EDifications

SOME GREAT POLICE WORK—It was a sad day for many of us in Geneseo when we woke up early one June 2009 morning to learn that vandals had defaced our veteran’s memorial, the city park, library and other items around town.

I don’t know how they did it, but our local police department learned the “perps”, pressed charges and the lowlifes’ were prosecuted.

The wheels of justice grind slowly. More than a year later, earlier this month, we read in the Dispatch they had their day in court and were finally sentenced. Of all they were charged with the State’s Attorney saw fit to only charge them with a single count, Criminal Damage to Governmental Property, a Class 3 Felony. It has to be frustrating for our law enforcement people to do the hard work of finding culprits like this, to write them up on a long list of charges that are all pertinent, and then have the charges thrown away by a State’s Attorney seemingly too lazy to do the hard work of taking all the counts before the judge, and to allow the charges to be bargained down by the defendant’s lawyers to a single charge. That’s what happened.

Their punishment: four weekends in jail, 24 months probation, restitution of $4,141 to be split by the three, and 100 hours each of community service. I’d say they got off pretty leniently, wouldn’t you?

My hat goes off to the city crime fighters. They certainly did their job. Wish I could say I shared the same opinion of the State’s Attorney. The one thing that would sweeten this whole thing for me would be if the convicts were required to do their community service in the city. Now that would be poetic justice, don’t you think?

LIBRARY MOVES FORWARD—After how many years now? At last night’s TIF/Community Development Board meeting the library presented plans for their new building on North Chicago Street. A modest building, the size, but not the cost, pared down significantly from their original dream, the plan came to the Board with no way to get pedestrian traffic to and from the facility, a serious short coming as far as the Board was concerned. After nearly an hour of discussion, approval of the plan was given, contingent upon the board securing agreement from the property owner to their south to allow them to install a sidewalk from the corner of Ogden and Chicago to the library property or along the east property line of St. Malachy’s Church, to the rear of the library, and then east, to their property line. An occupancy permit will not be given until one of the two ways for pedestrians to get to the facility have been completed.

CITY’S FINANCES IN CAIOS—That’s the headline in Wednesday’s Dispatch. The headline and the story are correct, but the story didn’t go into the situation in the detail it could have. Alderman Kennate, chair of the Administrative Services Board read a prepared statement that outlined the city’s position in an articulate way. You need to know what he said, so I am printing his words verbatim here:

“This past spring, shortly after the change in administration with the election, and change of our city accountant, several irregularities began to be noticed regarding some city financial records and our IT systems operations. At first this was believed to be a simple matter of new people going through the process of familiarization with new systems, and also with past methods of financial record keeping. However after significant commitments of time and effort, we’re now at the point of recognizing there are several things we’re simply unable to adequately explain regarding some city financial records, and there are accounts we’re simply unable to bring into balance.

Some specific financial areas in question are:

• Irregularities regarding Motor Fuel Tax discernments and record keeping.
• Irregularities regarding a Police A & B Fund activities.
• Irregularities regarding Pooled Cash Account ledger balances and actual cash balances.

To give a little further explanation of “pooled cash accounts” … in 2008 the city switched to a “Pooled Cash Account” system, which transitioned from a simple system of actual fund monies being placed in a corresponding dedicated account … to a system where monies from multiple funds were “pooled” into one larger account. Monies would be added or withdrawn from the “pool” as needed, and a separate ledger would show the breakdown of what monies were allocated to the specific accounts. What we’re finding is that the total of the individual account ledger balances differ from actual monies on hand in the “pooled cash account” … the pooled cash account is at a deficit to what the individual accounts ledger balances indicate they should be.

We want to be clear that we have found absolutely nothing to indicate anyone was taking money inappropriately from the city, we want to be very clear on this important point. From what we are able to piece together however, it appears monies may have been moved between funds in a type of “take from Peter to pay Paul” effort, through the use of “pooled accounts” monies … with the ultimate intention being to reimburse the account when anticipated future revenues were received. As the city continued to face decreased revenues from the economic downturn however, the needed future revenues never materialized, and consequently it was not possible to repay the funds and bring everything into balance. This situation could explain the differences in account balances between the ledger and actual monies on hand in the pooled accounts.

Concurrent with these issues is an overall lack of confidence in the operations of the city’s financial software system called InCode, and additionally a lack of confidence in the electronic security of this and other city IT systems in general. InCode is pervasive in virtually all aspects of the city’s financial operations, including accounts payable, receivables, payroll, utility billings, etc. Routinely referred to by staff as “ghosts in the system”, InCode appears at times to operate with a mind of it’s own, and requires an inordinate amount of double and triple checking to verify accuracy. Frequently data that was once accurate is routinely found later to be inaccurate or changed from what was previously entered. Data at times simply appears without any explanation or input from those people responsible for inputting financial information. Whether this is due to a software problem, or due to access and interaction with the system by unauthorized users is not clear. InCode IT support has been utilized to provide assistance in trouble-shooting these issues, and some of their findings include:

• Inability to uniformly log into our system across all computers and at all times.
• Inability to replicate any potential software errors.
• Inability to trace when or where many data entries originated.
• InCode support also stated data could be programmed to appear at a future date. After running a search for any pending future data entries and none being found, future data entries are still continuing to appear.
• InCode support found our internal IT security measures to be “lax.”
• InCode support found our back-up systems to be incomplete.

Beyond these InCode specific irregularities, other IT issues are occurring on a regular basis which include:

• Poorly operating or at times inoperative workstations.
• Software updates not being completed on a timely and regular basis.
• Server security and InCode security being compromised through poor password practices and “backdoor” full administrative rights access.
• Questionable server back-up and redundancies.

In short InCode, and our IT systems in general, are poorly operating and poorly secured. This makes it impossible for us to determine whether the system itself is poorly operating, or if the system is poorly operating because it’s insecure and subject to manipulation.

We must also recognize that potentially these InCode / IT issues could have been occurring for years, making it difficult for anyone to create and maintain accurate financial records through the system. This may explain why in the past a large number of “manual adjustments” were made to city financial records without any detailed information as to why. This being noted however, we can find no records where operating issues with the InCode system were noted by prior boards or staff.

The Administrative Service Board would like to acknowledge the significant amount of extra time and work our city accountant has devoted in this effort. I know many of you have met with her individually to ask questions and seek further explanation in this regard.”

As I said, Alderman Kennate outlined the city’s position very effectively. I hope you share my concern, and encourage your aldermen to support delving into what’s going on, even if the cost my seem high.

TIME FOR AN AUDIT—Last night the council voted unanimously to get proposals from accounting and IT firms to perform audits to determine just where we stand. Once the proposals come in I am guessing a large price tag will be attached to each, but to operate the city we need a safe secure IT system and we need to know exactly where we stand financially.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?—At Tuesday night’s council meeting, just after spending more than an hour talking about what a mess our financial records are in, there came a vote to move a part time accounting employee to full time status. The vote was 5 to 3 not to do this. The reasons given were a smoke screen for, what I think is the real reason, “If the mayor’s for it, we’re against it.” The two aldermen who continue to lead the campaign against about anything the mayor tries to accomplish held positions of influence in the previous administration. When the mayor was elected she made changes that these aldermen didn’t agree with. They now use their position to work against initiatives she campaigned on and is now working to fulfill. I just have to remind these people that Mayor VanDerLeest was swept into office by a 989 to 523 vote count, a victory that should have embarrassed the ex mayor. The voters clearly indicated whom they want in this office. I think it’s time for the aldermen to listen to what the voters have said.

SORRY, BUT I WAS HAVING COMPUTER TROUBLE—I tried twice to print the article that follows and was unsuccessful getting the entire story to print. Here it is again:

CITY/CHAMBER RELATIONSHIP—For a number of years the city and Chamber of Commerce have maintained a close and mutually beneficial relationship. Both organizations are focused on making Geneseo a better, more vibrant place to live, do business and raise families.

Several years ago I suggested to the previous administration that the city’s substantial financial contribution to the group be contingent on the Chamber making a city representative a voting member of their board. This suggestion was made with a number of goals in mind. First was to shepherd the city’s financial investment in the group. Also important, making sure each group had a finger on the pulse of what the other was doing relative to our common goals. Finally, was to improve the already good working relationship between the two groups. The previous administration was unresponsive to this suggestion, never offering a reason why.

Mayor VanDerLeest listened to my suggestion with an open mind, and now the members of the Chamber are voting to change their bylaws to allow a member of the city to be on their board. In the meantime Mayor VanDerLeest asked that I be the city’s representative, which I graciously accepted. I am already a member of the group, have a local business, already participate in many of their business and social functions. Being on their board seems like a logical extension of my involvement with the Chamber, in my mind, and must have to Mayor VanDerLeest as well. I look forward to my involvement and hope I can make meaningful contributions.

SAD NEWS ABOUT WEBER MEATS—They informed friends at church on Sunday they would not reopen their Geneseo, but instead would move back to Cuba City, Wisconsin, to become involved in the family business there.

This is sad, to me, on two fronts.

The city will be losing a good business, one that provided a number of jobs to real good people, also gone will be the payroll, the sales and property taxes generated by the business, and the shoppers their store brought to town from all over the region, shoppers who not only spread the word about their store but others in Geneseo, too.

More sad, to me and all that know them, is we’re are losing a great family, one that was visible and active in so many positive ways, a generous family who shared their good fortune making Geneseo a better place to live.

I wish them well in their new venture. They’ll certainly be missed in Geneseo.

FROM THE MAIL BAG—I get a good bit of mail regularly from those who read this blog. Never did I hear from some many as I did after I published my July 16 posting. Here are just of few of the comments, unedited, but all were signed (I don’t even read comments that are unsigned, much less share them with you).

“Hi Ed — I love reading your blog and keeping up with what’s going on in the city. Without your comments, we wouldn’t know what is really going on.

Too bad you don’t mention names anymore, because I have learned through you the true colors of our council. Such a shame people think they have such power.
I know you do what is best for our town, and are not looking to get your kid, cousin or Joe Blow a job.

I’m especially grateful that someone cares enough to clean up the town when citizens have left their homes in messes. I have a friend who had a neighbor who passed away and nothing has been done in years — can you imagine what’s inside that home???? Thanks for taking care of that.

I always enjoy speaking with you Ed and I know you tell the truth and tell it like it is. Don’t let the riff raff run you out!!! Hang in there. And keep updating your blog.”

“Ed — THANK YOU so much for being brave enough to post your take on city happenings. Maybe you could end posts with the date, time, and place of the next council meeting. I plan to attend when I’m in town, but have been out of town a lot this summer and when I am here, I forget all about it. However, I don’t forget to look at your web site and look forward to it.”

“We used to be able to watch the council meetings on Channel 50 - that would be a good idea to start that again - then we could see our aldermen in action.
We are lucky to have Xxxxxley and that stupid Xxxxxx kid - to serve us–Not!”

“I don’t agree with you on every thing you write about, but I do believe you write the truth. I checked with others who were at the council meeting and you were accurate on every point. Keep on keepin’ on keeping us informed.”

“Is there a way we, the citizens can work to recall these people? I’m outraged. That kind of behavior is an embarrassment to the city. We don’t read about it in the paper, so it’s good to here about it in EDifications.”

That’s just a sampling, but gives you a feel for the kind of feedback I’ve been getting. Remember, if you write you must include you name or I will not read your message.

CITY/CHAMBER RELATIONSHIP—For a number of years the city and Chamber of Commerce have maintained a close and mutually beneficial relationship. Both organizations are focused on making Geneseo a better, more vibrant place to live, do business and raise families.

Several years ago I suggested to the previous administration that the city’s substantial financial contribution to the group be contingent on the Chamber making a city representative a voting member of their board. This suggestion was made with a number of goals in mind. First was to shepherd the city’s financial investment in the group. Also important, making sure each group had a finger on the pulse of what the other was doing relative to our common goals. Finally, was to improve the already good working relationship between the two groups. The previous administration was unresponsive to this suggestion, never offering a reason why.

IT’S TIME THE ALDERMEN LISTENED TO THE VOTERS—At the August council meeting a group of aldermen ranted about the way in which the Mayor was handling a number of issues. If you’re a regular reader of this post the aldermen who put on this performance won’t be a surprise. Accusations and misleading statements based on ignorance, deceit, lies, and inappropriate plays for power are grinding the efficient manner in which city business is conducted to a halt.

This strife, what it is doing to disrupt the conduct of the city’s business, and the erosion of employee moral, troubles me and I struggle to find the reason that motivates these aldermen.

Mayor VanDerLeest was elected by the people. She ran against two other candidates, an incumbent and a disgruntled former city employee, and she stomped their ass. To refresh your memory, candidate McCracken garnered a mere 418 votes, ex-mayor Eberhardt 523. VanDerLeest received 989 votes, more than the combined total of the losers.

She campaigned on open communications, keeping city expenses in line with income, and doing all she could to make Geneseo a great place to live. This is obviously what the people wanted and they spoke clearly. Too many aldermen turn a deaf ear to what the voters said so clearly.

The Mayor is living up to her campaign promises.

Communication–Questions anyone has, elected or citizen, get answered. She returns calls, answers emails promptly, when she’s in her office her door is open, when she isn’t she’s quick to arrange a time to deal with whatever is on someone’s mind at their mutual convenience. This style is a direct contrast and a pleasant change from the previous mayor, who only communicated with who he chose to and at his convenience.

Fiscal responsibility–With the elimination of the personnel director, the city administrator, community development director and treasurer jobs $200,000+ in payroll has been slashed from the budget and that doesn’t count the cost of benefits, which would add another 30%. Sure, some of the work those people did will require new hiring, but you can be assured the end result will be significant costs savings for the citizens of Geneseo with little lost in services.

Quality of life–Is Geneseo a better place to live under the new Mayor. I think so. More storefronts in the downtown area are occupied now than have been in years. The John Deere dealership is placing a major part of their 5-location business in Geneseo, bringing new jobs and thousands in new property tax. New businesses are opening, others expanding…all in an economy that’s the worst most of us have ever lived through.

Mayor VanDerLeest is doing exactly what she told the voters who overwhelmingly elected her told her she do.

The aldermen? We hold office by default. No one else wants the job, and since I have had it for a while, understand why. The voters didn’t speak to us, they just put an X where a name was because there was no other choice.

I, for one, heard and respect what the voters said when they elected Mayor VanDerLeest by such a convincing margin. Voters were looking for leadership that shared their vision for the city, and the Mayor’s obviously meshed with what they had in mind. As someone who has been given no similar mandate from the electorate, I see it as my duty to help her accomplish what the voters asked her to do. It’s ashamed some of my colleagues choose to thumb their nose at the voter’s wishes.

As I said before, we’re alderman only because no one else wanted the job. The people chose the mayor by an overwhelming margin. It’s important for aldermen to understand this. The people said 989 votes, to 523 votes to 418 votes they’re buying what the Mayor is selling. All aldermen owe it to the voters to have heard that too, and to act like what the voters have said is important. Too many don’t. Sad, isn’t it?

COUNTRY MARKET NEWS—Grand opening day is scheduled for Friday, August 27.

ABOUT THAT UGLY GRASS THAT IS TAKING OVER GENESEO—I talked to resident “grass guru” Klint Rice about the situation. No one grows a lawn quite like Klint, as is evidenced when you drive by his beautiful home. Mowed four times a week to a precise 1.25-inches, his is a lawn I envy. Klint informs me the plant is crab grass or water grass. “It’s an annual,” he says. “It will be dead with the first frost.” He said that treating the lawn with a pre emergent in the spring and again in the early summer will keep the ugly stuff from reappearing mid to late summer next year. Confirming Klint’s knowledge, as I observe my neighborhood the residents who have no chemical program are the ones whose yards are being overrun.

CITY/CHAMBER RELATIONSHIP—For a number of years the city and Chamber of Commerce have maintained a close and mutually beneficial relationship. Both organizations are focused on making Geneseo a better, more vibrant place to live, do business and raise families.

Several years ago I suggested to the previous administration that the city’s substantial financial contribution to the group be contingent on the Chamber making a city representative a voting member of their board. This suggestion was made with a number of goals in mind. First was to shepherd the city’s financial investment in the group. Also important, making sure each group had a finger on the pulse of what the other was doing relative to our common goals. Finally, was to improve the already good working relationship between the two groups. The previous administration was unresponsive to this suggestion, never offering a reason why.

POORLY CARED FOR PROPERTIES—You’ve read here that the city is working to get owners to bring their property up to code.

If anyone doubted how serious this is being taken by those responsible within the city that doubt should have been removed when reading the Police Blotter column in a recent Republic where one such owner was arrested and was required to post bail.

At a recent meeting I was taken to task by a local contractor who suggested this effort was being pursued with more zeal than necessary and scolded me for working on properties that were not in my ward. I answered that I am an alderman for the entire city so will work to get properties brought to code wherever they are. Second, though economic times may not be the best for any of us, when one owner’s refusal to take care of his property devalues an entire neighborhood I am of the opinion that the one causing the problem should be dealt with, and that’s the way the city fathers long before me wrote the ordinances.

The contractor admonishing me sited a homeowner who started a remodeling project visible from the street some time ago and claimed he couldn’t afford to finish it. “Now the city is all over my case.” It’s interesting to me how that homeowner could afford to erect a new, wooden, 6-foot tall spite fence around his property this summer, but couldn’t come up with the funds to complete the project he had started months before. The “I can’t afford it” excused just doesn’t carry weight with me in a case like this. Or consider the homeowner who started a project to the front of his home more than five years ago and hasn’t driven a nail since then. Weeds flourish, wood rots and the entire neighborhood suffers. It has been suggested that I am not being compassionate to this owner’s situation. My compassion ran its limit when I saw his drive full of brand new adult toys. Bottom line is, we have ordinances to protect homeowners from unthoughtful neighbors. They are now being enforced.

STATE STREET REVAMP—You may have seen surveyors working on State Street. Several people have asked the reason and this was discussed at last week’s Public Works board meeting. I’ll do my best to fill you in. There are serious problems with the sewer and water lines along South State. Some have been in for 100 years or so and may no longer be compliant with state and federal laws. They are also a big repair job just waiting to happen. Plus, the street has exceeded its useful life.

The work being done is preliminary. It will give us an idea for what kind of cost are involved and allow us to fit this project into our budget.

Many have expressed concern that the boulevard will be removed; others that all of the trees will be cut down. As I said, this work is preliminary, but there is no thought of removing the boulevard. The revised street will most likely look like the section of State Street between Main and Second that was done a number of years ago. The street was widened, the boulevard remained, some trees were lost and replaced and others left alone.

MAYOR WINS FRIENDS FOR GENESEO—Saturday about 50 people in 35 British cars drove to Geneseo for dinner at Sweet Peas. These were people in the Quad Cities to attend a British car show I was involved with and came from as far at 500 miles for the weekend. I invited the mayor to join us and to greet the group and then visit with individuals before, during and after dinner, which she did with great enthusiasm. She even left during the meal to “test sit” one of the attendees cars after she commented that it was too bad that she couldn’t fit her 6-foot 2-inch frame in any of the “cute” little cars. Those who watched from the window, and that was about everyone, enjoyed that action! Sunday I couldn’t count the number of attendees who stopped to thank me for introducing them to the eating establishment and all commented about how nice it was for the mayor to take time from her busy schedule to be there. Point is, we should all do everything we can to be good ambassadors for the city in all we do. Here’s an example where 50 people from all over the region will be having good things to say about Geneseo as they discuss their weekend with their friends and family.

WIND AND RAIN—Unseasonable weather continues to play havoc with city work schedules. Another recent windstorm took down more trees and branches around town, which required time normally used for mowing, and with more than 3-inches of rainfall already in August grass grows fast at a time of the years when crews can normally catch up with other duties as mowing slows down. Please be patient as our crews work hard playing “catch up.” Hats off to the hard working folks who kept our public areas looking nice.

DOLLAR STORE, GOOD NEWS—The Dollar Store will soon start a remodeling and expansion project. They will enlarge into the property to the north of where they are currently located. A complete redo of the entire store will take until December or so. The store will remain open while the work is being done, which may cause shoppers minor inconvenience, but the newly redecorated, larger facility will make shopper’s visits more pleasant.

NEW MEDICAL EQUIPMENT STORE—The building last occupied by the Farm Credit business will soon house a new medical and hospital equipment business. More details later.

LEGENDS SPORTS BAR—This building was recently purchased by Wirth, Inc. Their plans from the property have not been announced.

THE STORY ON THE POOR PAVING JOB—I had a question dealing with the quality of the paving job on east Main and Ogden. The constituent wanted to know if “we” were happy with the job.

My answer: “Not really. But this was a Stimulus job. We didn’t pay for it so have little control over the outcome. We have registered our displeasure with the supplier and the Feds the supplier reports to. That said, we got about as good a job as could be expected with the technique that was used. This process is designed to extend the life of streets in fair to poor condition another ten years or so, not make a “new” road. With the Stimulus restrictions we were not allowed to choose projects that required engineering as the timelines didn’t allow that. Also what roads in town that could be surfaced was dictated by the Feds. We did what we could with the restrictions given and the $200,000 allotted. A real test will come this winter, particularly on Main Street, when the snowplows run. Our concern, and it has been voiced with those that matter, is that the snowplows will peal off the top surface. We have been told that if this happens the damage will be repaired. We’ll see. Hope I have answered your questions. If not, you know how to contact me. Ed.”

TUESDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING—Last night, for the first time in my life as a councilman, I was embarrassed to be associated with this group. I have never seen such a display of unprofessional conduct. Territory and authority was openly being fought for, personal power being put ahead of the best interest of employees, and one councilman shamelessly was caught in an outright lie to the mayor.

Because my last post caused so much angst among councilmen because their behavior was tied to their name, I will not name names here, but if you call me I will give you my spin on exactly what’s going on tied to names. Better yet, come to a council meeting or any, or all of the board meetings, and see how those you elected to office carry out their duties. I think you’ll be shocked and disappointed

WHEN BEING BULLHEADED HURTS SOMEONE—At Tuesday’s Council meeting the position of Economic Development Director was removed as an official city job position. More about that later.

In the first few weeks of the new Mayor’s term it was learned that the city’s financial position was not what it had been reported, but far worse. In an attempt to take immediate action to reduce costs one of the things the new Mayor proposed was eliminating the position of Economic Development Director. The city’s cost saving was around $50,000 a year. In looking at the possible ways to save this kind of money immediately eliminating this position seemed far wiser to me than eliminating a police officer, electric lineman or some other position in which the city had a large training investment.

The problem was there were there were three aldermen, Spensley, Ewert and Schmid, who, in my opinion, wanted to test the Mayor’s resolve and wouldn’t commit to eliminating the position prior to a vote. Two other aldermen and I, who did commit to backing the Mayor, did so with the understanding that there would be a compassionate separation package involved. My thinking was two month’s salary and benefits. When the mayor couldn’t get the backing of another alderman she exercised her executive power, laying off the employ because of the financial shortfall and saving the city $50,000. This resulted in the employee leaving with no separation package.

The aldermen who didn’t back the Mayor had the satisfaction of “showing her” and I hope they had some satisfaction, too, in sending this ex-employee on her way without financial help to easy her unfortunate situation.

As to eliminating the job position, Alderman Pierce, echoed by Alderman West, made loud noises about the issue at the June Council meeting. Because it wasn’t an agenda item no action could be taken at that time. Pierce insisted it be put on the agenda for the July meeting. When the item came to a vote neither Pierce or West offered opinions or discussed the matter, and then they voted with the rest of the council for approval. Go figure!

NO BID PURCHASES—At Tuesday’s Council meeting the Alderman Schmid, chairman of the Electric Board brought a request to purchase two items without getting competitive bids. It takes a majority vote of the Council to approve such a purchase.

Since I have been on the Council I’ve had a problem with the cavalier attitude this group has had about spending the city’s money and the “good old boy” culture under which it ran its business. The mayor took some positive steps by changing the make up of the board, but not changing the leadership has allowed old, and in my opinion, inappropriate attitudes to prevail. This was apparent Tuesday when I questioned the no bid purchases.

The first was for security equipment for the Electric Department in excess of $20,000.
When I asked Alderman Schmid for details he leaned disgustingly forward in his chair, jaw tightly gnashed and with as much disgust in his voice as he could muster told me that the reason no bids were sought was because what was desired was compatible with the equipment they already had. The repugnance in his voice made it clear this is not a question he felt should have been asked. I then asked if competitive bids were sought for what they already had. “No,” he tersely answered.

First I believe we owe it to our constituents to spend tax dollars as wisely as possible. In this case the no bid situation might have served that purpose, but it also might not have. With the local phone company, which is a huge employer, significant tax producer and contributes to the betterment of the community through employee involvement and the generosity of their foundation, also providing those types of products and services, it was, and still is, my opinion that they should have been given the opportunity of look at the situation. They very well may have told us that what we have is most cost efficient, or might have come up with a solution that could have saved a sum of money. Competitive bidding is in the best interest of the city. That’s why we have an ordinance requiring it. In this case the vote to go without competitive bids was 7 for and 1, me, against.

The second purchase in which competitive bids were not sought was for a pole trailer that cost in the $15,000 range. Mr. Schmid curtly told me that quotes, not bids were sought. Securing quotes is something that can be done which allows city fathers to make a purchasing decision based on what is, in their opinions, the best product, whether or not it is the cheapest. When this is done aldermen are provide with all quotes, so they can see the difference in specs and make an informed decision on whether the higher price is worth the extra cost. I was told there was one other quote and it was $200 less that the product they wanted to purchase. There was nothing provided to back that position, and had there been I most likely would have supported the purchase. Without that documentation I was the lone no vote.

IS IT TIME FOR NOPOTISM TO BE ADDRESSED IN CITY HIRING PRACTICES?—This is an issue I tried unsuccessfully to deal with under the last administration. One of the reasons I believe it should be giving a long hard look reared its head at Tuesday’s Council meeting when discussing a new cell phone policy which will save the city several thousand dollars a year and but an abrupt end to abuses of the previous policy.

Alderman Spensley’s son works for the city and the two obviously spend time discussing what’s wrong with young Spensley’s work situation, because Senior has called me on other occasions. At the meeting Alderman Spensley related a conversation he had with his son about the new cell policy and questions he had with it. I asked if his son had talked to his supervisor about the questions and the alderman answered no. I suggested that it was appropriate that the chain-of-command be followed when there were problems or questions about work related issues. Spensley noted that he had no problem with a city employee coming directly to him with such a problem. Aldermen West and Pierce agreed.

I have no problem with a city employee coming to me with a work related issue if they have gone through channels and gotten no satisfaction. But encouraging employees to not communicate through proper channels first undermines the authority that has been given to our management group and is inappropriate.

My position on hiring is that anyone who is related by blood or marriage to anyone in the city who is in a position to influence a hiring decision should not be considered for employment. What’s your opinion on nepotism and city hiring?

OAKWOOD CEMETERY CLEANUP—Thanks to all that showed up with equipment, rakes, wheelbarrows and strong backs. It’s amazing how much work can get done in a short time when lots of good folks pitch in. If you were one of the hard working volunteers my hat goes of to you. Thanks for the help!

WATER MAIN FLUSHING—Twice each year city workers flush our water hydrants. This removes rust that stands in inactive parts of the pipes and confirms that the hydrants are in good working order. The most recent flushing uncovered two non working hydrants in the D&H development. Those were recently replaced. If you’ll remember a year or so ago a large and very expensive house in Bettendorf burned to the ground because the hydrant nearest that home wasn’t functioning. The time spent in the flushing operation is well spent, to my way of thinking.

NAPA STORE NOW OPEN—Congratulations to these folks for getting their new store, adjacent to County Market, open, and thanks for the commitment to stay in Geneseo after all they lost in the recent flood. The owner has other stores nearby and could have elected to serve his local clients from one of those, but instead elected to reinvest in Geneseo and help contribute to our local economy and the operation of the city with its sales tax contributions. If you get a chance to stop in you’ll be impressed with the state-of-the-art look of the new facility.

DELAPADATED, UNKUMPT PROPERTIES—Thanks to those of you who have written about properties needing attention in your neighborhoods. The city’s community service officer and building inspector are writing tickets for ordinance violations and making inspections for code violations. Sometimes getting a remedy to problem properties takes time, as too lenient judges tend to side with homeowners, allowing them what I think is more time than is necessary to deal with problems be bring to court. You can be assured that the heat is on. If you have a neighbor whose property needs attention let me know the address and name of the owner. I will not mention your name as I forward the information for attention.

WONDERBREAD STORE CLOSES. I was surprised as most anytime I went by or stopped there were cars in the lot. I learned it was strictly a business decision. Not enough business.

NEW SIGNS. You might have noticed new signs at the Richmond Hill and Oakwood Cemetery. They’re made from cedar and a green plastic material that is routed to reveal white underneath. This choice of materials looks great and should remain so for many years with virtually no maintenance. High fives to the staff.

STORM DAMAGE. The windstorm left many trees down and damaged. As city crews are working to clean up the damage grass is growing faster than ever. Please be patient as they do double duty. If the grass in the parks or cemetery is longer than usual there’s good reason.

VACANT, ABANDONED, UNSIGHTLY HOUSES AND YARDS. City staff is working hard at dealing the situation. Fines are being levied, yards cleaned, and houses repaired. If you have an unneighborly neighbor who’s property is causing yours to be devalued drop me a note and I will see what can be done.

WRITE OFFS SLASHED BY WATER/SEWER DEPARTMENT—Every year this department has to write off a certain amount of debts that can’t be collected from people who have moved and left owning bills. Here’s a rundown of the past few years:
2006 $1,809
2007 2,837
2008 2,352
2009 1,103

This year’s write off amount is $26. Hats off to this department. Your hard work and change in procedures has paid off well.

ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT ELIMINATES ADVERTISING BUDGET—Even though the council had twice voted to have this department stop spending money on advertising it defiantly continued. This year’s budget contained a $7,000 figure for such spending. A wiser, more disciplined, new board eliminated this wasteful extravagance, but not without a temper tantrum from the Board’s chairman.

A BIG THANKS TO ALLIED WASTE—Waste removal was a big part of the cleanup after the flood. More than 80 tons was removed. Our waste disposal supplier, Allied Waste, stepped up big time to help cut the city’s costs. Their donated labor and equipment totaled more than $4,800, much of this cost was for removal from the trailer court, whose owners don’t even use Allied’s services. A big thanks goes to all of those at Allied Waste who helped the city at its time of need.

NEW BUSINESS COMING—A pizza and taco restaurant and bar will be opening in the old Legends property. The firm has similar facilities in Fulton and Savannah. More details later.