Ridgely is heading in the wrong direction.
According to Maryland State auditors our town has borrowed $162,716.00 (pgs. 16 & 20, Ridgely 2007 Financial Report)from our water/sewer fund to keep the general fund afloat. This is despite the fact THAT THE COMMISSIONERS PASSED BALANCED BUDGETS! Don't let anyone around here "SPIN" it otherwise, the money will have to be paid back which will require major budget restraint and/or A WATER/SEWER RATE INCREASE to fix the problem.
Our problem is due to the fact that money is being spent as if all Ridgely's stalled development projects have been approved by the Maryland Department of Environment and were on schedule. This is despite the fact that THE COMMISSIONERS WERE ASSURED THAT FUTURE REVENUES FROM DEVELOPERS WEREN'T BEING SPENT.
So far, the only solution to the budget fiasco is a NEW AMENDED BUDGET PROPOSAL FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR. SMOKE AND MIRRORS won't solve our problems. The proposed budget deletes the developer fees and adds a 1.5 million dollar loan instead.
A second serious and expensive problem comes from the ghost of developments past, Lister Estates. The streets there are STILL NOT FINISHED. Much of the developer bond was returned and the Commissioners were not told until after the fact! Now there is only $300,000.00 left. If the recent repair of 3rd street cost $150,000.00, clearly $300,000.00 is not enough to complete Lister Estate's streets if the developer walks. What is worse, is the fact that the developers of Lister Estates are claiming WE OWE THEM for the pavement of Walnut St. because of a VERBAL agreement with an earlier town administration. It will end up in a court fight and we will never get what we are owed. Well, guess who will have to PAY to fix this mess? Can anyone spell TAXPAYERS?
It was hoped that by having our Town Manager living here and making him a stakeholder in our community that we'd never face the type of problems outlined above. However, THE TOWN MANAGER STILL DOESN'T REALLY LIVE HERE. As many of you know, he's only at his rental address a few days a week. At how many public meetings did he make it clear that he knew what living here really meant? Over and over he told us that he and his family were looking for a home here. He clearly knows what was expected. Does he take us for fools?
If the Commissioners were to force the issue and it ended up in court, he probably would win. His rental address on a license would count toward establishing residency. Is this, however, how we should conduct business with someone we are supposed to trust? A couple of nights a week in a rental, and a new license, doesn't mean that he lives here or is a stakeholder in our community! If we can't trust him on this matter how can we trust him on other matters? Are we also being taken for fools with the smoke and mirrors budget proposals?
Whenever, Commissioner Gearhart starts raising heck about these and many other lapses, she is accused of not letting the "professionals" do their jobs. Well folks, someone needs to be paying attention and doing their job on behalf of the Ridgely taxpayers. ALL the Commissioners need to wake up to the fact that it's time for a bit of housekeeping up at the Ridgely House. I'm sure none of your households use the "Ridgely House method" of budget management! Commissioner Gearhart is firmly opposed to such fiscal funny business. Contact the other Commissioners or go to their meeting to encourage fiscal sanity. IT IS YOUR MONEY AND YOUR TOWN.
Finally, the REQUEST FOR A 1.5 MILLION DOLLAR LOAN for our waste water spray irrigation system (the whole story about this issue will appear on this blog as soon as all the facts are in)should be A SEPARATE ISSUE. It should NOT be considered as part of the above amended budget.
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4 comments:
Toby the whole Town Manager thing seems to be a crawl in your gut?
We have Commissioners who have a stake in our town, thats why we have residency requirements for them. Why would/should the town limit the "pool" of possible town managers to just the people that live in town? Don't we want the best town manager possible? We should want the most qualified town manager we can get, regardless of where he or she reside.
Personally it seems to me that someone outside of our community and less effected by the "Good ole Boy/Girl" network might be the best person for the job.
We should be holding the Commissioners accountable for what they are elected to do! If the town manager is putting up smoke and mirrors that is fooling the Commissioners then shame on them. They were the ones elected to the positions they serve.
Keep in mind that the Commissioners are in CHARGE of the town and although we like to blame the "middle man" ultimately it is the commissioners that would be failing, IF the town is in such a poor state.
It appears that not living up to the true intent of the residency requirement is a small issue compared to what has been happening to our plans and our finances.
You say the commissioners 'were assured that future revenues from developers weren't being spent' and it's being spent? If this is so, maybe it's best to be more specific, for those who cannot make the distinction here. Who assured them of this? The city manager? In that case, there is an honesty problem (one of many, it appears)that may have contributed to our deficit problem and suggests mismanagement by our city manager. It also suggests mismanagment by the commissioners who will be held ultimately responsible for the city manager they hired and who they are supposed to oversee.
You ask, does he take us for fools? Well, yes he certainly has a right to do that, because the commissioners have acted accordingly for not holding him to his contract. And the town residents have not demanded that these commissioners hold him to his contract. Why shouldn't he take us for fools?
We have had deficit spending for how long? Three years? How long has our manager been there? Three years?
Unfortunatly, Nancy has been the only one who seems to want to straighten up this mess. She's been crying in the wind, however, because the others just want the 'professionals' to do 'their' jobs? What professionals? The only person I see here in a daily position of responsibility for handling our budget is the city manager. He calls the shots with few restraints. He will be as 'professional' as is required by his employers. He takes it upon himself to make his own rules, regardless of what our charter says, and they let him do it.
Whatever happened to the assistant city manager we were going to hire who could write grants and help with the finances? (I have my own thoughts regarding why this has stalled) Why hasn't one been hired yet? Of course as it stands now, we may not now be able to afford one. Too bad...he/she could have been a big help, there would have been TWO 'professionals' accountable, and maybe we could have avoided this mess.
The 1.5 billion dollar loan gives me a real problem. I'm well aware that we need our irrigation system. However, I believe if EFFECTIVE communication and dealings with the county had been done, Ridgely Park would still be included in developers approved to begin, and our water cost could have been shared. Who knows if they'll be around in the future?
Spending money we think we might get is appauling to me. I'm sick to death at our national debt and hate to see this happening in our little town. It just shouldn't be necessary. I also believe that a loan this size puts us in a very shaky position in case money were needed in an emergency. Could we get another loan if it were needed, with this debt outstanding?
The commissioners need to make a very careful assessment of how and why we got to this point. And they need to make some BIG moves to straighten things out.
I dare say, the auditors who have found our accounting and our budget these past years to be lacking will not see this huge loan as part of the solution to their problem. This loan is another issue.
I seriously doubt the town has to worry about winding up in court. I assume you mean that the city manager might take the town to court if the commissioners were to actually consider firing him for non-compliance. There are too many other issues now that suggest mismanagement, so I doubt a lawsuit would be in anyone's best interest.
But for the record, I have been very careful to say only what I can legally back up.
In fact, isnt' that what Toby is trying to say, "Shame on you Commissioners for letting this go on?"
Why is it that when Comissioner Gearhart questions these things, she gets blown off? Labeled as a "troublemaker." Even concerned citizens who come to town meeting and question these things get labled "troublemakers" and blown off. It's no wonder we don't have more citizens coming to the Town Meetings.
Maybe the other Commissioners have their heads in the sand? "Let the professionals do their job..." they don't want ask if what is going on is good for the town, they are letting the Town Manager take over our town and he is not doing a very good job. Just look at the budget!
Tim, the town manager knew that he needed to live here as a condition of employment. For years, he stated at meetings that he and his wife were looking at houses here. I even can give you the addresses. For him to not honor this undermines trust in him. That is a big issue now.
As for having a "craw" in my gut about the town manager...For 12 years, I've been involved in town government and have seen how town managers can get around commissioners. Our charter is not up to the task and needs to be changed to a strong mayor and commission system like Federalsberg, Denton and Hurlock. Although the ballot box doesn't always solve problems, the situation would be a lot better once we our assured that our citizens are firmly in control.
In the meantime, we need strong commissioners. I doubt that you would put up with a lot of what has gone on between the commissioners and town manager. In fact, I suspect that if you were a commissioner, you would be a strong one in the mold of Jare Wallace, Dale Mumford, Lou Hayes and, yes, Nancy Gearhart. We need to talk more about this.
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