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Mayor Rachel Waterman just now said that she is not concerned about what the 15 or so people say on the blogs. She represents 35,000 people or more, not just 15 people.
Ms. Waterman, I am getting about 30,000 hits a month on this blog. So, you want to diss this, that is certainly your prerogative. But I can diss you all the way to kingdom come.
Scott Maxwell is right on calling the city manager down on her control of the Internal Auditor position, as she implied today, and her wanting to control various aspects of it if it goes forward.
The City now will have a workshop on the Auditor position. So something came out of all the resident e-mails on this subject. Something came out of all the blogs written on it. Waterman wants to fund it for $200,000, that includes the Inspector General starting in 6 months. Ed Fry wants the Commission to define its expectations of the Internal Auditor. Don't you think that an internal auditor knows what to look for?
18 comments:
My feelings are very hurt that she doesn't care what I think. I voted for her and she doesn't care. :(
Why should that suprise you? You also voted for Golden, Mulvehill & Mcoy and they obviously don't care what you or any other taxpayers think.
Geee, what if we delay it until after the election... say December, no make it January 1st. Ya that's it.
I thought the 15 people on the blogs was condescending as hell. This was brought up way back before Waterman was even interested in her position. They only said that they would address it at budget time. Well they've done that. 3/4 of the position and lumped in with the fee for the Inspector General. And Susan warned the commission not to have that pesky Internal Auditor waste any of her staff's time. Can anyone else see road blocks? I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, now.
That last discussion was especially helpful when one staff member worked in Alachua County and worked in the same office as the Internal Auditor. The IA didn't answer to the Administrator and they fought constantly until they could present something to the commission that they both could be happy with. In other words, the IA was the commission's advocate during the planning process and he said the end product was in the best interest of the County (Gainesville)
Golden made sure that individual commissioners wouldn't be able to have the IA look into anything without the others agreeing. That MUST be nipped in the bud. Maxwell is the only commissioner asking questions about the numbers. He should be able to direct his staff the same way the CM directs her staff.
That must have been Steve Carr to which you refer. The last IA we had did not have staff. He had to struggle it on his own but he didn't have any road blocks. There was a different City Mgr at that time. His (the IA's) suggestions took years to implement and Mr. Carr has corrected most of the problems we had in Finance. My problem is--where did all the money go? How does money disappear?
You very much had a lot to do with the outcome of this election for blasting her opponents on a daily basis. You even turned me around and I have known Tom for decades.
It is a fact that the Mayor represents all of us. But, and it is a very big BUT, only a small amount of people actually vote. A very large percentage of these people read blogs. They stay informed and care about issues that affect them and their neighborhoods.
So, although she gave Wes Blackman
detailed answers on a serious of questions during the last election, she must believe that some people who blog or comment on blogs do have some influence from time to time or she would not have bothered.
To put down blogs today at city hall was a most unfortunate statement. I have a memory like an elephant.
From: Rachel Waterman
To: lynn113@comcast.net
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 7:25 PM
Subject: Re: Was this NOTHING MAYOR?
The position was funded according to my recommendation at 1 CPA.
Thats great. They should let him do his own thing and not interfere. There are too many commissioners reciting the city mgrs line. No parameters GOLDEN.
The other $124,000 will be going to the pet projects proposed by Mayor Waterman ($150,000) and Vice Mayor Mulvehill ($150,000)along with part of the money received from the billboards.
The comment about "15 people on the blogs" was condescending and the body language shouted "I don't care about them" - shoulder shrug, head shake, and a stern look. The blogs served the Mayor's purpose during the campaign, but now that people are sharing their displeasure with the Commission, it is a different story. Clearly the Mayor and three of the commisssioners are not very concerned about the public.
Don't worry folks they will all say that this is a big misunderstanding and will back track to try and make things right again.The mayor will give us the trolley and our seniors will vote their way. An amazing ground swell is occuring and one that was not brought about by the dirty dozen or any other boogie men out there.So many of them have simply given up trying to ask where all the money went and how things would be payed for.Now it is many,many citizens together looking for answers to questions that have been asked for the past several years.
If it was Steve Carr that worked for Alachua County as their Administrator, he said the County's internal auditor was placed "inside" his office. They literally had to work side by side.
Wouldn't it be a hoot if we could force the CM to make room for the IA in her office?
This position is not supposed to make her feel all warm and fuzzy.
Also, just after the discussion about the IA, the Mayor launched into her own spending spree to the tune of $20,000, a very small amount of money according to her. This was to be used for "grants" for worthwhile projects as "community gardens" and was to administered by none other than THE PZ&B BOARD?
Why would the Planning and Zoning Board be given a grant project?
I'm not surprised that Waterman would make such a statement...knowing that you supported her election, its obvious she choose to insult the bloggers who do get information out to the public which even newspapers can't do. Noticed I did not type (Mayor) before her name as she clearly does not represent all the people....She has her own agenda just like everyone else on that Dias and the only one that has shown any real concern for the people is Commissioner Scott Maxwell...Running Unopposed should say something. Just like you Lynn I will not forget especially come November the only warning is for everyone not to "fall" for the back peddling. A Word once spoken is always spoken.
To Trisha(sorry,Pearl)-It will probably be a cold day in hell that Murray Hills will let Rachel Waterman in. Rachel just cost the senior residents over 36,000 by voting FOR the assesments.Rachel ,you were specifically warned NOT to screw the citizens over by voting for these assesments.You didn't listen. WHAT A FRICKIN SURPRISE !! BYE BYE ,Rachel.Oh,don't worry . Only 15 of us are reading about how you stabbed the seniors in the back!
They don't care once they get in the office, Joann was the same way, Rachel won't be different and isn't. I have been fighting to get some sidewalks between Lake and Lucerne from B to F Streets for years, there are none on either side of the streets in some places and this is our western downtown area, they especially do not care about this area, since most of the people who walk about or live here cannot even vote, we have so much blight, crime, and uncared for properties and areas just west of city hall, but the codes do not enforce anything nor the city fix anything, not even a few sidewalks to keep us safe who walk in the area, I have been almost hit a few times over the years, so we have to walk in the road. I just say do not vote for any of the incumbents anymore, no one listens nor cares, not the commission, the mayor, or the city manager, this is why anarchy and chaos rise up out of this poor ineffective leadership. It is all very sad. I wrote an e-mail to all of them today, I will see how many if any even respond, many never do. How sad, what mediocrity.
LOL I laughed a lot at that! Only 15 people OMG who knew :-)
The Mayor's email seems to imply that she is responsible for the IA position. Don't let her take credit for this - the credit belongs to the residents and bloggers who demanded this position be funded. And remember that after cutting the amount allocated for the IA, the Mayor started through her list of additional spending which totaled $150,000. And Mulvehill has her own list of items costing $150,000.
Your blog post was taken out of context. My comment about representing 15 people went something like this.
The city manager said something about having the internal auditor position pleases 15 people who are on the blogs.
I said I don't represent just 15 people who blog, etc.... Because I was the one pushing for the one full-time CPA internal auditor and was saying that my position to have him/her was not in response to 15 people who blog but to all of the residents of the city. I think the excerpt unfairly represents my comment. I'm sure you have the recording. Please, listen to it again.
Rachel
Yes Rachel,
Could you expound on the new grant program you proposed with the amounts and how they are dispersed by the Planning and Zoning Board. Has the P7Z Board ever been responsible for granting funds? Who do these grants benefit?
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