JB Wells

So I'm sure that there are those of you that think I've been doing a happy dance in town square over the recent developments in our city.  With the firing of 2 employees, both directly related to the investigation of theft at JB Wells.  Well I'm not!

Before I get started on my tirade, I want to note that the second, Mr. Malaer was fired for and I quote, “The investigation has been able to document numerous violations of the public trust and disregard for management accountability by this person.”  Now theft could be in there, but I don't read it that way.  I read it to be he didn't do his job, and didn't hold those below him accountable for doing theirs. Only time will tell the whole story.

But back to business.

I'm mad! I'm upset! Actually I'm pretty pissed off! Why when everything is so obvious to me did it take 18 months and can we say over a million dollars of losses over the several years (I know it's $20,000/month for the last couple of years) to start to address this problem?  Why have so many turned a blind eye to these issues and tried to defend JB Wells operations and their losses for so long?

Why wasn't our financial officer jumping up and down at city hall meetings telling us there were problems down the street?

Why wasn't our previous city managers screaming that we had to change procedures to get this under control? 

Why wasn't our city council putting this on the agenda every month until it got resolved? 

I know that at one point at least one of the city council members went to the police, but it wasn't in an official capacity.  But maybe that was enough to get the police to start investigating.  I'm not certain what one thing finally got this investigation underway, but if I had to bet it was the firing of David Huseman, and the hiring of Charles Windwehem.

I'm not sure if this investigation is over with.  I'm not sure what the final outcome is going to be.  What I do know is that it's time to finally get a grip on our operations in the city, and especially JB Wells.  Mr. Windwehem has started turning the direction of our city operations around. We can only hope that the new city manager, that will be announced on Tuesday, will be appreciative of all he's done, and continue to turn the city around in a professional manner, with the high standards that Mr. Windwehem has set.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

New Way of Business

Wow, what a city council meeting!!! For the first time in years I saw an open and honest meeting happen in our city council.  I saw the city manager come forward and say, "we have some issues that need to be addressed, and I believe these are decisions you need to make, not me as the city manager." WOW!!! What a change in the way business is done.

I heard about $28,000 in funds for Friends of Gonzales overspent in their contract.  I heard where we needed to make adjustments of $125,000 for the weather station to be place at the airport.  I heard that the museum work done for phase one wasn't paid for, even though the work was authorized and completed.  I heard what was going on in the city from code enforcement, and the city engineer.  WOW!!!

I also heard from Mr. Windwehen that our credit card usage procedure needs to be reviewed and changed.  That no more business is done with a handshake, but through a contract that has been approved by the city lawyer and properly signed by all parties.  That all financial transactions and money handling have checks and balances, receipts, etc to prevent potential fraud.  That the city council will start receiving a monthly report of actual vs budgeted for all departments.  WOW!!!

WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! We have a man in the position right now that understands (and he even said this), that this needs to be run like a business and appropriately.  WOW!!!

I walked out of this city council meeting not happy that FOG has no repercussions for over spending, especially in tight times like this for the animal shelter, and I wish the council had allowed the money to come out of their 2011 budget, but honestly this was a meeting I felt like will put this city back on track with open and honesty. 

I spoke to one city employee after the meeting who told me he can't express how relieved he is to work for someone who is doing things correctly, and he can be proud of his work again.  We have a leader to be proud of who is leading this city in a professional, honest and open manner.  I see our department managers that are answering questions to the council, and honestly I think they are stepping up and are looking like department managers instead of a figure head.  WOW!!!

Gonzales, if ever there was hope, it's right now!  I heard a song the other day at church "Greater things are yet to come, greater things are yet to be done in this city"...AMEN!  AMEN! AMEN! (Chris Tomlins - God of this City)


Thank you Mr. Windwehen for coming to Gonzales in these dark times and be a shining light. 

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser