LBTS  IS NOW A MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT!….

Dear Readers….You may recall from a previous post on the July 14,2009 Commission meeting…Comm. Dodd wanted to waive the fees that would require a business to reimburse the town for the time code personnel spent at the event…Somehow it veered away from what the permit said….

” UNLESS WAIVED BY THE TOWN COMMISSION, TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE, TOWN ADMINISTRATION WILL AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL HOURS TO TOWN STAFF AND THE APPLICANT WILL ACCORDINGLY PROVIDE REIMBURSEMENT TO THE TOWN FOR THIS PRESENCE” ….

It was voted 3-2 not to waive the fees…The same disconnect carried over to the vote on the actual special permit request from Athena when the Vice Mayor again asked if Mr. Marchelos was ever charged…Mr. Marchelos answered it had only been a month or so and he was told by Town staff he would be billed just as the clause in the permit stated. The only way to not be charged was for the Commission to waive it…

BC- and that just was voted down by the “Gang of 3″….

The line of questioning continued with Comm. Clottey and Mr. Marchelos….

CC- ” Yes, Mr Marchelos um, sometimes when people get excited they don’t hear what a person is saying and I have a feeling this is what I’m hearing from you. The Town Manager has said and we’ve also talked to the police chief and he said that if somebody complains about you the police will come there first and if you do what the police ask you to do whatever it is, there, you will not pay anything. Only if you refuse to do what the police as you will there be any charge for a code enforcement officer. So if you have the Town Manager and you say something publicly in a commission meeting I think that overrides anything else that somebody else has told you.”

Louis Marchelos- ” Um, Commissioner Clottey on the permit we sign every Saturday night there is a line in the middle of that page that says we will be charged for fees UNLESS this commission waives it. That’s what it says, so that’s why I am up here. UNLESS this commission waives it they could charge us!”

CC- ” If you do not abide by the police.”

LM- ” It does not say that! It does not say that! Let’s be factual.”

CC- ” Let’s wait , if you do get charged , come back and this commission will take care of it.because I don’t believe you will be.”

LM- ” I got your word on that?”

CC- ” You have my word.”

LM- ” Thank you.”

BC- This writer is told that the permits received this week after the July 14,2009 Commission meeting and this exchange NO LONGER have the original reimbursement clause…It now reads just as Comm. Clottey said…the business will ONLY be charged if BSO comes and then has to call in code!…

How is it possible for the Town Manager to change a permit passed by the Commission (albeit they did not “catch” the original reimbursement clause and were not informed by the staff)….for a 3 month period? ….There was not a motion made or vote taken to remove the one clause and insert the other….WOW!…

BC- The Manager at the end of her diatribe on New Business item 16 c ended with this…” I DO MY JOB AND YOU’RE THE POLITICIANS, I’M NOT. YOU SET POLICY, I DON’T!”…Hmmmm…This writer thinks otherwise….and the above action is just the latest in a long line of unilateral acts!….

BC- No wonder this Town Manager and The Vice Mayor/Deputy Chief are so simpatico!…They operate like soul-mates in their respective roles of authority!…OUCH!…

more to come…..

Tags: fees, local government, Local Politics, Scoops, special permits
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MADAM TOWN MANAGER….

Dear Readers…we have seen from Town Manager Colon that she is quite adept at “pulling the wool over our eyes”…We have seen it in her using the “loopholes” of what is  required for advertising for Department Head positions…She did not go to the Florida League of Cities site or other venues to fill the positions as she promised she would when she took the manager position….At the time she accepted the Town Manager job on the dais she said she wanted top people to work with…But instead she did nothing to find them….Instead she lamely put job positions on the “board” in Town Hall and waited for the time required to lapse…hoping no one would see the ads and then she proceeded to elevate from within the existing department staff people who lacked the proper educational degrees and experience required for even applying for those positions…. Sadly, they have proven time and time again they are substandard in the job she “handed” over to them…from the Assistant TO the Town Manager …(now formally addressed as)  Assistant Town Manager Olinzock…to the Development Director Jeff Bowman…and Town Clerk June White who required an “office Specialist” who is really Assist. to the Town Clerk……The Finance Director’s ability is an unknown for she has Ms. Colon out front and center looking as if she is the de-facto Finance Director doing again what she said she did not want when she accepted the Town Manager job…doing 2 jobs!….In fact she has spoken of the staff wearing “many hats”…It’s true as well for the Assist. TM who is in the Development office…overlooking the Development Director..HMMM…

Our Town Law Firm is where we first saw her “style” of management……Manager Colon (previously posted)  put her foot down when asked to look further for more firms to choose from…Ms. Colon has curtailed access to the Town’s law firm and cut down the use of the firm’s experts acting as  “Chief Bean counter”…..as she and her inferior staff drafted codes, resolutions and ordinances that showed time and time again what bad decisions those were as the items needed to go back to be fixed multiple times and were not up to par in the final results as compared to the previous work done by our prior law firm…At the same time not having the firm on retainer has thwarted open communication for Commissioners…and kept the firm itself from having done the research required…before Commission meetings…

A three year  Audit “extension” was done with an apparent fraudulent claim in the acceptance letter to the Audit firm that the Commission had accepted the three year contract when it found (previously posted) that the Commissioners did not see the actual engagement letter from the Audit Company and did not formally accept, approve or vote on it… …In fact they were “informed” by the Manager what she was doing to the tune of up to $200,000…..( cause for a serious inquiry and /or call for her dismissal in any other Town)….As of this time, armed with the knowledge this took place…nothing has happened!…

Ms Colon is known for putting off acquisitions on big ticket items by waiting until the 11th hour and calling for a quick consent without an RFP due to it now being an “emergency” situation such as the recent parking enforcement hand held devices…We hear she was aware of the need to look for new equipment but rather than do a timely RFP, which would include not only the devices but the yearly contract of the company and the percentage of the tickets…She and her staff put it on the agenda under consent to make it look as if it were just for hand held devices…nothing more…Comm. Dodd picking up on the total package involved and what the real contract cost would be did something different this time when faced the all too familiar “tactics” employed by this Manager when she gives an “ultimatum” of the “sky is falling consequences ” (that will rest squarely on the her inquisitor’s shoulders if they do not allow her to have her way.)…..He did not give in!…As of this date we have seen no RFPs …

Many will recall during the transition when a strong Manager sat on the dais  assuring all of her sole ability to be the oversight for the VFD ….but at the first sign of trouble…big trouble that broke on the very day of the VFD taking over and the Pointu resignation letter that followed……the Manager retreated and did only what was asked of her by certain Commissioners….to appease them…and look as if she did her job…She did not!…Many could not understand it…Surely she was stronger than Vice Mayor McIntee…and independent of his control?…Her actions and planned inaction proved otherwise!…

We wondered why…until we saw the pavilion…and the lack of the pavilion looking anything like what was put before us throughout the planning stages…and realized that she made changes to it…She withheld information of those changes and went forth with a project with no involvement of the Commissioners who are supposed to direct such major changes….She spent many weeks diverting attention away from Comm. Dodd’s inquiries…using her “2-Hats” Commissioner pals to repeat untrue assertions of votes being taken, spending hours of staff time turning over irrelevant historical materials…until finally distributing what she had available from the get-go that showed she indeed made the changes …..with no direction or update provided…….Those who stood by her  in this ruse were hypocrites…knowing full well that if these acts had taken place under the previous Town Manager it would have produced BTS Times newsflashes…front page articles….Commissioner Comments…and no doubt a CIC orchestrated parade to the podium for public comments…

This Manager is the “Queen” of fees and making money off the residents and businesses…Such as her “sweeps” throughout the neighborhoods for violations..of sheds…boats….and whatever else can fill the Town coffer…Charging extra fees for public records information saying they call for outside “consulting”…in an attempt to thwart inquiries from anyone who does not have deep pockets…….She with her pal McIntee are acting like the “mob” with strong- arm tactics wanting  the businesses to pay for the “use” of the public streets…( per square foot)…to go forth with their weekly special events…We hear they have backtracked on the off-season reprieve of paying for parking meters….and now we are witnessing a “GOTCHA” once again…In the special permits that came before the commission at the end of April…(previous post)…the staff included a clause for charging the businesses for code enforcement to come and watch for infractions of the codes…head counts…and noise…and anything else that might bring in a citation…CHA CHING!…In a response to  an e-mail from Comm. Dodd who was concerned about yet another instance of such actions “slipping by” because the Commissioners did not object…(waive) the clause …the Manager wrote back…(public record)…

‘There have been several instances when the Commission has spoken about excessive noise during special events, and the excessive number of people attending special events. In addition, staff has been asked if these events are being monitored.

If staff is required to ensure code compliance during a special event, then the business benefiting from the event should bear all cost of enforcement whether it is police or code. The Commission did not waive the cost of code compliance if necessary for the events approved on April 29,2009.’ Thank you, EC/mi

GOTCHA!…

We were told by the Vice Mayor and his “Gang of 3” on the dais that only when there was a complaint would code be sent …Where are the records of “excessive noise” or “excessive number of people” at events?…Business owners…managers…and residents have repeatedly asked as much… … only to be met with silence from the “Gang of 3” and the administration…The BSO has not had complaints as they have stated…..The businesses themselves have not had complaints as they have stated……So the only answer to the tactics being employed is the Manager is once again “pulling the wool over our eyes!”…

When the Town is dead quiet …..with no music in the streets…no special events to mark the holidays……( due to Mc- Furth cries of competing with Town events)…because of all the hoops that are being tossed at these businesses to jump through courtesy of the Town Manager and the “Gang”…. remember why…and remember who …is responsible!

It’s time for a Town Manager Review…..It’s time for residents to stand behind the businesses…It’s time for the all potential commission candidates to circle the wagons and get their plans in place and it’s time to save this town!

more to come………..

Tags: codes, local government, Local Politics, noise, Scoops, special permits
Posted in Uncategorized