Send us an email to add your blog to this page>
|
Councilman Senley's Place
|
Supporting Open Government in Phoenixville, using a crowbar as necessary.
|
-
Progress is Being Made ...
The most recent update on the proposed 2010 Borough budget is that things are moving in the right direction.
We are in good shape in the fee-for-service areas. The sanitation fund requires no increase to remain solvent; trash collection rates are trending to have no increase in 2010. The water and sewer funds currently estimate a 2% and 6% increase in their respective rates for next year; this is certainly manageable.
The challenge is continuing to close the gap in the budget areas which are funded by tax revenues. That amount is currently around $450,000; if no additional cuts are made, the approximate property tax increase to cover this gap is around 18%.
I commend staff (led by Manager Krack and Finance Director Nease) for getting the numbers in order for our review and discussion, and proactively working toward reducing the gap.
We still have some work to do. Please continue to reach out to your Councilmen with your input on how we can best serve you.
-
Inter-Borough Snail Mail?
At last week's Borough Council meeting, a letter was read into the record by President Wagner from Adam Deveney, the 5-year appointee to the Parking Authority. The letter was Adam's resignation from the Authority, citing other volunteer commitments that were a limiting factor in his available time.
I thank Adam for his 16 months service to the Parking Authority.
Hopefully he also has filed the required ethics form in accordance with state law (since resigning does not solve that issue). He'll also have to file it next year by May 1 2010, having been in a publicly appointed post during the 2009 year.
Obviously, the President is now looking for a new Parking Authority appointee. I suggest that anyone interested contact him at hwagner@phoenixville.org. The President makes the appointments, then Council ratifies them with a vote on the floor.
Now, I know that people moan and groan about the post office. Normally this is done in scapegoat fashion to draw attention to "things run by the federal government" being of reduced quality and efficiency than the private sector. Quite frankly I think our Phoenixville post office locally does a good job; they're all friendly folks who take care of business.
However, they appear to be remiss in one important instance of mail delivery.
Adam's letter of resignation to President Wagner was dated August 12. Council and the public heard about it on September 8.
This is no big deal, right. Perhaps we didn't have any Council meetings between August 12 and September 8.
Well ... Not exactly. August 12 is 13 days before the August 25 Council Meeting. That's the one where the public hearing was conducted on the Borough ordinance to guaranty the $100,000 loan for the Parking Authority.
Hum ...
Ah, OK. Perhaps President Wagner was not in attendance at that meeting, being on vacation or dealing with work obligations as we all need to do from time to time. In that case he has some excuse for not presenting the information publicly at that meeting. That's it.
Well ... Not exactly ... He was indeed present according to the TV broadcast and the meeting minutes.
Hum ...
Well, now there's no one left to blame except the Post Office, who seemingly took somewhere between 14 and 27 days to deliver this important inter-Borough communication.
Hum ...
Hummmmmm ...
Nawwww ... I can't really believe that one, as they can get things across the country and to the other side of the Earth in much less time than that, even at the cheapest available rates.
There must be another reason ...
Hum ...
...
Hummmmmmmmm ...
...
...
...
Well shucks, I'm fresh out of ideas as to how this could have happened.
I guess we just forget about it and move on, right?
...
...
Hum ...
-
Creative Scissoring
As you may have read on other blogs or in The Mercury, we began the 2010 budget season earlier this month with a budget gap of approximately $1,300,000. Bear in mind that this is only the initial projection; historically the initial projections are rarely good news. Treat this as simply information, and not a red alert at this moment.
The main difference in the past 2 years is that this information has been compiled and projected to Council and the public in late August / early September instead of a mad rush between Thanksgiving and Christmas. President Wagner thanked a number of people following completion of the presentation to Council at the September 8 meeting (while consciously or unconsciously omitting your humble blogger, the person that set the timing policy as Finance Committee chair).
Borough Manager Krack and Finance Director Nease worked diligently with department heads and staff to prepare what the Finance Committee asked for, when they asked for it. All deserve kudos for doing so.
It is now Council's prerogative to make some difficult decisions in a continued floundering economy.
We have already reduced the $1,300,000 down to around $1,006,000 by enacting a hiring freeze and postponing a phone system replacement project, saving $160,000 and $80,000 respectively. While that's progress in the right direction, if we just stop there we're looking at around a 41% increase in Borough property taxes to close the gap.
Very few (if any) believe that is the right thing to do.
Apparently there's no increase in the cost of living this year, as the federal government has chosen not to increase social security payouts for 2010 beyond their current level. I personally used the COLA last year as my baseline for the highest acceptable Borough tax increase; if I use it again, that means I'm shooting for 0%.
While this is a distant possibility, such a goal regrettably pushes practicality boundaries. We're dealing with flat tax revenue projections, union-contracted salary increases, and significant pension plan gaps that we are required by law to fill. None of these factors increase (or even contribute to maintaining) the services we currently provide; so from the budgeting perspective, this is "money for nothing".
Feel free to speak your mind and discuss here; however, please recognize that it is most important to reach out to your Councilmen personally by phone call or e-mail with your thoughts and ideas on prioritizing what your Borough spends your tax dollars on.
If your Councilmen are unresponsive, please feel free to send a copy of your thoughts to me at jsenley@phoenixville.org and I will ensure that they are brought to the floor of the Finance Committee.
-
Blogroll Update
The link to The Phoenix has been replaced with a link to The Mercury on my Blogroll.
In this person's opinion, following the changes in editorship, delivery schedule, and the move of Dennis Wright to The Mercury, there just isn't anything of interest there any more, in print or online. It will likely be gone within a year anyhow, so enjoy your "Saturday advertising supplement" while it is still offered.
I may continue to pick it up as a point of general information; however, it will have minimal utility as I don't own any exotic birds.
-
Notice: Finance Committee Meetings
Finance Committee meetings have been moved from the 4th Tuesday of the month at 9PM to the 3rd Monday of each month at 7PM.
The move was approved last month after verifying that the budget is able to support this change while maintaining the transparency of television coverage for the public's benefit.
As those who watch the broadcasts know, television coverage of your Borough Council's Committee Meetings was cancelled following President Wagner's restructuring of Committees earlier this year. This is presidential prerogative.
Some time ago in the interest of open government, I made the motion to resume televising the Finance Committee meetings as Committee Chair; this motion passed 5 to 1, Mr. Ciruelos dissenting, and Mr. Wagner and Mr. Kirkner having been absent from that meeting.
At a recent meeting, a motion was made to stop televising "all Committee meetings" (which implicitly meant to stop televising the Finance Committee, as it is the only committee meeting still televised). This motion was defeated.
So, for the moment, at least your Finance Committee remains open and transparent.
-
Former Council President John Messina
I've received word that my North Ward predecessor, former Council President John Messina, has died after a battle with cancer at age 62.
I never had any personal exchanges with John; I knew him pretty much as the rest of Phoenixville knew him through his Planning Commission and Borough Council roles. While it is no secret that John and I had divergent political views, that does not change the fact that he was a significant public service contributor to Phoenixville over the last decade.
I hope you will join me in wishing his loved ones comfort in their time of mourning.
-
A Turd Without A Ribbon
By now, you've likely already heard the news that Jan Potts, Paul Slaninka and Debbie Dawson are worthy of future re-election to the PASD School Board due to their firm stance that the current library expansion proposal (political turd that it is) just isn't ready for prime time.
They were the dissenting votes last Thursday evening at the PASD school board meeting. For details, click on the title of this blog entry to go to an article in The Phoenix by Joe Rooney that documents the proceedings; you can also watch the meeting on the school district's public access channel.
I offer my personal kudos to Jan, Paul and Debbie (especially Jan, who spoke eloquently stating all the reasons to vote against the acceptance of the 2nd Avenue vacation).
The school board did one good thing; indemnify themselves against any lawsuits. Apparently the Library Board will take on all comers. (Somehow, I think the taxpayers are still going to foot the bill on the upcoming legal battles; this will just make it less visible to them).
While the plan may be a good one for an area where they don't need to build it in the middle of the street, it's just not going to work out here. I firmly believe that it's conceptually fraudulent to lead the Library patrons to believe that this plan will ever actually move forward as defined.
Just go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that works. You can't make your own rules because you've decided you're "too big to fail" and you're planning on breaking most of the existing ones.
For a future failure example, (or if you have a functional Crystal Ball), take a look at the federal government's treatment of GM 5 years from now; let me know how that ended up going.
-
Support A Realistic Library Expansion
FYI for fans (if I have any left), I will try to return to the blogging arena on the weekends going forward.
Since I have taken some extended time off from the blogging world, expansion of our library seems to be one of the big issues facing our Borough; big enough to get examination by at least 1 Philadelphia-based TV station's news department (WCAU). It's either a big deal or it was a slow news day; it's hard to tell.
It seems that most people agree that an expansion of the Phoenixville Public Library is necessary. Based on the materials sent by director John Kelley, I am one of that large majority who support the need for an expansion. Our Library is a great community asset, and a very well-patronized cog in the Chesco Library System wheel.
What isn't universally agreed on is the efficacy of the current plan created by the Library Board. If in a different location (perhaps a different Borough where you wouldn't need to build it in the middle of the street), there are lots of great things in the plan. However, in the context of Phoenixville where this proposed plan is to be implemented, I am unable to see any workable logic.
Now, let's have some nice, opinionated discussion points.
In reasonably clear votes intended to retire themselves from public service, some members of Borough Council voted in favor of closing off a public right-of-way so the Library can build on top of it. Though it is clear that regardless of closing the public street the Library is going to need much more space than that for parking, that notion was determined to be "for another day".
Ohhh, wait, never mind. I've got the answer.
They'll just use existing parking that is used by Borough residents today instead. Yea, that must be the plan. Then when that becomes unworkable, Reeves Park will become Reeves Parking Lot.
Originally, I thought they were going to suggest some parking on the roof, but this weekend's article in The Phoenix dispelled any possibility of that since it was stated that they cannot expand upward because the building structure won't support that. If you can't put books and people up there, you can't put cars up there either.
Later this week, some members of the PASD school board will likely engage in signing up for the same early retirement package; unless of course they think no one's going to be out to vote in November since we're all burned out from last year's "Obamanation".
They will be voting to spend possibly the most important $1 of your school taxpayer money this year; whether or not to purchase the "required" Second Avenue put on the selling block by the Borough. They're really voting to spend 10s of thousands more than that (mostly on legal fees) over the next few years before a project could even possibly begin.
The Phoenix article (misspelling Tom Carnevale's name a second way after previously incorrectly spelling it as "Carnivale") states that "A vote of 'no,' according to Carnavale, will set any library expansion back by two years".
While a nice diversionary tactic, Carnevale's threat wouldn't be strong enough to "force" me into a 'yes' vote if I were a member of the PASD. I don't profess genius; but I know enough to recognize that statement as the pile that it is.
In reality, a 'no' vote would simply be the public indicator of the ineptitude associated with plan ill-conceived on broad assumption and ignorance of zoning laws by people who should know better. The plan and its creators would be responsible, not the PASD.
Council has already done their rubber-stamping of the project; only the PASD is left to agree to be gifted the land. Can the PASD find the gumption as an elected body to turn down such an apparent sweetheart deal? Would you? $1?
I'll try to let you know what happened next weekend.
-
Ciruelos Reprises James Brown
Earlier this week at our regularly-scheduled Borough Council meeting, one of the items on the agenda was the conditional use hearing for the Phoenixville Hospital's helipad. As some of you know, helicopters transporting patients from the hospital have been landing at Friendship Field and the high school; not the best solution.
The hospital came prepared with well-done and thorough presentations and 4 experts. All relevant questions were asked and answered per the standard hearing procedure, and we were ready to complete the hearing procedure and vote.
But things were not to wrap up immediately; a member needed an "I feel good" moment.
During the process, Councilman Ciruelos brought up a new condition: video surveillance of the helipad area. He asked for other Council collegaue input on the subject. He received crickets.
The reason he received crickets is that the helipad is a secure area 4 stories above the ground; it is not publicly accessible. The security and access protocol was discussed and delineated by hospital personnel. I (assumedly along with most others) was quite comfortable based on that discussion that this is not a public safety concern. No one's going to be able to get up or down from there except through security doors.
So we're ready to vote, right?
No no ... Crickets wasn't enough of a hint the first time; Ciruelos brings up the issue again. Granted, 2 planning commission members spoke in favor of examining the possibility during the public hearing, though they did not make this one of their recommended conditions in their unanimous approval action memo. It was a consideration, it was considered, and it clearly didn't have support of Council.
So the motion is made for approval. Ciruelos requests an amendment to add the condition; the motion-maker denies, citing apparent lack of Council support.
Ciruelos then makes a second request for an amendment to "have the hospital consider video surveillance", the key word being "consider".
What does this mean? It means absolutely nothing.
It accomplished absolutely nothing.
Oh wait ...
It accomplished one thing. It made Ciruelos "feel good".
Conditions imposed by Council and approved as a result of the hearing process are (generally) required to be obeyed before the project can move forward. These are meant to be important things which must be complied with, such as meeting all conditions as documented in the fire chief's memo attached to the Planning Commission's action memo, or being in full compliance with the FAA's site assessment memo.
What the hospital must do with this condition is "consider" it. I don't know if they have to document their consideration with a risk assessment, provide a memo or some paperwork somewhere to someone to indicate that the item received consideration, or something else, or none of the above.
I'm sure they "considered" it on the way to Iron Hill that evening, or perhaps even before leaving the hearing, and the "consideration" is now over.
It's a useless bullet item on a list that is otherwise 100% necessary. I think it devalues the entire process by someone adding "desirable" conditions.
But, Mr. Ciruelos can leave the meeting in the "I feel good" mindset at the small cost of a room full of people wasting several minutes of their lives, and this blogger wasting a few more to make the point.
Discussion is good. Ball-less conditions are bad.
"Haaach! Cana geta hot tub? Aaaooooowww!"
-
What's Your New Local Newspaper?
Now that The Phoenix has become a "weekly" (i.e., irrelevant) newspaper, what will your new local paper be?
The 2 choices seem to be The Mercury and The Daily Local. The former is geographically closer to us but is a Montgomery County publication; the latter is centered on the West Chester area but is a Chester County publication.
I'm not saying that no one will read the weekend Phoenix; I guess we'll have to see what's in there on its first iteration as such this coming weekend. But if you still read a weekend newspaper, I'd ration a guess that its been and will probably continue to be the Philadelphia Inquirer (until they go into formal bankruptcy).
One wonders what the college professors in the Journalism arena are teaching with respect to the future of newspapers. Make a note to yourself in 5 years to see in that time period how many newspapers (big and small) have gone belly-up.
The reason I'm posing this question is that Borough Council must now do its advertising for meetings, ordinances, etc. in another newspaper since a "weekly" advertisement schedule would slow down our general business proceedings. Hopefully at some point in the future the state will allow us to advertise on our Borough Website (a cheaper option), but at the moment that is still pending legislation.
I noticed around town that The Phoenix "newsboxes" (or whatever they are called in the newspaper trade, where you insert coins to purchase the analog versions) now have "newsboxes" for The Mercury next to them. Seems like someone believes the Borough will gravitate in that direction for its daily news.
Thoughts?
|
|
Overcast (41oF • 5oC)
Area Blogs 
