"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it." I tell my kids that all the time. It's a fact of life. Today I saw the council forget those words of wisdom when it came to handing out $60,000 in unbudgeted money.
Now to be fair I want to start from the beginning. We are talking about hotel sales tax, which came in way higher last year than predicted. The additional hotels and the consistent high occupancy has created a surplus that is limited in how it can be spent (it can not go to general funds and spent).
In the past, request for those funds would have gone through and been approved by the Tourism committee. A year or so ago, the rules were changed a bit that a secondary approval had to be made if anything exceeded a certain amount (I believe $2000...though I could be off here).
But tonight council considered and approved $60,000 worth of funding that never went to the tourism committee. $45,000 to the Chamber of Commerce, $15,000 to the Crystal Theater. They did this even after the committee chair informed the council that they had circumvented his committee, and that he felt like this was a bad precedence. He was right.
So looking at the documentation provided the city now will pay for 50% of the Crystal Theaters expenses. We're paying 75% of a new float. If I read it right we're paying 100% of the renovations for the kitchen and Chamber (Old Jail House) work. By the way did I mention this building isn't even owned by the City of Gonzales?
The Chamber said at council meeting tonight that they can't get any funds from anyone in town. Hmmmmm, think maybe the 15+ years of poor management are coming back to bite you in the ass? I know this is a total new administrative team in there, but for the record we've been paying a minimum of $10,000 a year for very little return on our investment at the Chamber. There was a time it helped the businesses of Gonzales, but that's been a long time ago, and the fact the Chamber board refused to make changes for so many years is the reason they are where they are today, begging for scraps. Want my support, then let's see changes at the Come and Take It where we are truly bringing in outsiders and not just family that is coming in, you know like our surrounding communities do. Let's see tourism planned and worked in a positive manner, not a put out a bucket and let's see what might fall into if attitude.
The Chamber can be a very positive force for a pro Gonzales rally, and maybe the new team down there will succeed in getting those things done, but there has to be actions and not just words like we've heard for so long. And until that action starts, and the train is moving, it would be a tough call to give them a plug nickel.
Look, in the long run maybe the city should of approved all $60,000, but they should of sent ever single nickle back to committee for approval FIRST. That's what that committee is for. If not than disband the Tourism committee. Personally you'd of seen my resignation tomorrow morning if I was on the Tourism committee and was slapped in the face like they were tonight. Just because the council COULD approve those funds doesn't mean they should of.
God Bless,
Dennis
PS - Other budgeting and spending coming soon.
Showing posts with label city of gonzales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label city of gonzales. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
Main Street
There are many boards and committees in Gonzales. Many of them play some very important rolls in our day to day life. They maintain order to our daily lives, they bring jobs to our community, they work on bringing money to the town in many different ways.
To me one of the most effective boards we have is the Main Street Advisory Board. It's has brought together our community in ways that I don't think any other board has. It's brought us things like our recent Christmas parade, the Friday night concert series during the summer, and our 4th of July celebration to name a few.
They are constantly listening to the public for what they've done right and what they've done wrong to make next years event better. They are creative in their thinking. They have gone back and revamped what didn't work before to get them to work this time.
I've written about them before and hopefully will have cause to write about them in the future as they bring our downtown into the spotlight and in doing so bring our community together.
They've had a member step down after many years of great work, and there is an opening. The city put the above ad in the paper, the way it should be, asking for help in this committee. If you're a thinker and a doer, and want to be part of this board, don't hesitate, get your application into the city. Bring some fresh ideas that will be heard to a board that is making a difference in our town.
God Bless,
Dennis
Friday, September 21, 2012
Verizon Poles
So after almost a half a million dollars we finally have St. George street finished and ready for public usage. But like a teenager it has 6 pimples on it. Seems our city engineer didn't do any due diligence and missed the fact that there were 6 poles not belonging to the City of Gonzales were on the street. So all the money the city spent moving poles to the rear of the buildings were for not when Verizon told the city they weren't going to be good corporate citizens and either move their poles or their lines.
So the city approached them again, and for a mere $72,000 (estimated...could be a bit more), they would move the poles.
As much as I hate that these poles are a blemish on an otherwise very inviting street, the council did right by not taking Verizon up on their offer to diminish $72,000 from our coffers. But that's not the gest of todays blog. Nope, as bad as all that is, it gets worse!
Now I love GVTC. And I love that they've spent millions coming to town with fiber. In my industry that's the Rolls Royce of providers. But they messed up here. Knowing good and well that the city wanted those poles moved to the rear of the buildings and out of the public eye for aesthetics, they decided to run their fiber right down the front of St George. REALLY?
Come on guys! Here we are trying to make a difference and instead we throw another can of trash in the street? I thought you wanted to be good corporate citizens. I have to say that's not the way to do it.
Maybe we can hope that Come and Take It will provide a pickup truck driven by "Bubba" that will play pinball with 6 poles down St. George. Maybe then the City can get the poles, and their eye-sore lines where they belong on the back of St. George and out of site.
Mind you, we the taxpayers spent good money moving electricity poles and even more money and headaches getting St George looking as nice as it is, hundreds of thousands of dollars, not chump change. So I"m a bit upset at the engineer that told council it would work without checking, Verizon for not moving the poles, but even more that GVTC would run new lines down those poles. UGGGGHHHH!
Dennis
PS - I've taken a break from all blogs over the summer. I haven't read or written any in months as it was a bit overwhelming and I needed a break. Think it's time I got back on track though. So if you've got some food for thought email me and I'll look into it.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
What now?
So I'd like to take a POSITIVE set of ideas to the priority of what needs to be done next to our council members as they get started with new positions and a new person on the council.
So give a couple of suggestions of what you've like started - finished - a new direction taken on.
1) What should we do with JB Wells?
2) What priorities is our roads in town? Any particular street need working on?
3) What should we do for our kids in this town?
4) What needs to be done to help downtown thrive?
5) What about all these committees, are they necessary?
6) What should we do with the additional $400,000 in sales tax we just received?
Ok, I'm going to ask that you keep this positive, like a new kid on the block that is looking for suggestions, not complaining about the past, I want to look forward for this post. Not that we're going to forget anything in the past, but for this post, pretend there is no past.
If I were king (queen) for the day I would............................
Let's hear it and I'll make sure you're comments are heard by those up on the bench.
God Bless
Dennis
So give a couple of suggestions of what you've like started - finished - a new direction taken on.
1) What should we do with JB Wells?
2) What priorities is our roads in town? Any particular street need working on?
3) What should we do for our kids in this town?
4) What needs to be done to help downtown thrive?
5) What about all these committees, are they necessary?
6) What should we do with the additional $400,000 in sales tax we just received?
Ok, I'm going to ask that you keep this positive, like a new kid on the block that is looking for suggestions, not complaining about the past, I want to look forward for this post. Not that we're going to forget anything in the past, but for this post, pretend there is no past.
If I were king (queen) for the day I would............................
Let's hear it and I'll make sure you're comments are heard by those up on the bench.
God Bless
Dennis
Sunday, April 29, 2012
VOTE
Texas started no-excuse early voting in 1987. While the first couple of years wasn't exactly what it is today, by 1991 we had pre-election day voting for elections with no reason necessary for you to go and vote. It would prevent everyone from having to stand in long lines on election day.
Voting for the City of Gonzales starts Monday April 30th - May 6th from 8 AM - 5 PM and May 7 - 8th from 7 AM - 7 PM.
For almost 3 years I've been activist on our city council. But for almost 30 years now I've voted. Even when I was in Germany I voted via absentee.
It is not only our civic right, it's our civic duty to vote!
I don't care which of the candidates you are supporting for mayor, or if you're in district 4 which candidate you're supporting, What I do care about is hearing people complain about what's going on in this community and doing NOTHING about it. Now is your no-excuse time to do SOMETHING about our city.
We ARE going to get a new mayor and district 4 IS going to get a new council member. So are YOU going to be a part of that? Or are YOU going to be someone who just whines when things aren't what you think they should be.
One thing I'll give to everyone who is running, at least they are trying to make a difference, and not just sitting on the sidelines complaining without doing anything.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
REFERENCES
Texas Early Voting
City of Gonzales Order of Election
Voting for the City of Gonzales starts Monday April 30th - May 6th from 8 AM - 5 PM and May 7 - 8th from 7 AM - 7 PM.
For almost 3 years I've been activist on our city council. But for almost 30 years now I've voted. Even when I was in Germany I voted via absentee.
It is not only our civic right, it's our civic duty to vote!
I don't care which of the candidates you are supporting for mayor, or if you're in district 4 which candidate you're supporting, What I do care about is hearing people complain about what's going on in this community and doing NOTHING about it. Now is your no-excuse time to do SOMETHING about our city.
We ARE going to get a new mayor and district 4 IS going to get a new council member. So are YOU going to be a part of that? Or are YOU going to be someone who just whines when things aren't what you think they should be.
One thing I'll give to everyone who is running, at least they are trying to make a difference, and not just sitting on the sidelines complaining without doing anything.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
REFERENCES
Texas Early Voting
City of Gonzales Order of Election
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Judgement Day
Ok, I'm not sure that Gonzales needs a tabloid for one of our newspapers. Recently the headlines read in the Gonzales Inquirer read in bold print "Judgement Day". This for an article that had misinformation and basically stated while there were deficiencies there were not going to be ANY sanctions or penalties being accessed. So this was so serious that it needed a National Inquirer style title of "Judgement Day"?
I have to tell you I was very disappointed in this headline, and a couple of others lately. I have never understood what the Inquirers personal vendetta against Mrs Kacir has been all about, but any time her name is in the paper there is a tabloid story that goes with it. This vendetta goes back over 2 years when she was running for Mayor and the Inquirer was covering up for those at the city. I really thought when the new regime came in that trash reporting like that would be a thing of the past.
It's a shame too because I thought with real articles like the city 'finding' $250,000 we were moving in the right direction. That covering the stock show, and doing several other things for the positive of the community were actually going to bring around the paper and start to re-legitimize their place in this community. They've even taken some interesting angles on some stories that I think have been thought provoking and actually good reporting.
So why would they want to throw in sensationalize, crap reporting that is more acting like 2 year olds than 100+ year old paper that has a long standing reputation in this community?
They acted the same way when they lost the bid at the city. I'll be honest, the council didn't select the Inquirer exactly BECAUSE of this kind of reporting. Okay, you might not get someone to fess up to that, but trust me that's the bottom line. Remember most of the council members that voted that night were directly affected by the Inquirers tabloid reporting 2 years ago. Things like that are not going to be forgiven or forgotten over night, and continuing to report articles like "Judgement Day" will keep those memories fresh in their mind for that much longer. But keep reporting real investigative reporting and life in Gonzales and those memories start to fade.
And for the record, I've seen Mrs Kacirs emails attempting to reply too, and give answers to the Gonzales Inquirer. The Inquirer responded that the word count was to long for their policies, but they didn't report that, and THAT is misinformation when you say that attempts to contact Mrs Kacir went unanswered. So what the Inquirer posted is a lie!
I don't care if it's the Gonzales Cannon or the Gonzales Inquirer if it's not in the Op-Ed page, then it should be facts, and non-opinionated. It should not be sensationalized. If they want to write an opinion article on the facts after writing a story then that's their right! But let's label it correctly.
And that is just MY opinion on the situation.
God Bless,
Dennis
I have to tell you I was very disappointed in this headline, and a couple of others lately. I have never understood what the Inquirers personal vendetta against Mrs Kacir has been all about, but any time her name is in the paper there is a tabloid story that goes with it. This vendetta goes back over 2 years when she was running for Mayor and the Inquirer was covering up for those at the city. I really thought when the new regime came in that trash reporting like that would be a thing of the past.
It's a shame too because I thought with real articles like the city 'finding' $250,000 we were moving in the right direction. That covering the stock show, and doing several other things for the positive of the community were actually going to bring around the paper and start to re-legitimize their place in this community. They've even taken some interesting angles on some stories that I think have been thought provoking and actually good reporting.
So why would they want to throw in sensationalize, crap reporting that is more acting like 2 year olds than 100+ year old paper that has a long standing reputation in this community?
They acted the same way when they lost the bid at the city. I'll be honest, the council didn't select the Inquirer exactly BECAUSE of this kind of reporting. Okay, you might not get someone to fess up to that, but trust me that's the bottom line. Remember most of the council members that voted that night were directly affected by the Inquirers tabloid reporting 2 years ago. Things like that are not going to be forgiven or forgotten over night, and continuing to report articles like "Judgement Day" will keep those memories fresh in their mind for that much longer. But keep reporting real investigative reporting and life in Gonzales and those memories start to fade.
And for the record, I've seen Mrs Kacirs emails attempting to reply too, and give answers to the Gonzales Inquirer. The Inquirer responded that the word count was to long for their policies, but they didn't report that, and THAT is misinformation when you say that attempts to contact Mrs Kacir went unanswered. So what the Inquirer posted is a lie!
I don't care if it's the Gonzales Cannon or the Gonzales Inquirer if it's not in the Op-Ed page, then it should be facts, and non-opinionated. It should not be sensationalized. If they want to write an opinion article on the facts after writing a story then that's their right! But let's label it correctly.
And that is just MY opinion on the situation.
God Bless,
Dennis
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Note to Candidates
This is a copy of the email I sent to all the candidates today. Hopefully all will respond:
As someone interested in getting information out to the voters I’m offering to all candidates a platform to get your message out free of charge. If you will send me what you want for my readers to see I will copy and paste it into a blog with your name at the top. I will not modify this posting, nor will I respond back to what the readers have to comment about unless it’s a question of fact that I’m positive of the answer on. I will not respond back to questions on position, or platform, or the likes. It will be your responsibility (or someone in your campaign) to monitor and answer those questions.
The blog is located at www.90asign.com, and once your posting is there you can ‘follow’ comments at the bottom of the page so that you get an email when someone post on ‘your’ blog posting.
The intent it to let my readers know where you stand and allow interaction with the candidates. I will not tolerate vulgar or over the top type comments from anyone. If you see one on your posting please let me know and I will remove it.
Dennis Nesser
As someone interested in getting information out to the voters I’m offering to all candidates a platform to get your message out free of charge. If you will send me what you want for my readers to see I will copy and paste it into a blog with your name at the top. I will not modify this posting, nor will I respond back to what the readers have to comment about unless it’s a question of fact that I’m positive of the answer on. I will not respond back to questions on position, or platform, or the likes. It will be your responsibility (or someone in your campaign) to monitor and answer those questions.
The blog is located at www.90asign.com, and once your posting is there you can ‘follow’ comments at the bottom of the page so that you get an email when someone post on ‘your’ blog posting.
The intent it to let my readers know where you stand and allow interaction with the candidates. I will not tolerate vulgar or over the top type comments from anyone. If you see one on your posting please let me know and I will remove it.
Dennis Nesser
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Cha-Ching
First Tuesday of the month was last night, so that means that our city council was in session and another chunk of unbudgeted change was approved for spending. No don't get me wrong, there are times we must spend unbudgeted money, and one of them was last night to an extent, but the rest? So here's the run down:
$48,000 in longevity bonuses for city employees. I have a couple of issues with this carte blanche bonus, though have to give Tommy Schrig props for trying to do it correctly.
This bonus is $4 a month for every month an employee has worked for the city up to 25 years. Now that includes Mr. Barnes who has worked for the city for 1 month. Councilman Schrig tried to pass it so that is applied to employees over 10 years. In my public working I've never seen one paid for any employee under 3 years. But not Gonzales. Why are we thanking those for their 'longevity' when they haven't proven any?
Additionally Councilman Hernandez asked about the handful of employees that within the last 2 years have gotten pay raises of over 25% and if they too would get the bonus. Oh yeah they will.
So why didn't the council table this motion till these issues could be sorted out? Had the city manager bring back a revised proposal that would truly benefit those who deserve something, yet not double dip those who have already benefited AND those who haven't earned it yet? I'm at a lose as to why our council is so quick to pass everything that comes before them.
Now the fire department asked for $10,000 in additional funds for unforeseen expenses, primarily due to the additional use they've gotten this year. My ONLY complaint is that we should have in our budget some of this additional repair items. We know that repair cost are never going to be what we thought they'd be. And heads up, for the next couple of years while this drought continues our fire department is going to need more money! Let's get it planned for now. I know it's not one of those expenses anyone wants to pay for, until that fire is at your house, but we've got to, and these firemen have busted their own tails raising money themselves too.
Now in one breath we heard (though I haven't seen the ytd/budgeted finances to confirm) that we have a windfall of cash from increased tax revenues and oil, and then in the next breath heard we would be going out for bonds to pay for the issuance of bonds for the money we need to make things work.
What I didn't hear is anything on the St. George debacle. Why after 2 year 4 months we still don't have finished streets.
I didn't hear one committee update from any boards / committees.
And with the exception of 2 out of 13 items, I heard NO discussion of ANY of the issues brought before council. I heard next item, motion, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, next item repeat above.
For those interested, the second item discussed was when Mr. Hernandez asked the city manager to work with the failed petition on garage sale issue to come up with a compromise even though the petition didn't hit the 400+ signatures the city is saying were needed. This will come back up in December for modifications to the garage sale ordinance. So if you're interested be there in December to speak your peace.
God Bless
$48,000 in longevity bonuses for city employees. I have a couple of issues with this carte blanche bonus, though have to give Tommy Schrig props for trying to do it correctly.
This bonus is $4 a month for every month an employee has worked for the city up to 25 years. Now that includes Mr. Barnes who has worked for the city for 1 month. Councilman Schrig tried to pass it so that is applied to employees over 10 years. In my public working I've never seen one paid for any employee under 3 years. But not Gonzales. Why are we thanking those for their 'longevity' when they haven't proven any?
Additionally Councilman Hernandez asked about the handful of employees that within the last 2 years have gotten pay raises of over 25% and if they too would get the bonus. Oh yeah they will.
So why didn't the council table this motion till these issues could be sorted out? Had the city manager bring back a revised proposal that would truly benefit those who deserve something, yet not double dip those who have already benefited AND those who haven't earned it yet? I'm at a lose as to why our council is so quick to pass everything that comes before them.
Now the fire department asked for $10,000 in additional funds for unforeseen expenses, primarily due to the additional use they've gotten this year. My ONLY complaint is that we should have in our budget some of this additional repair items. We know that repair cost are never going to be what we thought they'd be. And heads up, for the next couple of years while this drought continues our fire department is going to need more money! Let's get it planned for now. I know it's not one of those expenses anyone wants to pay for, until that fire is at your house, but we've got to, and these firemen have busted their own tails raising money themselves too.
Now in one breath we heard (though I haven't seen the ytd/budgeted finances to confirm) that we have a windfall of cash from increased tax revenues and oil, and then in the next breath heard we would be going out for bonds to pay for the issuance of bonds for the money we need to make things work.
What I didn't hear is anything on the St. George debacle. Why after 2 year 4 months we still don't have finished streets.
I didn't hear one committee update from any boards / committees.
And with the exception of 2 out of 13 items, I heard NO discussion of ANY of the issues brought before council. I heard next item, motion, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, next item repeat above.
For those interested, the second item discussed was when Mr. Hernandez asked the city manager to work with the failed petition on garage sale issue to come up with a compromise even though the petition didn't hit the 400+ signatures the city is saying were needed. This will come back up in December for modifications to the garage sale ordinance. So if you're interested be there in December to speak your peace.
God Bless
Friday, October 21, 2011
2 out of 3 or 3 out of 4 depending
Well I have been working overtime this week and didn't get a chance to write, and honestly the newspaper beat me to the punchline, at least part of it.
First I'd like to know why 2 of the people removed from city positions names were release immediately to the public, and one of them couldn't be release till this week? Why was Belinda Walkers name withheld when the original statements were made when both Billy Malaer and Ricky Bazans names were released immediately? Does it have anything to do with her family? If not what then? I can say in all my probes no one can tell me why this one was specifically excluded and the city was unable to let us know who Belinda offically was until now.
Then I see where Mr. Cavazos is retiring. Now I've made it clear that I thought he should of been shown the door 10 minutes after Mr. Malaer. If we were going to release Mr Malaer for lack of confidence then what the heck did we have in Mr Cavazos? Why was he given any more opportunity than any of the other employees that were shown the front door? If Mr. Cavazos had been doing his job we'd be much better off financially then we are today. I'm not talking 10s of dollars, but 100,000s of dollars. Mr Cavazos was the only person who could of and was obligated to come before the council with the problems that were happening in our books. He was responsible for all checks and balances and procedures for money handling. He had a responsibility as a city employee AND CPA!
Now the positive spin on all this, while I'm not certain if all the problem issues are taken care of, we have an opportunity to turn things around! It's not going to be easy, and honestly it's easier to keep everything as is rather than make the necessary changes. But the opportunity is NOW to make those changes. We have a new city manager that has already made some changes, and hopefully will be leading the way for more changes. Some in personnel, some in procedures, some in the way we think about city employees. Let's make positive change in this town, bring life back to it, and have a place that is no longer a laughing stock of those looking in, but a place to be proud to say you're from!
God Bless
Dennis Nesser
First I'd like to know why 2 of the people removed from city positions names were release immediately to the public, and one of them couldn't be release till this week? Why was Belinda Walkers name withheld when the original statements were made when both Billy Malaer and Ricky Bazans names were released immediately? Does it have anything to do with her family? If not what then? I can say in all my probes no one can tell me why this one was specifically excluded and the city was unable to let us know who Belinda offically was until now.
Then I see where Mr. Cavazos is retiring. Now I've made it clear that I thought he should of been shown the door 10 minutes after Mr. Malaer. If we were going to release Mr Malaer for lack of confidence then what the heck did we have in Mr Cavazos? Why was he given any more opportunity than any of the other employees that were shown the front door? If Mr. Cavazos had been doing his job we'd be much better off financially then we are today. I'm not talking 10s of dollars, but 100,000s of dollars. Mr Cavazos was the only person who could of and was obligated to come before the council with the problems that were happening in our books. He was responsible for all checks and balances and procedures for money handling. He had a responsibility as a city employee AND CPA!
Now the positive spin on all this, while I'm not certain if all the problem issues are taken care of, we have an opportunity to turn things around! It's not going to be easy, and honestly it's easier to keep everything as is rather than make the necessary changes. But the opportunity is NOW to make those changes. We have a new city manager that has already made some changes, and hopefully will be leading the way for more changes. Some in personnel, some in procedures, some in the way we think about city employees. Let's make positive change in this town, bring life back to it, and have a place that is no longer a laughing stock of those looking in, but a place to be proud to say you're from!
God Bless
Dennis Nesser
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Lie of the Museum District
So this spring our council approved a 'Museum District" for a section of downtown and up through the museums and log cabin. There were articles about it in both papers I believe.
Now before these came to a vote by our council I asked Mr. Bob Burchard about this district. He very specifically told me that this was a name only designation, and would carry absolutely NO regulatory connotations to it. I told him I was concerned that this would be used to try to take away property owners rights in that district. "Absolutely not" was Mr. Burchards' response to me.
Later that night at that city council meeting Mrs Glenda Gordon told the council that this was purely a designation that would hold no regulatory connotations. There were several of the council members that weren't exactly for this designation, but felt that since it was purely in name only it would be ok. This then would go to our state legislators so that we would be designated the first "museum district" in Texas. What a great marketing campaign. That's ALL it was suppose to be, a marketing ploy!
So I'm going to just put it as clear as I can, we were lied to! Mrs. Gordon, the same person who brought this designation to the council, has since used the museum district designation to try to close down a new business in that district, the recycling center on St. Louis.
Per the Gonzales Cannon - "Eddie Escobar, an attorney representing Gonzales citizen Glenda Gordon" then followed by "“I also represent the museum district,” Escobar said. “We’re seeking a temporary injunction while this case is pending. That is the first step in this process.” - the case is the one Mrs Gordon has brought against the City of Gonzales, Mr. Lorenzo Hernandez (land owner), and the Recycle Center. Now why would Mr. Escobar represent a district that was in name only? No regulatory connotations what-so-ever? Why was it even mentioned in the lawsuit and the newspaper?
Out of curiosity this morning I decided to drive by for myself. The recycle center is a nice, clean business. Compared to the green giant that stands less than 2 blocks away, and right across from the park, this business looks like a surgical unit in it's cleanliness. Both recycling, one looks like the scrap yard, one looks like a welcome business in our community.
Then around backside of the recycling center on Darst is a house with "No Trespassing" signs, a garage that is falling down and cram packed with crap, fences down between the house and garage and their fence between them and the recycle center is falling down (I know this is their fence because I use to own that house and fence). The house has been vacant for years, and yet the ONLY person other than Mrs. Gordon that isn't paid to complain is the current owner of this house (note owner, not occupant, as they live in Smiley). Not the business that operates every day as a day care, not the apartment building across the street where people live, and the city has receive absolutely ZERO complaints on this property for any violations what so ever, nor Mr. Sam Lewis from compliance control.
So first of all I want to know what the city council plans to do about this now regulatory designation of "Museum District". Personally I believe we were lied to as to the reason for it and it should be immediately removed from our books. I'm sick and tired of being lied to and anterior motives for things coming before our council. Remove the designation and forbid it from coming back to the council. We don't like liars and we were lied to about it.
In the past we've had a lot of complaints about Gonzales and the need to recycle. We've got it, it's on St. Louis and working well. I've read recently where people are complaining that we need more work for our kids. Where do you think those come from? They come from new businesses!
We should be happy to see Mr. Peralez and his business come to town. We should be welcoming as many businesses like his, good community citizens, that are wanting to come to town.
Mrs Gordon can keep her museum district, we don't need it especially when it start infringing on property rights.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Now before these came to a vote by our council I asked Mr. Bob Burchard about this district. He very specifically told me that this was a name only designation, and would carry absolutely NO regulatory connotations to it. I told him I was concerned that this would be used to try to take away property owners rights in that district. "Absolutely not" was Mr. Burchards' response to me.
Later that night at that city council meeting Mrs Glenda Gordon told the council that this was purely a designation that would hold no regulatory connotations. There were several of the council members that weren't exactly for this designation, but felt that since it was purely in name only it would be ok. This then would go to our state legislators so that we would be designated the first "museum district" in Texas. What a great marketing campaign. That's ALL it was suppose to be, a marketing ploy!
So I'm going to just put it as clear as I can, we were lied to! Mrs. Gordon, the same person who brought this designation to the council, has since used the museum district designation to try to close down a new business in that district, the recycling center on St. Louis.
Per the Gonzales Cannon - "Eddie Escobar, an attorney representing Gonzales citizen Glenda Gordon" then followed by "“I also represent the museum district,” Escobar said. “We’re seeking a temporary injunction while this case is pending. That is the first step in this process.” - the case is the one Mrs Gordon has brought against the City of Gonzales, Mr. Lorenzo Hernandez (land owner), and the Recycle Center. Now why would Mr. Escobar represent a district that was in name only? No regulatory connotations what-so-ever? Why was it even mentioned in the lawsuit and the newspaper?
Out of curiosity this morning I decided to drive by for myself. The recycle center is a nice, clean business. Compared to the green giant that stands less than 2 blocks away, and right across from the park, this business looks like a surgical unit in it's cleanliness. Both recycling, one looks like the scrap yard, one looks like a welcome business in our community.
Then around backside of the recycling center on Darst is a house with "No Trespassing" signs, a garage that is falling down and cram packed with crap, fences down between the house and garage and their fence between them and the recycle center is falling down (I know this is their fence because I use to own that house and fence). The house has been vacant for years, and yet the ONLY person other than Mrs. Gordon that isn't paid to complain is the current owner of this house (note owner, not occupant, as they live in Smiley). Not the business that operates every day as a day care, not the apartment building across the street where people live, and the city has receive absolutely ZERO complaints on this property for any violations what so ever, nor Mr. Sam Lewis from compliance control.
So first of all I want to know what the city council plans to do about this now regulatory designation of "Museum District". Personally I believe we were lied to as to the reason for it and it should be immediately removed from our books. I'm sick and tired of being lied to and anterior motives for things coming before our council. Remove the designation and forbid it from coming back to the council. We don't like liars and we were lied to about it.
In the past we've had a lot of complaints about Gonzales and the need to recycle. We've got it, it's on St. Louis and working well. I've read recently where people are complaining that we need more work for our kids. Where do you think those come from? They come from new businesses!
We should be happy to see Mr. Peralez and his business come to town. We should be welcoming as many businesses like his, good community citizens, that are wanting to come to town.
Mrs Gordon can keep her museum district, we don't need it especially when it start infringing on property rights.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
It a freaking blog!
I'm not sure why city council member and mayor have this 'only the holy few' can even run for office, and after all that's not me right?
I hear from several people that have opinions on EVERY agenda item that comes up. They need to run for mayor or council. I hear from people that have out of the box ideas for this city (you know like we actually should be bringing business TO Gonzales, not chasing them away), they should run for mayor or council. There are people that have some fiscal knowledge that this city could desperately use right now. They should be running for office. And while the 'total package' would be nice, I'm not sure who in Gonzales would have all those attributes.
If you've never run for office it's not a problem. There is no requirement to have been dog catcher before you run for mayor. Come by, I don't care who you are, I'd spend an evening with you and talk to you about running for an office and the basics of it. What you'll have to have, what you should do, what you can expect.
On a side note I don't know what's happened that some have had issues posting comments. I posted a fix to it on the previous blogs comments. I will put them at the bottom of this too. I have not blocked anyone from posting a comment on this blog.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Fix to not being able to post a comment:
Tools - Internet Options
Click on the "Privacy" tab.
Set the Privacy slider to "Medium".
Hit the "Advanced" button, and examine the "Advanced Privacy Settings".
Check “Override automatic cookie handling”
Click both "First party Cookies" and "Third party Cookies" should be set to "Accept"
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Nesser for Mayor
First of all it cost NOTHING to file to run for mayor or city council. There is no declaration of political party, it doesn't matter Democrat, Republican, Independent or Other, it doesn't go on the ballot anywhere. No certifications are needed, you don't even have to have a high school diploma, nothing! The only requirement is that you have been a citizen of Gonzales for the last 6 months. So running for mayor or city council is available for anyone in this city who is a resident. The only thing you have to do is declare with the City Secretary, and fill out some paperwork, bingo you're running for office.
Now we've got some talented people that don't necessarily want to be in politics but would make an excellent mayor. If you know someone in that category it's time to start talking seriously to them about We've got some people that I'm certain think they know it all that have their opportunity to show the city what they really know, you know put up or shut up (I'm certain many put me in this category). And yes, you'll have some with personal agendas run too, and the voters will have to sift through all the $#@! to figure out who really will be the best person for mayor. This should not be a one (wo)man race for either mayor or city council.
So if you think you might want to be mayor or council member, NOW is the time for you to start getting a team together. People who will talk you up. People willing to knock on doors with/for you. People to make you look good. A platform of things you'd like to see happen in the city would be a good start. What are your visions for the city? Get it together so you can convince the citizens to vote for you. And if you have a plan to get the citizens out to vote, that would work even better! You can't wait till May and expect this stuff to fall into place. You've got to start now.
If rumors are right we'll have 2 positions that will not have incumbents running. Nothing concrete, but I'd expect at least one, if not both, of the 2 Bobbys won't run again. So opportunity is there now for someone to step up. It's time we put some leadership into this city for growth, development of our current assets, and some fiscal responsibility. If you know someone who can do that for this city, now is the time to get their name out there!
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Friday, September 9, 2011
OMG!
There are NO FREAKING EXCUSES!
This man should be shamed at every corner he's seen at. He shouldn't be served in this town anywhere that has the right to refuse service!
Geez, if I were the same man that for years couldn't see any problems at JB Wells, if I were same man that did NOT put in ANY checks and balances for money handling and then is baffled how we are short on cash, if I were the same man that was suppose to separate JB Wells into its own fund 6 months ago, if I were the man that had not taken action on any one of the limited notes made by our auditors, if I were the man that pulled %$@#( numbers out of thin air for our budget instead of real numbers, if I were the man that never came to the city council letting them know how bad the financials were, EVEN though it was my job I would dig a hole and crawl into it after I quit in shame. In Japan I would be expected to commit Hari-kari.
HOW MUCH LONGER IS THIS TOWN GOING TO STAND FOR THIS KIND OF INCOMPETENCE????? There is ABSOLUTELY no reason that a certain financial officer should have his job after close of business Monday.
Call the city on Monday, 672-2815, let them know this is unacceptable that we are still paying any kind of salary to our EX city manager and that those responsible should be shown the door IMMEDIATELY!!!
I swear, it appears the 2 were working in cahoots. You have to wonder how much covering up he might of done to protect his EX boss.
This is the end of this public ranting.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Committees in Gonzales
I saw something happen at Tuesdays meeting that I've never seen before. I saw the Beautification Committee give a report on their actions and some of the things they are planning.
Now I'm going to be honest with you until the budgeting process this year I didn't even know we had a Beautification Committee. As a matter of fact, I found out we had a list of committees that I learned about during the budgeting process. It was a bit mind boggling to me, because in my entire time going to city council meetings the only time I've ever heard from any committee was when they needed to appoint additional people to their committees.
So I'm a bit perplexed. In every other situation, and according to Roberts Rules of Order (one of our governing documents), committees are to regularly report back to the council. Why? So that the managing body (read city council) is informed and knows what is going on.
Over the last year or so I've heard several times that "our councilmen never come to our meetings". It's not their job! Their job is to have the reports of committees come to them. Committees are created to hash out issues, to create solutions to problems that the city council doesn't have time themselves to do. It does not relinquish final authority/responsibility by creating committees. It's still all falls back on the city council.
I want to quote from Roberts Rules of Order - "Generally the term committee implies that, within the area of its assigned responsibilities, the committee has less authority to act independently for the society (or other constituting power (read city council here)) than a board is usually understood to have. Thus, if the committee is to do more than report its empowered to act for the society only on specific instructions; or, if it is given standing powers, its actions may be more closely subject to review than a board's, or it may be required to report more fully." (9th Edition, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised)
So in all the years of going to council I have to ask myself, "Where the heck is the reporting to the council?" Why do these committees expect the councilmen to come to them, when it's their obligations to report back to the council?
This last Tuesday Mr. Burchard did a great job of reporting to the council. He gave a listing of what is in the works, what are on the "we'd like to do" list, and even some long term planning. The council has now been informed as to what the Beautification Committee is up to.
I would love to hear from all these other committees too. Wouldn't they want the council to know that 1) they really are working on things for the City of Gonzales 2) that the direction they are taking is one that the council is wanting to go in so that their work doesn't get yanked after a lot of sweat and blood has been put into it.
Last I have is that while there is probably (though I'm not 100% certain) that most of these committees do not have to have the 3 day written notification of agendas and such that some do (like the council, GEDC, Zoning), it sure would be nice if they posted on the city website that a meeting is planned so that if someone wanted to present an idea to that committee it was available to them. I'm certain our city secretary could post in the agendas and announcements section of our website any upcoming meetings in a heart beat. I wouldn't have a clue how to present something to most of the committees, because I don't know who they are or when/where they meet.
Right now most people in Gonzales don't even know 1/2 the committees we have (btw, ALL committees are to be appointed by the city council per our city charter), much less their function or who is involved. I personally think it's time to give the recognition to the hard workers, their works, and to come together at our central governing body, our city council, to make sure we are all working together in a single direction, after all it's their job.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Now I'm going to be honest with you until the budgeting process this year I didn't even know we had a Beautification Committee. As a matter of fact, I found out we had a list of committees that I learned about during the budgeting process. It was a bit mind boggling to me, because in my entire time going to city council meetings the only time I've ever heard from any committee was when they needed to appoint additional people to their committees.
So I'm a bit perplexed. In every other situation, and according to Roberts Rules of Order (one of our governing documents), committees are to regularly report back to the council. Why? So that the managing body (read city council) is informed and knows what is going on.
Over the last year or so I've heard several times that "our councilmen never come to our meetings". It's not their job! Their job is to have the reports of committees come to them. Committees are created to hash out issues, to create solutions to problems that the city council doesn't have time themselves to do. It does not relinquish final authority/responsibility by creating committees. It's still all falls back on the city council.
I want to quote from Roberts Rules of Order - "Generally the term committee implies that, within the area of its assigned responsibilities, the committee has less authority to act independently for the society (or other constituting power (read city council here)) than a board is usually understood to have. Thus, if the committee is to do more than report its empowered to act for the society only on specific instructions; or, if it is given standing powers, its actions may be more closely subject to review than a board's, or it may be required to report more fully." (9th Edition, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised)
So in all the years of going to council I have to ask myself, "Where the heck is the reporting to the council?" Why do these committees expect the councilmen to come to them, when it's their obligations to report back to the council?
This last Tuesday Mr. Burchard did a great job of reporting to the council. He gave a listing of what is in the works, what are on the "we'd like to do" list, and even some long term planning. The council has now been informed as to what the Beautification Committee is up to.
I would love to hear from all these other committees too. Wouldn't they want the council to know that 1) they really are working on things for the City of Gonzales 2) that the direction they are taking is one that the council is wanting to go in so that their work doesn't get yanked after a lot of sweat and blood has been put into it.
Last I have is that while there is probably (though I'm not 100% certain) that most of these committees do not have to have the 3 day written notification of agendas and such that some do (like the council, GEDC, Zoning), it sure would be nice if they posted on the city website that a meeting is planned so that if someone wanted to present an idea to that committee it was available to them. I'm certain our city secretary could post in the agendas and announcements section of our website any upcoming meetings in a heart beat. I wouldn't have a clue how to present something to most of the committees, because I don't know who they are or when/where they meet.
Right now most people in Gonzales don't even know 1/2 the committees we have (btw, ALL committees are to be appointed by the city council per our city charter), much less their function or who is involved. I personally think it's time to give the recognition to the hard workers, their works, and to come together at our central governing body, our city council, to make sure we are all working together in a single direction, after all it's their job.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Beginning to Think
Ok, so the quote of the night from last nights council meeting was "So after everything happening out at JB Wells we started thinking." To protect the guilty I'm going to leave the names out. But honestly I had to do everything I could to keep from rolling out of my chair. My councilman shot me the "please quit laughing before I start laughing too" look. I was just grateful the speaker was facing away from me and couldn't see me.
So I'm assuming we're finally starting to think about JB Wells and how we operate it. That the hundreds of thousands of dollars we've pissed away weren't enough to get the attention of those in our city offices, it took police and firing of individuals to finally get people thinking.
I hope in the mean time all the other department heads are 'thinking' too. That they realize that this is no longer an open checkbook town with a bottomless pit of being able to get anything they want. I know that some departments have struggled over the years more than others, but even those have gotten 'luxuries' compared to our surrounding cities.
We (our city) has to get back to basics! If we don't need it right now we can't afford it. And as I tell my teenagers, there are HUGE differences between what we want and what we need. I would love to have a water system pumping 10x the water we have with great water pressure throughout town and lots to spare, with roads paved of gold and no potholes or dips that rip out the underside of my car, with roads like Ft. Wahl passable, with stoplights in sync, and great parks with walking trails, and St. George street finished, and our canoe trail finished, and and and and and....but some of these things are not needed right now (though some of them are).
Earlier this year, our city council sat down for weeks on end, working with the interim city manager and all of the department heads coming up with a budget of things that were necessary to run our town for this year. Necessary being the key word. Since that time we've added about $500,000 (that's right a half a MILLION dollars in expenditures) to that budget, with a 6 - 15 million project additional in that. All this with a budget that was already 1.5 million in the hole. That alone was a tough amount to swallow.
So why are we continuing to spend? Why are we adding non-budgeted items every meeting to our burden? The item that was in question last night was honestly a partially budgeted item. The city if finally purchasing some software that will track payments for the RVs, our city cemetery, and other elements of our city that have been run out of a shoe box in the past. Of the $31,000 that they approved, $25,000 was budgeted. It was the additional modules to run the RV slots and cemetery an a couple of other $$$ management pieces that make up the $6,000 not budgeted. And honestly we've needed something there, but why didn't we budget for this 2 years ago, hell 5 years ago when we put in JB Wells?
I'm hoping that our city listens to what was said and follows through, and honestly 'begins to think' about how we're operating all aspects of our city right now.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
So I'm assuming we're finally starting to think about JB Wells and how we operate it. That the hundreds of thousands of dollars we've pissed away weren't enough to get the attention of those in our city offices, it took police and firing of individuals to finally get people thinking.
I hope in the mean time all the other department heads are 'thinking' too. That they realize that this is no longer an open checkbook town with a bottomless pit of being able to get anything they want. I know that some departments have struggled over the years more than others, but even those have gotten 'luxuries' compared to our surrounding cities.
We (our city) has to get back to basics! If we don't need it right now we can't afford it. And as I tell my teenagers, there are HUGE differences between what we want and what we need. I would love to have a water system pumping 10x the water we have with great water pressure throughout town and lots to spare, with roads paved of gold and no potholes or dips that rip out the underside of my car, with roads like Ft. Wahl passable, with stoplights in sync, and great parks with walking trails, and St. George street finished, and our canoe trail finished, and and and and and....but some of these things are not needed right now (though some of them are).
Earlier this year, our city council sat down for weeks on end, working with the interim city manager and all of the department heads coming up with a budget of things that were necessary to run our town for this year. Necessary being the key word. Since that time we've added about $500,000 (that's right a half a MILLION dollars in expenditures) to that budget, with a 6 - 15 million project additional in that. All this with a budget that was already 1.5 million in the hole. That alone was a tough amount to swallow.
So why are we continuing to spend? Why are we adding non-budgeted items every meeting to our burden? The item that was in question last night was honestly a partially budgeted item. The city if finally purchasing some software that will track payments for the RVs, our city cemetery, and other elements of our city that have been run out of a shoe box in the past. Of the $31,000 that they approved, $25,000 was budgeted. It was the additional modules to run the RV slots and cemetery an a couple of other $$$ management pieces that make up the $6,000 not budgeted. And honestly we've needed something there, but why didn't we budget for this 2 years ago, hell 5 years ago when we put in JB Wells?
I'm hoping that our city listens to what was said and follows through, and honestly 'begins to think' about how we're operating all aspects of our city right now.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Monday, August 29, 2011
Property Taxes
Ok, tomorrow (Tuesday night at 530) we have a public hearing on raising the property taxes in Gonzales. There will be a second hearing at the regularly scheduled council meeting September 6th.
Now I want to make this clear, I don't want to misrepresent the situation at hand. At the last council meeting Councilman Logan made the motion to keep the rate of our taxes the same as they were last year. Per state law though this is actually an increase because of the increase in property values, and as such they must have these public hearings and vote on it as an increase in our tax rates. It is not because they have increased the percentage of taxation on the value of our homes.
In order to keep the amount of taxation the same, the council must (and still could) vote to have the effective tax rate put in place where the percentage would go down, but our individual taxes would be about the same.
So here we go, and I actually have 2 trains of thought here, one of them probably not as popular as the other one.
First to keep the tax rate the same will increase taxes by $21,000 for the city of Gonzales. To quote our Interim City Manager, "This won't even buy a new vehicle for the city". Now he was trying to say how little this was, and I'm going to tell you for all it's worth it's not even enough to purchase a new vehicle, so way are we wasting our time and money going through all this effort?
Additionally, and more importantly, if we wanted $21,000 all we would of had to do is cancel any one of the council meetings over the last 6 months. In that time they have added to our already 1.5 million dollar deficit at the rate of about $100,000 a meeting. We've added to the airport (don't you use it?), we've paid study after study after study and consultant after consultant that in my personal opinion could have waited till we till we have recuperated from the debacle of our previous management. Even on tomorrows agenda there are what appear to be unbudgeted items.
I always thought that's what we had a budget process for, you budget, you work the budget, and unless it's an EMERGENCY then you work towards next years budget to get the new stuff added. I haven't seen anything that was an EMERGENCY at any of the meetings I've attended (which is a vast majority of them). Why bother putting together a budget if we're not going to follow it?
Additionally I keep hearing about all this oil money, and yet our income actual vs budget was down by 3% last time I looked, meaning we're 3% shy of what we were anticipating receiving in funds for the city this year for this time period. In addition to that we were over budget in spending, in no small part to JB Wells excessive over budget spending YTD. So we're not getting as much as we hoped, and we're spending more than we said we would. Surprise!
So to be very clear, I'm in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM in favor of the proposed tax rate the way it is laid out right now.
Now comes the part I'm sure a few more will not agree with. I'm not all together opposed to a tax increase. I don't think economically it's really the time, but here's what I told one of our council members.
If the council would come up with a real plan for road and infrastructure improvements, and say we have a 5 year plan, I would be ok with a real tax increase as long as they would decrease the taxes at the end of that 5 years.
I've seen it done in San Antonio, and it can work! BUT and I mean BUT that has to be a set in stone, the money from that increase goes to specific projects that we the people have approved, and at the end of the time period the increase has got to drop back down and the city not count on any of that money in the future. Way to often a council will come up with any excuse to keep the taxes up, but that can not happen! This can not become another "vote for the lottery to pay for our schools" slogan either. This has to be very specific what these monies would be raised for and when they were the taxes would go away.
But if those conditions would be met and our infrastructure was the target of the needed money I would be in support.
But I promise you that the $20,000 that our council is dealing with is a waste of the public hearings and nothing more than a game someone is playing. Let your councilman know that you expect him to vote for the "effective rate" in 2 weeks. That there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE to vote for the rate as it's proposed right now. How about make a trip to one of the 2 city council meetings and speak up for yourself? Tomorrow at 5:30 or next Tuesday at 6.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Now I want to make this clear, I don't want to misrepresent the situation at hand. At the last council meeting Councilman Logan made the motion to keep the rate of our taxes the same as they were last year. Per state law though this is actually an increase because of the increase in property values, and as such they must have these public hearings and vote on it as an increase in our tax rates. It is not because they have increased the percentage of taxation on the value of our homes.
In order to keep the amount of taxation the same, the council must (and still could) vote to have the effective tax rate put in place where the percentage would go down, but our individual taxes would be about the same.
So here we go, and I actually have 2 trains of thought here, one of them probably not as popular as the other one.
First to keep the tax rate the same will increase taxes by $21,000 for the city of Gonzales. To quote our Interim City Manager, "This won't even buy a new vehicle for the city". Now he was trying to say how little this was, and I'm going to tell you for all it's worth it's not even enough to purchase a new vehicle, so way are we wasting our time and money going through all this effort?
Additionally, and more importantly, if we wanted $21,000 all we would of had to do is cancel any one of the council meetings over the last 6 months. In that time they have added to our already 1.5 million dollar deficit at the rate of about $100,000 a meeting. We've added to the airport (don't you use it?), we've paid study after study after study and consultant after consultant that in my personal opinion could have waited till we till we have recuperated from the debacle of our previous management. Even on tomorrows agenda there are what appear to be unbudgeted items.
I always thought that's what we had a budget process for, you budget, you work the budget, and unless it's an EMERGENCY then you work towards next years budget to get the new stuff added. I haven't seen anything that was an EMERGENCY at any of the meetings I've attended (which is a vast majority of them). Why bother putting together a budget if we're not going to follow it?
Additionally I keep hearing about all this oil money, and yet our income actual vs budget was down by 3% last time I looked, meaning we're 3% shy of what we were anticipating receiving in funds for the city this year for this time period. In addition to that we were over budget in spending, in no small part to JB Wells excessive over budget spending YTD. So we're not getting as much as we hoped, and we're spending more than we said we would. Surprise!
So to be very clear, I'm in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM in favor of the proposed tax rate the way it is laid out right now.
Now comes the part I'm sure a few more will not agree with. I'm not all together opposed to a tax increase. I don't think economically it's really the time, but here's what I told one of our council members.
If the council would come up with a real plan for road and infrastructure improvements, and say we have a 5 year plan, I would be ok with a real tax increase as long as they would decrease the taxes at the end of that 5 years.
I've seen it done in San Antonio, and it can work! BUT and I mean BUT that has to be a set in stone, the money from that increase goes to specific projects that we the people have approved, and at the end of the time period the increase has got to drop back down and the city not count on any of that money in the future. Way to often a council will come up with any excuse to keep the taxes up, but that can not happen! This can not become another "vote for the lottery to pay for our schools" slogan either. This has to be very specific what these monies would be raised for and when they were the taxes would go away.
But if those conditions would be met and our infrastructure was the target of the needed money I would be in support.
But I promise you that the $20,000 that our council is dealing with is a waste of the public hearings and nothing more than a game someone is playing. Let your councilman know that you expect him to vote for the "effective rate" in 2 weeks. That there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE to vote for the rate as it's proposed right now. How about make a trip to one of the 2 city council meetings and speak up for yourself? Tomorrow at 5:30 or next Tuesday at 6.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Grant and District Attorney Heather McMinn
Ok, so I've received no less than a dozen phone calls and dozens of emails asking me about my thoughts on the Grant decision. So here we go.
First of all, if you've been hiding under a rock for the last year, you probably don't know that I filled a report with with the Gonzales City Police Department that was turned over to District Attorney Heather McMinns' office, and they "lost" it. The police department refiled the charges and in over 3 months nothing has happened.
The report I filled was on Mayor Bobby O'Neal over his action after the firing of then City Manager David Huseman, and the subsequent check that was issued containing an illegal pay raise and back pay that had not been approved by the city council.
Now this is the same Mayor Bobby O'Neal that District Attorney Heather McMinn refused to prosecute back in 2009/2010 for the same voter fraud that Mr Grant is being charged with, because of "Political Pressures" and her office didn't have the resources to prosecute the charges. (For more read my old blog Justice Gonzales Style)
So honestly I'm not one bit surprised. District Attorney Heather McMinn has proven time and time again that she is incapable of prosecuting anything of a political nature. I truly believe that if she is re-elected again in May that Mayor O'Neal will retire with not so much as a slap on the wrist for his actions.
As for Mr. Grant, the 'second chance' was given to him a year ago when he failed to follow through with his probation. So now for a third chance we'll see if he's smart enough to take it and run. Do I think it's right? Nope I don't, but I don't expect anything else from District Attorney Heather McMinn and her office.
So once again "Call the DAs office. Call, let them know that if there was an illegal actions they BEST prosecute!" then "Vote in this next election! Let those involved know WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS KIND OF CONDUCT! Let everyone know we will remove anyone and everyone involved, that INCLUDES the DA!"
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
First of all, if you've been hiding under a rock for the last year, you probably don't know that I filled a report with with the Gonzales City Police Department that was turned over to District Attorney Heather McMinns' office, and they "lost" it. The police department refiled the charges and in over 3 months nothing has happened.
The report I filled was on Mayor Bobby O'Neal over his action after the firing of then City Manager David Huseman, and the subsequent check that was issued containing an illegal pay raise and back pay that had not been approved by the city council.
Now this is the same Mayor Bobby O'Neal that District Attorney Heather McMinn refused to prosecute back in 2009/2010 for the same voter fraud that Mr Grant is being charged with, because of "Political Pressures" and her office didn't have the resources to prosecute the charges. (For more read my old blog Justice Gonzales Style)
So honestly I'm not one bit surprised. District Attorney Heather McMinn has proven time and time again that she is incapable of prosecuting anything of a political nature. I truly believe that if she is re-elected again in May that Mayor O'Neal will retire with not so much as a slap on the wrist for his actions.
As for Mr. Grant, the 'second chance' was given to him a year ago when he failed to follow through with his probation. So now for a third chance we'll see if he's smart enough to take it and run. Do I think it's right? Nope I don't, but I don't expect anything else from District Attorney Heather McMinn and her office.
So once again "Call the DAs office. Call, let them know that if there was an illegal actions they BEST prosecute!" then "Vote in this next election! Let those involved know WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS KIND OF CONDUCT! Let everyone know we will remove anyone and everyone involved, that INCLUDES the DA!"
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Saturday, August 13, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Catching Up With Times
I believe I've mentioned a couple of these things before, but I think it's time to reiterate them, as we are winding down the interim city manager, and should be close to getting our next city manager. Now part of these pet peeves is because I'm an IT guy, and know how easy some of this technology is to implement. Part of it is because of the pain I know it is to obtain information sometimes about our city.
And before I go on, I'm not saying any of this is standards any other city uses. Honestly I don't know one way or another. But I'm saying they are standards that are readily available to us that many industries are using to assist in their issues of getting information to those that use it.
So first is an RSS feed. This is a way that the city would passively notify anyone who was interested in keeping up with meeting notifications. By law the city must notify us when they are going to have a meeting. They do this by letting newspapers and radio stations know, and in our case they also put it on the city website.
If you choose, you can go to the website every night and know what meetings were posted. What an RSS feed would do is allow me to be notified when the website is updated. How? My computer knows that I want to watch the city's page, and every time I go online it will check to see if there have been any changes made and if so let me know. There are many of you (over 200) that have RSS feeds tied to this blog. It would work the same way. I wouldn't have to go to the website to see if anything has changed, and yet as soon as it does, I know I can go check it out. This is inexpensive to set up, and honestly you would use existing code to update the website.
Second thing I would like to see is documentation put into electronic format for the public. What the heck am I talking about? Have you ever noticed the books that our councilmen carry to the meetings? These are documents of information given to the councilmen so that they can make informed decisions. The news medias also receive these packages approximately 72 hours before the meetings.
Now to print these documents are something. They are nothing shy of small books at times, and when things like the budget get put in them, they are large books. You may request a copy and pay a small fortune for them, but honestly, why would anyone want to waste that much paper?
It would take nothing for the city to 'publish' these documents in pdf format and place them on the city website up with the notification of a meeting. Why should they do this? Well to start with its nothing that's suppose to be hidden in the first place, all open for public dissemination. The 'Freedom of Information Act' insured that. Second it would eliminate a lot of questions the public has as to why some things have happened. After looking at some of the information presented to the councilmen over the last year I know why they decided some things, even though I think had I realized that's what they were looking at I might have been able to shine some light not in those little booklets.
Want to know what's happening on GEDC? Board of Adjustments? City Council? These 2 very readily available technologies, would make those available to the public. I'm almost certain that we already own and use the technology to scan and put documents to PDF, as most current copiers do this. And our website would take a minimal of adjustments to make it RSS Feed capable.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
And before I go on, I'm not saying any of this is standards any other city uses. Honestly I don't know one way or another. But I'm saying they are standards that are readily available to us that many industries are using to assist in their issues of getting information to those that use it.
So first is an RSS feed. This is a way that the city would passively notify anyone who was interested in keeping up with meeting notifications. By law the city must notify us when they are going to have a meeting. They do this by letting newspapers and radio stations know, and in our case they also put it on the city website.
If you choose, you can go to the website every night and know what meetings were posted. What an RSS feed would do is allow me to be notified when the website is updated. How? My computer knows that I want to watch the city's page, and every time I go online it will check to see if there have been any changes made and if so let me know. There are many of you (over 200) that have RSS feeds tied to this blog. It would work the same way. I wouldn't have to go to the website to see if anything has changed, and yet as soon as it does, I know I can go check it out. This is inexpensive to set up, and honestly you would use existing code to update the website.
Second thing I would like to see is documentation put into electronic format for the public. What the heck am I talking about? Have you ever noticed the books that our councilmen carry to the meetings? These are documents of information given to the councilmen so that they can make informed decisions. The news medias also receive these packages approximately 72 hours before the meetings.
Now to print these documents are something. They are nothing shy of small books at times, and when things like the budget get put in them, they are large books. You may request a copy and pay a small fortune for them, but honestly, why would anyone want to waste that much paper?
It would take nothing for the city to 'publish' these documents in pdf format and place them on the city website up with the notification of a meeting. Why should they do this? Well to start with its nothing that's suppose to be hidden in the first place, all open for public dissemination. The 'Freedom of Information Act' insured that. Second it would eliminate a lot of questions the public has as to why some things have happened. After looking at some of the information presented to the councilmen over the last year I know why they decided some things, even though I think had I realized that's what they were looking at I might have been able to shine some light not in those little booklets.
Want to know what's happening on GEDC? Board of Adjustments? City Council? These 2 very readily available technologies, would make those available to the public. I'm almost certain that we already own and use the technology to scan and put documents to PDF, as most current copiers do this. And our website would take a minimal of adjustments to make it RSS Feed capable.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
$5,000,000 or was that $15,000,000+
I have to give it to Mr. Windwehen, he calls a spade a spade and I like that about him.
In last nights meeting after the presentation by LNV on our water system he gave his review. In short, and this is my condensed version, 'you failed to plan 7 years ago when this was brought to your attention, so now you have no options but to go outside for money. If you'd done your job, you would of raised rates then in anticipation of this, and had capitol to pay for it, but you didn't.' Yeap, that's a spade. and as far as I can tell there were 2 on our council back then when this happened.
If you haven't read my blog from May 30, 2011 - A Bit Bothered click on the link and brush up on where we are.
So LNV came in and gave a proposal to replace our filters to gravity filters, which are much new technology and apparently something TQEC are wanting us to do for compliance. They listed several areas that needed addressing on our 90 year old water plant.
In short to 'fix' the plant is just over $5,300,000. But fixing the plant just delays the inevitable, and that's that our plant needs to be replace at just over $15,000,0000.
There were a couple of other items that honestly I'm not sure I totally understand. We have 2 free standing pipes that hold water if I understood correctly that apparently have issues with the water not churning properly, and to fix those are just over $150,000 each.
To fix the Hwy 97 well is still being evaluated, but they expect the sulphur remove would be automatic if run over a chiller tank, so they are testing that out, but to run that would be around $200,000. We would then have to see what problems would be cause by mixing ground and surface water, so we don't really have a final there.
So get ready, because you are about to hear the words 'bonds' come up to pay for this. Even a 20 year bond would be $1,000,000 a year in payback.
I want to make this clear, I'm certain our water system needs work/replace. I'm upset that over the last 10 years we haven't been planning for this, and for the record that went way before Mr. Huseman, he just continued to let the ball sit in the corner and ignore it. I'm upset that instead of all those who have used the water over that time, didn't pay for this, so not only do we have to pay for this now, but if we are going to be good citizens we have to start planning for the future and putting some aside for the next go around. What a horrible burden to be place on those of us living here right now.
In the next couple of days I'll write about our streets and the situations there. But once again, a lack of planning, poor city managers, and our city councils over the last 15 years or so lack of action has brought us to this point.
For those of you who don't know, almost every Tuesday night there has been a special called meeting of the council trying to clean out the cobwebs in our closets and cleaning up the mess left by previous administrations. They have meet at least 3-4 time a month since February. Honestly, it's not what they signed up for, but it's what it's taking to try to clean up some of this mess. I can't tell you how lucky we are that Mr. Windwehen came along when he did. I'm afraid it would of been to late for many things in our city if we'd of stayed status quo much longer.
The 'we'll get around to it' or sweep the problems under the rug attitude that previous administrations have worked under have gotten us here, under funded, broken down, and overwhelmed.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
In last nights meeting after the presentation by LNV on our water system he gave his review. In short, and this is my condensed version, 'you failed to plan 7 years ago when this was brought to your attention, so now you have no options but to go outside for money. If you'd done your job, you would of raised rates then in anticipation of this, and had capitol to pay for it, but you didn't.' Yeap, that's a spade. and as far as I can tell there were 2 on our council back then when this happened.
If you haven't read my blog from May 30, 2011 - A Bit Bothered click on the link and brush up on where we are.
So LNV came in and gave a proposal to replace our filters to gravity filters, which are much new technology and apparently something TQEC are wanting us to do for compliance. They listed several areas that needed addressing on our 90 year old water plant.
In short to 'fix' the plant is just over $5,300,000. But fixing the plant just delays the inevitable, and that's that our plant needs to be replace at just over $15,000,0000.
There were a couple of other items that honestly I'm not sure I totally understand. We have 2 free standing pipes that hold water if I understood correctly that apparently have issues with the water not churning properly, and to fix those are just over $150,000 each.
To fix the Hwy 97 well is still being evaluated, but they expect the sulphur remove would be automatic if run over a chiller tank, so they are testing that out, but to run that would be around $200,000. We would then have to see what problems would be cause by mixing ground and surface water, so we don't really have a final there.
So get ready, because you are about to hear the words 'bonds' come up to pay for this. Even a 20 year bond would be $1,000,000 a year in payback.
I want to make this clear, I'm certain our water system needs work/replace. I'm upset that over the last 10 years we haven't been planning for this, and for the record that went way before Mr. Huseman, he just continued to let the ball sit in the corner and ignore it. I'm upset that instead of all those who have used the water over that time, didn't pay for this, so not only do we have to pay for this now, but if we are going to be good citizens we have to start planning for the future and putting some aside for the next go around. What a horrible burden to be place on those of us living here right now.
In the next couple of days I'll write about our streets and the situations there. But once again, a lack of planning, poor city managers, and our city councils over the last 15 years or so lack of action has brought us to this point.
For those of you who don't know, almost every Tuesday night there has been a special called meeting of the council trying to clean out the cobwebs in our closets and cleaning up the mess left by previous administrations. They have meet at least 3-4 time a month since February. Honestly, it's not what they signed up for, but it's what it's taking to try to clean up some of this mess. I can't tell you how lucky we are that Mr. Windwehen came along when he did. I'm afraid it would of been to late for many things in our city if we'd of stayed status quo much longer.
The 'we'll get around to it' or sweep the problems under the rug attitude that previous administrations have worked under have gotten us here, under funded, broken down, and overwhelmed.
God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)