[RP TownTalk] I'm very concerned too

[novella sargusingh]

Hi Ken,
I to have become very concern with the town direction base on what I have read day after day from Jonathan Ebbeler.  I really do appreciate all of the information that he has put forth.   As my former Campaign Manager, I trust your concern and like you will start attending our legislative meeting's etc.  All of these matter's need to be address and soon.  Also, I attended the last legislative meeting and came up with an idea that I will bring to the Town Council at the next meeting concerning Business Licenses within the town.

Thanks A Million!
 
Ms. Novella SargusinghWard 3 


Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 12:32:39 -0400
From: laureys.ken at gmail.com
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
Subject: [RP TownTalk] I'm very concerned too


I am very concerned about the nature and number of town missteps that Jonathan Ebbeler has pointed out in TownTalk and the Town Crier.  
Mayor Archer did say publicly “the current town administrator's cont[r]act [sic] expires June 30 and I have told her that I will not support renewing it.”  I agree with Jonathan that this plainly appears to be discussing personnel matters in public.  Even if unintentional, this breach could put the town at jeopardy to be sued for breach of privacy.  
This concerns me further because I never knew about another lawsuit Jonathan brought to light:  Greg’s Towing suing the town for unfair business dealings, with charges of racism as well.  Something is seriously wrong here, and the Mayor and Council need to give an accounting to the residents.  While it is understandable that they may not and cannot comment on ongoing litigation, the pattern of putting the town in a position to be sued in the first place is unacceptable.
I also  share Jonathan’s trouble with the Town Manager  legislation never being vetted through the Legislative Committee.  Why was this legislation rushed without proper debate through our legislative committee meetings, which the public could have attended to give valuable input?  And why do we use citizen advisory committees to study many issues which might need to be addressed by the town (like a traffic study committee), yet no such citizen body was ever established to study something as important as a constitutional change to a town manager government?  Yes, that would have taken time, but well-spent time deliberating the pros and cons.  I’d be much more comfortable if we had had such a citizen’s constitutional convention rather than having this change be initiated and driven from the top down.   
I have to wonder if Jonathan is right in speculating that the change of financial responsibility from the mayor to a new Town Manager was rushed through to divert blame and responsibility for the coming problems we face from the structural imbalances in our town finances.  Remember what CM Alan Thompson explained (April 2016 Town Crier):	From the perspective of the residents, there is likely to be at least a small loss of direct accountability. The mayor is currently the chief executive, and residents can talk to him directly if they think something is not going right. Under the council-manager form of government, residents would need to talk to the town manager, and the town manager answers to the council (including mayor) and not to the residents. 
Our General Government budget has increased 58% over the past five years, apparently to pay for the significant increase in town administrative employees.  But in addition to these increases, we are incurring future obligations (currently $3 million and growing) because staff pensions and retiree healthcare are unfunded.  This could be a ticking time bomb, and remember that henceforth the town manager will be the chief executive where the responsibility rests in fixing these structural imbalances (with tax increases or budget cuts), not the mayor anymore.  
I’m as troubled as Jonathan is by the increase in town staff in the name of “professionalization.”  Why have we advertised for a Finance Director at $80,000 annually if we will soon hire a town manager too?  Weren’t we told a town manager would be more experienced with financial matters as a justification for transferring financial responsibility from the mayor to the town manager?  We already have on staff someone listed as an HR/Finance Manager.  I believe our town is going overboard in “professionalization” of our staff.  We are a small town of 7,266, and probably have one of the largest per capita expenditures for town personnel in the area.  I’d like to know how many people the town employs presently and how much the line item for staff compensation has increased in recent years.  The budget listed on the website only lists totals and there are worksheets not being made public that list out expenditures by position.
The timing and rationale for the Mayor’s recent emergency order on all expenditures is also suspect for the reasons Jonathan revealed  --  We don’t actually have an emergency because our budget will still be in the black this year (due to other income sources) despite the loss of the USDA property taxes.  This fact was not mentioned by the Mayor when he announced there was a pressing need for him to have emergency budgetary oversight.  Why did Mayor Archer not tell us the whole truth in this matter?
I’m also upset that the Mayor tried to deny the swearing in of Jonathan Ebbeler for his Ward 1 seat.  That seemed to be due to personal friction rather than any legitimate reason, as did the removal of CM Ebbeler from the town’s pension board.  This makes me wonder whether my councilmember was being unfairly ostracized because he doesn’t toe the majority party line, but asks tough questions and blows the whistle on wayward policies and practices.  Now we Ward 1 residents will have no councilmember until a new one is elected.  And I’m concerned that the new member will be more acquiescent and not skilled as Jonathan, who has a wealth of professional experience.
All these factors add up to a pattern that troubles me greatly.  I will be attending council meetings regularly now to keep a closer eye on what’s happening.  I suggest other concerned residents become more involved too.
Ken Laureys​301-661-6682Laureys.Ken at Gmail.com




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