Gene Wieneke

Monday, April 24, 2006

Bond Issue in the future?

What is it with the current leadership of our City? Their plans ought to chill you to the bone. The City and NURA already have $3.1 million invested in the property near the proposed theater. Now they want to spend another $2.0 million for the infrastructure to support it. They already gave them a twenty year land lease for $20. They also agreed to provide them with adjacent parking and are seriously considering expending $6.0 million for a parking ramp.
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In this year's budget they set aside $500,000 to repave and partially construct Huron Street. I made my opinion known concerning the street's substructure near Croke reservoir last year. In response they are now considering going far beyond the original project and throwing in some major improvements to the reservoir to the tune of NINE MILLION DOLLARS.
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On top of all this, a very clever School District and a not so sharp City staff took a proposal to the Council last week. How does this sound to you? City pays a lump sum payment up front in the amount of $5.7 million and an additional share of capital costs amounting to $2.7 million. Not generous enough? Try adding these provisions: School District always has first priority on usage. City pays all maintenance costs. City pays any future capital costs that might be required with the District only helping out on possible rehabilitation.
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Considering the fact the City overspent the General Fund by Eight million in 2003 and 2004, do you smell a bond issue? Blow the money on overhead instead of maintenance and improvements for three years, and then borrow? We need some citizen involvement since the leaders are so out of touch with reality.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Two Million Dollar Accounting Error Timeline

Early in last year’s Mayoral and Council campaign I reported that the groundbreaking for the Century Theater was a hoax designed to solidify the incumbents’ effort to obtain re-election. It was; and it worked. Now it is time for me to expose another example of campaign deceit: The two million dollar accounting error.
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My sources for the following information comes from 1) Council members, 2) Article in the Sentinel dated March 2nd, 3) Letter in the Sentinel written by Finance Director, Brent Worthington dated March 16th, 4) The audio tape of the Council meeting held on February 2nd. The meeting of February 2nd is important because the members of the Council first learned of the error at that time even though the staff knew that a problem existed seven months earlier. (July/August) I will rely on the tape and power point presentation from that meeting heavily.
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1) In July 2005 the Finance Director noticed that the sales tax revenues were not following the pattern experienced in prior years. He claimed on February 2nd that he had mentioned it to the Finance committee in either July or August. He did not know the cause of the problem at that time.
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2) In October 2005 a new member of the finance staff determined that the new tax approved by the voters in November 2001 was not properly being allocated. The Finance Director informed the former City Manager who in turn informed the Mayor. A decision was made not to let the information out to anyone during the campaign; including “certain” members of the City Council.
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3) From mid-October until the City Auditor arrived in January of this year no action was taken by the Mayor, City Manager or City staff. Even though the cause, nature and effect of the $2,000,000 error were known, those in the know would not divulge the information to our elected Council.
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4) In January the Auditor agreed with the information presented to them and the release of the information to the Council was scheduled for February 2nd.
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At the meeting, the Finance Director was interrupted while presenting his power point presentation by a very surprised Mayor Pro-Tem and Finance Committee Chairman, Rick Lindsey. Rick asked why the Council had only been told about the error seven months late. He immediately received the following response from the City Manager, “We wanted to make absolutely sure that all the totals and figures and we also wanted to follow up with the auditors as to, if in fact there was an error, why they didn't catch it. wanted to make the totals viable for you." (Note: There is no claim that anyone on the Council had been told.)
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Immediately after the Manager’s statement, the Finance Director stated that he had a very good recollection that he mentioned the problem to the Finance Committee in July or August. He also admitted that the situation was not even an agenda item for the committee. Since this claim had been made in the Sentinel article and in Brent’s letter to the Sentinel, I’m going to make a guess as to what might have happened. Assuming that Brent had only determined that the sales tax was out of whack, I would not be surprised if he had said to the committee something like this as the committee adjourned. “I’ve noticed that something is not right in the sales tax compared to prior years but I’ll be checking it out and will get back to you.” This is only my guess. It might have happened, but it is contrary to the recollection of Rick Lindsey and I do know that he was completely surprised on February 2nd. Either way, the error when discovered, was kept secret and neither the Mayor nor any other member of the Council had anything to say during the meeting that might shed some light on the timeline.
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I cannot think of any legitimate reason our elected representatives were not informed of the error, in detail, last October.
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In the March 2nd issue of the Sentinel Mayor Novak commented on how she would like to use the “found” two million dollars in the General Fund, “This infusion of cash will help the Council get to its priorities faster.” I have a better idea. PAY BACK THE WATER FUND! Evidently, she has already forgotten the results of the November Charter Amendment that you overwhelmingly approved.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Why is the city staff out of control?

I have come to believe that a unique culture at City Hall has contributed to the mistakes that the Council made over the past four years. The City of Northglenn has never been a partner with the other cities in the north metro area. It has been an island of thought and procedures. The current and past way of doing business seems normal to our elected officials. Councils have over the years given, by inaction, the City Manager more authority and discretion than any other city in the metro area. It was for this reason that the radical actions taken over the last four years by the former manager seemed normal to them. They had nothing to compare to and never bothered to check with other cities.
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You have often heard of Councils being referred to as the Policy Maker. That is a misnomer for Northglenn. Here are some policies and procedures they have not established: Personnel rules, regulations or procedures, pay plans or procedures, public bidding procedures, open meeting procedures beyond the basics required by Charter, a code of ethics governing employees and themselves, purchasing procedures for items costing under $50,000, a detailed budgeting procedure and process, fees for permits and reviews, the number of employees on the payroll and the establishment of water rates just to name a few. All have been left up to the discretion of the City Manager.
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Only in Northglenn! Is it no wonder the former Manager, without the formal approval of the Council overspent the General Fund by eight million in 2003-2004?

Friday, April 07, 2006

An Open Forum

Since I learned of the recreation center project in July of 2004, I have been a constant monitor and critic of the City’s leadership. I am overdue in passing along some additional information. I have talked with most members of the Council and I can assure you that they sincerely believe that they are doing the right thing for Northglenn’s future. They do not have a hidden, sinister motivate for their actions. A very few of them have been self-serving on occasion but thankfully the public and their own consciences’ have served you well.
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It is time for you to get involved on a regular basis. The Mayor and her four believe that they are doing the right thing for the City and you, as does the other four who have expressed major concerns on various issues. I believe all would welcome your comments. Some of our elected representatives refuse to believe or recognize the fact that they may be out of tune with the residents and other cities. It is time to start providing them some feedback. I know they will listen. When I have passed along private information from current and former employees, I was told by some, “that they are just disgruntled employees” and promptly dismissed the information.
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To get things rolling, I have created an open Blog primarily for employees and residents to exchange ideas. Our elected representatives are certainly welcome to join in at any time. Anything goes as long as laws are not broken and the proper decorum is maintained. I urge you to call visit or email your representatives at any time. If you will click on the title of this posting, it will take you to the Council members' email and phone numbers. The Blog remains there for your use. http://www.northglennblackboard.blogspot.com/ Names optional!