Email to the City Manager regarding his resume. 9.20.13

 

I asked for a copy of your resume but instead received a Public Records Request reply from Ms. Mangham stating that your resume was unavailable because (following a search for a copy of your resume) the City of Windcrest does not possess a copy in its files.  The reason given for this deficiency was that the Personnel Officer was "not part of the hiring process". 

That statement indicates both "inattention to detail" in the personnel office, and a lack of customer service since there was no explanation of why an attempt by Ms. Mangham to retrieve a copy of your resume and place it in the files of the City of Windcrest, and subsequently send a copy to me, was unsuccessful. 

Apparently there is no process, set up as an annual review (a very basic suspense task for personnel departments) to ensure that all employee personnel files are current. Current includes a resume for those holding Executive positions. I am only addressing PAID staff positions.  I am not interested in volunteer or elected official resumes.   

Personnel departments (with perhaps the exclusion of Windcrest) have checklists that indicate what documents belong in a personnel file.  Omissions are corrected as discovered, or at the annual review of the personnel files for completeness. 

Are other pieces of employee information missing from the files because Ms. Mangham was not "part of the hiring process" when the employee was interviewed and subsequently hired?   

Apparently, the MFO (dual hatted as Head of Personnel) did not want to walk to your office, ask you for a copy of your resume, either accepting a copy from a file you have in your office or wait while you printed a copy from your computer.  She could then take that copy to your personnel record and insert it in its proper place. She could then find a copy of your resume upon request, and have a copy made to provide to citizens upon request. 

Another option would have been for her to send you an email asking you to open the computer file folder on your office or home computer containing your resume, ask you to save a copy of that document as a PDF extension so it could not be altered, and email that PDF doc to her for printing and subsequent inclusion in your personnel record.  The PDF version could then be transmitted to citizens by email upon request, without fear of alteration, saving everyone time and demonstrating a true commitment to customer service and transparency. 

I do not seek a copy of your resume because I believe you are not qualified for your position. Many trusted sources familiar with your hiring assured me that you were "by far" the best candidate of those applying for the CM position.  I too believe you were the best candidate of those applying for the CM position. 

As the CM, you hold an office equivalent to that of the CEO of a business.  The Mayor continuously reminds all who read the press releases that Windcrest is "run like a business".  I know of NO business, large or small, domestic or foreign, public or private that would neglect to have a resume of their CEO readily available to the public. 

Successful businesses are PROUD of the accomplishments and job history of their CEO.  They want the public to know that the organization is being led by a person of sterling character with unquestioned honesty, success in progressively more responsible and demanding assignments and possessing the professional qualifications for the position gained through a combination of academic preparation and technical certifications.   

I believe Windcrest should demonstrate to its citizens and the public at large that we are just as proud of being served by someone of your accomplishments as any public business would be of its CEO. Your career was not "born" in this little bedroom community and your history is pertinent to showing how fortunate we are in Windcrest to be able to attract and retain someone of your caliber.   

I believe you should immediately provide Ms. Mangham with a PDF version of your resume, direct her to place it in your personnel file to correct the omission, and direct her to provide your resume upon request so Windcrest citizens can be impressed with your qualifications and more receptive to compensation predicated upon your qualifications.  

If you are unwilling to provide either a Word doc or PDF doc to Ms. Mangham, please explain to me why you do not want the citizens of this community to be able to read your resume.   

Remember, I believe you are highly qualified for the position you hold.  I look forward to having a document that proves me correct in that belief, instead of having to rely only on second hand information.   

Thank you for reading this email and I look forward to your reply and a receipt of your resume.    

Dennis Allen

 

My priorities for this coming FY upon being elected

My priorities in this election are as follows: 

·        If elected, I will vote against actions leading to a dissolution of WD#10 by ANY Administration.

I want the current Administration to immediately cease all overt and covert activities directed at an eventual hostile takeover of Water District #10.  I do not want politicians in control of my drinking water, or able to raise my water utility rate at their discretion.  The economic development of a parcel of land in Windcrest does not require the City to change current geographic boundaries.   

·        I will oppose hiring friends and/or former business partners/associates who do not have the professional skills sets for the job.

I want all hiring based strictly on the professional qualifications of the candidate for the advertised position.   

·        I want the Council to establish a professional base salary for the position of Fire Chief to ensure that Windcrest can continue to attract and retain a highly qualified individual for that leadership position. 

The Mayor stated that Public Safety is his number one priority (and that of the Council) for 2013 -2014.  The proposed budget does not support that statement because there was no allocation for a professional salary for the Fire Chief in the document presented on the 9^th of September, 2013 (public hearing on the budget).  Mayor and Council did not commit to funding a professional salary for the Fire Chief, deflecting this issue by saying they were “in negotiations” for such a salary.   

·        I want the Council to explain why they support or reject agenda items.  All they need to do is say something like “I supported giving the City Manager a pay increase of 18% this coming year because…………….then state their reasons.

Council members do not currently explain their votes for or against any initiative or project or operational change.   

·        I will push for term limits for the Mayor and Council members.

Elected service to our community should not be a career. 

·        I will show the Council, Mayor and staff how to construct documents with analysis that leads to a logical recommendation for or against action. 

   Email me at dennis4windcrest@gmail.com and I'll send you a copy of the analysis I provided to the Mayor to support a soccer field - but I don't agree with the location.

Operational processes and decisions are not rigorously analyzed with decision papers capturing the facts and assumptions used to reach support or rejection of the action being considered.

 

Open meeting to discuss the 2013-2014 budget

Issue 1: The City Council and Mayor would not state that they intended to fund a professional salary for a Fire Chief for the City of Windcrest. I made a presentation stating that I supported a professional salary for a Fire Chief as a POSITION initiative and not just because Dan Reese held the job. 

The POSITION requires a salary commensurate with that of the other Public Safety Department, which is the Police Department.  Parity in salary is justified for the Chief of Police and Fire Chief.

All I got from the Mayor, with the Council sitting on their lips as is their wont, is that the City of Windcrest is in NEGOTIATIONS with the Fire Chief on the matter of salary.  Those "negotiations"
should have been finished in time for the funding of the salaried position on the September 4 revision of the budget.

I believe that if the Mayor and Council wanted to pay a Fire Chief a professional salary, at least a base salary would have been in the budget for 2013-2014. 

Issue 2: I did not want the Council to take away one of the Patrol Corporal positions that have been in past budgets.  The new budget reduces the number of Patrol Corporals to 2 from 3.  I made the point that each of the three shifts needs a senior patrolman.  The Mayor said he'd get with the Chief to discuss adding a corporal and the Chief had to come forward and tell the Mayor and Council that he already had 3.  DUH!!!!  The point I was trying to make was don't cut the allocation. 

Issue 3:  Touchy subject. Compensation for the City Manager and Municipal Finance Officer.  I thought the CM was getting a merit raise of 18% (far above the 3% given to the other city employees). I believe I was told it was not a merit raise by a "new 3 year contract". I fail to see the difference. 
  The MFO position showed a raise in compensation to about $80K from about $67K, another large merit increase upon first inspection.  I was advised that the $80K wasn't a raise, but rather a projected figure of income available to the MFO if she worked more hours as approved by the City Manager.  If the MFO is anticipated to need to work about 20% more hours, what is different between 2013 and 2014 that so many more hours will be needed?  Let me be clear - I'm NOT opposed to pay for performance or merit raises.

posted 9.12.13 at 7:02 PM by Dennis

Open letter to City Council regarding 2013-2014 Budget

4 Sept 2013

Open letter to Council, CF Mayor:

I attended the “budget” meeting on September 3, as you well know.  Prior to attending that meeting I visited the City website to look at the information under the Budget tab.  I found instead a PR piece that most closely resembles a “State of the Union/City” and which ran to page 71 of 207 pages.  Those first 71 pages focused on showcasing recent initiatives or successes attributed to the current Administration. 

Make no mistake about my comments.  I do NOT object to PR postings, I support letting the public know how Windcrest is progressing.  Be clear that I am not writing this letter to you to dispute the accuracy of numbers or genesis of any success stories in the “Mayor’s Summary..”.  I simply do not believe that presentation belongs under the Budget tab, and the multiple pages of information did not help me understand HOW the upcoming budget would fund the future prioritized operations of this City (budgets being forward thinking documents).  

Please move the State of the Union/City briefing material to a more appropriate site on the City web. Replace those 71 pages with one page that clearly lists the priorities for the 2013-2014 budget (followed by all the required legalese and 2013-2014 spreadsheets). Ensure that readers know that priorities listed have been integrated into the 2013-2014 budget as proposed and presented to the citizens on 3 September, and will again be presented on 9 September, 2013 in a public setting.

At the meeting on 3 September I had hoped to see some briefing slides or perhaps even a couple of pages of handouts that would be useful for citizens to understand and comment on WHY specific budget line items were being amended from 2013.  Significant increases in line item expenditures are due to increased emphasis (defined priorities), or expected inflation.  Tell citizens which applies.   

I am working under the assumption that ALL of the Department Heads prepared their section budgets based on their knowledge of what it was going to take to sufficiently fund their department(s) operations in the coming fiscal year.  Most often, such budgets are padded a bit, but hopefully not egregiously so. I am also working under the assumption that the City Manager has directed integration of the Department budgets into the 2013-2014 projections as a reflection of internal consistency with the wishes of the Mayor and Council.  Those Department budgets are “signposts” on the road to a final budget.

I was disappointed in not hearing and seeing the budget “vision” for 2013-14 articulated with priorities clearly set. I’ve seen the Mayor’s “Future Vision” (page 40 of the 207 pages) on the website.  Since not all actions cannot be equally weighted, I’d hope to see (clearly stated in bullet form) the top three priorities from that “Future Vision”, most important presented as #1.  Such a format would allow the citizens present, or watching, or who intend to participate on the 9^th of September to weigh how closely the priorities of the Mayor matches their own needs and wants.   I was also hoping to see those top 3 priorities from the “Vision” discussed by the COUNCIL , with some dialogue as to whether each COUNCIL MEMBER agrees with the priorities.  I heard no such dialogue.

I found 3 initiatives on the Mayor’s Future Vision (I support the posted list pending learning how the list will be executed) which are consistent with my personal priorities. 

Additional police officers was the first bullet on the Mayor’s list.  My most basic need is one of security. If I and my property are not “safe”, then I won’t ever be comfortable in my environment and will move as soon as possible to an environment that is “safe”.  I’m willing to forgo a perfectly smooth street, pretty parks with serviceable tennis courts, put up with a lack of desirable retail shopping establishments and even willing to pay a high tax rate if I believe I’m “safe”.  In the presence of a threat (which we know requires constant vigilance and “boots on the ground” for patrolling) additional police officers gets my vote for the number one priority for future funding.  Establishing a secure environment is the most basic task of responsible government, and the foundation to quality of life in Windcrest.  I would support a budget expense that ensures our police force is not unduly constrained by short sighted financial allocations. 

The Mayor’s Future Vision also lists spending over $1 million ($1,320,000 in the 2014 budget) for maintenance and improvements to our streets.  That could fall under the second priority of Infrastructure Improvements. Implementation of only the street portion of infrastructure improvement will require significant funds transfer to the street CIP and needs to be defended on it’s merit relative to other actions such as “Parade of Homes” support or paying $38,000 for the “Light UP”.

The final priority in the top three taken from the Mayor’s list could be Employee Compensation and Retention.  Windcrest citizens don’t expect superior performance from inferior employees.  Philosophically, I reject compensation for the general population of workers being raised by only 3% (admittedly higher than a simple COLA) since 3% of $30,000 is only $900 (and that sum is taxed) while the City Manager will benefit from over 18% boost in compensation (see page 138 of 207 showing the City Manager receiving a raise of $17,385 [up to $112,385 from the current base of $95,000]).  I do support pay for performance, and don’t begrudge the City Manager a reward for carrying out his orders with dispatch.  However, I don’t believe that the QUALITY of the City Manager’s performance can be defended as deserving a percentage increase in compensation of more than 5 times the percentage of the most deserving staff person’s in a lower level job.  I anticipate many in this community will share my reluctance to bestow such disproportionate largess on selected individuals.

So Council Members, would you please articulate YOUR priorities for the 2013-2014 budget at the next public meeting?  Tell your constituency what you believe should receive significantly higher funding and why, even if your opinion is not 100% consistent with that of the Mayor who has already published his wish list.

Thank you for reading my letter. 

I don’t need, nor really want individual replies.  I watch what people do to ascertain their motives and values rather than simply listening to what they say.  I look forward to the coming meeting on Monday to learn what YOU believe and value.

Dennis Allen