City Council Lacks Good Judgment

This past Monday evening ice arena project engineer Mark Hayes of ATS&R explained to the city council how he has gutted the arena plan trying to fit it within the $6 million construction cap budgeted by the city – except that ATS&R still estimates the cost to be $6,476,518. But in a last ditch effort, ATS&R offered to make a list of items which could still be cut out, such as scoreboards, concrete floors, and subsoil heating (how about the roof?) to bring the cost down to… still $126,518 over budget.
So after another inept and unprofessional presentation by ATS&R, I watched the city council vote to approve bid documents which DO NOT YET EXIST, based upon the “promise” that ATS&R will work really, really, really hard over the next 10 days to get them prepared.
I think such premature action by the city council is irresponsible and inexcusable. Civil servants entrusted with public funds should move forward on public projects only when critical elements are thoroughly addressed and complete. The process for approving and funding public projects should necessarily be arduous, time-consuming, and painstakingly detailed.
The action by the city council to approve incomplete bid documents  was imprudent and careless.  It appears to me that, as a corporate body, the city council either has a serious lack of judgment, or they are motivated by something other than a commitment to carefully protect the public’s interest.

A Civil Community

Public dialogue about the things important to our community is healthy.  However, we need some practice to learn how to do that in a civil manner.   We don’t all have to agree on everything.  Having a civil discourse means being willing to listen respectfully to opposing sides of an issue.

It’s certainly okay to challenge the content of someone’s  argument.  Here’s an example:  “I disagree with your statement that tax increment financing is detrimental to our city’s economy; I think a TIF district provides important incentives for drawing new industry,  jobs, and families to our community”.

A civil discourse breaks down when, instead of addressing the elements of the person’s argument, the person him/herself is maliciously attacked.  I know, that’s pretty common.  Some people haven’t improved much on their argument skills since they were eight years old, when their disagreements went like this:

“I want to play kickball.”

“No!  I want to play Red Rover!”

“We always do what you want to – we should take turns deciding.”

“Yeah?  Well, you’re stupid, and ugly… and you walk funny!!”

I think its worth the effort to be uncommon.   As individuals, its important to leave our childish behavior behind, to mature and grow.  As a community, its equally important to mature in our social and cultural disciplines.  There will be a lot of opportunities ahead of us here in Fergus Falls to work on our practice of civil discourse.

I think we can learn to regulate our emotions while we examine important issues from all sides to determine the best course of action.  I think we can find ways to compromise, and even when we can’t find compromise, we can always disagree respectfully.

Best City Council Candidates

First and foremost,  GET OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW!

I’ve been asked about my voter recommendations for city council candidates for Fergus Falls.  I have waited to see how the local media handled voter information about the candidates through the forums and published questionnaires.

The forums for the candidates from each ward which were held at City Hall were good efforts, but I felt the questions were pretty easy softballs that were lobbed toward the candidates. It would have been difficult for the candidates to strike out in the eyes of voters who are on any side of the issues (although there were still some responses that caught nothing but air!).  There were a few answers which clearly dodged the concerns on voter’s minds, a couple of new candidates made strong statements which reflected their value to represent voters, and incumbent council members stood by their public positions on past/current concerns.

I thought the Daily Journal brought it up a notch, with some direct questions for which the answers should have at least given voters a hint about the candidate’s view on city government.  I was specifically listening for the candidate’s values regarding local leadership.  Again, it was easy to see which candidates dodged the issues which concern voters and which ones took a clear stand on representative leadership.

Local government is where the rubber hits the road for representative democracy.  I have heard people say things like, “…representative government means that my only responsibility as a citizen is to vote for a candidate, then it’s the job of the elected representative to ‘make the hard choices’.  The voters don’t have all the information the elected officials have”.  That is simply irresponsible, and plain laziness.  There is no excuse for voters not being fully informed about local/city issues, or even on state issues.

My picks for Fergus Falls City Council have each taken a solid position on true representative local government, and I think they have each demonstrated their commitment to serving Fergus Falls through tangible past service to the community.  My choices for Fergus Falls City Council are:

Ward One: Stan Synstelien
Ward Two: Scott Rachels
Ward Three: Jerry Gullickson
Ward Four: Randy Synstelien

Sales tax or property tax – blatant voter coercion

Choose your economic poison. The City Council is asking city voters if you would like your poison to be grape flavored, or cherry flavored. The Council has mandated a property tax, but will “allow” you to approve a sales tax for the School District 544 Hockey Arena instead.

I know, you were told it would be a “Community” ice arena, – but if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…

The City Council touted that the school district was contributing $1.6 million of “in-kind” contribution to the project, which included providing land for the project. After donations from hockey supporters, the City Council said Fergus Falls’ taxpayers would only pay $3 million to finally own a “community” ice arena.

The City Council isn’t talking publicly about the truth, so let’s review these comments by School District 544 superintendent Jerry Ness,

“The usage of the ice arena would be very similar to the current way we are doing business… The first agreement would be a Ground Lease between the District and the Port Authority to allow the construction of the ice arena on School District property. The School District would retain ownership of the land and building.” The second agreement would be an Operating Lease… whereby we lease the ice arena according to the district’s use of the facility…” ~ Ness, J. (2010, October 20). Schools: ‘Where excellence is expected’. Daily Journal (Fergus Falls, MN)

So there it is – the School District will allow the city to build the school hockey arena, and the School District will retain ownership of the land and building.

In the past, school district voters refused to approve a building levy for School District 544 until the district set aside expensive, nonessential extras like…  ice arenas.  Then someone decided to go after the taxpayers of Fergus Falls for that special school funding. The City Council snookered its own constituents.

It’s like there are two school boards trying to appropriate taxpayer money for District 544 in the current election.  There is the elected District 544 School Board, which follows the law requiring voter approval of its levy. The school referendum question on the ballot is legitimate and important for the education of the district’s children. I will vote “yes” on the legitimate school referendum question.

The fake school board (Fergus Falls City Council) is abusing an economic tool (Fergus Falls Port Authority) to circumvent voter approval… to build a school facility.

Seven City Council members agreed to that plan, sacrificing their integrity as city representatives on the altar of “progress”. Now they have placed two cups of poison in front of city taxpayers in the form of a ballot question.

Whether a sales tax or a property tax, any unnecessary tax will draw important business and consumer dollars out of the local economy to build and operate an expensive school district facility. The posers on the City Council want you to choose the type of poison which they will pour into our city’s economy.

So, do you prefer your poison to have a grape, or cherry flavor? It’s a fool’s question, and I refuse it. It is voter coercion – shame on the City Council.

Fergus Falls’ voters made the grave mistake of electing a city council devoid of leadership qualities or community values. It’s best if we avoid that mistake again. Sometimes the best way to learn to avoid making the same mistake again is to walk through the pain of the mistakes we have made.

It will hurt taxpayers to pay an additional 10% in property taxes for the District 544 Hockey Arena over the next 20 years. It should hurt. I hope it hurts enough to motivate continued participation and dialogue about local government in the public square.

I hope voters are paying attention in this election. I hope they are asking the candidates hard questions and demanding straight answers about the candidate’s values pertaining to local government and representation.

School District 544 Hockey Arena

What?  You thought it was a “Community” Ice Arena?

To provide some background, remember that during the initial months of the City Council’s campaign in late 2009 to build the high school hockey arena, they touted such things as “the arena will be an amazing capital asset for the city – how else could the city obtain a $7.6 million asset for only $3 million cost?”

Often Fergus Falls’ voters heard about how the generous hockey supporters would donate $3 million, and the school district was chipping in a huge amount of support for the city’s community ice arena,

“…the Fergus Falls School District pledged an in-kind contribution of $1.6 million, which included providing land for the project” ~ Hage, J. (2010, May 18). Fundraisers surpass $3 million arena goal. Daily Journal (Fergus Falls, MN)

It will be a good deal for the taxpayers of Fergus Falls, the City Council said.  Fergus Falls’ taxpayers will only pay $3 million to finally have ownership of their very own “community” ice arena.  No more being stuck with “leasing” old broken-down county-owned ice arenas…

This is a big layer being peeled off the onion now, and I think it stinks.  Read the following from District 544 superintendent Jerry Ness very carefully, and you will hear who will actually own the ice arena which you are paying for.

“The usage of the ice arena would be very similar to the current way we are doing business… The first agreement would be a Ground Lease between the District and the Port Authority to allow the construction of the ice arena on School District property. The School District would retain ownership of the land and building.” The second agreement would be an Operating Lease… whereby we lease the ice arena according to the district’s use of the facility…” ~ Ness, J. (2010, October 20). Schools: ‘Where excellence is expected’. Daily Journal (Fergus Falls, MN)

Did you hear it?  The school isn’t “contributing” the property to the city taxpayers – it’s contributing to the “project”… the project to build a District 544 Hockey Arena.  Yep, we’re building a hockey arena for the school district.

But it doesn’t end with building it and paying for it.  It is obvious to me that the City Council is planning to have Fergus Falls’ taxpayers shoulder the responsibility for the annual operating expenses of the District 544 Hockey Arena.  Sure, the school district and the hockey association will kick in a few dollars to “help” the city with the operating costs, as Mr. Ness states in the same article,

“The second agreement would be an Operating Lease, which is the current way we are doing business with the City, whereby we lease the ice arena according to the district’s use of the facility…” ~ Ness, J. (2010, October 20). Schools: ‘Where excellence is expected’. Daily Journal (Fergus Falls, MN)

But what’s the point of such a complicated arrangement?  Why wouldn’t the school district just take care of the expenses for its hockey arena?  The only thing that makes sense is that the annual operating costs of the new District 544 Hockey Arena will likely be much higher than the school and the Hockey Association are willing (or able) to spend.  So this City Council has decided that Fergus Falls’ taxpayers should step up to pay the bill for the school district.

Have you tried asking the City Council or city staff for a proforma annual operating budget for the arena (not past budgets for the current county-owned arena)?  No luck with that, right?  After 14 months of planning, they still don’t have that information “available”.  Can you figure out why?

That is why I will now refer to the ice arena as the District 544 Hockey Arena.  We were sold the idea of a “Community Ice Arena”, but it’s obvious that was just a bill of goods.

$9 Million Worth of Blunders

“Absolutely no more than $2.0 Million”.  In September of 2009, this was the firm resolve of multiple Fergus Falls City Council members when stating the amount of Fergus Falls property tax dollars which they felt should be contributed to a proposed ice arena.  But – seven of them were also firm in their resolution that Fergus Falls taxpayers absolutely should NOT be allowed to vote on this use of their property tax dollars.  Blunder.

Within two weeks, that number doubled when the Council, in a 7 to 1 vote, approved a resolution to commit $4.0 million of city property tax increases to an arena project.  When asked about projected annual operating cost for this significant facility, the answer was “…um, no idea”. Blunder.

The architectural firm hired by the city estimated the cost of construction at around $6.0 million.  What would be the annual operating expenses for the facility?  “that’s something city staff are working on”.  Blunder.

Council members spoke stridently about how essential it was to capitalize on the opportunities of the current economy.  By following an expedited timeline to begin construction in 2010, they expected bids from contractors (who would be hungry for work) to come in under the $6 million budget.  Blunder.

Two times, in December of 2009 and five months later in May, Fergus Falls voters petitioned the City Council for the right to vote on the use of property tax dollars for this project.  Twice the City Council told the voters to “call someone who cares”.  Isn’t that blunderful?

All the way to June, 2010; voters have been told the ice arena just needed to be built – their approval doesn’t matter.  But how many hundreds of thousands of dollars will the annual operating expenses add to the city budget?  Again, “… no idea”.  Is that responsible budgeting and planning for use of future taxpayer dollars?  Blundering on.

Now the actual bids have come in – the low bid is $9.1 million – 1.5 times the estimate.  Oops, looks like someone might have… blundered.

I wonder how the Fergus Falls City Council will handle this $3.0 million “reality check”.  It is foolish to retain confidence in the Architectural firm who blundered so badly in estimating construction costs in their planning process; they should be fired.  There should be a thorough review of all decisions and conclusions about this project – what other blunders have occurred?  I think it would be a serious blunder to frantically push forward without critical evaluation of what has occurred up to this point.

By the way, because the fiscal responsibility of our city government is important, ask your councilperson – WHAT ARE THE PROJECTED ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES FOR THE PROPOSED ICE ARENA?  Is it possible the City Council would pull out all the stops to build a multi-million dollar facility without having completed a pro forma Annual Operating Budget?  No way – that would be an insanely irresponsible blunder!  Ask for a printout on city letterhead…