HOUND EDUCATION HOSTAGE

The assembly hound car fires up again to take another trip down the taxpayer money spending freeway tonight at 6pm and tomorrow night if needed.
And there seems to be a lot of "needs" pending in secret hound pockets and not so secret that its looking like tonight might not do it. Our own heads are hitting the desk with that thought.

We do know of the threat of one amendment that tumbled out when the car threw on the brakes quite suddenly at the end of last nights meeting.

Assembly spending hound Halter gave notice he plans to have an amendment tucked under his hound arm at tonight's budget deliberation meeting to cut the already adopted education funding. Uh huh the amendment passed already giving the school district the nominal 3% increase they have asked for that was proposed by both Keogh and Arvin and adopted. We recall Halter was the lone "no' vote.

Hound Halter said his proposed cut would whack 1% out of the measly 3% and bring it to 2%. Huge dollars when the district is stinging from another year of flat funding from the state.

We don't know why but we are pretty sure it has to do with something about putting more in the spending hound trunk for Halter's district for things like the $1.4M Talkeetna library. A project we support but not at the cost of education for kids in the whole borough. We wish spending hound Halter would show a little more leadership to advocate for the adequate funding for borough services that continue to climb in cost and projects even if that means a slight increase in the mill rate.

Is assembly hound Halter that afraid of the ceremonial mayors scepter veto pen that might threaten his $75,000 for portable bathrooms in Meadow Lakes or some other tucked in project? Or is he nursing some kind of a grudge against the district for a undisclosed sin? This is his second whack at the school budget.

The spending hounds are suppose to be delivered tonight the list of where they can find hiding $3M in past capital projects of unassigned funds from both the manager and the hired financial analyst sitting in the borough piggy bank.We are expecting all kinds of fun hearing the outcome of that tonight.

The borough manager is out of town on a scheduled approved vacation so the assistant manager and finance director will be fielding those question handballs  It's possible the hounds will be taking the borough attorney out for a good run trying to keep them in line of what can be loved around the financial checkerboard. 

We don't know if Mr. Wilson the hired budget guru will be here in person earning his $225.00 a hour fee. Perhaps he will be calling it in or he has submitted his homework via email. We hope the dog didn't eat it.

There is much to do on the budget. The assembly spending hounds have drug it through the streets of the public process like a favorite squeaky toy. Part of the squeak is the cost to the taxpayers of the process to deliberate the budget that has been adopted this year. You however can hear it for free as it is streamed by our community radio station at www.radiofreepalmer.org. starting at 6pm tonight.


Not too late to send the assembly spending hounds a note to let them know your priorities for the budget. While your at it let them know how you feel about holding education hostage for their sacred cows.
We'll be there until its done. However spending assembly hound Salmon has already given notice after tonight his attention span will have reached his limit. Besides, his wife is having a birthday and cold assembly pizza for dinner and sitting on a hard chair isn't what he has in mind for the evening.

Posted with Blogsy

SPENDING HOUNDS PART 2

The running of the assembly spending hounds continues...

If you haven't read the post before this one you might want to start there then proceed below. If you did read part one and picked yourself off the floor and have been so patiently waiting for part 2 after much teeth gnashing here you go. 

After you might want to wander over in the side of the blog and read a page we are calling..QUESTIONS WE WOULD LIKE THE BOROUGH ASSEMBLY TO ANSWER. If we get any coherent answers (unlikely) from the assembly we will add them. The plan is to keep adding a dialog we SHOULD be having as a borough. 

So now...ta da ..Part 2 of the adventures so far of your borough assembly spending hounds with the borough checkbook and savings...

Assembly spending hound Arvin is still at the wheel with his hound foot firmly on the gas driving to his vision of a free market solution for the future which seems to include fewer borough employees and that less pesky public transparency.  He scoffs at the suggestion that replacing three temporary positions in the IT department with one full time employee will save money for the borough in training investments and costly turn over as those trained move on to higher paid and more secure private sector jobs through the revolving borough door.

After all a “temporary employee” surely provides a more controllable expendable workforce right?

Spending hound Arvin does allow a stop to add a new position for a full time emergency management coordinator. Does he think anyone can be found to handle even a small portion of the emergencies this assembly is creating? Or is the attraction that part of the job has to do with timber?  He also allows the hound car to roll slowly so the spending hounds can move a “financial analyst” position under management administration.

Is it possible with this assembly anyone can really work under management and not through some assembly members?

The ceremonial mayor hound has found his way out of the manure field and is now chasing the spending assembly hound car but he keeps spinning his own wheels on the loose gravel on the side of the road and losing track of the car. He has annoyed some of the spending hounds by letting his favorite hounds run amuck and not stay on the hunt. He also has his eye on a brand new shiny Pt. Mackenzie town site and like the joker in the jack in the box; he pops up and down now and again to make sure the assembly spending hounds are sprinkling taxpayer cash along the unimproved road for its development. 

Assembly spending hound Colligan who now glows red with a computer screen tan is leaning further and further out of the assembly spending car. He is jumping in and out of the car asking to throw the borough spending ball again and again. He is sure he is right around the corner from a spending signal. He seems to forget much of the time where it ended up the last time it was thrown. He is just sure if they keep building his empire doghouse in the technology yard they will all be able to get out of the car and run through a field of daisies. The IT department director is becoming his best friend. His spending hound eyes have changed to dollar signs thinking of how if the bulk of taxpayer funds are directed from other departments, the hounds can succeed in changing some part of how the borough is managed without having to debate the merits of the reorganization.

Spending assembly hound Woods has realized he is out of the yard and is full of glee because he thinks they are headed to a coal mine being planned close to Palmer. He is sure there are money bones for him and his old hound friends and family under all that coal dust. In fact he seems anxious to roll in its toxic brew of arsenic, mercury, metals and seems unafraid of any lethal health threats like asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and heart disease. His generation didn't depend on any science and data. Facts are so inconvenient and he doesn’t really understand them anyhow. 

Spending assembly hound Halter even though he has managed to acquire some pretty nice money bones for his own yard isn’t done with the ride. He is gaining support from the other hounds desperate for their own kennel upgrades. He has found the magic of putting more than you need in the trunk of the spending hound car trunk so it appears that he is actually giving something up when trading for things for his hound yard. He has also convinced the other hounds to stop the car long enough to task the borough manager and the hired mad "forensic scientist budget analyst " hound (who again was phoning it in for the whole meeting and spoke for about 10 seconds total) to each bring a list of $3 million "uncommitted" capital dollars in the borough coffers to the next meeting. He is hoping there are enough money bones to fill his part even if it also flows into other hounds' parts of the trunk.

Spending assembly hound Colver gets his hound collar out of the door long enough to jump out and lift his leg on some bushes and pace around with his frustration several times. Hound Colver is increasingly getting his feelings hurt by the ceremonial mayor hound that does not seem to recognize his importance and need to hear his own bark to bloviate and pontificate about using his process of "Colvinating" to get it right. He is impatient to see how much money can be saved for his more things for his own empire annex doghouses that will be ready for occupancy some day. He is afraid he won’t be able to stash enough taxpayer funds in hiding places in the yard to dig up later for projects that allow him to keep his powers and reward his barking buddies. He is successful in pushing off some big decisions to the next meeting when both the manager and clerk will be absent and his tales will be threatened with less truth.

Spending assembly hound Salmon got out a growl to say “We hired a manager to manage the borough. It’s his job. My job is to set policy”. His next bark gets $70,000 of taxpayer money to count the cars and people that might help his fellow KABATA board members dispute that pesky audit the legislators believed. Hound Salmon wants you to believe that a shiny new demographic study will benefit the borough but says nothing about his own benefits as a Realtor if the math is believed. This spending hound hopes the car won’t stop long enough for the people to bother to read about the moment in time around 2000 when he was borough mayor. The time when big plans for a ferry were hatched that now floats in the waters far away and requires big borough taxpayer checks monthly for its room and board. He also hopes the magical thinking he played a part in that sold acres and acres of borough land for less than market value for the big profit of some will not be remembered. That money was then and now is the time for deals for the deal makers.

Assembly hound Keogh, sitting on the curb, inhaling toxins from the spending hound car, is still guarding the people's house.  The line to admire and pet him is stopping traffic because people that own the house know he is the only one staying around to stand guard. The ceremonial mayor hound tries to ignore Keogh by not acknowledging his barks to participate in the debate. Spending hound Colver is especially irritated at Keogh for his attempt to cut some money out of the assembly budget that might be used for trips to Juneau. Spending hound Colver has successfully had his picture taken and posted on the front page of the borough website with governor candidate Walker. His dreams of a run for Lt Governor make him giddy. Spending hound Colver is particularly irritated that hound Keogh would try to dig where he is placing funds for his later projects.  Like the wise hound he is, Keogh ignores this and continues his plans to protect the people's house.

To say the ceremonial mayor has pretty much no control of these meetings is not a stretch. He might as well stay longer on vacation buying breeding stock. Discussion on amendments and motions on the table are being blurred out of recognition as assembly spending hounds are allowed to jump from one sacred cow to another. Maybe the cow part has the mayor distracted.

WHO PAYS?

Of the $120 million dollars placed in borough coffers this year $82 million is property tax dollars. Dollars that have been flying out of the window of the assembly spending hound car like confetti. The hounds continue down the road of throwing the least amount they can to the the critical needs in a growing borough with a land mass the size of Scotland and miles of roads that make goat trails look like freeways. Growing populations need services from a borough assembly with an insatiable appetite for mega projects and truly not much more. Where is there room in a budget for services? Oh and why we are on the subject we are up to about $9 million dollars in lost revenue from all the "property exemptions" the state mandates and then doesn't reimburse the borough for. Along with the still uncalculated loss of revenue coming to the borough from this assembly giving big business a go free pass on anything under $1 million dollars in inventory with a plan to do away with it altogether which is probably why there is nothing but huffing and puffing being done to calculate or enforce it. The city of Anchorage must be laughing all the way to the bank as they collect on business inventory of anything over $20,000 which brings the city millions. 

WHAT WILL THERE BE ROOM IN THE BUDGET FOR?

It’s what the assembly hounds would like to call “economic development”.  Based on what we have seen and read and what history serves up, we prefer to call it “wishes and hopes” planned by a herd of unicorns drunk on power rainbows and paid for by property owners. Small property owners not the ones with acres of land and prime borough property they got during the last raid of borough assets.

The spending hounds much like the neighborhood dog that never has a hope of catching the passing car seem unlikely as ever to reach consensus on a 2014 borough budget that chooses service to the people that live in the valley instead of serving up profits to business. The economic director has become shamelessly the Great Dane that is able to sit like a Chihuahua on some assembly spending hound laps licking their faces and is paid handsomely to do their bidding in the community.

Press releases are carefully worded to sound almost like the thieves are doing you a favor cleaning out your house in the middle of the day while you’re at work. No doubt a limited borough staff makes  good productions that sell big business in the borough but do they really portray what is going on here? Are they attracting the right type of business to the borough that will care about a long term commitment and investment and not just a lack of regulation and oversight that allows them to make a quick profit and leave?

ARE WE THERE YET?

Are the spending hounds done with the budget meal that was served them and now ready to move on to transformation into spending buzzards that pick off all the meat available and leave the borough piggy bank carcass in the ditch?  Several of the spending hounds are convinced there is still some unspent money from borough projects left buried in the yard and they are relentlessly digging with questions and threats.

Yes the assembly spending hound car took a pretty wild ride at the last meeting but it elected to stop to refuel (no energy saving vehicle for this pack) so it can roll again next Wednesday May 22nd and possibly even the next day before it eventually bounces off the curb and is ready for the next ride with taxpayer funds.  Heck there could be a deal being made to sell the whole borough off to some investor in China brewing behind closed doors. 

At this rate the budget should be ready to sign off on sometime before you start your Christmas shopping. 

SPENDING HOUNDS ....

Can borough residents stand more "conservative"governing? 

WARNING SPENDING HOUND VISUAL AHEAD…

We think this about sums it up because you know pictures even mental ones are better than words.

Imagine the spending hounds ie: your assembly driving a hound clown car that holds not just the assembly spending hounds but the taxpayer check book.

Assembly spending hound Arvin is driving the car with only one destination in mind. The destination only he and he alone knows and will take no directions from any other hound or spectators along the road who are for the most part trying to stay out of his way.

Assembly spending hound Colver and Assembly spending hound Colligan with tongues wagging are hanging out the front seat passenger window relentlessly asking “When will we be there” and “can we get out now?”

Assembly hound Colligan is trying to make his fellow hounds pay attention to a map he wants to download if he could only find a signal and get the other spending hounds to pay attention. He knows how the trip will be successful if he can just get their attention.

Assembly hound Colver more comfortable wearing a cape instead of a collar is stuck in the door and can only get a few barks out. He worries he won’t get to the fire hydrant he has picked out before spending hound Arvin decides to stop the car.

Assembly spending hound Salmon is in the back seat of the hound car and as grumpy as can be because he didn't want to leave the yard and no one told him he would have to take this long car ride. His pleas for stopping the car so he can get out are falling on deaf white floppy Arvin spending hound ears.

Assembly spending hound Woods is in the backseat next to Salmon. It’s not clear he knows where he is or why he left the yard in the first place. He keeps looking for the EPA or somebody from the federal government to blame but the car is going too fast. Where he’s not sure.

Assembly hound Halter is running behind the car trying to take some big things like money for education out of the trunk so he can get some other goodies that he thinks will look good in his dog yard. He is smiling and biting the tires almost simultaneously.   

Assembly hound Keogh is sitting on the curb. He is the only one with enough sense not to want to go for the ride in the spending hound car because he was told to guard the people’s house. He knows it’s quite likely that the spending hounds will crash. He is catching all the toxic exhaust from the clown car while he waits for the inevitable.

The ceremonial mayor hound is still standing in the field trying to figure out how to get his veto equipped tractor unstuck in time to pop a few tires on the spending hound car. He wants to ride in the car but the other hounds have made sure his tractor wont go anywhere because it's stuck in an abundance of cow manure.

The hired "budget analysts-financial mad scientist" is running alongside the car trying not to roll under the tires which might preclude his chance to jump in the car and always ride around with the spending assembly hounds.

You get the picture...

Last night’s special assembly budget deliberation meeting started out with the ceremonial mayor giving the floor to Assemblyman Arvin who joked “the dog ate my homework”. This after successfully suspending the last meeting nearly a week ago because the assembly contract financial guru Jim Wilson wasn't there and Arvin argued that he needed to be there to "get it right".  

But wait Wilson was nowhere to be found when last night’s meeting began. 

Was Arvin’s joke on the taxpayers of the borough who is paying for this series of special deliberations and turning into quite the messy process?

After a hasty break 30 minutes into the meeting Wilson was found and...

Wait for it ...he PHONED it in. From his home in Oklahoma we suspect. Either that or from under the hotel bed considering what followed.  

Wilson quickly tried to unravel some knots he made in his budget suggestions (that Arvin admitted was only to he, Colligan and Colver)  and the spending assembly hound Arvin attempted to cut $425,000 out of the borough retirement reserves.Wilson was the "expert" hired by this same sitting assembly two years ago but he clearly didn't know or remember how the state retirement program in which the borough participates works and the needed reserves be kept for them to operate. Wilson gave a few soggy, hard to hear answer to questions carefully filtered by the mayor who also seemed frustrated. 

Spending hound Arvin moved to put the retirement reserves back into the budget until they had more answers. But other cuts were made by the suggestion of Wilson. Cuts to finance (really..the assembly is micro managing tax bill printing costs?), administration, the revenue and budget department and their favorite target the Planning Department. Wilson's advise for a cut to the legal department was stopped in its tracks when the assembly was informed after settling yet another lawsuit the account he wanted to move it out of was dry. 

Spending hound  Colver described Wilson's technique as historical and “scientific forensic accounting”. We’re guessing Wilson used this same method to not understand the borough retirement system or seemingly to even talk to borough finance about it. Turns out this “forensic accountant” reporting comes via pen and paper consisting of notes scribbled on an existing borough spread sheet or at least that is what was handed out to the audience. No pie charts, formulas or shiny glossy reports. Even at $225.00 an hour plus  “reasonable expenses”. 

Maybe spending hound Colligan should talk to Wilson about this century accounting software programs or be provided a lesson from the school district before he makes more suggestions to chase down the rabbit hole.

SPENDING HOUND CAR CONTINUES ON...

Several amendments were left on the table without action with promises for more to hit on Thursday. No word if Mr. Wilson will join in the meeting or spend any time asking questions of the people that work at the borough instead of talking to the hounds. We see that spending hound Colver has offered an amendment to move the position for a "financial analyst" into administration's budget for $113.838. What does that mean we don't really know except we're pretty sure the last thing the manager needs is more management from the micro managing spending hounds. 

To his credit spending hound Arvin offered and passed an amendment to fulfill the school district’s 3% increase in local funding although it should be more to put it on par with other large districts . Keogh had already offered up the amendment to fully fund the request from the district but it had not been acted on yet.  Health and social service grant matches ($150,00 and already offered by Keogh too) youth court ($75,00) and Wasilla City Planning ($200,00 for the SART program in disguise) all passed but are still subject to amendments and the ceremonial mayor's veto pen. 

Spending hound Colligan has made a few suggestions about more money for accounting software to bring the borough into this century. Not a bad idea unless he wants to put Wilson in charge of this century and he might have to wrestle with hound Halter for the $400,000 prize for his yard. 

For a complete wrap up and much more to fill in the blanks we suggest you tune into Radio Free Palmer KVRF 89.5 FM (or www.radiofreepalmer.org ) tomorrow (Thursday regular feature of Mike and Friend’s Show) at 8am-9am when the citizen lobbyist visits. The full meeting from last night is available for your own listening torture on the Radio Free site.

TRAVELING ON FOR MORE FUN...

The hounds are back at it on Thursday for yet another "special budget deliberation meeting". Since as the ceremonial mayor said they hadn't "made much progress" and despite the little snarl by Salmon they scheduled two more meetings next week for deliberations.  That would mean if they don't finish tomorrow night the assembly will meet for their regular meeting next Tuesday and then again Wednesday and Thursday on the budget.

Not sure we can stand that much fun. They say it's not over till the fat lady sings.We say it's not over till the spending hound car comes to rest in the unregulated junkyard and the hounds spill out into the runoff pond.

NOT FALLING FOR A PIG IN A POKE...

Another special assembly meeting for budget deliberations will be held tonight to decide the fate of not only the taxpayer piggy bank for 2014 but perhaps to seal the future of borough in the ground like a set of tent spikes.

We have questions. Lots of them. And you should too.

WELL THAT WAS A COSTLY TAXPAYER 15 MINUTES…

The second budget deliberation meeting may have set the record for the shortest assembly meeting. The ceremonial mayor, full assembly, attorney, numerous clerks and almost all the department heads ready to go to work were told  to onlookers surprise there would be no meeting. Assembly member Arvin seemingly feeling much more comfortable calling the shots now that he isn't perched in China moved to adjourn until tonight so he could have more time with the hired consultant now back in his home in Oklahoma at his other job. Although hired as a consultant to the WHOLE assembly, reportedly he is spending his time primarily with Arvin, Colver and Colligan making you know all those hard “male” decisions. Advising them at a rate of $225.00 a hour plus "reasonable travel & per diem that includes transportation, lodging and meals". So with Arvin refusing to reveal his plans for the FY14 borough budget and without the hired consultant the assembly meeting was cancelled. Sorry about all that expense for nothing taxpayers.And heck you would think those other assembly members were "women" as little regard these three are giving fellow brethren about the plans to craft a budget.

 THE RUNNING OF THE HOUNDS

This will be the third year the assembly has used an outside budget analyst to "assist" them with decision making on the budget. This year when Assembly member Colver first brought the action to hire a professional forward he suggested only he and members Arvin and Colligan do the vetting with the manager to fill the position. Luckily that little Machiavellian move didn't fly and the search went out to bid.

How far and wide a net was cast in a bid for a qualified CPA or Government Accounting Specialist is unclear. What is clear is that it was issued March 5th with a March 18th deadline. Following a troublesome pattern of no or low amount of bidders for projects and contracts, the borough received 2 responses for the job. Oddly the same number of applicants for the job of lobbyist for the borough received as a response to bid.

In walked Mr. Jim Wilson to claim the prize of this year’s temporary borough budget analyst. He required that the borough provide him with copies of prior year documents, current year documents, strategic plans and "current and emerging issues" from Assembly members, mayor, manager and department heads.

Are these things taxpayers have at their easy disposal? Probably not. Especially since the borough has been insisting employees sign confidentiality statements as of late.

Mr. Wilson, now serves as a deputy city administrator -director of finance & management in Altus, Oklahoma working for Elizabeth Gray the ex-borough assistant manager who now resides in Altus and serves as the City Administrator. Gray acting borough manager in 2010-11 hired Wilson to consult for the borough on the 2012 budget. That year Wilson’s advice to the delight of the assembly empire builders was to spend, spend, and spend down those borough reserves that were reportedly sitting at some $14 million plus dollars.

The spending hounds were unleashed and went right to work.

A LAUNDRY LIST OF TAXPAYER DOLLAR BILLS

Almost immediately an addition to the existing borough building was given a green light. No pesky need for voter approval for the $7 million plus addition. Mr. Colver, taking a page from his own playbook for building the Academy Charter School Empire without one ounce of voter approval brought forth serial assembly resolutions that authorized taxpayer money.

With legislation likely to be approved at the next meeting the total on the borough annex is sitting at $7,081.687 SO FAR which does not include any AV equipment, furnishings or even chairs (and for as much as we use them they better be some damn nice chairs) for the public in the new space.

Oh and the new "space" is for new offices for the ceremonial mayor, assembly (who for the most part with the exception of Keogh that don't even to bother to read the packet and hardly need more space unless it serves as an echo chamber for their own voices), manager, and clerk and attorney departments. Also included is "public space" but with no money allotted so far for furnishings the public might count on using some old discarded milking stools brought in from the mayor’s barn for seating.

And then there was this low hanging fruit that brought assembly action with the taxpayer checkbook.

•  $100,000 for a "Port Operational Technical Advisor"
•  $50,00-$90,000 EVERY MONTH last year for the M.V Susitna Ferry while it floated in Southeast Alaska waters. It never saw the waters of the Matsu Borough and the borough has reportedly signed an agreement to sell the $78 million dollar ferry for $6 Million to satisfy the debt to the federal government.
•   $95,000 for "economic development cultivation". In 2010 an economic development plan for the borough was adopted. In 2011 the position of economic development director was eliminated. In 2012 a brand new director was hired with the marching orders of the assembly tucked under his arm. The shiny new director went to work bringing together a new set of voices for yet another economic plan. This one "business friendlier".
•   $200,000 for a Hatcher Pass REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT plan.
•   $278,812 from the school site selection reserve to supplement funding for the Academy Charter School expansion.
•   $300,000 from last budget cycle to consider and study a regional emergency dispatch center.

That's just the list of low hanging fruit. Expenditures under $100,000 don't need assembly approval. Listing all that along with the expense for a bevy of “working groups” the ceremonial mayor has dreamed up along with "other contracts" would make us all want to drive chopsticks through our eyes. Trust us; the list includes plenty of dollar signs.

The proposed 2014 budget is online for those that feel a need to tap dance through a mine field. It's doubtful at the end of this messy process it will look anything like it does now.  It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict the budget this year goes to port, rail, the ceremonial mayor's new Point Mackenzie town site, and economic development.

The hired gun budget analyst has mostly delivered his own spin on it taking up the bulk of the first deliberation hearing that only saw a few technical changes passed. Wilson didn't reveal anything new other than his suggestion for drawing down “unassigned fund balances” and to continue the lowering of wages for what is left of staff and paring down their benefit package. No mention if the salary and full benefits including contributions to retirement the assembly and ceremonial mayor collect were part of planned cuts.

Wilson and Arvin haven’t suggested YET he serve on an extended contract as adviser with money they are mining from taxpayer funds but we are bracing ourselves for the suggestion. Wilson’s longest tenure was in the state of Texas, a free for all business hub until he was “let go” according to local newspapers. He would be helpful to a majority held assembly that models itself after so much of what they call governing there. The city of Houston, Texas population 2,099 MILLION people has NO ZONING. Fertilizer plants, and warehouses at the port along with every square inch of the borough own resources developed is the dream of this assembly. Gambling with other people’s money is seen as stewardship in their parallel universe.

QUESTIONS THAT PROBABLY WILL GO WITHOUT ANSWERS..

1.  Are assembly members getting even periodic revenue and expense reports and if so are they capable of understanding the implications of what they are reading?

2.  Will the money collect by the borough this year by an increased tobacco tax help with some of the revenue lost from cutting taxes for big business, airplane owners and developers and more importantly will any of that money that could reach an additional $2 million dollars go to matches for health and social service programs and education?

3.  Should we even count on any increase in revenue considering when Anchorage raised its own tobacco tax the expectation was a 35% increase but only resulted in a 10%?

4.  Can we borrow the school district transparency meter since the boroughs may be packed away with FY04 fund balances? If Arvin is run over by a pink bus, do we use the “unassigned fund balances” to backfill the Deputy Mayor seat?

5.  What return to public is the continuing investment in the port, rail. eliminated business contributions, public funds to promote projects like KABATA that are really at the mercy of the legislature? How do we finish those projects now that due to an estimated $4 billion in revenue going back to the oil companies and not in state coffers? 

6.  What did electing men wrapped in “conservative” flags do for us as a borough? Wait we are living the answer to that one.

AND THIS..

Assemblyman Colligan could have been talking about this year’s budget process when voting for an ordinance at the last meeting with some reluctance and referred to it as "nothing more than moving chairs on the titanic".  Even a blind pig finds an ear of corn. Colligan is right once in awhile.

With this tea party fueled majority assembly profit trump integrity, transparency and oversight. And as with tobacco the glorious moneygasm only works because of the long delay between cause and effect. We are seeing a slight glimpse of that with the proliferation of cell towers popping up like chickweed in the valley thanks to the absence of any regulation for well over a year. 

With two do nothing budget special budget meetings behind them the borough assembly will meet tonight (Tuesday April 14th) at the school district offices at 6pm and it will be live streamed on your community radio station Radio Free Palmer.  There is another special assembly deliberation meeting scheduled on Thursday at 6pm if the budget analyst isn't done whispering in Assemblyman Arvin’s ear we guess.

Our expectations for one of both of these meetings is an endless debate on debts, deficits, little pockets of saved taxpayer cash to be spent for more empire building with little regard by the majority of the assembly for the human costs of their decisions. 

If the residents of the borough don’t want this assembly to take, rent, buy or grab what belongs to them they better pay attention.

MEMO TO THE BOROUGH ASSEMBLY -JUST DO THIS..

We agree with those that say "schools are fundamentally communities". 

The following is the testimony your citizen lobbyist gave tonight during public comment to the borough assembly in support of equitable funding of what we believe is the the heart of the borough, our public school system..

"Our school district has been given a very clear directive by the borough mayor and assembly.  Bring forward a reasonable request for funding along with an even more efficient plan for use of those funds.  The district has been told to work harder and smarter.

The Mat Su School District has done that.

The district was told to present a clear thoughtful budget document that assures that the district is not only being good stewards of the funds they are receiving from the borough but the state and federal government too. There needs to be documentation to show that regardless of the uncertain funding challenges, that Mat Su students are coming first as are efforts to increase their academic successes.

The Mat Su School District has done that.

The message from the borough to the district has been that there needs to be continual evidence that the resources are used to employ top rate employees but no more than required to do the job and that the ratio of administration to staff is to be kept minimal making it the leanest district of its size in the state.

The Mat Su School District has done that.

Another directive has been to use local valley vendors and recognize valley business whenever possible. The district is to give priority to the 207 active vendors in Palmer and 380 vendors in Wasilla that they do business with. Data shows that for every $1.00 the district spends it returns $9.00 in investment right back into our valley.

The Mat Su School District has done that.

The district has been instructed that school choice for parents and students with a robust curriculum should be a top priority. With 11 non-traditional schools and 3 alternative high schools making 14 of the 45 schools choice based learning

The Mat Su School District has done that.

The mayor and assembly directed the school district to work with the state and our legislative delegation for funding level increases to meet the needs of a growing student enrollment and to continue to close achievement gaps, and increase college and career readiness.

The Mat Su School District has done that.

Now as a voter, a multiple property taxpayer, and advocate for a fair and equitable public education system I am asking the Mat Su assembly and mayor to do your part to meet a 3% increase in local funding to the school district as requested and in fact do more if you can. Rebate of property tax paid from leased space for Charter schools this year should be clear to make that funding come to the district as an additional piece of funding as the ordinance was intended.

There has been a visible increased cooperation between the school district and borough this year. The district's foresight in remodeling this room for district training needs became a great asset to the borough to seamlessly utilize it during construction of borough public space saving potentially thousands of dollars in renting other accommodations. 

Dr. Paramo and her staff has done a good job with the budget, maintaining aging facilities, planning for new schools and most importantly in continuing to keep our district a leader in education in our state. The district deserves the reasonable request for increase in funding to continue the job to not only to educate the needed workforce in our future but honor the family wage jobs that they provide to the valley.

"The borough assembly should just do this.  

There was passionate public testimony from a number of people who drove all the way from the Talkeetna to plead for borough funds to match grant and state funds to build a needed yesterday public library. Libraries are the center of the universe for a lot of our residence and even more so outside the core. The librarian of the Sutton Library is now finished and well in use in that area. They joined the chorus recommending the assembly fund their neighbors in the north so they could enjoy the benefits to the community a new facility provides. 

Champions for funding for the Sexual Assault Response Team turned out along with those that dream of the economic development possibilities if only more funds were available. 

Hats off to the brave employee who put one foot in front of the other and spoke to the assembly about the increased cost and lost of production should the borough travel down the road of eliminating flex time. They even seemed to be listening. We need to remember that our public employees,teachers, firefighters, police etc are taxpayers too. In fact they are the bulk of our jobs in the valley. They have children in school, roads that need to be plowed and ambulance rides unfortunately to take. They SHOULD be encouraged to weigh in. 

We are hoping the assembly wasn't paying to close attention to the speaker that is sure the answer is selling off all borough land assets. The comparison to Dubuque, Iowa was interesting but we are still scratching our heads with last weeks comparison to Anahiem California by the economic development director.

The assembly knows what some people feel is important.  The assembly needs to know how you feel about funding for public education, social service grant matches (with no money allotted in the budget so far) services for public works, parks, planning and yes libraries.  They will meet again Thursday this week in Wasilla at the Central Fire Station to take up another round of public testimony.  

They will also vote on an ordinance to increase the local taxation of tobacco which is woefully less than other organized areas and is a great tool to discourage smoking particularly of our youth.  

We don't hand out kuddo's to Assemblyman Arvin very often for a variety of reasons and one of them being because he hasn't been here physically until lately to receive them. But he gets one for bringing this to the table for a vote and a revenue increase of benefit to the borough. 

Get out and make some noise to your assembly. If you don't you will have to wait another year before they take a whack at the borough budget. 

And who knows what kinda ax they will be holding next year...

TIME TO FEED SOME UNICORNS

The next couple of weeks the borough assembly will be conducting a tango line of meetings that will probably have more impact in valley life than any meeting all year. The borough has gotten their final love letter from Juneau with money kisses (sans any poison veto darts from the governor)  and its almost time to feed the unicorns by filling the holes in the budget and start digging a few new ones.

The manager of the borough (who besides John Boehner probably has the worse job ever) along with his department heads (except the one that packed up and left last week) presented the budgets in two meetings. If you needed a dose of depression that was the place to be.

Yep, all the department heads breaking out their top hat and canes trying to dance through the minefields  presenting a flat budget as they were expected to do. A chorus of pathetic professional pleadings for ample funding and people in the workforce to do the job from an assembly that rarely, if ever even bothers to measure whether or not something is working before they proceed confidently to the next big thing. .


There were a couple of floats decorated with accomplishments for last year were in spite ongoing decreases in people to do the job. But the list was shorter this year as everyone recognized that there is just so much water you can cover when the boat is left with little crew and the oars are sitting on the dock. The low moral in the room was almost palatable. 

After a couple of years of being told to do more with less and being pulled in many different directions the new directive is that employee "flextime" is to be eliminated. The borough has used the concept of flextime for many years and it has saved the borough thousands in overtime pay but is also an  important tool in the public process. Over a third of valley residents drive to Anchorage every day to work. It's impossible for them to attend hearings and public meetings during the day. Having employees able to work flextime (adjusting starting and quitting time from a range of available hours) allows the public to have borough staff available at community council , road and fire service board meetings, speak to community groups that meet at night and most importantly be available at platting, planning commission or assembly meetings to answer questions from members of the public or those sitting in the chairs making the decisions that effect residents that don't bother to read their packet or get questions answered during the day. When asked the finance department alone determined it would increase their budget by some $50,000 to eliminate flextime for the overtime that will be needed during election, property tax appeal time and other labor intense times of the year. 

If this decision stands we can shut the door on public process and expect it to cost more to operate the already limping along borough. A door that was has been barely propped open lately. Another knee jerk reaction to a perceived  problem. We aren't willing to say there isn't some abuses in all of the borough as we have found days ourselves that much of staff is out of the building but if there is shouldn't it be identified and addressed by management to establish a core part of the day employees must be at work and work with the rest of the day? Micromanaging staff by SOME ceremonial mayors and assembly members has become tiresome and expensive in so many ways. 


Hard to tell by what was presented and heard that our borough is not only the fastest growing place in Alaska, the state has the lowest unemployment rate in over 5 years.Never know that voters had such confidence in our growth a couple elections ago that they agreed to the biggest school and road bond in the history of the borough. Or that 40% of "all new housing construction in Alaska occurred in the Mat-Su in 2011". And it wasn't even a peak year.

Yet in this budget presented to the assembly there is NO increase in funds to the school district. NONE. The borough already at the bottom of the list in local governments in providing financial support to education has nothing but the minimum for this year included in the budget presented. 

Along with that NO matching money for grants for social and health programs. NONE. 

Plenty in there for a port that is a beast that can't be fed enough. Plenty for economic development and subsidies for business as the assembly found new ways to make sure their tax obligation was even lower this year. 

Our borough employs only about 50 people in full or part time positions for emergency services and over 90% are on call volunteers to our borough and cities which make up a land mass the size of Scotland. Should make you hope enough are available for YOUR ambulance ride, to handle the car on the side of the road during your commute that turned suddenly into an accordion and the passenger inside who had a very bad morning is waiting for the jaws of life.

The assembly has head from the staff of the borough. This week Tuesday at 6pm at the school district building and Thursday at 6pm in Wasilla at the Central Fire Station they will be ready to hear from you. We are hoping they get an ear full. The assembly has quite a task ahead of them. The shells they will need for the shell game might become the next man made beach in the borough which would fit in just about right to this band of dreamers. 

It's pretty clear your assembly wants smaller government for the same reason crooks want fewer cops. It's easier to get away with your property tax dollars. 

DOES THE COUNCIL NEED A COUNSELOR?

Oh Palmer City Council how we had high hopes for you. When we started attending meetings a couple of years ago by all appearances the council though not without a few warts seemingly was balanced both by gender and designed thinking. But after the last council meeting we can't lie. Our hopes for a different than the rest council are a bit dashed. The gender balance is still there but the thinking seems to have taken that sharp ugly turn straight into political partisanship and pre-election posturing that unless a tow truck shows up and pulls a few ego's out of the ditch and some of those elected are reminded what they are there for, we are probably headed for some serious mud blogging.

It's puzzling really.  A council by all appearances made up of self processed conservatives should be on the same page. It would appear they have so much to agree on like the same tired "smaller government", "live within our means" blah blah blah. But a few members of the council are now showing the signs of an appetite for conspiracy theories and setting the stage for gotcha moments to move their own personal agendas along. There is further evidence the council is now getting caught in the tug a war of politics sprinkled with heavy doses of ego's, jealousy and personal political agendas. The residents of cities rarely win when that gauntlet is thrown. 

Should we blame it on lack of circulation from too many members having their feet stuck in concrete unable to move on any of the big subjects on their plate? For example a long still unresolved negotiation with the Palmer Senior's

over the transfer of the old center seems high centered with wheels spinning. Wheels AND attorney fees.The only thing seemingly moving on the Mat Maid property development is you guessed it...attorney fees. Along with the council acting like they are trapped in a house of mirrors at a traveling amusement park. The politics have already taken a toll on that issue in some ways.

 TETHERED TO THE PAST?

There has been much talk about Palmer frequently not being represented at borough assembly meetings passing on the ability to not only offer brief city reports but taking advantage of having the ability to weigh in on subjects that directly affect the city's bottom line.Too many times information and action taken at the borough table makes its way to the city after the fact. There isn't the best communication by the sitting assembly member (Woods) and the council on matters. We believe the City of Palmer manager, mayor and the very small staff do their best to be at these meetings when they can but their own council meets on the same night of the week nearly every time the assembly does which creates an instant conflict. A fixable conflict. The cities of Wasilla and Houston have their calendar scheduled so that it allows them to be at the assembly meeting and you can normally find representatives from those cities there using their allotted time to inform or speak on matters that effect them.

Mayor Johnson heard the concerns from members of the community and introduced an ordinance to change the day of the week the council meets. Seems simple enough. Should be worthy of discussing the pros and cons. But the ordinance didn't even get a motion for a second so it could be discussed. Let's see its being brought to the council’s attention the day of the week that the council meets MAY have an effect on the city they are governing and they decide to take a pass on even TALKING about it. Why because change is hard? Or is avoidance of the conversation a way just to avoid voting on it?  We will never know.

IS STICKING TO THE CITY AGENDA SO BAD?

This wasn't the only example of council members not willing to govern in the best interest or discuss in public what was really for the good of the city.  Member DeVries brought forth a resolution to support House Bill 19, to "Offer a Permanent Vehicle Registration and Tax Relief on Vehicles at Least Eight Years Old". After 10 to 15 minutes of a strained conversation concerning the uncertainty of the actual cost of the bill to the city and why it was brought forward if it passed,  DeVries finally admitted not having any real
good reason to bring it forward other than “who” the sponsor was Representative Stoltze. 

Okay we get that the council woman is a good Republican Party member and tea party darling and likes to support her guy in Juneau. We all appreciate what Rep.Stoltze delivers up to the city in funding for needed projects. All council members including the mayor seem to have a good relationship with Stoltze. Nobody would deny that. But really should it be up to the council to support legislation still being hashed out in Juneau when they have no clear idea the financial implications to the city that they represent? Particularly when it is brought forth by a member that claims to be watching every dime the city spends. Mayor Johnson at least voiced her concerns that the council didn't have the full picture of the possible loss of revenue (the city receives approx $88,000 a year for all vehicles) and how the bill would actually help move Palmer forward before joining the vote to pass the resolution so it could be unanimous but you could tell she was concerned not having answers.

BECAUSE THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR A BIG DEAL THAT'S NOT..

If that wasn't enough disappointment for one night the last piece of business the council took up was brought forward by Council members Best and DeVries who apparently has had their fee-fee's hurt because Mayor Johnson accepted an invitation to represent the city on a state wide board that will meet 4 times this year to discuss the state rails plan.  Typical of state DOT (department of transportation) fashion a letter arrived to the mayor with a couple of day deadline inviting the city to provide a name for representation on a temporary board. A very brief conversation with the manager and mayor resulted in Mayor Johnson's name being forwarded. It was so not a big deal. Never mind that Mayor Johnson had already been advised by the head of state DOT when last in Juneau that he wanted to hear more from about the city's plan for reestablishing rail service and that she had been the
point person selected by members of the community that have launched a 501C to get that job done.  She has spent countless hours interacting with members of the community on this subject and advocating for replacing the tracts that were removed by another project before she was elected.

Best and DeVries were so sure they had captured a "gotcha" moment to launch an attack on the mayor and bring to the council claims of violations to the city code and other nonsense that just contributed to more unseemly behavior. Council member Combs left in the middle of the debate ill. Deputy Mayor Hanson recognizing the silliness attempted to calm the waters by
suggesting that it be a learning opportunity on procedure for selecting names
for future committees down the road and that they move on. 

But Best and Devries would not let it go. The manager did his best to throw water on the fire by suggesting they just blame him for not bringing it to the council although there was no council meeting scheduled that would have allowed sufficient time to move forward another name for representation.  Suggestions by the attorney who seems to weigh in more like a 8th council member these days instead of with what should be sparse thoughtful pointed comments only muddled the waters more. The City Clerk and Council members Erby and Vanover tried to follow Hanson's lead and stay out of the fray probably seeing no good would come of it. It looked and smelled like an ambush on the mayor for clearly just trying to do her job and use her knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the city. The whole issue was an example of how to make a big deal out of no big deal and they still haven't settled it.

HEAVY SIGH...ALWAYS ABOUT THE NEXT ELECTION

We have a few idea's on how the council finds itself in this current mayhem.  Most fingers point to the upcoming election in October when Council members DeVries and Vanover will be up for re-election along with Mayor Johnson's seat as mayor. The council has no term limits and none has publicly said they will be running again but it is widely thought that they all will. There is some speculation that DeVries may challenge Assembly member Woods for his seat which is also up which could prove interesting. Maybe she hasn't gotten the memo that women aren't encouraged to hold positions of power at the borough. In the past we are told DeVries has relied on "visions" to tell her what direction to go.  Who knows when that might occur? 

And who might challenge Mayor Johnson is an unknown as well. Apparently the still stinging council member Best having been replaced by Hanson as Deputy Mayor earlier in the year by a vote of the council is always eager for some recognition and an official name tag so perhaps that is his plan. Being the sponsor of bringing such pettiness and personal agenda to the council doesn't instill much confidence in him.

Whatever the intent by these elected officials if the next election is getting in the way of their governing they should as the last member of the public (and chair of the city planning commission) testifying told them "just stop it".

Enough already with the partisanship and politics. This gentleman  also made some good points about recognizing the importance of Mayor Johnson, who as the face of the city and the manager who is paid to lobby make trips throughout the session to Juneau but it wasn't going unnoticed the other couple of members that were traipsing down there not in the interest of the city but themselves. He said after attending council meetings for a long time he had lost respect for all but a couple of members currently seated watching them play politics instead of doing what was good for the city. He had become very disappointed in what he was seeing. 

We are too.  We hope the next council meeting on April 9th sees some changes with a lot less drama and political posturing. Let's hope the council pulls it together and makes it worth all our time. 

Face it with all that we have to cover with the shenanigans at the assembly (meeting Tuesday at 6pm) we hardly have enough for another standing invitation to the dance of the foolish.

WASN'T THAT JUST CONVENIEEEENT?

All assembly members that actually live in the borough were physically present at the last meeting except Mr. Arvin who continues to reside in China thus adding another week and meeting with his participation through that all too familiar speaker box. Even when the impending outcome of losing his own assembly seat for violation of borough code concerning physical absence is on the agenda he continues to choose to just "call it in".

The issue of Mr. Arvin's excessive physical absence has been swirling about for months. The new visitors to assembly meetings unfailingly asking us if he is still gone and where is his name plate and chair on the long assembly stage. As amusing as it is we continue to ask ourselves the same question. Who objects besides us? That part of the question was answered in testimony last week but it made little difference to the seated assembly staunch protectors of their own interests . 

FIVE PAGES OF NONSENSE

The ceremonial mayor's "babbling" resolution excusing his absence retro-actively brought some strong testimony by those clearly fed up with not only the behavior but the mayor's "obfuscation of the issue". They called on the assembly not to continue using "bad judgment" just to appease the mayor's "good old buddy club".  They boldly asked because Mr. Arvin failed to "represent them with responsibility, knowledge (even of the code that governs assembly service) and humility that his resignation be submitted both verbally and in writing" right then and there.

That didn't happen.  No crystal ball was needed to see the future of the vote to retroactively excusing this assemblyman’s long physical absence. Even Mr. Arvin was able to cast one of the 6 of the 7 "Yes" votes (Keogh the lone sane "No") to give a nod to the mayor's resolution to keep all the sheep in the fence. In fact it was more than a "nod". They not only approved Mr. Arvin's physical absence since Oct 2012, they excused him in advanced to be gone until the end of May. 

Let's hear it for dumb herd animals.

SPEAKING OF SHEEP...

Mr Colver, Mr. Colver.  Just can't help yourself can you? Almost as many people that ask where Mr. Arvin, ask what has happened to Mr.Colver and his judgment on issues and increasingly shameless self serving way of governing.  We knew we could count on Mr. Colver to lead the "can't we all get along" nonsense and claim of some kind of personal attack. Apparently to Mr. Colver it's personal when someone is concerned about blatant code violations. What we didn't see coming was Colver's attempt to shift the blame from Mr. Arvin and HIS own lack of oversight to the borough attorney and clerk for not advising HIM to do HIS job and enforce borough code. Say what? Yeah.  Let's hope they remember that next time they drop everything to accommodate his endless trips down the rabbit trail. Pretty sure that knife landed right between the shoulder blades..

Just to be clear, no one should be more familiar with borough code than Mr. Colver who has spent the last decade hop scotching his way back and forth between the assembly and school board seats ensuring his government retirement and health benefits. Pretty sure he is familiar with the ethics code that he had a dance  with in a previous term which was a  little stronger then that he voted to successfully assist in watering down this tenure. 

Do us a favor and spare us next time from the theatrics. Oh, and sorry we didn't tell you Channel 2 would be there so you could wear your suit.

Mr. Salmon, We're sorry someone woke you up during assembly comments. We could have lived without the motivational speaker story, the great benefits of teleconferencing and your general face licking of Mr. Arvin.  Silently casting your bad vote would have suited you better and would have left a much less sour taste in our own mouth.

Mr. Colligan, Credit where credit is due. We're glad to see the anger management issue under control for one meeting. Just sticking to bad decisions when you cast most of your votes is way better without the insults to the testifiers. By the way we suggest your idea to "update code" regarding increasing allowable absence with teleconferencing go in the "never" file. 

Mr Halter, Lately you never fail to disappoint us. You’re an attorney. You should know something about upholding the law. And calling the whole thing "technical" left us momentarily speechless. We appreciate you are all in on the fight to defend a limited amount of issues in your district but sorry upholding code that assures people in other districts responsible representation isn't one of them. You have proven once again that your neighbors in your own district have something to worry about if their issue isn't yours. Shame.

Mr. Keogh-Our only regret is that you are the lone voice for the reason and fairness on the assembly on many issues including this one. Bringing a blatant code violation to the attention of your fellow assembly members for correction should have been congratulated.  Casting the lone vote to follow code and reject the mayors rambling nonsensical partisan resolution was brave and the right thing to do which is just how you roll and we cheer you. You are truly the assemblyman for all reaches of the borough.

Mr. Woods-Your stoic, statesman like presence was appreciated.  We're sorry your lack of skills and partisanship as in this case allow you hardly ever to break from the pack to do the right thing for the people of the borough. We think there is a public compass buried there somewhere but buried it is. 

Mr. Ceremonial Mayor-Nothing more to say about your partisan life line thrown to Mr. Arvin in the form of a resolution so bad it might go to the top of the ugly pile.  Just when we thought your pitiful choice for planning commissioner was as bad as it gets you double down on terrible.  For someone who is making rapid progress dragging the borough back to 20 years ago it’s laughable that you should suggest that borough code be "updated for the world we live in". Your world, Mr. Mayor is costing us a bundle in lost revenue, quality of life and health. Do us a favor and quit pushing your "values" on the rest of us. And sometime you should take the time and explain what that actually means. You don't want to know what our imagination tells us they are.

Mr. Arvin-The strong testimony against the ceremonial mayor’s resolution should speak for itself. Your right, they should be eye opening. Your suggestion that you will be back at the end of the month does nothing to change the past and your long absence depriving your constituents from full representation for nearly 6 months is just inexcusable. Almost as inexcusable as the five votes that joined your own to break the back of borough code and retroactively excuse you.  Your promise to finish your term and "moving some other code adjustments and resolutions for the betterment of the whole borough" does nothing to comfort us.  We have lost all faith that you will "honestly, faithfully and impartially discharge your duties" when it comes to representing the borough in your elected position. Especially when you won't even start with the borough code that pertains to the office you hold.

In fact we are gearing up for a very ugly storm on the horizon with further assaults on our own "values" and what we love about living in the borough. What we do know the majority members of this assembly are way past their freshness date. It's a body of elected officials born of the witches brew of free market dogma, uninformed idealism and personal opportunity and there is seemingly nothing short of recall that can be done about it until the next election.