Last night, Commissioner Ryan Maier read an e-mail from Mario E. Motta, M.D. regarding the Siemens contract sent to the local chapter of Dark Skys.
Mario E. Motta, MD is past President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, which publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, (the world's most prestigious medical journal). Dr. Motta currently serves on the American Medical Association's Council of Sciences and Public Health. He is a cardiologist at the North Shore Medical Center in Salem, Massachusetts, and a recent President of the Massachusetts Medical Society (2010). He was elected to serve on the Council of Science and Public health of the AMA, serving in his forth year. Also, he is currently serving as president of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. (AAVSO). He has been very active in the battle on light pollution for many years, and currently a board member of the IDA (International Dark Sky Association)
Medical effects of light pollution
The following is correspondence from Dr. Motta to the Dark Sky Lake Worth chapter upon review of the Siemens contract along with his comments:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mario Motta
Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Fwd: Siemens contract
- There is no analysis in this, simply replaces existing, whether overlit or not, with equivalent amount of LED light.
- Lazy contract with no work or engineering analysis at all.
- Your city deserves better.
- Siemens acts like the experts, and town managers are easily fooled by them.
- This is just a sales contract for profit, with no work behind it at all, you should be appalled.
Mario
Nothing fazed this commission last night. After all, Hector Samario of Siemens has been walking around city hall for 14 months--they were all brainwashed. Last night, the commission was sitting on the dais with a big S (stupid and sold) on their foreheads. Siemens was discussed at the end of the night, a strategic move by the city to eliminate much of the public who had left earlier. Their minds were already made up. The commission would not allow a workshop on it (the mayor said we already had loads of past discussions) and residents had only 2 minutes to talk on three relative items on the agenda that normally would have been 6 minutes of public commentary. Not one resident spoke in favor of the $23 million commitment over 15 years. To the city administration and four commissioners who voted for it, it was as easy as spending someone else's buck at the Dollar Store.
I still have a million questions that were never brought up nor answered. The city, essentially, will be in a break-even situation. Siemens? Who knows--they're not talking about the millions they will be making off our city. I would think that in any contract, you would know all the details and let the public know what the monetary details are.
With rebates and tax breaks that Siemens will get and the steady climb of electric rates, more and more people believe that Solar is the answer. Even Maxwell, after knowing the electric rates would go up, voted for the Siemens contract. We were sold by a smooth salesman. And we have no idea what's in store for us as Siemens will use sub-contractors--we could have shoddy installation, poor customer service, hidden fees and cost over-runs, a possibility that was brought up by one resident last night.
Once again, this is all about getting pesky issues off the city manager's plate, a commission that is paranoid that we can't progress because of lack of money and a sales pitch that is probably too good to be true. Time will tell. Now we can go on to the next contrived crisis and farm out our casino complex.
11 comments:
How much MONEY are the good Samaritans of Siemens making and how are they making it? These Commission A-holes just can't wait to spend our money ! Wonder who will get the next chunk of our tax dollars.
To the ANONYMOUS COWARD who just attempted to post here calling out a citizen by name--it AIN'T GoNNA HAPPEN HERE. use that on the bully blog. .
Just want to say thanks for your blog. Keep it up.
Shiney things. Hmmmm
A cardiologist and amateur astronomy fan being used as a street lighting authority? So this short second opinion about our needed street lighting needs from a MD trumps our own local scientist and PhD’s opinion? I do like his comment that our city deserves better. The vote last night to upgrade our utilities, street lighting and reduce our carbon footprint will move us in that direction.
You're working over-time today to sound legitimate. The medical doctor reviewed the contract. Did you? Do you think that the city commission actually reviewed it and understands it? Do you think anyone in our city has the knowledge to do that?
Dr. Motta is a board member of the IDA (International Dark Sky Association and is an authority on lighting. Are you? Is our commissioner scientist?
You just don't like an opposing view, as usual. Deal with it. Now the city has to deal with this 4/1 vote on an expensive contract with NO workshop and little public input. The P&Z board is not a publicly noticed meeting on this issue.
You guys take the cake.
Doesn't take much to sell this bunch of gullible and greedy commission.
Lynn, you said above an amateur astronomer MD reviewed the cities contract from Siemens? Well now that makes even less sense. An amateur astronomer MD, moonlighting as a utility contract lawyer, giving unsolicited opinions to a small city in S FL. Norman Lear couldn't come up with a senairrio funnier than that. Most MD I know are not good at contract or business detail outside of their specialty education area. Write Berrnie Madoff and ask him. He'll tell you.
Greg, you didn't read the rest of his credentials. He is an expert in Dark skys. He has a brain. He uses it. He studies subjects. He was asked to read the Siemens contract and render an opinion concerning the lighting in particular. Would you rather depend on a salesman who is going to make a bunch of money or an independent doctor with all sorts of credentials? I guess with your scenario, Ben Carson doesn't have a prayer.
So I came home this week to a Siemens contractor trespassing on my property. He was prepping to put a concrete power pole with led light on my property. I told him he was trespassing and he said city had easment right to put up concrete pole on my property to be connected with wire across my property to pole in alley and city had right to destroy my landscaping for this wire. I told him no, so they switched to other side of the road, but my across the street neighbors don't want a big pole w wire
On there property either. I contacted city re this easment and there is none. So Siemens is taking peoples private property and city is enabling.
Please come to commission meeting this Tuesday night at 6pm and tell the commission.
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