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Stumbled across these postings on Craigslist...
To Our Elected Officials...
We got to put pressure on our elected officials. We helped build this town and instead of our “elected officials” helping us attract business with incentives and other ideas to create more jobs...
they only came up with ways to increase our cost of living our tag fees by 100% they over charge us with water taxes and fees ($35,000 for city water for my house because it is a corner lot?)…..
We are the fools that stayed behind hoping things would change but the only thing we stayed behind for is to see our home go on the rocket docket and lost forever then being sold to some northerner for less than half of what is worth...
I can list twenty other examples of how you have failed us but one good thing you did well was push the people that lived here out, it’s only a matter of time before you screw your new rats that took our homes also. Thanks.
And someones reply to the above!!! RE: To Our Elected Officials (Cape Coma)
Cape Coral has been an absolute mess for 30 years. That is why it is the land of newly weds and nearly deads and NO trees.
Your city council consists of people that are way too old to have clue about what it takes to run a city and the young ones (Rosato and Grill) are thieves.
You chose to live there...Deal with it!! 10 minutes worth of research online would have told you that.
As someone who lives at the other end of the county all I can say is stop whining or move.
The Nattering One muses... Ouch! I thought these were supposed to be job postings, not open mike night at the city council.
Is this a barometer of peoples agitation levels. And how. The current administration is getting its feet wet. The learning curve involves being bombarded by insiders.
Most of whom are crackpots and/or backstabbers ready to throw momma from the train, just to avenge some perceived grievance.
In regards to the situation at hand, its easy to throw rocks from the outside, now nestled inside, you become painfully aware of certain realities.
Said realities heretofore unbeknown st, suddenly make mountains out of what seemed mere molehills.
Most of the insiders are not only clueless, but vision less as well, only being able to plan into the future as far as their next budget.
Which they manage to spend every single dime of, and more. Being rewarded for saving money is not in the "conditioned to spend" public servant's vernacular.
This makes sifting through the pile of humanity amidst the mountain peaks a herculean task.
So far, some progress has been made. During the holiday hiatus, the Mayor and Co. need to start separating the wheat from the chaff, AKA...
Identifying clueful insiders with a vision and a sense able plan, then assembling the core of a task force to be headed by a new city manager.
Cm on guys, quit being gun shy and put the wheels of change into motion. Now, that's what I'm talking about.
Found a copy of CCC's ON THE MOVE, stuffed in a mailbox... The Nattering One has some random musings on items that stick out, like sore thumbs..
1. Cape TV Contract renewed without FAC meetings.
Not good, wouldn't be prudent at this juncture, ALL the Financial Advisory Committee meetings, discourse and findings need to be public.
2. Public Works reorganized for efficiencies.
Word on the street has it that so far, the "reorg" has had the opposite effect; i.e. costing the city more money, while reducing service levels.
3. The New ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, from JD Edwards using Oracle databases.
Rumor has it, in short, a disaster. Very complicated to deploy, modify, maintain and use. To be filed under, if it works, don't F with it.
4. 2nd Phase of Public Safety Broadband Wireless Network; the 4.9Ghz band for fire & schools.
This radio network will stand alone, but would have piggy backed nicely on the WW12 communication towers proposal.
That being a $12 million proposition for four 100 ft plus communications towers; and a network control center; that MWH tried to bamboozle the city with.
Rumor from Paco at Capevine sez: some intrepid and enterprising city insiders can achieve the same end results as WW12 for under $500K. No surprise here.
Someone needs to club the soon to be ex-manager at risk over the head with this one.
5. Paco from Grapevine also reports that certain council members have been making the rounds at the water treatment & water reclamation plants.
If you want the real inside dope on all the system improvements; additions; and manager at risk mistakes being paid for with taxpayer money...
have some private meetings with those who are intimate with the process and daily operation.
Suggestion: Grant immunity, then listen closely.
The Nattering One muses... Water, Sewer & Irrigation which is within Utilities and Public Works...
is the ONLY department in this CITY that pays for itself and generates SURPLUS cash for the city. Go ahead check the CAFR.
Water, Sewer & Irrigation provide on average $12 to $14 million NET to the city coffers every year.
Proving that WATER and the systems that process, reclaim and deliver water, ARE this city's MOST VALUABLE RESOURCES.
Rule Number One: Never mess with, sell, lease or privatize the operation or management of your civic CASH COW.
Rule Number Two: Refer to rule number one.
Question to ponder: Where did all the surplus water money from past years go? Answer: Ask the parties who had fiduciary responsibility at the time.
Some notable retail BK filings since 2007: Circuit City; CompUSA; Gottschalks; Shabby Chic; Ritz Camera...
Sportsmans Warehouse; Chrysler; Filenes; General Motors; Eddie Bauer; numerous Dunkin Donuts LLC's; restaurants too numerous to list...
Golfers Warehouse; Old Time Pottery; Samsonite; Linen's n Things; Mervyns; Sharper Image; Woolworths; Bombay.
Our query from the previous posting: Where does one find such an individual? AKA Turnaround specialist who is NOT a hack, slash, burn and run type.
The Nattering One muses... Naturally the retailers of essentials...
WalMart & Costco will thrive as many flock to their scales of economy and command of the supply chain.
To find a pearl in the rough, one must look to the retailers of "non essential" goods that have so far managed to survive this depression.
One such retailer that comes to mind would be Cost Plus, hardly the poster child for essential goods, and certainly a "discretionary cash" retailer.
How have they survived this pullback? One might review their financials and ask their CEO since 2005, Barry Feld.
Hey Barry, SOS from Cape Coral, I got some really nice ex swamp land in Florida, if your interested?
Sorry for the absence my little droogies and fellow Naybobs... during the interim, seems the City Manager had a revelation and decided to git along.
A public council vote of no confidence and termination would not have helped his future in public service.
Seems the new mayor and council are sending out a clear message...
That being, those who are suspect of obfuscation, omission or any commission of disinformation to the council, are going to be, shall we say, summarily dismissed.
Rumor has it that certain financial services, parks & rec and public works directors, might already have their e-tickets punched.
The acting CM & economic development director, ne assistant CM has some be-heady tasks ahead of him. (No pun intended)
That is if he wants to keep the CM post permanently.
The Nattering One muses...
If the acting CM can't "Schwing" this sinking ship around, then... this town needs an outsider coming from a corporate or private sector background.
A CEO turnaround specialist, NOT a hack, who burns, slashes and runs.
The slash and burn mentality of angry stock holders allowed ex GM CEO Rick Wagoner to destroy the number one automobile manufacturer in the world.
Wagoner, the anathema, should be the poster boy for what the Cape doesn't need. In short, what this town needs is an enema, not an anathema.
Emphasis should be on some in house cleansing to promote the CREATION of NEW business and GROWTH of revenue sources...
NOT on the further slashing of rank and file benefits, pounding out union concessions...
or the wholesale reshuffling and DECONSTRUCTION of the organization... which is all that has happened in the last year or so...
much to the detriment of employee morale, public service levels, and the local economy.
Not a tight fisted machine gun hand, but a kinder, gentler, helping, healing hand, is much needed.
Where does one find such an individual? More to come...
Regarding Mayor Sullivan's request for Cape Coral City Manager Terry Stewart's resignation...
In April 08 we nattered on CEO lip service... as GM’s Rick Wagoner blamed multi billion dollar losses on the locusts…
"I'm deeply disappointed with our Q1 results. The precipitous decline in housing market conditions and unprecedented changes in consumer behavior.."
Wagoner's excuses were just as lame as the rest of Wall Streets "best and brightest" whose hubris and greed have brought us to this point.
One could also blame Bush for not working hard enough at his job and hiring badly.
In July 08 we put GM on Death Watch and noted Wagoner's track record…
Since CEO Rick Wagoner took over GM in 2000, the shares have fallen 87% and are at a 54 year low; GM has cut its U.S. salaried workforce to 32,000 from 44,000.
GM has not posted a profit in the last 3 years while losing $51 billion;market share is at a low not seen since 1925; GM has not suspended a divident since 1922.
In August 08, with regard to American auto industry management we asked… Where were their heads?
Over the last several years, Wagoner, Mulally, Nardelli et al. have yet to retool and build a new generation of fuel-efficient vehicles for North America.
Now they collectively panhandle for a low interest handout to "remain competitive".
Nature should be allowed to take its course and these dinosaurs who have their collective heads buried in the sand, should go the way of the dodo... extinct.
In November 08 we lamented on crybaby capitalism, taking accountability; unjustified bailouts; and overpaid CEO’s...
Overpaid and overrated executive management the likes of Rick Wagoner at GM and Richard Syron at Freddie Mac.
Rich Wagoner has run the world's largest automaker into the ground for the past 8 years, presiding over $73 billion in losses beginning in 2005.
He has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he and his team are clueless blue blood imbeciles.
Isn't it about time this pack of mismanaging idiots were shown the gallows, er, I mean the door?
And regarding potential bailouts of automotive and financial sectors we asked: Does this fantasy world of yours have amusement rides too?
As it turns out, many E ticket rides were to be had by all, indeed.
In November 08 Wagoner painted a grim picture, if GM were not to receive a bailout, we called for a clean sweep.
GM CEO Wagoner commented on a GM BK: "the economy would suffer a catastrophic collapse"
We natter, the only catastrophe is that Wagoner is still employed, no bailout without a complete exec mgmt sweep, including directors...
and voting control of the board... I wouldn't hire this pack of executive ass clowns to wash my car, let alone build me one.
In October 08 we nattered about Ricky boy’s Golden Parachute…
Instead of planning and building a smarter mouse trap; brainchild CEO Rick Wagoner,
wants to trim $15 billion to stay afloat, and so he can collect a bigger bonus.
We have a request for Ricky boy, set an example for all the derelict whores on the hill, bankers & CEO's; man up and do the honorable thing,
take out an insurance policy naming the employees as beneficiary; then commit Hari-kari or jump out a 30th story window.
Now thats the kind of golden parachute we need...
In March 09, Seator Chuck Grassley must have been reading us and echoed our sentiments with regard to AIG…
Senator Chuck Grassley said that AIG executives should follow the Japanese method and...
“come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I’m sorry. And then either do one of two things, resign or go commit suicide.”
The Nattering One muses... profilgate spending, overpaid CEO's, bailouts, golden parachutes, greed and hubris... sound familiar?
Today's breed of executive or CEO, they collect their heady paycheck repleat with bonus and stock options, at the expense of the rank & file and stockholders.
And much like our elected officials, they then move on to bleed out the next victim.
These are not men of honor, for in Japan, when asked to resign, you do the honorable thing, resign.
Men of honor, take ownership for what transpired under their watch, and if necessary, they man up and move on.
This isn't a question of "just cause" on the City's or council or Mayor's part.
If you want cause, look at the track record, look at the spending, the price, and who benefitted...
Then wonder if The Cape will be able to make its future debt obligations and will the Cape's resident tax payers be able to come up with the necessary money?
Food for thought... Regardless of circumstance or cause, would you stay at a party where you were being 86'ed?
There's an old saying: If you can't get along, git along.
We are going to toll the doctrine of fradulent concealment and sprinkle it with a hint of conflict of interest...
Looks like MWH are in big trouble over in Los Osos, CA. and could well be headed for the same reception in Cape Coral, FLA. very soon indeed.
Fraudulent Concealment defined:
"Deliberate hiding, non-disclosure, or suppression of a material fact or circumstance (which one is legally or morally bound to reveal) with intent to deceive or defraud in a contractual arrangement. See also suppression of evidence."
From Sewer Watch... and Calhoun's Cannons and from Los Oso's Lisa Schicker.
In June 28, 2004 Response to CCC, MWH and the 2004 LOCSD deliberately hid over $5 million (at least!) in amenity and O&M costs in their cost estimates -- which they were legally AND morally bound to reveal -- with the intent to deceive the California Coastal Commission into approving the Tri-W project, and it worked!
In Exhibit 3-C, where low-balled numbers for the mid-town Tri-W sewer plant benefited that "project," the dog park is estimated at "$60,000," however, just a few months later, in their "value engineering" report, MWH, and the Los Osos CSD, estimated that exact same dog park at "$690,000," more than a factor (factor!) of 11 from their previous estimate.
Better yet, how about this one which should be filed under Conflict of Interest by a public official...
"Considering the fact that Bruce Gibson was elected with the help of Montgomery, Watson, Harza's money, via his Parks Commissioner, and now the engineering firm stands to make tens of millions of dollars off of his decisions, via his Parks Commissioner's former employee, Paavo Ogren...
Gibson, at the very least, needs to immediately recuse himself from ALL SLO County discussions involving the Los Osos wastewater project, or, more appropriately, immediately resign."
The Nattering One muses... Does any of this sound vaguely familiar? Something that the manager at risk and city officials should be readily aware of and if they aren't... oh well...
here we go in tolling the doctrine...
"it would be manifest injustice for this Court to conclude, as a matter of law, that ‘reasonable diligence’ includes an obligation to sift through a proxy statement, on the one hand...
and a year’s worth of press clippings and other filings, on the other, in order to establish a pattern concealed by those whose duty is to guard the interests of the investor.”
Where a fiduciary relationship exists between the parties, “it is unnecessary to prove diligence in discovering the fraud.”
Where there is a fiduciary relationship and a corresponding fiduciary duty, a fiduciary can be liable for fraudulent misrepresentation by silence...
even in the absence of fraudulent statements or intentional concealment.
John Sullivan on Financial Services Director Mark Mason: Mr. Mason put on quite a show Monday night.
He sounded like a “slick carney hustler” while he cut through the adjusted budget components smooth as silk. This was most defiantly a command performance.
He really “suckered” the new council and I think that performance would have been worth paying admission to see.
It was a real show. I could almost hear the crowd in the background and could barely hear, “Come One Come All”in the distance.
John Sullivan on City Manager Terry Stewart & Financial Services Director Mark Mason: My congratulations go out to Mr. Stewart and Mr. Mason...
since they apparently have managed to render the Cape Coral Comprehensive Annual Financial Report completely useless.
There must be some kind of accounting award for this or maybe we can start The CPA Hall of Fame (Shame). We could install Mr. Mason as the first member.
John Sullivan on Public Works Director Chuck Pavlos & MWH Project Manager Larry Laws: There is a rumor floating around which may have some serious implications...
and that is that Mr. Pavlos and Mr. Larry Laws the MWH Project Manager in Cape Coral were friends or associates before Mr. Pavlos came to Cape Coral.
The City of Cape Coral has 36 or 38 ongoing projects with MWH.
And when you look at the facts we are paying 2 to 5 times more than residents in nearby communities for essentially the same utility services.
Why did we have three audits and wind up with essentially the same outcome including possible bid-rigging?
Why did the city not ask for the Attorney Generals' opinion concerning violations of state statutes?
Why is there an F.B.I. and Department Of Justice Investigation going on?
As it turns out, the rumor is true; they (Pavlos & Laws) did serve in the Navy together.
The Nattering One muses... Alrighty then, we certainly know where Mayor Sullivan stands on the trinity, as he doesn't mince words and we respect that.
Na Na Na Na hey hey, good bye or 1st down & 2 to Go?... Yesterday, newly elected Councilman Chulakes-Leetz said...
"If Mr. Stewart is the honorable man I believe he is, it will be his due diligence to provide and offer his resignation."
Today, Mr. Stewart confirmed he is a finalist for a job near Myrtle Beach, SC; and Paco from Capevine confirms; Terry told his staff that he may be a short timer.
Rumor Central: There is another twist being floated about on the Pavlos-Laws Navy link...
While stationed at Penascola in the Navy... they both served together under the same CO... Steve Daignault, former Cape Coral Public Works Director & City Manager.
The other variant on this rumor is they worked together in Hawaii... Aloha! Paco from Capevine has another twist...
If any of this can be substantiated, with regard to fiduciary responsibilities...
Happy Guy Fawkes Day... More to come.
Mayor Elect Sullivan on privatization:
this is telling us that we need to take control of the utilities away from the city and bring in a non- profit entity to run them.
In fact, I would rather see someone like Al Capone running the utilities rather than the city of Cape Coral.
We have been paying too much for utility line installations. Someone at the city level must take control of these projects as they have become unaffordable the way they are being delivered.
Either that or the utilities must be privatized. We cannot afford to let the city run the utilities any longer.
If our administration can’t deliver the same services at the same price as other communities in Florida by taking these projects in-house and/or by getting rid of manager at risk...
then the utilities need to be privatized in order to curb the financial destruction brought on by these projects as they exist today.
If the city refuses to take these projects in-house, then there is only one other alternative and that is to privatize the utilities.
We are paying a premium for the construction because we use the manager at risk methodology.
I suspect we are paying a premium of around 37% to make it more convenient for some of our utilities' employees.
There is one other alternative; that would be to sell the utilities and pay down the debt and privatize it. It would be regulated and we would have experts running it.
We don't appear to be able to run this ourselves without the prospect of huge rate increases each year.
We need to get the utilities out of the hands of the city because it is too expensive and will only make it unaffordable to stay in Cape Coral.
Two words pop into my mind, gross incompetence. This administration is not capable of running the sewer and water utilities.
The Nattering One muses... we concur with the Mayor elect...
the current administration is not capable of running the city, much less the sewer and water utilities.
Don't blame the worker bees... Its not the utilities employees or the supervisors and managers where the rubber meets the road that are the problem.
CCC does not need any outsourcing or privatization. Utilities need the mayor elect to clear the deck, so they can get their jobs done without any interference.
Privatization to "for profit" would be a disaster of epic proportion. For profit, means FOR PROFIT, as in we hire the cheapest labor...
and defer maintenance on new equipment, till the system is run into the ground. Thus dropping service levels to the bare minimum, while raising rates to the maximum.
Better check the records, utilities employees never asked for a manager at risk. It was someone else who convinced the council on that one.
Keep it in the house... Baton Rouge, which was ranked No. 6 in the top 40 cities to weather this depression by the Brookings Institute...
"grew jobs every month until August 2009 and in August it only lost nine-tenths of a percent, compared to 5.1% nationally,"
said Lauren C. Scott, professor emeritus of economics at LSU.
Scott said $5.1 billion of construction projects have been announced or are under construction in the Baton Rouge metro...
including a new plant for French chemical company SNF and the expansion of an ExxonMobil chemical plant.
Most of the projects are infrastructure buildout being done by local government.
Again, Mayor Sullivan, no privatization, no outsourcing of utility management or jobs, get the UEP on track by taking the project in house...
and expanding services down the main buisness corridors. Thereby, letting local business defer the costs to cut a path to the residents.
More to come.
On paying a billing rate of $238.51 per hour to at risk contractors such as MWH:
Can’t you think of a better way to spend that kind of money? Just give it a little thought and I’m sure you can come up with a better solution...
such as paying 10 city employees at the rate of 23.81 per hour rather than paying an exorbitant rate to keep someone else working.
On building a durable local economy: The mayor says we need to put people to work.
Well we can start by giving city business to local firms. There are big bucks in utility projects.
The mayor should think about what that kind of money would do for our local economy and our local job market.
Instead he would rather give our money to someone else to help our utility department sit on its collective behinds and have someone else from out of town do their jobs.
We hire many out of town and out of state companies to do our work. We don’t even have our utility bills printed in Cape Coral.
As far as job creation is concerned most of the workers are foreign workers laying the lines. You might have an American supervising 6 or 8 foreign workers.
These people send the money out of the country to support their families elsewhere.
In fact we don’t even know if these workers are legal nor do we know if the American running the heavy equipment are even residents of Cape Coral.
There was talk of creating 500 jobs with the N–1 thru N–8 project.
Projects like these were never meant to be an efficient way to put our residents to work and get the biggest bang for the buck.
The Nattering One muses... Again we concur with the Mayor elect...
we would much rather have 10 city employees working for one hour, than one manager at risk employee.
When CCC cannot perform the task at hand, we should use local subs with expertise, with CCC personnel managing the tasks.
However, we do take exception because the utility department doesn't sit on its collective behinds.
Utilities doesn't want anyone in town (private) or out of town (manager at risk) doing their jobs.
Send the at risk manager packing and lets get this done from inside the house.
We will hire local's at prevailing wages, creating durable economic jobs which will create service sector jobs, and keep the money in the Cape.
Bring it on Mayor Sullivan, CCC utilities are ready and waiting, when you are. More to come in Part III.
Remember, tomorrow, November 5th is Guy Fawkes day.
John Sullivan on KBR, MWH & Halliburton: One of our council members attempts to create the illusion that MWH was initially hired.
It is common knowledge that KBR was hired but was not capable of making the bond so MWH and a number of KBR employees came on board to run our utilities projects, in Cape Coral including the project manager (Larry Laws).
We have a city council and staff which refuses to have third party consultants do an analysis of a $100 million utility project when we all know the price is over-blown.
We have something called Construction Manager at Risk. What is construction manager at risk? I define it as Highway Robbery.
This is a do it yourself method to install water and sewer lines and upgrade plants.
If you are willing to pay the price, then anyone can run a project using this methodology.
We use manager at risk even for building fire houses and the cost is twice that of a fire house in Charlotte County.
The incentive for the manager is to charge the highest possible price?
John Sullivan on City Engineering & Project Management: We have an engineering department that is supposed to be running projects of this nature.
They should be doing the design and building the system. They should be putting the jobs up for bid and selecting the subcontractors and inspecting the work.
We are paying people on the engineering staff that will not take the bull by the horns and get the job done in the most cost-effective manner.
If the engineers on staff do not have the qualifications or skills to run these projects then, why are they working for the city?
The city staff refuses to look for alternative ways to deliver the utilities.
It has been stated that our engineers have in excess of 100 years of experience yet we continue down the same path that we were on 25 years ago.
We have supervisors and engineers making in excess of $100,000 a year and yet they refuse to take the responsibility of running the projects themselves.
We have a highly paid staff and city manager. They created this mess it should up to them to fix it.
If they can't clean up their own mess then it's about time we get someone who can.
Why do we not get skilled people who can run these projects and cut the profit margin to the bare bone...
rather than making the people at MWH and KBR wealthy on the backs of the taxpayers?
The Nattering One muses... We concur. We don't need any outsiders or outsourcing, we can do it in house.
Now what is Mayor Elect Sullivan going to do about it? The MWH contract ends this January.
Are you going to bring in another MWH? or CDM? in the form of CH2MHill? Really, this is just trading the devil you know, for the devil you don't.
We Natter loudly and clearly... CCC need to hire the necessary road crew labor and an additional project manager experienced in infrastructure buildout...
to run these jobs inhouse; save the taxpayer 66% on their money; and provide much needed local jobs where the money stays in the Cape.
Mayor Sullivan, just talk to the guys in the trenches or where the rubber meets the road.
More from the Minutemen web site...
Larry Barton on the last administrations answer to the Kessler audit:
The Price Waterhouse Coopers -one of the Big-four- audit of the City-MWH contract did NOT establish this “legitimacy or validity,” but only that they...
“did not find anything materially wrong,” and that “[t]he city and MWH performed as their contracts required and that the labor billing rates were competitive.”
The MWH bought-and-paid-for audit (opinion) by PWC is not and should not be the ultimate qualifying authority.
Remember that Arthur Anderson, once the #1 accounting firm that sacrificed its integrity, went down with Enron, their well-paying client.
William P. Deile:
On City Manager Terry Stewart: It appears as if Mr. Stewart is an adherent of the Josef Goebbles theory of journalism...
if you keep repeating your story long enough people will begin to believe it.
On City Project Management: Mr. Stewart argues that the reason the city outsources project management is because management of the utility project is “terribly difficult”...
yet further on he extols the competency of those on city staff who “have a combined 100 years of engineering and management experience with projects of various sizes and complexities.
On UEP costs: The city staff’s steadfast refusal to consider anything but a central gravity fed system is one reason.
A second reason is the refusal to do value engineering and the stacking of management fee upon management fee to insulate the city from responsibility.
A third reason, cited in multiple audits lies in the details of the contractual arrangements and yet another may be found the methodology used to apportion costs.
The Nattering One muses... Again, revisit the Kessler audit. Much that was obfuscated, omitted and gerrymandered will be revealed.
This city should not be outsourcing anything. No more at risk managers, we take ownership and pull the necessary O&E (omissions & errors) & liability insurance.
We hire the necessary talent to manage and perform the tasks. Its as simple as that.
No one is this town has wanted to step up and take ownership and assume the responsibility.
The low lying fruit was left to be scooped up by the manager at risk and their profiteering cronies. How could we value engineer anything?
The "meddling" personnel where the rubber meets the road were kept out of the loop by the manager at risk and their designated lackeys?
We can value engineer the bio solids building and the UEP project, and create additional durable economic jobs for Cape residents.
This can all be done in house at a minimal cost to the taxpayer, as it should have been from the start.
We now have the chance Mayor Sullivan, don't drop the ball and succumb to arrogance and greed.
Mayor Elect Sullivan is a founder and member of The Minutemen.
Some noteworthy observations from the Minutemen web site:
The current administration: No Response to Public Input, Promotes Special Interests, Unaffordable Assessments, Taxation Without Representation.
Our mayor and our city council keep taking until we have nothing left. We have no voice here in Cape Coral (Florida), just as the colonists had no voice.
The people here go before the council and speak. The mayor and council just ignore the people as if we don’t exist.
The administration’s arsenal consists of unaffordable assessments and taxes. Like the English, the administration has a contingent of foreign troops.
The English had Hessian Soldiers. Today our mayor and council have special interest groups.
The administration has builders, large land owners construction companies like MWH and speculators.
The city manager and all his flunkies must get out of town and never look back.
What real choices do the public have when they are abandoned or even exploited by their representatives?
The first thing on our agenda must be to stop the utility expansion projects.
The projects are being used to extort money from the residents and therefore the water and waste water utilities must be taken out of the hands of a city that cannot be trusted.
We need to start a water and waste-water authority or it must be converted to a non-profit entity or a Co-op.
The Nattering One muses... Strong words indeed, and perhaps a rush to judgement...
We agree, taxation without representation has been the MO of government for many years...
Anyone who thinks this is a democracy, or government is by the people and for the people, is naive and mistaken.
Our Republic is based upon goverment by the rich and for the corporations.
The first thing on the agenda should be what Jason did for the Argonauts...
cut the many heads of the hydra off and slay it. Then revisit the Kessler audit to root out the rest of the suspects...
As we have stated before in these pages...
the UEP can be completed by in house city staff at one third of the manager at risk cost estimates.
At the plant level, the in house staff are competent, knowledgable and capable of managing the Capes utilities.
With the hydra's many heads out of the way, this will become readily apparent to Mayor Sullivan and the Minutemen.
Apparently the man on the street was an accurate reflection of voter sentiment.
Sullivan was elected in a landslide, as predicted. Interestingly enough, only 18% of all registered voters cast a vote.
The final tally rounded: 11.5K to 6.5K or 64% to 36%. That's right 18K voters decided for an estimated population of 125K.
With the election of Mayor Sullivan and District 4:Chulakes-Leetz, add District 2: Brandt and District 3:Deile for a tally of 4 council votes.
Opposing them will be 3 votes: District 1:McClain, District 6:McGrail, District 7:Donnell
Leaving the wild card or swing vote: District 5:Grill
Now that the man on the street's will has been imposed... we have a piece of advice for the victors... walk softly, carry a big stick and...
do not become victims of the same malady that struck down those who went before you, arrogance.
Regarding tomorrow's City of Cape Coral elections... whether your Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative, Independent, etc...
Get out and vote! If you don't, you get the government you deserve.
Predictions? If the man on the street is any indication... when asked how they were planning on voting...
two comments, one from a stranger, one from a neighbor...
The neighbor: "Well, I will tell you this, I'm not voting for the guys already in there..."
The stranger: "Voting for the incumbents would be like placing a loaded gun to your head, and pulling the trigger."
Alrighty then, sounds like these two are voting for change, any change, but at what cost, if any?
TBD (to be determined) Tuesday night. More to come.
The last two "jobless" recoveries... it took 11 months for job growth to turn positive in the wake of...
the 1990/91 recession and an interminable 19 months for payrolls to become positive on net after the 2001 recession.
Small business expansion is being hampered by constrained access to financing. Grants, loans and bailouts are going almost exclusively to the big guys.
The financial houses being bailed out are hoarding the money, rather than lending and spurring growth.
Firms of less than 500 employees account for some 50.2% of total payroll employment.
Pressure on small businesses needs to ease for a more durable economic recovery.
We keep banging this drum... no durable economic recovery until 6 million outsourced jobs are repatriated.
It took 25 years of financial deregulation, globalization and outsourcing to labor at the margin to decimate and emasculate our durable economic base.
This emasculation was bipartisan, and led by an army of lobbyists that our whores on the hill still pander to, witness the latest round of banking bailouts.
We no longer manufacture anything, so we have a non durable service based economy which is comprised of tourism, hospitality, food service and 1/6 health care.
Thats right, 1/6 of our economy is based on health care of which 35% goes to middlemen or health care management firms.
In other words, the sicker the population, and less health care insurance regulation, the greater the profit.
Our non durable economy is dependent on the generosity of foreigners willing to lend us money for our profligate spending habits.
Now is the time for small business and government to swell their employment ranks with durable infrastructure build out projects.
Keep the money local for small business (utilize small local companies) and employees (hire local people at prevailing wage).
In order to save taxpayer money, State, County and City governments need to abandon "at risk" managers and take projects on internally.
Hire managers proven competent in infrastructure buildouts and value engineering. Then staff up with local people and do the work in house.
This will keep local people employed at a decent wage for some time to come.
This is not the time to outsource to outsiders, large companies or foreigners.
Worse yet privatizing vital resources or assets to "for profit" entities would be the Coup de Grace.
Doing so would further cripple the remnants of our durable economic base and make any recovery improbable.
Looks like MWH is at it in Los Osos, CA as well, interesting reading, an excerpt follows...
In 1999, MWH won the engineering contract when the Los Osos sewer was still in the hands of the Los Osos Community Services District and not the county.
By 2006, the district terminated its contract with MWH because of alleged contract violations, over-billing, and conflicts of interest.
Around the same time MWH sued the district for about $1.1 million in unpaid services after the CSD reversed course and canceled the project.
That lawsuit is still pending while the district is in bankruptcy. According to Los Osos residents, MWH helped put the district in bankruptcy.
It wasn’t the first time MWH had problems. In the city of Cape Coral, FL, the contractor was hired to expand the coastal community’s water and sewer system.
The cost of that project quickly rose to just under $1 billion, according to the News-Press.
A 2006 audit found a number of “red flags” in the MWH contract with Cape Coral, including inflating the project cost and bid rigging.
The audit findings were forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice.
A representative from the DOJ declined to comment on any investigation and the FBI did not return a call before press time.
A livid group of Los Osos residents have recently shifted their focus away from the design of the new sewer system and more toward Public Works Director Paavo Ogren.
They have accused Ogren of having connections to MWH. Ogren was the Los Osos CSD’s interim general manager shortly before MWH was hired in 1999.
Ogren: “I was the contract interim general manager prior to Bruce Buel, but the proposal process for project management services was independent from the work I was doing. … I didn’t have involvement in the hiring of Montgomery Watson back then.”
There is, however, also an MWH connection to the evaluation committee.
The current project engineer, Carollo Engineers, used MWH as a subcontracted consultant for the project in 2006.
The Nattering One muses... this wreaks of the same stench that plagued the Cape in the aborted Kessler Audit.
Sources indicate that FBI & DOJ have both investigated bid rigging allegations. Neither agency will confirm nor deny, whether the investigations are ongoing.
With the city in dire economic straights, could a lawsuit from MWH put the Cape into BK territory?
One can only wonder what other connections exist between MWH and high ranking Cape officials? More to come.
The Nattering One muses... the relevance of this topic to the Cape and Lee County, which is ground zero for foreclosures is not lost...
50 to 60 Million loans held by MERS could be effected by multiple court rulings in favor of homeowners.
For all those who have or might be losing their home to a foreclosure. As we learned long ago in the REO and reconveyance departments...
the Deed and Note must stay together. Otherwise, these is nothing to foreclose on.
Op-Ed: 60 Million Mortgages May Have Fatal Flaws
Commentary by George W. Mantor
RISMEDIA, September 29, 2009—The latest chapter in the mortgage meltdown is being written in court, as one by one, judges are putting a halt to foreclosures.
The latest was a recent Kansas Supreme Court case. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, the court held that a nominee company called MERS had no standing to bring a foreclosure action.
Nor was Kansas the first. In August 2008, Federal Judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada ruled MERS had no standing.
”Indeed, the evidence is to the contrary, the Note has been sold, and the named nominee no longer has any interest in the Note.”
In September of 2008, A California Judge ruling against MERS concluded, “There is no evidence before the court as to who is the present owner of the Note. The holder of the Note must join in the motion.”
On March 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Arkansas determined that MERS was not the true beneficiary because the Note had been sold. Alabama and Florida have made similar rulings.
In each case, the reason stems from a fundamental misstep in the handling of Notes and Trust Deeds that runs contrary to established court policies which require that the real parties identify themselves to the court.
Each of these cases involved MERS and, in each case, the courts’ rationales were almost identical.
First, a little background. Over the last 40 years, mortgage lending has evolved from a bank holding the mortgage to the mortgage being bundled and sold as part of an investment pool, usually in the form of a bond.
As a registered security, the Note is a negotiable instrument, like money or a cashier’s check, and under securities law that Note must be given to the investor.
In this case, mortgage backed securities, (MBS) were bundled together in a pool and shipped to…well, we don’t really know.
One of the impediments to an MBS is the need to file assignments for the beneficiaries in each county each time the mortgage is resold. And apparently, no one holds them for very long because most have been passed around several times.
In order to avoid the logistical nightmare of trying to maintain a public chain of title, the biggest lenders joined MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.
MERS was created with the sole intent of evading the recording fees due to the county in which the security is located.
In so doing, in my opinion, they also destroyed the age-old practice of making a public record of information concerning real property in general, and legal interest specifically.
The chain of title is a vital record produced to resolve many a dispute. Now, that’s gone.
I believe, erased simply so they themselves, MERS, could siphon off the recording fees for themselves. They sold their business model to lenders as a better way to track mortgages that were being sold and resold all over the world.
But, as there often is with a BIG IDEA, there were also unintended consequences. Only now are they coming to light. Until MERS was challenged in a foreclosure proceeding, no one had taken a look at the law.
The law, according to a Nevada Judge, is that for purposes of foreclosure, both the Note and the Deed of Trust must be assigned. When the Note is split from the Deed of Trust, the Note becomes unsecured.
A person holding only a Note lacks the power to foreclose because it lacks the security. MERS lost track of the Notes. In some cases, according to my research, they deliberately destroyed them.
Every thing was fine until the economy contracted. MERS began foreclosing on delinquent home loans and then one day; someone said “show me the Note.”
In reviewing the judge’s rulings in the above matters, several key points have been determined:
• MERS is not the beneficiary of the Notes and has no skin in the game. It did not lend any money, collect any payments or do anything more than track the sale of the securities.
• Judicial procedure requires that parties identify themselves and prove their standing.
• Splitting the Note and Trust Deed leaves no party with standing to foreclose. The true holder of the Note, the security, paid the lender so the lender is covered. The true holder of the Note was insured by AIG so they are covered. AIG and the banks were bailed out by taxpayers.
So, unless the American tax payer can produce a “blue-ink” original Note, no one has standing to foreclose.
• Allowing a foreclosure to proceed without the original Note places the homeowner in double jeopardy. If the original Note were to surface, the holder of the Note would be entitled to payment, but from whom? The borrower is still on the hook.
MERS currently holds 50 to 60 million loans so this is no small matter. And, just because they have lost repeatedly doesn’t mean they will give up. They will keep right on foreclosing in hopes that the homeowner won’t fight back and, in most cases, they won’t be stopped.
After attempting to club Cape residents into submission on the UEP MWH Halliburton scam by raising the utilities rate (95% phased in over five years); the council decided to raise the millage rate. But why is all this new revenue needed?
The City is currently in negotiation with all three unions for a new contract and despite all the new souces of revenue, they are using this budget review from the “advisory” committee to club the unions into legacy concessions.
The City negotiated its contract in “good” times; and now as is the modus operandi of “management by crisis” wants to take back what it gave. Didn’t these crazy spenders realize, you have to put something away for a rainy day?
We stumbled across an internal document being used in the process: The FAC (Financial Advisory Committee) FY2010 Budget Review Presentation to the City Council.
Some of the “reviews” relevant contents in normal font, our Natterings in Italics…
Further reduction in taxable property values
Controlled growth should have been the mantra, instead of spend, spend, spend…. Now the wanton spenders have raised utility and millage rates to hide their tracks.
Approval of items that were previously scheduled for elimination:
DCD Code Enforcement Team $380K
Yet on Page 16: DCD should evaluate activities requiring permits and inspections (currently seems excessive). So yets just approve the enforcement team that was going to be eliminated???
Parks & Recreation funding from General Fund $1.385M
Public Works
Dredging of canals $637K
Road Maintenance $750K
Street Lighting $1 Million
Total $ 2.387M
Total add back to general fund $4.153M
Total add back to general fund $4.153M
Page 17 if our recommendations are utilized, the City should realize an overall General Fund budget adjustment of $3,372,284
In other words, if you follow our recommendations, we just advised you to SPEND $3.3 Million more. Simply brilliant.
The committee recommends the following:
Salary Freeze
COLA Freeze
Salary reduction across the board
Unpaid Furloughs
Reduction of Work Force
Continued Control of Overtime
Comp Time
Reduction in benefit costs through an employee contribution of $50 per month
(1786 employees x $50 x 12 months = $1,071,600)
Standardization of the leave policy across all employee groups
Reduction of hours that can be accumulated, less vacation.
Implementing an employee funded short term disability program
Not a benefit, but a program that costs the employee and furthers the cities goal of reduction of participation in the leave policy and associated costs.
Elimination of the leave buyback program
A counterproductive elimination of accumulation over 400 hours, which will make bad employees out of good ones.
Instead of saving your time and working, you are forced to take time off. Increasing overtime costs in most cases.
The idea of a 400 bank, in case of accident it fills the gap (10 weeks) till long term disability takes over.
Hire an external consultant to report to Council to identify actionable means of reducing benefit costs for FY09 to achieve an overall reduction in benefit costs from 38% to 30% overall personnel costs leading to an expected $10.1 Million savings. Cost of consultant to be borne by realized savings.
In other words, deforestation by a for profit logger, the more the hatchet man cuts, the more he earns. You eventually wind up with no trees and no forest.
Actual benefit cost as a percentage of salary for FY10 is projected to be 47.4% across all funds, which is excessive and represents an area for significant expense reduction.
This is excessive only because, contrary to public opinion, government wages are well below private sector for the same job. However, the government benefits are usually more comprehensive and cost more. Higher benefit costs divided over lower salaries will always yield a higher benefit cost as percentage of salary.
Benefits as a percentage of salaries
Police 35.6%
Fire 33%
General 22.4%
ICMA 12%
Again we see how police and fire much like the Bush administration, have milked the fear of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. What makes these groups who volunteered at a very generous rate of pay; to collect so much more than the rest of the public?
We never could figure out why anyone in their right mind would allow pensions to be based on total earnings (best five of the last ten years), rather than a straight 40 hours multiplied by the hourly rate.
This total earnings clause causes overtime abuse in the extreme. In particular during the latter part of ones career, when their wage level is higher.
In effect this is a double whammy, paying out more hours at a higher rate; and ballooning a pension (in the case of fire & police; some are collecting a higher pension than they did while working.)
This along with bloated budgets and overly generous pension benefits (100% of wage for police and fire; as opposed to 80% for rank and file) are driving many cities to bankruptcy.
Consider public/private partnerships
Expand use of volunteers
Consider outsourcing eligible services as opportunities arise
All euphemisms for sell, lease, outsource or privatize assets to FOR PROFIT orgs such as CH2MHill or MWH.
These carpetbaggers will spend the minimum to avoid maintenance and higher service levels, resulting in substandard service and the assets getting run right into the ground.
In a 4-3 vote, the Cape Coral City Council voted to delay voting on the utility expansion project indefinitely.
A step in the right direction. Again, the recipe for future economic success is:
The city should be allowed to move forward with UEP ONLY IF:
1. NO MORE OUTSOURCING: MWH is removed and no outsource or at risk contractors are involved. The Cape does not need to spend taxpayer money to benefit Halliburton.
2. CREATE JOBS & AN ECONOMY: The project must involve city project managment & labor; we need jobs to create a durable economic base for the Cape.
This is when the City should be spending to hire and create a permanent base, rather than cutting back.
3. NO PRIVATIZATION: no infrastructure assets are sold/leased to service ANY debt.
NEVER sell or lease the rights to your most valuable asset of all, your water.
Beware of demagogue's wearing sheeps clothing...
Word has it that for a sack of gold, old "Sleepy" Sullivan would sell the city's future out from under it to CH2MHill at the drop of a hat. Say it ain't so Sully!
4. TRIM THE FAT: Deficit ridden fire & police payrolls need to be trimmed...
along with fire & police bargaining units cutting back on outrageous 100% & overtime aided pension benefits. This is what truly bankrupt's municipalities.
Fire & Police could actually benefit from major concessions being proposed by the rank and file bargaining unit. (More to come on this in our next post.)
These four steps are the Cape's ONLY way out of this economic depression. This Mayor and future council's would be well advised to heed the above advice.
This may be a bit off topic, but may satisfy enquiring minds that need to know...
I was asked recently by a Naybob of Realty, in so many words "what do you stand for?" My retort follows...
I stand against the following: Big Brother.
the moral majority "Strength through Unity. Unity through Faith."
the Orwellian "War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength."
a society that is ruled by government, rather than the government being run as a voice of the people (vox populi).
government surveillance, torture, fear mongering, media manipulation, not to mention corporate corruption and religious hypocrisy.
Remember the 1605 Gunpowder Plot? A group of Catholic conspirators led by Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament while King James I of England and VI of Scotland and most of the aristocracy were in it.
The plot intended to kill the king, his family and most of the Protestant aristocracy by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5 November 1605, in order to spark a revolution in England.
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
Guy Fawkes was ranked 30th in the 2002 list of the 100 Greatest Britons, sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public...
he is referred to as the only man ever to enter parliament with honest intentions.
and to this day, Guy Fawkes night is celebrated in the UK every November 5th. Proving that the spirit still lives on.
The Nattering One believes that the pen is mightier than the sword.
Those who make the effort to fight the good fight may suffer or die for their efforts, but not in vain, as their ideas live on.
Behind this mask there is more than flesh... Behind this mask there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
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