Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Lake Worth decides to hire two workers to boost Census participation
Click title for link to PB Post article on last night's meeting.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Click here after 6 p.m. for Live Feed from 1/12 City Commission Meeting
They switched the order of the items on the agenda and will be dealing with the Justice Action Grant first and then the Complete Count Committee.
Commissioner Maxwell made a motion to discard both bids from the RFP. The motion failed due to a lack of a second. He questioned the need for this process. Discussion is going and they will be discussing the applications tonight. This even though both are considered incomplete.
Annabeth Karson stepped to the podium and is asking for questions from the Commission. Commissioner Golden asked why the signature page wasn't signed. She responded that it was in done in a rush and there were problems with the indemnity clause - after consulting with professionals. They received word late that the Commission could delete that requirement.
Interesting. Commissioner Maxwell is asking about what other community organizing activities, specifically, Ms. Karson has been a part of in the City of Lake Worth. He is asking questions about many of issues that I raised in the previous post.
Commissioner Maxwell made a motion identical to his previous motion, which failed for a lack of a second. This was after public comment. Commissioner Jennings then made a motion to give the contract to the Karson/Coolican team. Commissioner Mulvehill seconded it. Many people commented on the political nature of this issue. Guess who is up for re-election this year and look who made the motions. Commissioner Jennings thought the response from Karson/Collican proposal was very complete and addressed the city's needs.
Commissioner Mulvehill says that this decision "vindicates" the City Manager and reinforces that this is a political decision. She thinks this might create problems within the CRB, if the board was given the task.
Commissioner Maxwell made a plea to focus on doing the city's business and not be political all the time on every issue. He says that this is going down the way everyone predicted. He is also concerned about the goal of hitting 50,000 as our population - the result is the result, not whether we meet a "goal."
Commissioner Golden says that people work on elections in a democracy. She delivered some very nit-picking questions about the CRB operations and did not clearly understand the actions of the board.
Mayor Varela thanks those that applied and wonders why there weren't more. Wants to change the tone about how we treat folks here tonight and how they treat staff. He knows we are going to get a good job done here. He will be consistent with his views on process - these were two non-responsive bids. He is voting against this due to that and would do the same for either respondent.
City Attorney says that any action should be contingent upon them signing the response and agree to the indemnity and a hold harmless clause. This would protect the city if the two commit a negligent act, it couldn't come back to the city.
3-2 passed, Commissioner Maxwell pledged the city's cooperation.
They then went to discuss aid to Haiti related to the earthquake today. He is pushing for releasing of the emergency apparatus (ambulance/fire truck)
Commissioner Maxwell made a motion to discard both bids from the RFP. The motion failed due to a lack of a second. He questioned the need for this process. Discussion is going and they will be discussing the applications tonight. This even though both are considered incomplete.
Annabeth Karson stepped to the podium and is asking for questions from the Commission. Commissioner Golden asked why the signature page wasn't signed. She responded that it was in done in a rush and there were problems with the indemnity clause - after consulting with professionals. They received word late that the Commission could delete that requirement.
Interesting. Commissioner Maxwell is asking about what other community organizing activities, specifically, Ms. Karson has been a part of in the City of Lake Worth. He is asking questions about many of issues that I raised in the previous post.
Commissioner Maxwell made a motion identical to his previous motion, which failed for a lack of a second. This was after public comment. Commissioner Jennings then made a motion to give the contract to the Karson/Coolican team. Commissioner Mulvehill seconded it. Many people commented on the political nature of this issue. Guess who is up for re-election this year and look who made the motions. Commissioner Jennings thought the response from Karson/Collican proposal was very complete and addressed the city's needs.
Commissioner Mulvehill says that this decision "vindicates" the City Manager and reinforces that this is a political decision. She thinks this might create problems within the CRB, if the board was given the task.
Commissioner Maxwell made a plea to focus on doing the city's business and not be political all the time on every issue. He says that this is going down the way everyone predicted. He is also concerned about the goal of hitting 50,000 as our population - the result is the result, not whether we meet a "goal."
Commissioner Golden says that people work on elections in a democracy. She delivered some very nit-picking questions about the CRB operations and did not clearly understand the actions of the board.
Mayor Varela thanks those that applied and wonders why there weren't more. Wants to change the tone about how we treat folks here tonight and how they treat staff. He knows we are going to get a good job done here. He will be consistent with his views on process - these were two non-responsive bids. He is voting against this due to that and would do the same for either respondent.
City Attorney says that any action should be contingent upon them signing the response and agree to the indemnity and a hold harmless clause. This would protect the city if the two commit a negligent act, it couldn't come back to the city.
3-2 passed, Commissioner Maxwell pledged the city's cooperation.
They then went to discuss aid to Haiti related to the earthquake today. He is pushing for releasing of the emergency apparatus (ambulance/fire truck)
Chasing our Tail...
One of the items on tonight's City Commission agenda concerns the RFP for the Complete Count Committee. In previous posts, I detailed the situation and the problems with having political operatives being paid to head the City's effort in the 2010 Census. Others noticed this too, and after a few weeks in the position, the political operatives were released of their duties. This came after many stops and starts and after "much blood spilled on the altar of objectivity." The whole situation was handled poorly by the city administration. The Commission acted to solve the problem, acting on a somewhat urgent basis, and put together an RFP for a "firm" to head-up the complete count effort. The due date for responses to the RFP was last Friday.
One of the alternatives, only at the last moment identified by the City Manager, was to have the Community Relations Board (CRB) head up the effort. This made great sense as it was a new board that already counted among its members people of the community with links to neighborhood associations and other groups in the city that could assist with getting residents counted. Their combined connections could achieve the Complete Count Committee goal and do so on a volunteer basis - not on relying someone to be paid to conduct the effort.
In order not to miss the bus, the CRB actually responded to the RFP. While not technically a firm, it wanted to assert itself as an entity that was already existing, politically neutral - or at least representative of the make-up of our community, and present itself as a choice for the City Commission to consider when reviewing the other proposals when they were opened.
As it turns out, no "firms" responded to the RFP, but the same political operatives that were released from their duties previously responded, along with the CRB. According to the back-up material, both are considered "non-responsive" as the city believes the CRB did not have the authority to sign the form and that the other response lacked some of the required information. That being said, the City Commission still has the right to alter the requirements, discard all responses or essentially do whatever it wants as a body.
Back at the beginning of this episode, the City Manager asked the Commission - one assumes members of the current "majority" - for ideas to head up the Complete Count effort. In an act of potential political patronage, Commissioner Golden recommended Annabeth Karson. The City Manager assumed this would be on a volunteer basis, but it turns out that Ms. Karson required payment for her work and she needed a paid assistant as well. The total amount allocated for these two positions was $30,000.
In turns out that for the period the two worked, they were paid $4,000. There is some question as to whether or not any work product, information, contacts were retained and available to whoever would end up doing the work. That work product is really property of the city - actually the public-at-large since these are all public documents. It may be a more serious problem if that information is produced for whoever ends up doing the work.
If you look over the responses, it becomes clear that the City gets more "bang for the buck" using the CRB, with the bulk of money going towards actual outreach efforts, collateral material, etc rather than most of the money going to pay salaries of individuals.
So, what the City Commission should do tonight is scrap the notion that there ever was an RFP and give the job to the rightful entity - the CRB. If it doesn't, it really amounts to a snub of another volunteer board (like has been done through past poor treatment of the Planning and Zoning Board and the Community Redevelopment Agency). If the City Commission chooses to go with the political operatives, then they send a message that Lake Worth is the home of machine politics and that to matter here you have to subscribe to the prevailing ideologies exposed by the three person majority.
Many think they know what the answer will be tonight - how unfortunate it will be if they are correct. The best outcome would be for Ms. Karson and Ms. Coolican to abandon their requirement to be paid and work with the CRB. In the end, an accurate Census count is critical for the City and they should work on it in a volunteer basis, as they do in various political campaigns. I guess we should assume they aren't paid for those duties, but who really knows?
One of the alternatives, only at the last moment identified by the City Manager, was to have the Community Relations Board (CRB) head up the effort. This made great sense as it was a new board that already counted among its members people of the community with links to neighborhood associations and other groups in the city that could assist with getting residents counted. Their combined connections could achieve the Complete Count Committee goal and do so on a volunteer basis - not on relying someone to be paid to conduct the effort.
In order not to miss the bus, the CRB actually responded to the RFP. While not technically a firm, it wanted to assert itself as an entity that was already existing, politically neutral - or at least representative of the make-up of our community, and present itself as a choice for the City Commission to consider when reviewing the other proposals when they were opened.
As it turns out, no "firms" responded to the RFP, but the same political operatives that were released from their duties previously responded, along with the CRB. According to the back-up material, both are considered "non-responsive" as the city believes the CRB did not have the authority to sign the form and that the other response lacked some of the required information. That being said, the City Commission still has the right to alter the requirements, discard all responses or essentially do whatever it wants as a body.
Back at the beginning of this episode, the City Manager asked the Commission - one assumes members of the current "majority" - for ideas to head up the Complete Count effort. In an act of potential political patronage, Commissioner Golden recommended Annabeth Karson. The City Manager assumed this would be on a volunteer basis, but it turns out that Ms. Karson required payment for her work and she needed a paid assistant as well. The total amount allocated for these two positions was $30,000.
In turns out that for the period the two worked, they were paid $4,000. There is some question as to whether or not any work product, information, contacts were retained and available to whoever would end up doing the work. That work product is really property of the city - actually the public-at-large since these are all public documents. It may be a more serious problem if that information is produced for whoever ends up doing the work.
If you look over the responses, it becomes clear that the City gets more "bang for the buck" using the CRB, with the bulk of money going towards actual outreach efforts, collateral material, etc rather than most of the money going to pay salaries of individuals.
So, what the City Commission should do tonight is scrap the notion that there ever was an RFP and give the job to the rightful entity - the CRB. If it doesn't, it really amounts to a snub of another volunteer board (like has been done through past poor treatment of the Planning and Zoning Board and the Community Redevelopment Agency). If the City Commission chooses to go with the political operatives, then they send a message that Lake Worth is the home of machine politics and that to matter here you have to subscribe to the prevailing ideologies exposed by the three person majority.
Many think they know what the answer will be tonight - how unfortunate it will be if they are correct. The best outcome would be for Ms. Karson and Ms. Coolican to abandon their requirement to be paid and work with the CRB. In the end, an accurate Census count is critical for the City and they should work on it in a volunteer basis, as they do in various political campaigns. I guess we should assume they aren't paid for those duties, but who really knows?
John F. Kennedy's "Peace Speech" - June 10, 1963
Commencement Address at American University. John M. Reeves Athletic Field, American University. Washington, DC."Truly, as it was written long ago: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth."
"So, let us not be blind to our differences -- but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."
"But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because freedom is incomplete."It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government -- local, state and national -- to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land.
"All this is not unrelated to world peace. "When a man's ways please the Lord," the Scriptures tell us, "he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights -- the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation -- the right to breathe air as nature provided it -- the right of future generations to a healthy existence?"
"The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough -- more than enough -- of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on -- not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace."
Monday, January 11, 2010
There is a notice on the City's Calendar for the Justice Assistance Grant - Meetings and Events
You get here by going to the "Meeting and Events" tab along the left side of the homepage.Is this adequate notice? Why no agenda?
Titanic To-Do List: Re-arrange Deck Chairs
You might want to click here to be brought to a page on the City's website where you can take a poll about plastic bags. You can click here and page through the same presentation made at the last City Commission meeting.
It turns out....
...that if you are interested in the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) for which the City is eligible, you should attend a meeting at 6 p.m. tonight at the Compass building. The proposal is to fund two full time code enforcement officers who will work in coordination with the Sheriff's office. The grant would fund the positions for two years.
Part of the grant application process requires the following:
So, it would make sense to have what amounts to a public hearing on the program around the same time that the City Commission is meeting regarding CDBG funding.
The only problem is, how is anyone going to know about this 6 p.m. meeting today if it is not included on an agenda? There is nothing about this on the city's website. Was this advertised? Is the City Commission attending? Are they going to be discussing options on the use of funds? Does anyone care?
Let's always err on the side of over-advertising and over-communicating, rather than being insufficient or having none at all.
You can read more about the program under the back-up information on this Tuesday's meeting.
Part of the grant application process requires the following:
So, it would make sense to have what amounts to a public hearing on the program around the same time that the City Commission is meeting regarding CDBG funding.The only problem is, how is anyone going to know about this 6 p.m. meeting today if it is not included on an agenda? There is nothing about this on the city's website. Was this advertised? Is the City Commission attending? Are they going to be discussing options on the use of funds? Does anyone care?
Let's always err on the side of over-advertising and over-communicating, rather than being insufficient or having none at all.
You can read more about the program under the back-up information on this Tuesday's meeting.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Intracoastal Rights-of-way Meeting - 1/13 - 5 to 9 p.m.
Alternatively referred to as "Pandora's Box" - and, if anyone cares, it is the Intracoastal Waterway.This is a very important meeting to be aware of this week. It's about opening up the various dead-end rights-of-way along the Intracoastal. If you live around one, you definitely need to attend - many unintended consequences may be unleashed in implementing this program. I know of one lawsuit already filed by an adjacent property to one of these areas.
I'd be interested in hearing your comments. I can forward them on to Commissioner Mulvehill - the one leading up the effort.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
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