Rasor for Stow

The Charter Review Commission met with Bob Zienkowski, the city manager in Brunswick, a town about the same size as Stow. Click below to download the meeting minutes in pdf format.

Charter Review Commission Minutes 042210

They had a lively discussion. After reading it, I can see why the Commission is buzzing about the city-manager form of government.

The Commission will meet again tonight at 7. Mayor Fritschel will answer their questions.

Other news:

The Finance Committee met last night. I was taking a three-hour exam at the same time, so I did not attend. I was told the city received mixed news about the financial situation, and concrete, dependable numbers would not be available until mid-summer. I will report more once I see the handout provided.

There are no council meetings next week, but Matt Riehl and I will hold our open hours on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Please drop by if you want to meet either of us or if you have something on your mind.

Here are some notes, in chronological order, from tonight’s council meeting…

I gave the prayer tonight. In December, I read a great Bible verse about leadership. I told myself back then that I would use it when I got my chance for the prayer. It is Titus 1:7-9:

Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

We heard from clerk of courts Lisa Carano and her new deputy Chris Grimm, whom you may remember as the former mayor of Tallmadge. Grimm is “a man of many ideas,” according to Mayor Fritschel. In his 14 years as mayor, he reduced the number of employees from 110 to 86. As someone who has worked hard to reduce man hours in government, Grimm says we currently don’t have an efficient court system. Here’s hoping Grimm can save Stow some money by finding savings.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, we heard from Hunter’s Crossing resident Sergio Sponza. He literally brought chunks of his road and curb to the meeting. After saying he has paid $16,000 in city property taxes over 23 years in Stow, he asked the rhetorical question: “What happened to the money for our roads and basic services?” Mr. Sponza is the type of resident whom I strive to serve. He has no horse in the race at city hall. He simply wants things done, and with the lowest tax money. There are thousands of people like Mr. Sponza in Stow, but they aren’t the ones who come to meetings normally. I developed a passion to be their voice as I knocked on 2,800 doors during the campaign. People say you have to knock on doors to win; I think you have to knock on doors to know what people want.

We learned that the income tax department was really pinched leading up to the April 15 filing deadline. The staff is down 50 percent because of the voluntary separations. I want to thank everyone for their hard work, particularly those employees who left their normal job descriptions to do so.

We voted on an ordinance to appropriate pay raises to firefighters. But we really didn’t have a choice. We already negotiated the raises three years ago. If we did not approve them tonight, we would get sued. Plain and simple. Knowing that, Janet D’Antonio and Jim Costello still voted “no.” I admire them for taking a stand on something contrary to the administration, but this was the wrong place to do it. If this didn’t pass, the firefighters would still get their raises, but they would have to sue the city to do it. I raised my hand and said, “Isn’t it true that if we don’t get four votes, we get sued?” Janet said “yes.” The mayor thanked me after the meeting for making that point, which I appreciated. It passed 5-2.

The next piece of legislation was to give one employee an increase in pay grade due to changed circumstances in the person’s job. The person’s present salary would not change, but eventually it will when we have the money. Council went into executive session to discuss it. It wasn’t until we were in executive session when I realized, “Why the heck are we talking about this behind closed doors?” What goes on back there is secret, so I can’t divulge much more. But I did not vote to suspend the rules on that legislation as a result. Joe Hicken joined me, so the legislation will get three readings before a vote.

If you have been following the Charter Review meetings, you’ve noticed the trend of folks discussing the city manager form of government. In fact, by my non-scientific count, most people have favored it.

I really don’t have a strong opinion either way. But I might form one based on the testimony after Thursday evening, when the committee hears testimony from Robert Zienkowski, New Brunswick’s city manager.

My preliminary observations are this…

Pros – You are assured to get an experienced leader and manager. This person likely will have a degree in public administration, has worked full-time for cities in the past, will have a track record and references to vouch/discredit her work history. Political cronyism is probably less likely. You might even be able to eliminate a position in the administration based on the extra expertise.

Cons – The person has less direct accountability to voters. The person works directly under city council, rather than the electorate. It also is another position that will require a six-figure salary, in order to attract the best and brightest. It will require a vast revamping of the charter and a potentially complicated adjustment period. Also, What do you do with the mayor? Does he/she become only a figurehead, responsible for cutting ribbons?

If you want to learn more about the discussion, visit the Charter Review Commission’s meeting on Thursday (tomorrow) at 7 p.m. They meet in the Boards and Commissions Room, which is located off the hallway when you’re heading to council chambers. The board has a lot of intelligent folks on it. And the discussions are usually lively.

We have a council meeting scheduled for tomorrow. So I’ll rely solely on the meeting minutes. If you are interested in the council meeting, click below for our agenda. As always, I’ll give you my thoughts sometime after our meeting.

Legislative Agenda

Some notes from tonight’s meeting…

The Planning Committee passed along a conditional zoning certificate for a new cat/dog vaccination clinic to be located on Fishcreek in the same building as Bellaccino’s (a.k.a. one of the best pizza places in Ohio). They will employ about five people.

More good economic news came from Economic Development director Mike Weddle, who reported that a company is looking to buy one of the buildings on Commerce Drive. The company’s payroll is around $780,000 annually.

Doug Dotterer, director of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, addressed the Public Improvements Committee. I asked him some hard questions that voters have been asking me, namely:

1) Why is this levy permanent? Dotterer said the library trustees decided it would be best not to have to ask for money so often, due to voter fatigue and the cost involved.

2) What happens if the state someday resumes funding the library at its previous levels, and Stow already passed this permanent levy? Dotterer assured council that would not happen — that the general assembly only has plans to take even more money from the libraries.

Joe Hicken asked perhaps the best question. He pointed out that, if successful, the library will have about $3 million in funding in 2011, compared to the $2.3 million it had before the state’s cuts. Dotterer said this discrepancy is meant to insulate the library from future cuts from the state.

Hicken then asked, what about using money from the library’s capital fund? Dotterer almost made me shout “hallelujah!” with his response:

“We can’t continue to draw on capital funding to offset our operating expenses. It’s not sound financial policy.”

After hearing this, I cleared my throat loudly. I looked at Janet D’Antonio, who mouthed the words: “That sounds familiar.”

As I already said, I refuse to tell you how to vote on this levy. No one should. It’s a personal decision. I just ask that you totally inform yourself. The library has cut a lot of costs, but realistically, it won’t survive this round of state cuts — not without being a shell of its former self.

On the other hand, this is an aggressive move by the library’s board. They could have sought a renewal. They could have not made it permanent. They could have asked for less money. I think a lot of people will be watching the results to see the political and financial climate in Stow and Munroe Falls.

We also received an annual update on Bow Wow Beach from Parks & Rec director Nick Wren. They have been making some smart moves that are bringing the park closer to being self-sustaining. For instance, they erected a donations box, which has already pulled in $300 in just a month. They intend to sell advertisements, as well.

This is one of the nation’s finest dog parks; Wren, his staff and his volunteers deserve a lot of credit. During the meeting, I commended them. I also took the opportunity to correct more of the GOBN lies, confirming once again that I do not want to close the dog park. I feel it is a great asset coming for Stow residents at a low cost.

One thing that concerns me about Bow Wow Beach is civil liability. With so many people and dogs, someone is bound to get hurt. The only threat to that park is an injury or series of injuries that make it a lawsuit magnet, which could make the mayor conclude it is more trouble than it’s worth. Gwen and Walt Heeney attended the meeting, rightfully concerned that patrons are not always following the rules. Hopefully we can find a way to ensure compliance and avoid litigation.

On Thursday, we will have our council meeting at 7 p.m.

Shawn Porter continued to make Stow proud with another knockout victory on Friday.

Porter won the fight in Maryland over Raul Pinzon, who is now 17-5 (16 KOs). Porter improved to 14-0 with 11 KOs. It was a “crisp overhand right” that put Pinzon on his back in the first round.

In other news:

Tomorrow is the Dog ‘N Suds event at Silver Springs Lodge. Tickets are $20 per person or $40 per family. The event runs from 1 to 6 p.m. You will be able to meet the retiring police dog Knight and incoming dog Colt, plus drink beer and eat hotdogs.

We have a committee and council meeting this week. Click the following link to see the agenda: FC 4-19-10

I am working on a project that will save Stow’s treasury thousands of dollars per year. I don’t want to say anything premature. I am meeting with some folks on Thursday to solidify the proposal, and you’ll know about it soon thereafter.

If you have a moment, please read this article regarding the attempts to clean up politics and reduce the budget deficits in New Jersey that new Gov. Chris Christie is facing.

The Garden State has a budget deficit of $11 billion, which is about $1,300 per person — the highest in the nation. The former administration allowed this to balloon over the years because it refused to make difficult decisions. They made “imaginary cuts” to quell the public’s concerns, but nothing of substance.

Christie did what needed to be done. He cut spending — dramatically. He came up with new ideas, such as when he told school districts they would receive more funding if their teachers agreed to wage freezes. As the column aptly puts it: “It’s all about the children, right? So far only a handful of districts have gone along.”

The problems in New Jersey are probably unmatched in any part of the nation, but the parallels to what has happened in Stow are clear. Council has spent, and spent, and spent — making a lot of people happy along the way, mostly pandering to members of the Good Ole Boys Network (see Fox Den purchase and increase of managerial pay scale).

And as a result, no one ever questioned city council on catastrophic decisions like bringing the courthouse and its $1 million deficit to Stow. You scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours.

Well, the fun and games are over now that income tax has hit a decline. And council talks about these “budget cuts” it made. Let’s be honest. It was all about moving money from one fund to another. Yes, we decided Summer Sunset Blast will only proceed if it pulls its own weight. That’s $15,000.

But what about managerial pay? What about the golf course costing us $400,000 per year? What about this imaginary $750,000 that we expect to receive from legislation regarding the courthouse? I will tell you right now: Based on multiple conversations I’ve had with people in the know in Columbus, it is a virtual impossibility that we will get an extra dime from that legislation before New Year’s Day 2011 — if it passes at all.

When Gov. Christie proposed his cuts, the teachers union led a hokey prayer for his death. Certainly, many of the Good Ole Boys Network are hoping I will be quiet and go away. No chance.

I am not a city councilman in order to make friends. I have no special interests that will prevent me from looking at the big picture, i.e., that perhaps some positions are superfluous and only serve to drain money from taxpayers. The city’s job is NOT to employ as many people as it possibly can sustain. It is to employ the fewest people it can, while still providing the best services.

As the past year has dragged on, I have converted many members of the Good Ole Boy Network to seeing how bad things are, and seeing that their friends are hurting this community. A lot of them are loyal readers of this blog. I urge others to start seeing things objectively: If Sara Drew (or insert another GOBN member) wasn’t your friend, would you be OK with her voting record, which does not include a single “no” vote on an expenditure in four-plus years? If didn’t attend church with Mayor Fritschel (or insert another GOBN member), would you be OK with the city running massive deficits for three-straight years and pulling money from the roads fund like it’s no big deal?

Be honest with yourself. Do you really think the best thing for the city is to drain the savings account and not pave roads, while blowing $1.4 million per year on a courthouse and a golf course?

Finally, people of New Jersey have figured out that deficit spending cannot continue in perpetuity. And the only way to stop it is through legitimate cuts. I’m happy to report that Stow is slowly coming along. But there is more work to be done. Matt Riehl, Joe Hicken and I have not been able to make cuts against the 4-3 majority that the GOBN holds.

Continue to tell your family, neighbors and co-workers. Write a letter to the editor every month. Call the other councilmembers, and let them know you’re not pleased with their religion of the status quo.

We’re making progress. We need your help before the mayor presents her next plan to raise taxes/fees.

Some city council members will submit a letter to the editor urging you to vote for the library levy. I refused to sign. Before the Good Ole Boys Network spreads untruths, I’ll tell you why.

The letter talked about the benefits of the library. It says the library has already made cut-backs. All of that is fine (and true). Only the last line of the letter was unacceptable to me. It reads:

Please join us in voting “yes” for the library on May 4.

I find it to be pretentious to tell people how their money should be allocated in this economic climate. When I knocked on 2800 doors this summer, I spoke with a surprising amount of people who had been laid off — people who are depressed and frightened for what the future might hold.

I refused to put my name on that letter because I cannot justify telling those people that they should value a public service over what little discretionary money they possess. I am fine with educating people on the issue, but that’s where I draw the line. For someone with a $200,000 home, it will cost an additional $60 per year. I urge people to read the Stow Sentry’s synopsis of the levy and make whatever decision suits their personal finances.

I refuse to tell you I know the best use for your money. In a nutshell, that is why I didn’t sign. I offered to sign a letter that did not include the last line, but the signees preferred not to remove it.

I worked the booth for the FOPA at the Community Showcase on Saturday. It was a great event, but the Good Ole Boy Network apparently used it as an opportunity to spread more lies about me. What a shame.

This week’s events…

There is a meeting on the Comprehensive Plan at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Dog ‘N Suds event is Sunday from 1-6 p.m. at Silver Springs Lodge. Admission is $20 per person or $40 per person. You can contact me for tickets. Here is a story in Sunday’s Akron Beacon Journal about the event.

Here are some notes I took during tonight’s meeting, and also some general commentary:

– We honored Ron Alexander for his 14 years of service on council. What I said, I meant. Ron brought a specific and impressive skill set to council which none of us can duplicate. On this site, I have made it clear that we differ on policy, but I would have liked to learn from him. I sincerely wish him luck outside the public sector, or in whatever he chooses for the rest of his career.

– We voted on a policy that determines the procedure we use to lay off civil service employees (not including police and fire). The policy included a mandatory 14-day notice period. This troubled Joe Hicken, and I’m glad he stood up to say something, because it made each of us think… What happens when you have a potentially violent, troublesome, or vengeful employee to lay off? As originally drafted, the policy would require you keep her for two full weeks between notifying her and the separation. Rather than keeping her around as a distraction, two city managers said they would simply tell her to stay home, with pay. The lesson to learn is: If a layoff is coming, be a problem child, and you’ll earn two week’s paid vacation.

So I proposed an amendment that would allow the city’s appointing authority (i.e. the mayor, law director, finance director, or council) to avoid the notice period if it deemed the notice to be contrary to the city’s best interests. This would save taxpayer dollars in the event the city wants to keep a troublesome employee at home for those two weeks. With my amendment, the manager could immediately release the employee and save the city between $1,000 and $1,500.

Janet D’Antonio broke away from the other three and voted for my amendment, so it passed 4-3. We unanimously voted to pass the amended policy. … When I first was elected, Janet told me that she likes to have unanimous votes. Tonight should be instructive. If they want unanimity, they must realize they will only get it if they include the other three in the decision-making, not just try to ram things down our throats.

– I learned the full extent of the courthouse legislation. It has two main provisions: 1) Tagging a $25 fee on every mayor’s court case. 2) Apportioning the court deficit among all communities, based on their population. This apportionment cannot exceed the amount the city paid in the previous year, plus 3 percent. Eventually, Stow will not be on the hook for any of the deficit. This legislation will apply only to the Stow Municipal Court district.

Will it pass? I don’t know enough about the Ohio General Assembly to give you an accurate reading. But I’ll tell you that the chances it affects the 2010 budget are slim to none. Therefore, we based $750,000 on money that the administration should have known was unlikely (at best) to come. We might get a transfer from the judges of between $350,000 and $500,000, but you’ll have to tack the remainder onto the $200,000 budget deficit. Then you add in the $1.1 million pilfered from the road fund.

You’re looking at about a $1.5 million deficit on a budget that spends about $30 million, which amounts to the city overspending its means by 5 percent. If you run your business that way, you won’t last long. If you run your house that way, you might lose it. Why do we allow this to continue for three years at city hall?

– Remember about these two upcoming events…

The Stow Community Showcase is scheduled for this weekend. Read this Stow Sentry article for details. I plan to be there Saturday afternoon.

The next weekend is the Dog N’ Suds event to raise money for the new police dog, Colt, and to celebrate the retirement of Colt’s predecessor, Knight. It is planned on Sunday, April 18th from 1 to 6 p.m. at Silver Springs Lodge. Tickets are $20. If you want to buy from me, use the “contact me” button and I’ll set you up.

Matt Riehl and I will meet people and answer questions today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at City Hall. When you walk in the building, go up the staircase on your left, make a right, then make a left before getting to the elevator. There is a narrow hallway that leads you to the conference room. There should also be signs directing the way.

I have not posted much in the past few weeks. I think a lot of us are catching our collective breath after stressing over the budget.

Here are some happenings from tonight’s committee meetings…

Finance committee — It passed through committee an additional $8.725 million in bonds. Our city’s total debt is about $30 million. We pay almost $800,000 annually on those debts. To put things in perspective, our operating budget is about $30 million. Some debt is necessary, but I think we have relied too heavily on it.

Planning committee

The county awarded us a $47,000 grant to retrofit our city’s lighting. I’m really happy we got this money. It will allow us to save on energy costs. Rob Kurtz and his team deserve credit for winning the grant.

Economic development director Mike Weddle gave us a CIC update. The deal with Wrayco Industries Inc. is taking form. Below are the proposed contracts between the CIC and Wrayco. It’s a little complicated because Wrayco is listed as the lessee to equipment it currently owns. The deal is, the CIC will buy Wrayco’s equipment (for the cost of the loan amount, which comes from the state) and leases it back to Wrayco. Why such a convoluted structure? Basically so the state can salvage some money in case Wrayco becomes insolvent.

Wrayco 166 Loan Bill of Sale 3-9-10
Wrayco 166 Loan Lease Agreement 3-9-10

The CIC is also working to bring a company called PolyFlow Corp. to Stow. The deal might include a $25,000 grant, to be paid for with a future option to own stock in the company. Click this Cleveland.com story to learn more about this exciting company. Stow would be a great home for this blossoming city, as it could really be a company we could grow with.

Public improvements committee

We heard from Sue Mottl, the city’s landscape arborist. She gave us a breakdown of what the Urban Forestry Department consists of.

In other news, here are some upcoming events…

The Stow Community Showcase is scheduled for this weekend. Read this Stow Sentry article for details. I plan to be there Saturday afternoon.

The next weekend is the Dog N’ Suds event to raise money for the new police dog, Colt, and to celebrate the retirement of Colt’s predecessor, Knight. It is planned on Sunday, April 18th from 1 to 6 p.m. at Silver Springs Lodge. Tickets are $20. If you want to buy from me, use the “contact me” button and I’ll set you up.

Also this…

We will soon have the a draft of the municipal court legislation that Mayor Fritschel is relying upon to make up a $250,000 gap in our budget. Here’s the bottom line: We won’t just pull money out of thin air. It’s going to come from somewhere — whether it’s a neighboring community or the people who use the court. That is why I am skeptical that this will get passed in 2010. And that is why I was so angry that we passed the budget, which assumed passage of the bill within the next nine months AND that the money would be immediately available for use in 2009.