds over the last 14 days, testimony to their leadership and value for the community.
Assemblyman Chris Holden will then rise to speak about how great things are going in
Sacramento, something that only the lowliest of yes men (and yes women) present will buy into. The majority of those being on the
City Council. Chris advocates both an arbitrary use of eminent domain as a redevelopment tool (
SB-1), and the building of the
710 Tunnel. Two things that for me make anything he might have to say tomorrow night meaningless.
Consent Calendar Item (a): The regular public portion of this approximation of a city government in a state of distress kicks off per usual with the spending of large sums from the public purse. How it got to this point is anyone's guess, but the amount of
$702,154 will pass from the hands of the sorely tested taxpayers Tuesday evening and straight out the door. Checks from us are always in the mail. Vast flocks of them.
Third World Edison, the intermittent power provider that recently gouged us for the electricity needed to operate our water company, gets $84,298.25. The
City of Arcadia gets $24,565.16 for something to do with water I suspect. Even though we supposedly aren't buying any of it from them right now.
Dapeer, Rosenblit & Litvak get $19,556.72 for their legal wisdom, and
Perry Thomas Construction will receive $109,561.60 for the
MWD Connection Project. This being for the pipes hooking us up to the
San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, but only
for temporary use. I'd sure hate to see what the cost would be if that hookup was to be used permanently.
Item letter (b) on the
Consent Calendar informs us of the following:
Recommendation that the City Council approve Resolution No. 13-65 and authorize staff to delay the application of penalties for customers who exceed their conservation target until the bills that will be calculated and mailed after the November 2013 billing cycle.
Now that we are about to be hooked up to the chloramine-rich waters of the
SGVMWD, what need is there for fining residents? Well, OK, the City wants the money. There is that.
This apparently is a postponement of the schedule of fines that our supposedly independent water company will use to level punishments upon its captive customer base. Which means that
Sierra Madre's water hostages will begin to be fined for overly exuberant water usage right around the time the city's water rate increases go into effect. An "elegant solution," to use a particularly redolent Josh-ism.
Item letter (c) deals with
Street Rehabilitation. I don't know how you rehabilitate a street. Perhaps you put it in a ten step program? I'm just kidding. Here is how our all knowing
City Staff puts it in the Meeting Agenda:
Recommendation that the City Council authorize modification of funding of the fiscal year 2012-2013 street project and approve the contingency funding.
The problem here is that the
City Council limited the spend on these various street repaving projects to about $693,000. However, and as per the usual, there are certain contingencies to think about (albeit in this case a little late), and if you factor those into the mix the actual amount required increases to $725,735. The City Council will be asked to either rebid all of this, give
Bruce Inman some more cash, or cut the scope of the entire project.
What is odd here is that the recommendation on the meeting agenda, and the one in the staff report, are in complete disagreement. Compare the above quote with what is said in the meeting packet:
Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Council reject the bids received for the project and direct staff to re-bid the project with a reduced scope.
Seems like a contradiction to me. Or maybe it's "blue sky" thinking. Or twerking. But only in a metaphorical sense.
Item 1(d) on the
Consent Calendar should give anyone in attendance a little sorely needed comic relief. This has to do with that "
Art in Public Places" situation you've been hearing about, and the only reason it is even on the agenda at all is because it is one of those rare items that
Mayor Walsh can actually understand. Here is how it reads:
Recommendation that the City Council read by title, pass second reading, and approve Ordinance No. 1345 amending Chapter 17.90 of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code pertaining to the Arts in Public Places Program.
Apparently there is going to be between $20,000 and $60,000 available for the purchase and installation of "
Art in Public Places" at some point during this fiscal year. Most of it is rumored to be coming out of
Kensington funds via some rather creative means.
That this mandate comes from a city that constantly complains about how badly it lacks for funding, while raising every available fee, rate and tax, does add a certain level of absurdity here.
If these folks really do want to put their art into public places in
Sierra Madre, they should just donate it. I can hardly see why any money should be spent funding art projects that cannot stand on their own in the private marketplace.
Item 1 (e) on the
Consent Calendar involves creating plans for rebuilding sewers, with the cost expected to come in at around $7,500. If you were to take a more postmodern look at this item it could be possible to view these plans as a form of art. And since sewers are public places, though not often frequented, wouldn't it then be possible to take the money needed for this item out of "
Art in Public Places" funds?
The last item on the
Consent Calendar roster is letter
(f), and it has to deal with an inventory of Sierra Madre's streets. The amount set aside to accomplish this feat is $13,950, and it looks like
City Hall darlings
Bucknam will be getting the gig. Apparently
Jerry Brown has some
Prop C money to give us for street repair, especially those streets serving as conduits for public transportation. You know, like buses. In order to receive some of this
Sacramento generated largess a report must be created, which for around $14 grand Bucknam will happily do.
We've finally gotten to
Agenda Item #2, which finds us contemplating the dreams of a
Parker and
Barbara Williams and their wish to pack in some high density housing at
215 N. Baldwin Avenue.
City Staff has no problem with the high density request, they'd turn this city into
Rancho Cucamonga if they thought it would look good on a resume.' What does give them pause, however, is the request that the City also waive $35,149.18 in
Public Facilities fees. Since
City Hall is glomming onto every spare cent it can exact from anyone doing business in this town, they are reluctant to do that. A
Conditional Use Permit will be approved by the pro-development bobbleheads on the
City Council, but those penny-pinching Parkers will have to pay through the nose to get it.
By the way, our new neighbor
Parker Williams has an interesting past. One that includes some jail time for a little development related bribery when he was an elected official in
Alhambra. A place apparently celebrated for such behavior. To read the
Tattler expose' on this dude, click
here. Let's just hope he hasn't tried anything quite so funny while here in
Sierra Madre.
Agenda Item #3 contains one of the most profound disconnects of any recent meeting. As you will see in a minute, our waterless
Water Department is requesting upwards of a 60% increase in its rates, yet in this item they are asking for over $1.4 million dollars to purchase so-called "smart water meters." Here is how this is described in the agenda:
Recommendation that the City Council approve the installation of a citywide AMI system, awarding the contract to Concord Utility Services for an amount not to exceed $1,406,385; with the procurement of Sensus AMI meters and AMI appurtenances from Aqua-Metric; and provide staff with direction as to which financing option to utilize in funding the project and what funding source to utilize for funding the project.
"
AMI" is the acronym for
Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Our water wizards want to extend payments on these meters out for 8 years, which I am sure makes sense to them. After all, they are basically the same folks who extended our payments on the
2003 water bonds into the
2030s, and at the cost of nearly $9 million to the taxpayers. If anybody wants to know why our
Water Department is in the kinds of financial trouble it is today, you need look no further than this agenda item.
Agenda Item #4 is the main bout of the evening. Here
Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc., a vastly overpaid outfit hired mainly to provide some political cover for our less than courageous
City Council, will attempt to build the case for water rate increases of nearly 60%, with a sewer rate hike of up to 95% being pushed as well. This is very much a "process" situation in that these consultant suggested rates are not as yet official requests, just the recommendation of Raftelis.
However, this does serve the purpose of starting the conversation around a certain set of numbers, and from this point forward the
City Council will be able to build their rate increases upon an established benchmark. It is the reality creation portion of the "process."
Again, the purpose of this rate hike is not to repair water infrastructure, or make this department's services any less worse. Rather it is to help create a financial condition where it will be possible to rejuvenate our distressed bond ratings, and then issue another round of water bonds. In effect creating even more bond debt than we already have. Currently we are in the hole for around $20 million dollars. After this
City Council sets in motion its "solution," which includes stiff water and sewer rate hikes, that number could climb to more than $30 million.
Unfortunately, the only way we can stop any further ballooning of this city's bond debt is to stop the
Raftelis water rate hikes. There really aren't any other options. In order to keep this
City Council from making a terrible mistake, one that this jurisdiction might not survive, we might need to shoot these proposed water rate increases down. At this point I don't see any other choice.
Next comes
Agenda item #5, and here we see
City Staff lobbying for yet another fee rate increase. In the past two years there has been quite a few rate, fee and tax increases, and we can now add this to the list. In order to fund pension and benefit increases, City Staff has been sparing no effort in getting every tax (etc.) they control increased. On the agenda report this one is described as a "
Public Facilities Fee Rate Adjustment." The adjustment in this case being the increases necessary to cover costs of things like sewer and water main hook-ups.
All that said, this is the cost developers are required to pay when building new projects. It is my hope that we will see some really large increases, ones that will help take all of the possible profit out of building here. You know that this city administration is quite capable of that.
Agenda Item #6 is at the request of
Mayor Pro Tem* Harabedian, and at first glance it seems like a pretty good idea. Described on the agenda as "
OpenGov Online Budget and Financial Transparency and Data Visualization Software," what this involves is spending $1,788 a year to a company called
OpenGov (
link). An outfit that would then help share with anyone here who so desires the capacity to examine the city's finances on their home computers. It would certainly help me when obtaining information for this blog. Here is how it is described in the
Staff Report:
This financial transparency and data visualization software can assist non-finance staff zero in on their own operating data and run their own financial reports without going into the accounting system. It allows the public unprecedented access to the budget and operating numbers, which build trust in the community.
There is one problem here, however. What does
OpenGov itself do with this information? And how do we know they are not bundling and then selling it to interested parties? This would give them quite a lot of access to once secret city business as well. Certainly there are vendors who could profit greatly if they had this kind of information in advance.
The last item is
Number 7, and it is yet another attempt at a "
Strategic Plan Update from (the)
April 4, 2013 Retreat" review. They are not likely to get to it, and nobody outside of the
City Manager will care if they don't.
http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com