THIS AND THAT

There was no Council meeting last week.

FEEDBACK

I really appreciate hearing from Council members, especially when their comments contribute to the public discussion.

I heard from Councilman Bob Mastrangelo this week.

With regard to the requirement that Council pass legislation authorizing purchase of items included in the previously approved city budget, Mastrangelo commented:

"I think you may have misunderstood what I said.  My position is to vet the capital projects thoroughly during the budget review process.  If we do this it should be a slam dunk to get it through Council.  
Unfortunately, when you only spend less than 30 minutes discussing a $3.0M+, 2019 program, with no intention of making any necessary adjustments, we fail this test.  
I would never vote to bypass normal legislative process and let the supervisors go ahead and purchase budgeted items.  My resistance to waiving readings supports my position."

Mastrangelo also confirmed his support for recent legislation that gave the Cleveland Water Department ownership of a taxpayer-financed City asset---city waterlines---in exchange for the Water Department's promise to take full responsibility and somehow, someday, replace them.

"I support the decision to turn over the waterlines to the City of Cleveland as I did when we discussed it many years ago.  I believe they allocate $10M for waterline repairs through 2 programs they run each year.  I don't remember whether that is $10M/year or per program.  ...  As to additional fees added to your water bill, all these cost are put into the rate that all residents pay.  If Highland Heights won a $3M waterline repair project, that cost would be rolled into the waterline costs for all customers. The previous $3M example would not be added to the water bill of Highland Heights residents alone.  Whether we are part of the program or not, we all pay. "

I respectfully disagree with Mastrangelo's rose color view that at some time in the future the cost of the replacement program won't fall exclusively on water customers in cities that participate in the program----in other words, on Highland Heights taxpayers.

I know if I lived in a city that chose not to participate in the program and maintained its own water lines I sure as heck would object to paying to replace the water lines in other cities elsewhere in Cuyahoga County.

It seems to me that a two-tiered structure of water fees is inevitable....unless the Water Department succeeds (as it is clearly trying to do) in getting every city under its thumb to sign onto the program.

SHREDDING SUCCESS

Service Director Thom Evans reported at the April 23rd Council meeting that the City's free, twice-a-year paper shredding event has grown in popularity since it was first launched 10 years ago and that the amount of paper shredded at the most recent event "broke a record".

That was music to the ears of former Council President Scott Mills who, during the Public Speaking portion of the Council meeting, stepped forward to say:

"I want to thank the city for continuing the legacy of what I started almost 10 years ago, the Shred Day."

Serving on Council can be a thankless job at times, but what Council members do can make a difference to improve life and services in our community.

Thank you, Scott Mills, for getting the program started and thank you, city officials, for keeping it going!

RESIDENTS NOW BEHOLDEN TO CLEVELAND WATER DEPARTMENT

Last Tuesday Council authorized the deal to give away one of the city's assets----its water lines---to the scandal-plagued Cleveland Water Department in exchange for the promise that the Department will, supposedly, replace the city's water lines.

When will that happen?
Who knows.
The financing part of this is unclear, and we aren't the only fish to bite. Many other cities have water lines that are older and in far worse shape.
My advice:

Don't hold your breath waiting to see any real benefit from this asset give-away.

It appears to me that the only way the Department will be able to fund this alleged water replacement "freebie" is by adding a hefty infrastructure replacement charge to your and my future water bills.

So the city keeps all its tax dollars and shifts the infrastructure replacement costs to you and me.

Whoppee

The Clevland Water Department's problems have been well documented.....meter failures, billing errors and, most recently, continuing EPA violations.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/investigations/cleveland-water-promises-fix-on-critical-equipment-failures-after-news-5-investigation

Great going, guys

Procedure vs. Practical--Compromise Reached

In my last blog I discussed Council's wrestling match over fast-tracking non-emergency vehicle purchases for the police and fire departments.

Apparently Council members worked out a compromise after that Council meeting.

On Tuesday Council members unanimously agreed to speed up the process by suspending the 3rd required reading of the spending authorization legislation.

No new emergency was involved to justify by-passing the rules but it will get things rolling 2 weeks earlier.

To avoid any similar controversy, Council heard the first reading of legislation authorizing the purchase of the second new police vehicle that Police Chief Jim Cook expected to buy later this year, as anticipated in this year's budget.

Public Comments

For the second Council meeting in a row, former Mayor Tom Hughes took advantage of the meetings' Public Speaking portion to fume about drainage issues in his yard which he claims resulted from the development of an adjoining neighbor's property.

Hughes has made repeated appearances at Council meetings over the last few years raising the issue.
His (to-date unsuccessful) position seems to be that the city's approval of the neighbor's building/zoning requests renders it responsible for fixing his drainage problem.

There is a 3 minute per speaker time limit imposed during the Public Speaking portion.

While that might seem brief, one of the benefits for all stakeholders---Council members, city administrators and the general public in attendance----is that it encourages public speakers not to ramble and to zero in on the point they want to make.

In other words, to think and prepare what they want to say before they get up to speak.

In my observation Council has always been pretty tolerant when enforcing the time limit.

Warnings are given. Speakers are given an opportunity to finish their thoughts and sum up.

Hughes, for example, was allowed to go on for 9 minutes before his speech was gaveled to a close.
In my experience that's been pretty much par for the course every time Hughes has come to Council meetings to speak.

The former mayor hates the time limit. He thinks it should be eliminated. He told Council:

"I was always delighted when residents of this community came to council meeting because it always gave me an opportunity to talk to them about things of concern to them...If I didn't listen to them then I couldn't hear them, and if I didn't hear them I couldn't represent them....We need to respect the people who come in."

While I think Hughes makes a valid point, the fact is that every Council meeting agenda sets aside time for residents to come, speak and be heard. 

Not every city provides that opportunity to its residents.

Imposing a reasonable time limit during the public speaking portion of Council meetings is, for me, a no-brainer. 

      After all, everyone's time is valuable

That includes the listerners' time as well the speakers.

POLITICAL FIELD SHAKING OUT?

COUNCIL… NEW POLITICAL BLOOD IN THE OFFING

It’s terrible how diminished the Sun Messenger has become at the hands of its most recent owner, Advance Ohio. 

What once was a true community asset---providing focused coverage of local events, politics and controversies, as well as a forum for local opinion and discourse---it is now, well, not that.

Thank heavens for freelance writer Jeff Piokowski, who continues to cover a large handful of eastside communities for Advance.

It was Jeff who reported that Councilwoman Cathy Murphy has decided not only not to run for mayor this fall, but to throw in the towel on her Ward 1 seat as well.
https://www.cleveland.com/community/2019/04/highland-heights-ward-1-councilwoman-cathy-murphy-will-not-run-for-mayor-or-seek-council-re-election.html

I hear Murphy is not the only longtime Council rep thinking about stepping away once their term ends in December.  
One or two other Council members may join her in retirement.

The city’s political leadership has been static for quite some time.
Maybe disgraced former mayor Scott Coleman’s resignation has shaken things up a bit, opening the door to some new blood.
That could be a good thing….. as long as the new politicos are committed to preserving the high quality of residential life that Highland Heights residents currently enjoy.

PROCEDURE VERSUS PRACTICALITY: COUNCIL MEMBERS’ ARM WRESTLING

Last Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole and Council meetings were pretty straightforward… until an arm wrestling match among Council members broke out.

That was highly unusual.

Council members talk privately to each other before meetings and usually avoid airing disagreements in public, and Council presidents normally do their best to dissuade members from pursuing actions that cause dissention, bad feelings and are doomed to failure.

For whatever reason, those things didn’t happen. 

Council harmony was shattered, quite publicly, last Tuesday.

The issue: whether Council should commit to following Charter-imposed procedures for enacting legislation or shortcut that procedure when authorizing police and service department spending.

The City Charter requires that, except for emergencies, proposed legislation should be read (and considered) at 3 Council meetings before being acted upon. Charter Section 4.09 reads in part:

“….no ordinance or resolution of a general or permanent nature….involving the expenditure of money or …for the purchase, lease, sale or transfer of property shall be passed unless it has been read in full (or by title) on three (3) different days unless the requirement for such three (3) readings be dispensed with by the affirmative vote of five (5) of the members of Council in accordance with Section 4.10.”

Section 4.10 refers to emergency measures and states, in part:

“Each emergency measure shall contain a statement of the necessity for such emergency action, a precise statement describing the emergency, and shall require the affirmative vote of five (5) of the members of Council for its enactment.”

The arm wrestling concerned whether to fast-track two resolutions authorizing the purchase of a new police vehicle and a service department truck body/chassis, the money for which was budgeted this year.

Councilwoman Cathy Murphy and Councilman Bob Mastrangelo saw no compelling reason to abandon the 3 reading requirement. They embraced Council’s duty to comply with the legislative procedure set out in the Charter.

Councilman Ed Hargate, however, felt differently. He said:

“I am asking for a suspension of the 3 readings because these have to do with public safety. …I don’t think that there should ever be a delay involved in obtaining this type of equipment.”

Hargate didn’t identify any particular emergency or exigent circumstances involving the police car or truck chassis/body.

In making his fast-tracking request, Hargate was expressing his personal view about how such matters should be handled. It also stuck me as a crafty political move, communicating his support for the city's first responders. It's also possible that the police chief and/or service director privately reached out to Hargate (as the head of Council’s Legislative & Finance Committee) prior to the Council meeting, asking for the accommodation.

On Tuesday night, Police Chief Jim Cook told Council that he didn’t specifically request fast-track approval of the police vehicle purchase. He explained that he was anxious to close the deal, as the vendor had been holding the police vehicle for the city, but Cook also conceded that the situation was not likely to change if there was a slight delay caused by giving the legislation the normally-required 3 readings. Cook also made clear, however, that he didn’t oppose Council’s fast-tracking the purchase:

 “If you have the votes tonight (to approve it) that would be great.”

Service Director Thom Evans seemed more anxious to have Council bypass the normal legislative procedure, but questioning by council members revealed that a purchase order for the truck that the chassis was going to be installed upon had itself just been issued. According to Evans it was going to take:

“…120 to 150 days (4 to 5 months) for the truck to be delivered. I wouldn’t make a promise that this truck will be ready for this snow season.”

Evans failed to make a case for rushing to obtain a chassis for the truck, which was months away from being delivered to the city and might not be put in service until 2020.
He certainly didn’t establish the kind of emergency necessary to bypass the normal legislative process.

Pursuant to the city Charter, fast-tracking legislation requires 5 votes.

On Tuesday Hargate’s motion to suspend the required 3 readings received only 3 votes (in addition to Hargate, Ann D’Amico and Lisa Stickan voted yes). It, therefore, failed.

Which simply means that the Police Chief and Service Director will have to wait a couple more weeks for Council’s purchase authorization.

Although Mastrangelo voted against bypassing normal legislative procedure this time, he also expressed frustration with the whole process.  He told me that once Council approved the budget, he thought supervisors should be able to simply go ahead and purchase budgeted items without having to return to Council to receive purchase authorizations.

Such an approach, while simpler, would undermine the tight control over the budget (and spending) that Council currently exercises and would undermine Council’s ability to enact cut-backs if economic times got tough as the budget year progressed.

Pursuant to the Charter legislative slowness has it purpose.

That’s especially true when it comes to spending taxpayer money.

COUNCIL ADOPTS CREDIT CARD POLICY

There were no Council meetings this past week, so I have nothing “hot off the presses” to report.

Of note, however: several weeks ago Council finally adopted a formal policy regarding the use of credit cards.

You can read the whole policy yourself, as it’s posted on the city’s website: https://www.highlandhts.com/DocumentCenter/View/1061/3-2019-Establishing-a-Credit-Card-Account-Policy

I find it interesting that during disgraced former mayor Scott Coleman’s long rein the city apparently hadn’t adopted a formal policy regarding the use of credit cards …..just another reason why a forensic audit of the city’s book is a good idea right now.

I also found disconcerting this explanatory language in the Resolution….which implies that the motivating reason for enacting the new credit card policy was not common sense but because the State of Ohio mandated that Council do it. The resolution begins:

“Whereas House Bill 312 established internal control models for credit card usage by political subdivisions and requires the legislative authority of a political subdivision to adopt a policy regarding such useage….”

The policy gives City Finance Director Joe Filippo sole discretion to decide which credit cards the city should use and the appropriate credit limits for them.

Department supervisors are given authority to decide which of their city employees are issued/allowed to use city credit cards. They must also keep track of/supervise the cards’ use.

 The policy also requires issuance of purchase orders prior to payments being made using city credit cards. 

There was one apparent conflict in the policy that confused me. While the policy categorically states in the beginning that credit cards are to be used:

“…for only approved City related expenses. Personal purchases of any type are strictly prohibited. Cash advances are strictly prohibited.”

It later allows:

“Authorized employees…to use (a city) Gasoline credit card for their personal vehicle.”

The policy leaves it up to those employees to determine, for themselves, that they have the approval of a department supervisor “or City Administrator” to put city-paid gas in their cars.
The term “City Administrator” isn’t defined in the policy, so it’s unclear how broadly or narrowly that authorizing power has been bestowed.

For most of us credit cards are a necessary convenience. So, too, it may be for the city. But, as is often in life:

“Less can be more.”

We can only hope Filippo feels that way too, and that this policy doesn’t open the door to a proliferation of city-paid credit cards being issued. 

My concern is that the greater number of city credit cards being used, the more daunting the task of keeping track that this new policy is being fully and properly complied with.

Given the embezzlement allegations made against our disgraced former mayor, that’s not a concern to be lightly shrugged off.

PROPOSED NEW POLICY: PRIVATE PROPERTY DRAINAGE ISSUES NOT CITY’S PROBLEM TO FIX

I usually get more substantive information about what’s going on in the city by attending Committee of the Whole meetings rather than Council meetings.

Such was the case last Tuesday.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Cathy Murphy reported on a proposed new city policy, drafted by Council’s Drainage Committee (members: Murphy, Ann D’Amico, Leo Lombardo). The effort was prompted, according to Murphy, by a recognition that:

“….there seems to be a disconnect between what a resident is expecting or anticipating regarding drainage issues and what the city is able to do and the timing of that.”

The Drainage Committee’s goal was to:

“…develop a method of investigation so that all parties understand how a (drainage) issue will be investigated and researched by the city… Sometimes (what the city will provide is) just advice. Sometimes it’s not something we (the city) can actually do for residents.
We also wanted to establish a specific chain of procedure…..This should assist city staff too. They will understand what they are expected to do.”

To my ears Service Director Thom Evans provided a more telling spin. He acknowledged that initially:

“…there was some hesitation on the part of some to have a policy…(the concern being that a policy might be) a gateway towards the city doing more drainage work on private property.
If anything this (proposed policy) does less.
It says that drainage on private property is a private matter.”

Apparently the city will investigate and give advice to residents, but in most cases residents will have to finance and remediate drainage issues themselves. Exceptions include issues that directly impact the city in some way, and if a bunch of adjoining property owners are dealing with a drainage issue, the city might kick in some (but not all) of the money necessary to remediate the situation.

Law Director Tim Paluf commented:

“I like that (the proposed new policy) explains to residents about private property and their obligation to take care of it.”

The proposed policy has not yet been formally presented to Council for adoption. Murphy pushed for it to be put on the agenda for action in April.

WHAT'S UP WITH THE RED RECYCLING BAGS?
Last week residents received a small package in the mail containing red clothing recycling bags. The mailing contained the banner: Brought to you by the City of Highland Heights.

Residents are encouraged to recycle usable articles of clothing, shoes, housewares and accessories by placing them in the red bags and leaving the bags next to their green recycling bins on garbage day.

The start date: April 1, 2019

In case you are wondering, the company behind this effort, simplerecycling, is NOT a non-profit organization.It intends to make money using the items that residents provide.

At least they are honest about that. On the Q&A section of their website (https://simplerecycling.com) the company states:

“Simple Recycling is a for profit recycler that is committed to offering residents the most simple and easy way to keep usable materials from the landfill.
If you would prefer to donate items to charity, we recommend the free home pickup service of DonateStuff.com.”

So keep that in mind.

You can’t claim a charitable deduction for anything you put in the red bag (since it’s not a donation to a non-profit organization).

If that matters to you…philosophically or financially….consider dropping your donations off at one of the local non-profit/charitable sites around here: the Goodwill Store (Mayfield Road across from Walmart or Vine Street in Eastlake), Habitat for Humanity’s Restore (Vine Street, Eastlake) or the Salvation Army store (the old Loehman’s Plaza, Chardon Road in Willoughby Hills).

Open Checkbook
There seemed to be quite a bit of jockeying among council members as to who was most supportive of the city joining Ohio’s Open Checkbook program.
I have to admit I was amused watching that.
 

What is Open Checkbook?
Basically cities share their accounting data with the state, and the Ohio Treasurer’s Office makes it available online (at ohiocheckbook.com) for the public to view.

Residents can see a city’s budget and sort data to track spending over time.

Only one person expressed any concern about the city’s participation ….and it wasn’t about having to share the city’s financial information with the public.

On the contrary, Finance Director Joe Filippo’s concern was that the information on the website might be too general, prompting lots of follow-up questions directed at his office:

“(The general ledger line items) do not show the specifics of what money is spent on. (My concern is that) as finance people we will get a lot of questions. It is too vague.”

A representative from Ohio Treasurer’s Office responded to Filippo, stating:

“(The amount of detail) depends on how you keep your books. We pull data files. Some users do have that amount of detail. Sometimes we get asked to drop detail because it might include information that might not be public record information.”

So there you have it.

Will the city’s participation allow more for more readily-accessible transparency regarding the city’s budget and spending? Yes.

Will the website provide useful specific detail regarding what those expenditures are?

That remains to be seen.