Who better to give us some insight into the current budget controversy than Bob Fortner. The following are comments he presented at Monday's special City Council meeting on the Budget and Capital Facilities Plan. Nancy Fortner contributed.
Published here with the authors' permission.
"Mayor and Members of the Council:
Thank you Council for the opportunity to comment in this special session.
The budget process has been seriously compromised from the outset to today. Due to the lack of relevant information the council and the public have been observers, rather than participants in the process. Yet the council, not the proponents, will be held accountable for its outcomes.
At base, this document which is intended to serve as a policy implementation instrument lacks the necessary context and content that inform the process. That critical policy information, developed solely by Administration, was missing from the original budget and is still absent. Despite all the last minute efforts to salvage the budget it remains indecipherable and should not be adopted. The council should simply fund operations into the early months of 2008.
Let me be more specific as to how we think we got here:
Last week the City Administrator was quoted as stating… “We spent 5½ months developing the budget and the council tore it apart in one day.” That comment is disingenuous at best and serves to illustrate gamesmanship not statesmanship. The original document was a flawed product at its unusual presentation and it deserved to be dissected in the search for missing detail such as the policies and assumptions upon which it was based. Did the budget preparers ever check in with council re policy assumptions in the course of staff deliberations? When Council sought that information and the public submitted questions all were told there simply was not enough time to provide the answers, mostly noting staff was too busy. Yet, the Council and the public were treated to at least two major revisions during the information gathering phase of budget hearings. Apparently the workshop organized by the Mayor which took senior staff away for a total of 5 full days during the most crucial period of budget deliberations was deemed of higher priority.
We have been contending for some time that there are serious communication problems in this administration not the least of which is the persistent withholding of relevant information. I have heard more than one account of committee efforts to establish liaison with council members regarding committee deliberations and recommendations in order to promote successful outcomes. These efforts were blocked by the Mayor who stated… “that is not how we do things here.” Clearly that is the case and it apparently applies to budget process as well. Management that is serious about doing the public’s work in public and in a serious manner would never condone or permit “surprises” as was dropped in last Wednesday’s meeting. The public embarrassment will be duly noted by any who might think of applying for the soon to be vacant City Administrator position. And the rest of us remain furious about the associated waste of public and private time and resources. One cannot help but wonder if a workshop, expensive by most standards, has accomplished anything of significance. Since it was a repeat experience for some and the gamesmanship continues, one could conclude communication was not the real objective.
We watched last week’s effort by the council and the public to comprehend the fiscal mismatch in spite of the clear objectives set at the prior meeting. These were confounded by a surprise change in baseline and an “oops” on the fact that capital project costs were different because certain projects had different funding sources which required an additional $2.5M. Long tiring meetings can lead to oversights, but there are other approaches to making the discovery known. The “surprise” came at the beginning of the meeting, though apparently the “oversight and baseline change” were known as early as the previous Monday and no one saw the necessity or value of passing that discovery along to council in advance of the wasteful Wednesday meeting. Remarkably the agenda for that meeting was not prepared by the council-chair with administration but solely by the City Administrator-a significant departure from standard practice which I hope was an aberration.
We are confounded by the disconnect we perceive between the capabilities within the finance department and the work product made available. One wonders if they too are subject to the “that is not how we do things here” dictum.
Despite evidence of the accumulating problems, especially the need for more debt, associated with prior years spending sprees, Administration has continued to push for larger and larger amounts of capital spending particularly on projects, studies and public relations related to WT. Untold, but consequential, amounts have been spent thus far without a public accounting of those costs, all while additional funds are sought. Administration supported policy decisions by staff, not council, to remove LID funding as a source for the WT Streetscape Project, rather than present that as an option to the council and public though it was recommended by the much lauded WT Congress.
Annual capital allocations to Public Works appear to be used in an internal “Ponzi Scheme” that defies penetration and accountability. Public Works commonly reorders council mandated priorities, again without collaboration or consent. That must change. Last week’s issuance of Council-Manic bonds to fund planning soft costs is a mere sample of the painful future for our community largely brought on by a department and a city management structure that defy efforts to be held accountable. That too must change and fiscal stability restored. Council should act immediately to rescind the Mayor’s authorization to sign contracts without prior council approval until that balance is achieved.
Council, current and pending, is well aware of the accumulating revenue, expense and debt problems. Armed with relevant information, with insistence on collaboration and a more deliberative public process the new council can address these concerns and incorporate the much needed benchmark recommendations. The community expects, deserves and will continue to demand transparency and collaboration rather than gamesmanship.
The budget proposal under consideration is a mystery document, an accountability nightmare and too important to be blindly approved as you well recognize. It was developed in a non-collaborative milieu where Administration made policy decisions that remain invisible. In the end, Council will be held accountable. Council and the community must have enough information to be assured that the final 2008 Budget balances fiscal responsibility with Council and community objectives.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert W. Fortner"
(To post or read comments on this story click on 'COMMENTS' below)
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12 comments:
McCoy -- given the failure of COBI to ensure BITV-12 cameras recorded the event, your quick turnaround in publishing The Resource Group statement is applauded.
Clearly yesterday's meeting was gamed to have low attendance. Fortunatley some of the real COBI watch dogs read the late Friday announcement of the Monday meeting.
Thanks McCoy !!
Thunderbird asks...How much has COBI spent on Winslow Tomorrow and the first element of it, the Winslow Way Streetscape? Roughly $5.2 million by my calculation and COBI has not turned a spade of dirt, nor has the council reviewed, let alone approve the 30% design documents to date, nor has Chris W. been able to explain exactly where the project is at, but oh, we need more money for the next phase. Will the current council have the courage to demand accountability and transparency before it votes on Wednesday? We'll see. If not, perhaps we need to recall more than the mayor, but also the incumbent council members. All of them, as Mr. Fortner points eloquently points out, have failed brilliantly in performing their legal, fiduciary responsibilities to this community.
Bob Fortner refers to the disconnect between the capabilities of the finance department and the offered result. There have been problems in the finance department in years past. These have been the result of decisions of the Mayor's office that undermined the ability of the finance staff to produce timely and accurate products by deliberately understaffing the department. When the previous head of finance, Ralph Eells died, the Mayor read a stirring eulogy. What she did not read were her previous comments to the Review about Mr. Eells perceived failures. It is instructive to see just what was said about the budget process by the Mayor as Mr. Eells had his reputation destroyed. Please go to the the search function of the Review and search for "Eells". Then compare what you read with what the Mayor said after Mr. Eells died.
Unfortunately, the personal attacks on those who disagree with the Mayor continue in City Hall. There are just new victims. The Mayor is (was) a decent, even brilliant, person. She herself may become the most tragic victim of the situation she has helped create.
There is certainly enough blame to go around for everyone. This Council has almost completely abdicated its responsibility for policy making by not being able to put forward any coherent work plan since they took office. They have spent the last three + years simply reacting. Not one time have they ever talked about what policies they might want to implement. This has left a hole into which the Mayor has stepped, making certain that any policy she doesn't want to approved simply gets turned away by her staff. Staff should never be in the drivers seat and should never have the ability to decide what policies get developed and which don't. But, if you have a Council that is completely unable to put forth even a marginal work plan for anything, then staff takes on that role.
If the City has spent 5.2 million on Winslow Tomorrow, and I am pretty sure that is correct, where has this Council been in the past four years and why haven't they demanded accountability way before now.
That is not to let the Mayor off the hook. She is also responsible for showing the Council and the Community what we have gotten for our money, and she seems completely unable to do that. All I have seen so far are some pie in the sky drawings/renderings of what they call our "sense of place".
I was present on Wed. and witnessed this most disturbing scene. Staff and Council going at each other with not much to show on either side. We are in this mess because the Mayor has not developed sensible budgets that live within our means and Council has approved them. Last year, Council said they would not approve more staffing until they saw the Benchmarking study. So, they put it off until 07. The study came out saying the Planning and Public Works depts. were a mess and were over staffed rather than under. So, it was a complete surprise when Council, who had waited until the following year to complete a budget, then went ahead and approved more staff for Planning and Public Works. Now I hear that Debbie Vancil is saying they "had no choice as there was no public support for bucking the Mayor". What a crock. For the first two years Ms. Vancil was on Council, that Council refused to increase staff because of the financial situation the City was in, despite being vilified by the Review (Mr. Waldo and the Mayor). You shouldn't need "an outcry from the public" before you do the right thing.
This Council, despite knowing that the lines were crossing from revenue and costs of operation for the past four years, have always given the Mayor more staff. Of course, the Mayor, has always asked for more staff rather than being fiscally responsible herself and attending to the dysfunction of the Planning and Public Works Depts.
This new Council needs to understand that getting along with the Mayor is not the goal of good government. Rather, they need to grab the reins of policy making away from the administration, which under law is not the policy making body, and take over their rightful positions. Bill Knobloch's overwhelming victory over John Waldo should clearly show where the Island's population's values are placed and it isn't on more winslow tomorrow planning or increasing growth. I am concerned that some Council members will be more concerned with getting along and how they look to the public, than actually working to implement policies that have been stonewalled by the Mayor for years.
This budget process was a disgrace for both sides. While I do hope our new Council will be more professional and respectful of the Mayor and staff, they can do that while still working for the citizens. I want to see a Council work plan detailing what legislation they will work on for the following year, not the Mayor and staff saying what they will and won't work on. I want to see a Council that takes over their own processes and moves ahead with legislation that is important to the citizens. Finally, if the Mayor and staff haven't come up with firm and concise plans for WT at this point, then it's just too bad. There is no reason to keep throwing more money into the WT hole. Take the staff that are now assigned to WT and put them back into the general staff, perhaps working for Council for a change.
There isn't a single council person that understands this budget. Monday's meeting should have been focused on reducing the 2008 capital expenditures by $3.5 million, plus $2 million the City announced they were short for 2007 ... less than a week after passing a councilmatic bond for another $2.15 million.
There were no capital budget cuts, and less than $1 million was shifted from general to utilities funding, and the City persuaded the Council the budget was now balanced. Accounting magic!!!
Some the the island's roads are worse then those in third world countries, and we are buying questionably affordable apartments, funding new soccer fields, paying for a Japanese Memorial, funding yet more studies on a new downtown parking garage, and cutting back on trails and bike paths. And Winslow Tomorrow chugs ahead.
And without much public discussion, very quietly inserted 66% pay raise for the new council was still in the budget document as of Monday afternoon.
What's not to like about this budget? It's just another year of spending far more than the incoming revenue.
The Mayor and Co-Mayor Witt are so expert at playing these games it's like watching masters of their craft. Hey folks, guess what? It's politics.
Council has repeatedly seen the game before yet they haven't come up with their own gameplan. So yes, council deserves some blame here for not using their authority and for being naive enough to believe that the mayor really wants to work with them.
However, the PRIMARY blame for this whole continuing mess is a mayor/co-mayor intent on creating and implementing her/his policies without regard to the public or council's opinions.
I'm told she's planning to run again.
Yikes!
Mayor K is hell bent on creating her legacy. She has gone to extraordinary lengths to build her "Congress" and carefully cultivated special-interest support groups for her agenda. Amazing to see her in action.
Having said that, Council are sophisticated types who each have eyes to see and ears to hear. No letting COBI Council off the hook for the bloated agenda we now face and have faced for many years.
The Mayor is indeed going to create a legacy, but not one that any normal person would want: mountains of debt. Imagine the amount of open space alone that could have been spent with $5 million? And even worse, we've wasted time that we should have spent getting ready for development, ensuring that it will take a form we want.
I know everyone wants to blame the Council, and they are surely guilty of acts of omission. We never figured, however, that we would have a mayor that would so blatantly betray the public trust.
Of all the important acts, the single most important one is getting the word out to the average citizen that the Mayor is a threat, both to our pcoketbooks and to our sense of place. She's been very cleverly blamed others for not being able to get along with her, when the real problem is that she doesn't know how to get along herself. She is truly an autocrat.
Seems one of the issues getting lost in the fray here is the fact that the Administration sold the bonds before the Council voted for them. Don't we owe it to ourselves to find out how this happened? If we find that this was deliberate, we should make sure the City doesn't do business with these people again. The real question is, "Is the Mayor so disdainful of the Council that she is now stepping over even the legal niceties?"
Rule of Law: TAKE FOR ACTION. When you ask about the royal "we" as to investigating the sale of bond before the vote, unless YOU take this action, it will not happen. Cooking by committee doesn't work as does ferreting out illegality does not work by committee.
Check into this and if there was a violation, let's hold Mayor/Council accoutable just as I had to be for doing 5 miles over BI speed limit at 5 a.m. on a Sunday. Ka-ching, ka-ching. There is a great tendency to accept the trangressions with the liberal wink-wink-nod-nod. Let's play hard ball since this is our money and the future of our children. Oy vey!!
Thank you Bob & Nancy for this clearly articulated and insightful report.
Speaking of last night's approval of the budget and the punt:
The Quay special interests, including Weiland, are busy giving the rush job to the taxpayers. The fact the purchase depends on COBI rushing their fiduciary due diligence responsibilities, means the deal was not fated to happen.
Would someone please tell me why we have a quasi-taxpayer employee, Carl Florea, giving pressure for how the taxpayers should vote. Talk about insider double dealing. Oy vey !!
Also, what gives with the Mayor's pay increase and the honoraria up by 66%. This certainly appears to be a "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" between Mayor K and Council. Where was the public discussion? Where was the transparency in government. It was not there. The consolation prize for voters are increased storm water rates and a laundry list of other services and fees raised.
Something is rotten on Bainbridge Island.
Did you see the on-camera editorial from BITV Ex.Director Schmidt: Bravo Zulu. Glad to see BITV-12 pin the blame on failure to broadcast where it lies: on COBI Council/Mayor.
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