This week has once again brought to light what I've been ranting about for a year, the lack of controls our city has when it deals with money, in particularly at JB Wells. Both the Gonzales Inquirer and the Gonzales Canon posted storied about theft happening out at JB Wells, and one employee losing their job already.
Now a couple of things comes to mind. First is, why after a year of being in the spot light have we not made changes in our processes out at JB Wells. This was one of the first issues I ever wrote about. How we have no checks and balances out there. How we don't do proper and constant inventories. How we don't use the cash register to have an account of what we have done in a shift/day.
Why don't we ask how money is collected for the trailer rentals for those staying out there right now.
Speaking of the trailers, I've just learned that someone, not our city council, increased the rates at JB Wells for the oil trailers from $350/month to $500/month. So not quite, but close to a 50% increase in rates.
I don't know what the going rate is around town, but I know a couple of things. First there are several other RV parks popping up in Gonzales County, so there is competition. First thing I know about competition is that prices rarely go up when there is competition.
Second, I can't imagine anyone who is renting anything being told their rent was going up 50% is going to tell the landlord where they can put their place. I'm surprised there are any trailers still out there, but it sure appears to me that we're no where near our 110+ occupancy.
Now if the going rate is $500/month, then having new people moving in at that rate I totally understand. And raising the rate to to maybe $400/month and over a period of time moving it up to $500/month. There is nothing saying that everyone has to pay the same price. And if someone has already worked on the deal at $350/month we need to be respectful of that.
So I'm going to back to my a previous blog on outside management at the JB Wells and/or getting a committee together to look at the management procedures out at JB Wells. I still believe if we are going to continue to have rodeos and run this then we need to put a committee together to list generally accepted practices to get our arena in line. The committee would go back to the council for them to decide what practices to accept.
When are we going to realize that our city is not a mom and pop business, but is yours and my money that is being wasted, yes I'm going to call it like it is, wasted. This is big business. So big even that back during budgeting we were promised that JB Wells would be set up into it's own separate account division, so it would be easier to understand profits and losses. As of the first of this month it was not done. Water, Sewer, and all the other profit centers are separated out, but not JB Wells.
Last year we lost over $200,000 at JB Wells. So once again I'm going to call for our council to take the appropriate steps to get JB Wells under control. Set procedures in place so that it is properly managed, and things like checks and balances are put into place.
Please let's not go another year and have to come back to this point again!
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Actually changes were made handling receipts at JB Wells, that's how the thieft was uncovered.
ReplyDeleteAnd having lived in an RV for 15 years, I can tell you from experience that an RV will use $300 of electricity in the summer months, especially where there is no shade. And $350 a month was well below going rates in RV parks around the state. Two years ago, the rate was $225 PLUS electricity.
Wonder why the park manager has been gone for a week on vacation?
ReplyDelete"Bill Sheppard said...
ReplyDeleteActually changes were made handling receipts at JB Wells, that's how the theft was uncovered."
Mr. Sheppard, you need to post this on the Cannon's website!
Ok so there was a big gap in money magement at JB Wells. I like the idea of a committee being formed to help oversee the happinings that go on at JB Wells. I would like to think that JB Wells would have been earning money if the theift would not have been happinging. So with that being said I feel that the whole thing of not making money should be taking out of the equasion. The reason I feel this is, it is a mangemant issue for the area not a money earner.
ReplyDeleteJB Wells Arena needs to be leased to a management/marketing firm to get the most bang for the taxpayers buck. By leasing JB Wells Arena the city will receive an amount of money it can depend on year after year. Also puts the burden of making a profit on the management firm it is leased to. Plus there can be no dipping into the till as far as the city is concerned.
ReplyDeleteBill, I think you're going to find that it was because someone personally took account of what they turned in that the person was found out, not because of receipts. I could be wrong, but I don't believe so. Now they could of changed the processes after the original person turned them in.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not saying the rate of $350 isn't to low. I'm saying that you can't go from $350 to $500 over night and not expect major loss of residents. I also know after looking at the previous accounting that the utilities were being covered by the $350. I will grant though that was not in the middle of summer when we all know the bills are the highest. But even apartment complexes will rent to new people at a higher rate, and when your contract comes up they bump it $100 or so a month (6 months at a time) until they get you to the new rate, not just go up quite like we did.
As for the person who asked about Billy being on vacation, last I knew city employees are entitled to vacation. And since school is out I would suspect this is the time his household can all go. So I'm not sure why it matters about him being on vacation.
I mentioned last year that we needed to consider outside management of our arena. You're right, we would at least know $XXX would be coming in as a profit, and never a loss. And if the contract was written right where we got a % of the gross, it there would be a variable, but only up words, never a loss.
It will be interesting to see when all the fall out from this comes to an end, and if there will be any more. It will also be interesting to see if our city council takes this up on their agenda to make any changes now that this is all out in the open.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
receipts = money taken in, not necessarily an actual piece of paper. Changes were made in how the MONEY was handled.
ReplyDeleteHow many have moved out because the rent went up?
"As for the person who asked about Billy being on vacation, last I knew city employees are entitled to vacation. And since school is out I would suspect this is the time his household can all go. So I'm not sure why it matters about him being on vacation."
ReplyDeleteBecause the employee was terminated 7/8 and he left on vacation 7/10! In a very nice RV.
"Because the employee was terminated 7/8 and he left on vacation 7/10! In a very nice RV."
ReplyDeleteThis is how rumors get started.
Bill, I'm going to agree with you here. Billy Maeler surely had this vacation planned long before any of this went down.
ReplyDeleteHow he spends his personal money is none of our business, and I don't know if the RV he left is was his, his families, a friend that loaned it to him, a rental or whatever. And honestly it doesn't matter.
I know that he was one of the individuals who originally brought this situation up to David Huseman, and was wanting this issue cleared up, as he felt this was a major part of JB Wells skewed numbers.
Look, I believe he's made plenty of errors along the way. And I don't agree with the direction he'd take JB Wells, but I'm not going to hold the fact that he took vacation, that I'm certain didn't get planned over night, against him or anyone else.
If we loose track of where the problems are, and get derailed by things like this we will never get the problems addressed and taken care of.
Dennis
I would like to comment on the reason ppl are leaving the park for greener pastures are:
ReplyDelete*No Shade Trees
*Floods area where parked
*No drainage for run-off
*Rental increased overnite
*Theft of personnel property
*No place to really go and eat at after 9 pm at night. (Most ppl are getting off late and only fast food is open until 10 pm)
*No picnic area to sit at with tables, etc. in the park
*Finding housing in town a lot cheaper than $500 a month to live at the park.
These are the main reasons ppl started leaving the park and town.
I manage over 75+ rental properties for Landlords in and out of town and can tell you ppl are coming to us to find housing. When the rent went up over night that really made some ppl mad.
With only limited things to provide at the park the oil ppl was not really a good fit. This park was not really prepared for all the rv's that came to town when they did -- with new rv parks being approved that provide trees, etc. is the ones they want to stay at or live in a regular home.
We have a number of oil companies calling our office to aquire about rental properties for their employees. They would have put them up in rv's but decided they would pay just as much for a home then an rv site they really don't like due to (see above).
I do agree with you all -- We do need a property management firm to handle the rent collection to this property.
An outside firm is really needed to help with promotion of the arena, rent collection, budgeting, tenant / landlord lease agreements handled, etc.
We need to have contracts (lease agreements) in place for anyone staying on a monthly bases at the park. Anytime a person is staying past 28 days they are considered a Tenant.
Since we the ppl of Gonzales are the Landlord we need to have some type of paperwork involved for court purposes, if we had to go to court for any reason we would be covered by contract law.
To everyone keep up the good work and stay informed when it comes to the gov't spending our money.
Just hope we hear something back on how they plan on correcting this matter -- after all August rent is coming up and very soon.
God Bless,
Melissa Hanson