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$taff seems to be setting up a scheme by which they can raise their own salaries without council oversight – read it for yourself

24 Aug

There’s a city Finance Committee meeting Wednesday, 8:30 am. There is a ton of interesting stuff in the agenda, including what looks like pay raises for the police and fire chiefs. 

Click to access 8-26-15FCAgendaPacket.pdf

As usual, it’s loaded purposely by the clerk so that it can not be cut and paste, you will have to troll through the whole thing yourself, like I did. 

Frankly, the reports are so thick I don’t quite understand them, but I did see copies of a pay chart and a budget that were chock full of stuff you people should know about. $taff is also recommending policy changes that should not be swept by the public in an 8:30 am meeting. It looks like they are setting up a scheme by which they can bypass council and the public and give themselves raises. 

$taff and Council just finished telling us what great shape the city is in financially – why does the budget show a $7 million General Fund deficit?  The figures are confusing – on one line it says there’s $12 million plus in the sewer fund – on another line it’s shows a $3 million deficit. And the Park fund looks tapped – somebody better tell Tom Lando, cause he’s told CARD he will try to get money for the Aquatic Center study out of the city park fund. 

That reminds me – Lando and other CARD board members have been having “Intergovernmental” meetings with members of city staff and other agencies. These meetings are not noticed on the CARD website. I’ve been asking for months to be added to the notice list. First Steve Visconti told me I’d be added but never did, and now I’ve got new director Ann Willmann giving me the dis. She told me she’d add me after the July meeting and now they’ve had another meeting for which I have not been noticed.

I don’t care if I called her a human potato – I’m not taking that back, she deserves worse. She can call me what she wants, but as long as she accepts salary and benefits at the expense of the taxpayers, I’d like to see her do her fucking job.

NOTE: Willmann finally got back to me yesterday, excusing herself for being out of the office Monday. She said, “In regards to your question, the Board’s standing committees are consistently listed on the Agenda for the Regular Board Meetings.  This allows the Committee members to report to the Board and provide information if there was a Committee meeting.  However, all Committees do not meet monthly.  The only Committee meeting that was held between the Regular Board Meeting in July and the August 20, 2015 Regular Board Meeting was the Finance Committee.  We are aware of your request to be notified of upcoming Intergovernmental Committee meetings as well as AFAC meetings, and we will notify you when we have meetings scheduled for either of those committees. ” 

Yes, the worthless wad of Brown Act allows them to list stuff in their agenda that may or may not be discussed at the meeting. It also allows them to have sub-quorum meetings (not enough members of the committee to vote) without noticing the public at all.

Well, there you see, she’s said she’s aware of my request to be notified. But, if more of you don’t start paying attention, it’s not worth my time to bother with this crap. 

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Why does it take two months to get a simple report out of CARD?

7 Aug

I was looking at the CARD website when I saw a notice of an “Intergovernmental Committee” meeting. I could not attend – it’s not a regular committee meeting, and was only noticed on the website 24 hours ahead – so I asked CARD manager Steve Visconti to send me a report, and to place me on the notice list for upcoming meetings.

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2015 5:23 AM
To: Steve Visconti
Subject: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Mr. Visconti,

I notice the intergovernmental committee meetings are held on a very irregular basis and not noticed on the website until 24 hours ahead. That makes it difficult to the public to know when these meetings are going  to be held. I notice the last meeting was  a joint session with some members of city council or staff? The agenda is not clear. 

I would like to be notified ahead of these meetings and sent a copy of the agenda. I also wonder – how do I get reports of these meetings? I’d also like to get a report of the last AFAC meeting – it started late, and I had to leave before any discussion or action was taken. 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this matter, Juanita Sumner

It took him more than a week to respond:

Steve Visconti
6/22/15
To: juanita sumner
Ms. Sumner, you are correct. The Intergovernmental meetings are generally on an as needed basis. The most recent meeting was with the City Manager to discuss a few issues related to the City budget and certain fees they collect that CARD has utilized in the past to construct new park improvements. I will notify our new General Manager Ann Willmann that you would like to be noticed on future Intergovernmental Meetings. She will be starting on July 6th.

 As far as meeting reports, I will notify Ms. Marciales as soon as she returns to the office the week of July 6th.

 Thank you for your inquiry.

 Steve Visconti

Interim General Manager

And that was the end of it, Visconti retired, July 6 came and went, but neither Marciales nor Willmann contacted me. Three weeks later I met Willmann when I attended the July 30 budget meeting at Lakeside Pavillion. At that time I asked her again about the report, which they are supposed to be able to provide on demand, but I didn’t press it at that time because the meeting was about to start and I did not have time to hang around afterward. She gave  me her card with e-mail address and first thing next morning I made  my request again. 

From: juanita sumner  
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2015 5:26 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>
Cc: Jennifer Marciales <jmarciales@chicorec.com>
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Ms. Willmann,

 I’m glad you gave me your e-mail – as you know, most card e-mail address are first initial, last name. I see where that would be confusing to people trying to get ahold of you.

 As I asked Mr. Visconti below, I’d like to get the report of the last Intergovernmental meeting, which Mr. Visconti had told me Ms. Marciales would contact me about.

 I’d also like to get on the notice list for the Intergovernmental meetings, as I had asked.

 Thanks for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

She responded as though it was the first she had heard of my request. 

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: Juanita Sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 16:50:13 +0000

Dear Juanita, thank you for your email. I will follow up on your requests and also ensure you are on the requested notification lists. Have a lovely weekend. Ann

I am busy you know, I have a lot of irons in the fire, both personal and this, my “hobby” – so I let that go, telling myself, “she’ll get back to me next week.” 

Well, silly me. God I hate being dicked around. About a week later, I sent another request. I try to be nice, cause you’ve seen the way the city clerk treated me just for wise-assing her. 

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2015 7:31 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>

Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Ms. Willman,

 should I just come down to the office to get that report (most recent Intergovernmental meeting)? 

 Juanita Sumner

And she responded the way she should have responded to the mail I sent Visconti:

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2015 22:26:33 +0000

Hi Juanita, I have attached a copy of the minutes. If you would like to pick up a printed copy, I am happy to leave that for you at the front desk. If email is sufficient, please let me know.

Once we have the next meeting scheduled, we will email you with the information.

 Thank you, Ann

Why did that take two months?  To attach a one-page report to an e-mail.  For that matter, Visconti could have sent it to me in the first place. Did he think “interim” meant, “half-assed“?  He’s retired at 70 percent of $112,000/year CARD salary, they ask him to fill in for six months or so, and he acts as though he’s being put out when asked to actually do something. 

Well, excuse me – this is really Jennifer Marciales job, but that woman is impossible, at a salary of over $50,000/year plus benefits. She needs to go.

I know you’re all wondering – what’s this all about anyway Juanita? Just another chicken fight? I’m sorry I let myself get distracted, but I would like everybody to see how these overpaid public employees treat a person who asks a pointy question. Here’s the report – you  read it, and you tell me why they dragged their feet giving it to me.

To: Board of Directors

From: Intergovernmental Committee

Re: Report on Intergovernmental Committee held on June 8, 2015

Committee Members Present Tom Lando

Committee Members Absent

Jan Sneed

CARD Staff Present

Steve Visconti, Interim General Manager

Jennifer Marciales, Executive Assistant

City Staff Present Mark Orme, City Manager

A. Call to Order/ Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m., and roll call was taken as noted above.

B. Public Comments

There were no public comments.

C. City of Chico/CARD Discussion of Potential Future Partnerships

Director Lando discussed the need for another dog park in Chico, and asked Mr. Orme if the City has any property available for a potential future dog park. Mr. Orme stated that City staff is currently conducting a review of properties in Chico, and will provide information once the review is complete. Director Lando asked Mr. Orme to review the green space along Humboldt Avenue for a potential dog park and/or bocce ball courts.

MY EMPHASIS HERE: Director Lando asked Mr. Orme if he could provide the total funds available in the Community Park Fund and the Neighborhood Park Fund, and the criteria for utilizing those funds. Mr. Orme stated that he would review these accounts and provide more specific information.

Director Lando asked about the potential for a sales tax measure, and Mr. Orme stated that a community group would need to present it to the City Council.

Director Lando discussed concerns pertaining to the increase in homeless at CARD facilities. Mr. Orme stated that the City is working on a new platform with the police department that will hopefully assist in preserving the quality of life for the citizens of our community.

D. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:04 a.m. to the next Intergovernmental Committee Meeting of the Chico Area Recreation and Park District.

I also think that last bit about the homeless problem at the CARD center is very interesting – this is the unstated reason they moved the board meetings to Cal Park Lakeside Pavilion. Lando’s outrage over “quality of life for our citizens” only seems to extend to himself and the other board members and employees of CARD. The board just picked up and moved to Lakeside Pavilion. Abandoning the CARD center was the worst thing they could do. 

This is why they want to do the fancy rose garden – which will be locked to the public and only available to paying customers. They will remove trees right down to the creek, but I’m not sure how far they will encroach on the creek with the wrought iron fence. That’s another reason to attend the month CARD board meetings, hope to see you there sometime.

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CARD continues to run aquatic center committee behind closed doors

1 Aug

I attended a 3pm Chico Recreation District meeting at California Park Pavilion Thursday to find out that a committee selected at a  closed meeting had interviewed consultants to do a “feasibility study” on behalf of the proposed aquatic center. Their findings – nobody would do it for the $30,000 offered, so they had to up the ante to $50,000.

What this “feasibility study” will include is a guess because they won’t include me in the meetings where they actually discuss it. When I asked staffer Rob Hinderer why I wasn’t noticed for the interviews he replied,

Juanita, good morning!

 There was no AFAC Meeting. There were interviews with the RFP respondents. An interview panel was formed. They were the only persons present at the interviews other than myself and CARD GM, Ann Willmann.

 When the RFP decision is made, I will send out invites to all AFAC members, yourself included, to share the outcome of the RFP.

 Thank you,

 Rob

The last AFAC meeting I was noticed about started late because many of the members didn’t show up. When the meeting started, there was confusion – several of the members wanted to talk about the deplorable condition of Sharpiro and Pleasant Valley pools, and when they would be repaired. They were told those options would be included in the “feasibility study”, but of course, we haven’t seen the study.  The conversation was all over the place, I had to leave about 40 minutes into the meeting. They were supposed to discuss the Request for Proposals that had been sent out to consultants, but Rob Hinderer was still trying to pull the meeting together when I left. 

This 3pm Wednesday  meeting was called to discuss the annual budget. The AFAC matter was part of it because they had to agree on how much to budget for this “feasibility study.” The three consultants who showed up to be interviewed said they couldn’t do a good study for less than $50,000. An ad-hoc committee had talked about $75,000, but agreed on $60,000,  because they wanted to be sure they would have plenty of money to cover it, without having to ask for budget allocations. I don’t think that was the right tack – now they will not have to discuss cost overruns before the public, they just have the money there in a pot to spend it. Oh well. 

That’s why they had this meeting at 3pm on a Thursday at the Cal Park clubhouse, Lakeside Pavillion, instead of at a regularly scheduled meeting at the CARD center. Board president Jan Sneed has taken CARD behind closed doors because she knows they’re playing fast and loose with taxpayer money. 

Sneed tried to act the fiscal conservative. When a board member moved to approve the $75,000 expenditure, she held out for $60,000, just to show us what a penny pincher she is.

Well, she’s skeletized CARD with layoffs because they can’t afford to pay benefits for their workers. New CARD director Ann Willman, an ex-CARD employee who left a couple of years ago to take the helm at Feather River Rec in O’ville, is back in Chico at just over $100,000, according to the Enterprise Record. Her replacement in Oroville gets $70,000, and refused the benefits package because she said her husband already has one on his job. I think they were offering her a $5,000 benefits package. Willman’s predecessor Steve Visconti and most CARD management get packages that cost around  $25 – 30,000/year. 

I don’t know what Willman really makes because new state controller Betty Yee has taken down John Chiang’s  salary database. Now we have to believe what these public employees tell us, and well, you know they will lie to us.  They’re ashamed.

And I’m back on the same merry-go-round with Willmann that I rode with her predecessor Visconti. Here’s the last e-mail I received from outgoing Visconti:

From: svisconti@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:17:41 +0000

Ms. Sumner, you are correct. The Intergovernmental meetings are generally on an as needed basis. The most recent meeting was with the City Manager to discuss a few issues related to the City budget and certain fees they collect that CARD has utilized in the past to construct new park improvements. I will notify our new General Manager Ann Willmann that you would like to be noticed on future Intergovernmental Meetings. She will be starting on July 6th.

 As far as meeting reports, I will notify Ms. Marciales as soon as she returns to the office the week of July 6th.

 Thank you for your inquiry.

 Steve Visconti

Interim General Manager

July 6 came and went, I got no response from either Willman or Marciales. Jennifer Marciales seems to think she’s paid to do her fingernails.  So, when I went to the meeting Thursday, I was surprised when a human potato walked up to greet me in my chair – “Are you Juanita?” It was Willmann, who had put on a bigger rearend since I had seen her last. I know the Oroville job was rough – Feather River Rec has been in financial arrears for some time, and then there was the incident involving a teenage boy, a camera, and a girl’s toilet. That didn’t play well for Willman, I’m guessing she ran back to Chico crying for Mama.

I repeated my request to Willmann and she gave me her business card, telling me to e-mail her. By law, she’s supposed to have these reports on hand for anybody who requests them, but I played along because the room was full of unfriendly people by that time. I e-mailed her promptly the next morning. 

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2015 5:26 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>
Cc: Jennifer Marciales <jmarciales@chicorec.com>
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Ms. Willmann,

 I’m glad you gave me your e-mail – as you know, most card e-mail address are first initial, last name. I see where that would be confusing to people trying to get ahold of you.

 As I asked Mr. Visconti below, I’d like to get the report of the last Intergovernmental meeting, which Mr. Visconti had told me Ms. Marciales would contact me about.

 I’d also like to get on the notice list for the Intergovernmental meetings, as I had asked.

 Thanks for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

And here’s what I got back – sounds like the same bullshit runaround to me.

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com; 
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 16:50:13 +0000

Dear Juanita, thank you for your email. I will follow up on your requests and also ensure you are on the requested notification lists. Have a lovely weekend. Ann

In my past experience, this is a brush off, and I won’t hear from this woman again unless I put a hornet up her ass. We’ll see. 

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If you don’t attend another meeting all year, here are a couple that would be worth your time

26 Jul

Two meetings I will attend this week are the Airport Commission meeting on Tuesday (July 28) at city chambers, 6pm, and a CARD budget meeting Thursday (July 30) at 3pm at Lakeside Pavilion out at Cal Park.

The Airport Commission will be discussing the airport budget, with a report from consultants AFCO AvPORTS (sic). AFCO is working under a $190,000 contract. They will report on their efforts to get commercial air service back to Chico Airport.

I’m curious to see what they could possibly add to the conversation that Chico Chamber director Katy Simmons has not already told us. Here’s my guess  – they want about $300,000 allocated from the city’s general fund to pay a new airport manager. Then they want hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money, spent over the next five or so years, with no guarantee that commercial air service will be restored.

First there’s the matter of a $60,000 study as to “who flies out of the airport and where they go“. This seems to have been answered in a recent survey done by the Chamber, in which only about 60 individuals indicated they used the airport on anything resembling a regular basis. Why the city continues to pursue this avenue is anybody’s guess.

CARD will discuss their budget, looking for public comment, and I hope they get it. But, I’m not expecting many attendees at a 3 pm weekday meeting in Cal Park. CARD staff and the board seem to be bending over backwards to keep the public out of their meetings.

One budget issue that screams for public comment is the study they want to fund for the aquatic center – the price has jumped from about $30,000 to about $75,000. Yeah, for a study.

I would hope to see some other members of the public at these meetings.

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At last, somebody is paying attention to CARD aquatic center discussion

23 Jul

At last somebody is paying attention to the CARD aquatic center discussion. Enterprise Record letter writer Sam Goepp raises the reality that CARD’s proposed aquatic center will never pay for itself – out going CARD board member Ed Seagle made that statement repeatedly in early discussions of this project, but the rest of the board didn’t listen.

Mr. Goepp hasn’t seen the proposals, because CARD hasn’t been public with this discussion. They are planning the amenities he’s listed below, with cost estimates up to about $20 million dollars. I think their estimates are low, this project will go millions in overrun. They’ve already more than  doubled the price on the feasibility study, from around $30,000 to $75,000. Tom Lando wants the city of Chico to take money out of the park fund to pay for it. 

Thanks to Sam Goepp for paying attention and taking the time to write a letter to the paper.

from Chico Enterprise Record:

CARD needs to admit to aquatic center realities

I cannot bite my tongue any longer after reading about CARD allocating more than $30,000 to pay for an aquatic consultant to tell them what they can learn through professionals for free. Simple facts about public pools: 90 percent of people want to be in water 3 feet or less while 10 percent of swimmers are competitive or lap swimmers.

So who do you build a pool for? The general public or a special-interest group that will be vocal about the economic benefits and their willingness to contribute? Then once the costs to operate exceed $750,000 annually, everyone will be in shock as to the expense to operate without any true revenue generated by the aquatic facility.

The comment that the city of Chico has $3.6 million in the park fund gives the impression they think city money belongs to CARD. Keep in mind that they will need triple that figure. No community can afford a true competitive 50-meter pool. Just ask the city of Long Beach. For the Olympic trials they built two temporary pools and once trials were over they sold them. Why? Too expensive to maintain.

Bottom line: If you are committed to build an aquatic facility, you need to realize 50-meter pools are expensive and cannot be used for the recreational swimmer as they are too large and deep to accommodate families. The general public will need splash pads, water slides, a lazy river, a zero-depth entry feature, children play structures and deck space for tables, chairs, umbrellas and concessions.

— Sam Goepp, Durham

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CARD reschedules final budget meeting – July 30, Lakeside Pavilion, 3pm

21 Jul

I was unable to make the CARD board meeting last week. I missed the opportunity to tell them what I think about the budget. According to the subsequent article in the Enterprise Record, only one member of the public showed up with a comment – an Aqua Jets parent, who wanted to say he was happy to see the board going forward with plans to build a fancy new aquatic center. 

It frustrates me that nobody pays attention to this board. I’ll admit, sometimes I get a bad attitude because I think nobody else cares.  I could have put a muster on it and made that meeting last week, but I was tired, just like the rest of you, after a long day, and I didn’t feel like it. 

I’ll admit, I haven’t felt like it a lot lately.  It’s not like they roll out the red carpet to the public. I’ve been trying to get into the Aquatic Center Advisory Committee meetings for a couple of years now. I finally got into a meeting a couple of months ago, only to find the committee was disjointed and many members were not up to speed. Turns out, most of the real discussion and decision making has been going on in ad-hoc committees of former Chico City manager Tom Lando, former CARD manager and board member Jerry Hughes, and members of Chico city staff, the police department, and other public officials.  There have been special meetings called with 24 hours notice. When I’ve tried to get reports of these meetings I’ve been handed around from one staffer to another. I asked to be on the notice list for these meetings.  Interim manager Steve Visconti told me I’d be contacted by incoming manager Ann Willman, who left her post at Oroville Recreation District after only a year or so to take the manager’s position in Chico. He told me I’d get a report of that special “inter government” meeting, but I’m still waiting. Willman was supposed to have started her job July 6.

I’m guessing these meetings are about a sales tax increase initiative, as well as city funding for the aquatic center.

I predicted cost overruns on that center – Lando is already announcing they will need more than twice the budgeted amount – about $75,000 – just for a feasibility study. He wants to get that out of the city parks fund. 

The good news is, they have postponed their final budget meeting, which was to be held in two days, to July 30. I hope more members of the public will show up to address this fiscal irresponsibility. It’s nuts, and we need people to turn out in droves to say so. That’s Thursday, July 30, at 3pm, Lakeside Pavilion, Chico. 

 

CARD: new aquatic center study doubles in price to $75,000 – rec district wants city of Chico to pay for it

18 Jul

According to Laura Urseny in the Enterprise Record,   

“Getting close to the end of their budget cycle, the Chico Area Recreation and Park District board agreed to tweak the preliminary budget numbers slightly on Thursday.

Board member Tom Lando asked for more money to be dedicated to the aquatic center study after learning that it will take more than what was allocated for a consultant to do a feasibility study.

Lando and board member Bob Malowney interviewed several consultants, and explained that applicants were excellent, but more expensive than anticipated.

The board had set aside $30,000, but Lando asked that be boosted to $75,000, pulling the extra out of CARD reserves.

At her first board meeting, General Manager Ann Willmann said she would adjust the preliminary budget to reflect the change before the board’s final discussion and adoption of the budget at their next meeting, 9 a.m. July 23 at the Chico Community Center.

Chair Jan Sneed called the extra funding “shocking” but did not object to the additional allocation, noting that it will be further discussed.

“The $30,000 is not enough for the study,” Lando said.

Lando said he hopes that CARD can tap the city’s park fund, which he said has about $3.6 million and could reimburse CARD for the aquatic center feasibility study. The center would be of community benefit and qualify for the fund.

Thursday was the public hearing for the preliminary budget, and only one person commented. Jim Gregg, who said his family is involved in AquaJets, lauded the board for pursuing the aquatic center. Mentioned in CARD’s master plan, the aquatic center has been discussed for years and is proposed on city-owned property near Marsh Junior High off Humboldt Road.”

 

 

So, if that’s the cost of the study, how will CARD ever be able to build the pool without a property tax assessment or bond?

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Look at other recreation districts for perspective – CARD is being mis-managed

14 May

In researching Chico Area Rec District’s proposed aquatic center, I thought I’d look at recreation districts in nearby towns. I was shocked at the comparison between CARD finances and Durham Recreation District. 

Here’s CARD’s 2014-15 budget:

http://www.chicorec.com/documents/Public%20Information/CARD%20Budget%20Final%202014-2015.pdf

Here’s the budget for Durham Rec Dist:

http://durhamrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14-15-budget-preliminary.pdf

The first thing you might notice – CARD has a budget of about $7 million a year, while Durham Rec comes in at just under $1 million. Wow, eh?  That’s demographics for you – Durham only boasts about 5500 people, while Chico checks in at over 80,000. But, look – Durham’s median income is about $53,000/year, compared to Chico’s $43,000/year. Housing is also comparably priced in Durham, there’s just not as much of it. So, CARD gets a wad of tax money, while Durham gets a fraction as much.

So, why is Durham doing better, taking in more of their revenues from programs? Their programs are doing better, look at the figures. Their aquatics program is doing great, and their pool is as old as Chico pools. 

I’ve been to Dwight Brinson pool in Durham, years ago, when my kids were little. I remember it was alot nicer, just like friends had told me. At that time it was not uncommon for Chico moms to take their kids to Durham to swim instead of Chico pools. I lived within a block of Pleasant Valley pool at the time, so we had a pass and went almost every week day for a couple of hours. But, I went to Durham whenever I was invited. Brinson was cleaner, better staffed, the bathrooms were bigger and nicer, and everything was better maintained. The admission price was $1.25 as compared to PV’s 75 cents a head, but wow, you sure got what you paid for.

Chico Aqua Jets participate in tournaments at Brinson pool. Brinson makes quite a bit of money for Durham Rec District.  

I think CARD is being miserably mis-managed. 

 

 

 

 

CARD Aquatic Facility Advisory Committee discusses feasibility study – consultant to “re-interpret” old survey, run public workshops

14 May

Chico Area Recreation District is moving forward with plans to build an “aquatic center”, looking for a consulting firm to conduct the required feasibility study. Their Aquatic Facility Advisory Committee (AFAC) is currently working on the “Request for Proposal”, first step in the bidding process . The proposals should include plans for “a public process, market analysis, facility programming, a business plan, as well as exploring funding mechanisms and potential partnerships. Services may also include a site analysis, schematic design alternatives and associated construction estimates.”

Reading over the “Anticipated Scope of Work,” I get frustrated. Most of this stuff study could be conducted by CARD staff, especially “Research and document existing aquatic facilities in the region …” A college intern could get that information through the use of a computer and telephone. Why they need to spend $30,000 on what amounts to a basic English class research assignment is beyond me. In fact, CARD staffer Rob Hinderer told the committee that all the demographics information required in the study is available online.

 Looking at other feasibility studies online – including an article that used a couple buying a home as an example – you see it’s just a common sense matter of deciding if the project is a good idea. But consultants are also hired to sell the project – it’s the way they present it, they way they lead the conversation, they don’t ask us if we want it, they tell us why we want it. 

 (From Wikipedia “feasibility study”) Market research study and analysis. This is one of the most important sections of the feasibility study as it examines the marketability of the product or services and convinces readers that there is a potential market for the product or services.[citation needed] If a significant market for the product or services cannot be established, then there is no project.

 Here’s a swimming pool feasibility study from Otto Township Pennsylvania, 2009. Look at the survey – the answers to the questions were provided. 

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_004975.pdf

I looked at Otto Township, Pennsylvania, on Google. It’s a  small town, for sure, but it looks like less than 1 percent of the town population participated in the study. That’s not a study, that’s called “giving tacit consent.” All the consultant had to do was run the workshops, prove they were adequately noticed to the public, and provide some numbers for attendance. I don’t know if Otto Township got their project, but this is basically how CARD will go about running their aquatic center up our ass.

Here’s something interesting – they are asking potential consultants to “re-interpret” the old mail-in survey done by another consultant two years ago instead of conducting a new survey. Apparently they didn’t like their previous consultant’s findings that “there is no support for this project in the community.”   So, they will pay the new consultant to come up with findings they like out of the same survey. I posted that survey before, I’ll dig it out and do some interpreting of my own – the questions were very leading, including threats that our kids would fall into drugs if we didn’t build them a fancy new Taj Majal swim center. 

I would encourage people to attend the committee meetings, attend CARD board meetings, and write letters to the CARD board and the newspapers, but I would not encourage participation in the workshops unless you plan to be very vocal in your opposition to this project. Otherwise you are just a body in a chair, and they count you in favor.

One of the items listed on the request for proposals is to fix Shapiro Pool. I think they’re just including this option because they’ve had so much stink from the public since they announced Shapiro will be closed for good at the end of Summer 2015.  They originally said that Pleasant Valley pool would also be closed, but that was not mentioned at the meeting. CARD staff says it will cost SOMEWHERE between $275,000 and 1.65 million to fix Shapiro Pool. What’s with that range? There was no explanation. This is just more crap to get the public to approve a new tax of some sort.

What I’d like to know is, why is there no “pool fund” in CARD’s budget? If you’ve been to either pool, it’s obvious they haven’t spent money on maintenance for years. The money has been going into their salaries, benefits and pensions – for which they pay nothing – like water going down a gopher hole.

I’ll try to post the entire draft later  – I have a paper copy, I’ll figure out the best way to post it on the blog when I get a chance.

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CARD Aquatic Center Advisory Committee meeting to discuss bids from contractors – Monday, May 11, CARD center, 6:30 to 7:30 pm

8 May

I FINALLY got a notice from CARD staff that there will be an Aquatic Center Advisory Committee meeting, and gosh-golly-gee they will let me attend. Aw shucks – should I get a shave and a haircut? I feel like a debutante!

These meetings are open to the public, it’s just that, well, they don’t tell the public about them, when they are, who’s there, what they discuss. That is so legal, it’s sickening. So I’m telling you – CARD center, 545 Vallombrosa Ave, Monday May 11, from 6:30 to 7:30. They will be discussing the “Draft RFP”. I had to look this up online – ” The Draft RFP (DRFP) is not a formal solicitation tool, rather it is used to gather comments and suggestions from potential offerors.”

I’m going to guess – they’re taking bids? From design contractors? They’ve seen some design proposals, but those were informal. Now they want to take actual bids. It would be a very  good meeting to attend. They’ve put a time limit on it, so try to show up a few minutes before 6:30 so you don’t miss anything.

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