So we almost had a special meeting regarding the budget because they couldn't agree on it and they kept arguing pointlessly. The time wasted during that meeting was Raver talking about the last council majority and how they didn't do anything. News flash: neither have you since December until the recently formed ad-hoc, which I have said my peace about and is now funded. Not a single person on that council can point a finger at another at this point.
The budget passed the second time around by trimming off $100,000. Our projected reserve as of 6/30/2016 is $9,167,266 (22.33%). Our revenue is $35,814,300 (was $35,914,300) and our expenses are $41,058,937. We have to go into our reserve $5,244,637 (which gives us the $9,167,266). Here is how the budget breaks down: 12% development; 6% recreation; 8% city administration and 74% public safety. The first vote had 2 for (Krupa and Wright), 2 against (Youssef and Milne) and 1 abstention (Raver). They had to trim $100,000 off of the money we are putting aside for the software update needed in a few years to get the budget passed. It did pass 4-1 with Milne voting against it. I know she wanted at least the assistant city manager position eliminated. They kept arguing about the budget and how hard decisions are not made and getting off topic when the reality is: they should have started looking at this and options in December; actually July 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, and I said this a few months back, it should have started with a vision and plan 20 years ago.
You cannot have a shifting dynamic, here I mean from retirement community to family community, and expect to stay status-quo. This is a problem that needs more that one resolution. We have to be smarter about how we go about things. We finally, due to the state, are moving in the direction of being responsible about our landscaping and water use. You know how much money we would have been saving if we had native desert plants all along? Not to mention being responsible to our natural resources.
You cannot run a city/government like a business. It is well-known that government is to provide services; business is to provide profit. Now, if you are smart; you can get the business side established and built to the point of being able to fund your government. However, that takes being able to look down the road some years and see a bigger picture. Your city councils have failed you on this and are currently failing you! Someone do something smart! I don't just mean a tax (even though we need it to keep things afloat for the time being) because that keeps everything the way it is. It just provides money to keep things funded at their current point. This is assuming we do not dip into another recession. We need to move this city forward with a vision. If we cannot get it together, then we will be filing for bankruptcy very shortly! We cannot take another $5,000,000 hit to our reserve. That is the reality, so you need to start paying attention.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
A Little Fact About the Blog
The writer who first pulled me into the world of literature was Edgar Allan Poe. In 1844, he wrote a series of letters/commentaries about New York City titled the Doings of Gotham that were first published in the Columbia Spy. Most people who know me, know that I am a huge fan of Batman. It's that whole mortality and vengeance thing. When I started to think about a name for the blog, I had originally wanted to call it the Doings of Hemet, but thought the reference a bit obscure. Plus, I wasn't sure if I could get away with it. The next and most logical option, Save Hemet.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Council Meeting June 9th
All of council was in attendance and everything on the agenda was passed. There was more discussion about the budget, which was necessary due to its projected adoption next meeting. Here's where it stands: we are going to have to go into our reserve. This is something we cannot sustain, year after year. Something has to happen. Enter agenda item 18.
Agenda item 18 was passed, which I have significant issues with and here's why. I do not agree it is necessary to hire a political consulting firm (Lew Edwards, Oakland CA. I will post a link to their site below. Craig's article from the PE just posted 6/10 goes into some of the past relationship with Lew Edwards) to go out into the community and distribute information predetermined by a couple of council members. This is the same thing everyone got upset about when the last council majority tried to sell us CalFire. Remember? People - if it is wrong once, it is wrong twice. I do not care who the majority is. I knew before Tuesday's meeting that there is a desire to see if a tax is something the people of Hemet would be willing to back. I said at the council meeting, right now, sink or swim, I think it is our only option. Public safety needs a solid and continuous stream of funding. Keep in mind that if it is through a tax, funding is subject to the health of the economy. I do not agree that hiring a political consulting firm is the most economically savvy way to go about this given our fiscal status nor do I think it is the most honest. As stated above, the selected information will be provided to the Lew Edwards Group. They will in-turn solicit that information to the public and then gain public sentiment based on their interaction. This dictates democracy in a way that I do not appreciate. The scope of work was not provided in the agenda, nor was it provided to council on Tuesday night. Yet, council voted on this with a 3-2 majority, with Krupa, Wright and Raver voting in favor. They are "using FY 14/15 professional services budget savings to fund the effort", which does not make it sound any smarter. The amount is not to exceed $40,000. I just sat through a budget meeting that addressed fairly unreliable sources of funding and $40,000 could help out. I think this should have been done differently. I think solving this very real problem needs to be multi-dimensional and Milne and I agree on this. Every point she brought up; I was with her. To the point someone asked if the building was going to fall down. I'm not joking. Someone actually said that. It makes me wonder where the people with the money were when everything started to go south. They sat on commissions, boards, councils and little to nothing was done by most to keep this city from the brink. Doesn't it make you wonder why? The original intention of this particular ad-hoc committee was to get people from the community and gain their ideas for sources of revenue. This idea was thrown out the window and the committee made up of Krupa and Raver opted for the political consulting firm. Raver is trying to sell it as if this is our decision and we need to take this into our own hands. Then why are you, as a council member, wanting to hire a political consulting group? And why did you run for office if you weren't going to roll-up your sleeves and get into the muck of it?
http://www.pe.com/articles/city-769834-hemet-tax.html
http://www.lewedwardsgroup.com/
Agenda item 18 was passed, which I have significant issues with and here's why. I do not agree it is necessary to hire a political consulting firm (Lew Edwards, Oakland CA. I will post a link to their site below. Craig's article from the PE just posted 6/10 goes into some of the past relationship with Lew Edwards) to go out into the community and distribute information predetermined by a couple of council members. This is the same thing everyone got upset about when the last council majority tried to sell us CalFire. Remember? People - if it is wrong once, it is wrong twice. I do not care who the majority is. I knew before Tuesday's meeting that there is a desire to see if a tax is something the people of Hemet would be willing to back. I said at the council meeting, right now, sink or swim, I think it is our only option. Public safety needs a solid and continuous stream of funding. Keep in mind that if it is through a tax, funding is subject to the health of the economy. I do not agree that hiring a political consulting firm is the most economically savvy way to go about this given our fiscal status nor do I think it is the most honest. As stated above, the selected information will be provided to the Lew Edwards Group. They will in-turn solicit that information to the public and then gain public sentiment based on their interaction. This dictates democracy in a way that I do not appreciate. The scope of work was not provided in the agenda, nor was it provided to council on Tuesday night. Yet, council voted on this with a 3-2 majority, with Krupa, Wright and Raver voting in favor. They are "using FY 14/15 professional services budget savings to fund the effort", which does not make it sound any smarter. The amount is not to exceed $40,000. I just sat through a budget meeting that addressed fairly unreliable sources of funding and $40,000 could help out. I think this should have been done differently. I think solving this very real problem needs to be multi-dimensional and Milne and I agree on this. Every point she brought up; I was with her. To the point someone asked if the building was going to fall down. I'm not joking. Someone actually said that. It makes me wonder where the people with the money were when everything started to go south. They sat on commissions, boards, councils and little to nothing was done by most to keep this city from the brink. Doesn't it make you wonder why? The original intention of this particular ad-hoc committee was to get people from the community and gain their ideas for sources of revenue. This idea was thrown out the window and the committee made up of Krupa and Raver opted for the political consulting firm. Raver is trying to sell it as if this is our decision and we need to take this into our own hands. Then why are you, as a council member, wanting to hire a political consulting group? And why did you run for office if you weren't going to roll-up your sleeves and get into the muck of it?
http://www.pe.com/articles/city-769834-hemet-tax.html
http://www.lewedwardsgroup.com/
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