*Edited 10/15: The amendment to the capital budget, which requires a 4/5 supramajority, was not passed at Tuesday's meeting. The press releases was likely issued in frustration. Please excuse the error.




First of all, I want to apologize for neglecting to let you all know that I was going to be out of town yesterday, and thus not updating my blog. Sorry. I'm back now, and will posting for the remainder of the week through Friday.

Imagine my surprise that in this time of debate over the recreation center and the proposed 2009 budget, Mayor Johnson would dredge up yet another bone of contention to wedge between the divided council.

This issue goes back to last winter, when the city's police department non-emergency phone line failed on a couple of occasions. At the time, Commissioner of Public Safety Ron Kim was quick to point out that money was already set aside to fix the problem, and accused Mayor Johnson of foot-dragging on the issue, stating that he already had a contractor in place to do the work, but was caught up in bureaucratic red tape.

I will admit that I was unaware of the significance of today's vote to amend the capital budget allocation for telephone upgrades in City Hall, but as you will read below, the amendment was passed in a 3-2 vote, with Kim and Commissioner of Public Works Skip Scirocco voting against the "comprehensive approach" that will reportedly address all of city hall's phones, and not just the police department.

To tax payers, the cost-savings Johnson says are associated with this move will likely be welcomed. It is also worth noting that this type of political-hit-via press-release is a new move for Johnson, who has previously stated that he prefers not to communicate with his fellow council members via the press. It remains to be seen whether or not this will be a new style for the mayor, or if it is a passing phase.

MAYOR JOHNSON, COMMISSIONERS FRANCK AND IVINS

TRY TO IMPROVE CITY HALL PHONE SERVICE & SAFETY

Better, Cheaper Project Rejected by Kim, Scirocco

The City telephone system is out-of-date, has limited utility, cannot be expanded and has proven to be a safety concern with respect to the Police Department phone lines. In order to alleviate these problems, Mayor Scott Johnson proposed today to consolidate some money from the 2009 Capital budget into this year’s Capital budget. The purpose? To improve communications with the public and now eliminate problems in the Police Station, Fire Stations, DPW garage and City Hall, while realizing significant savings over currently budgeted amounts.

Last month, the City Council unanimously adopted the recommendation of the Capital Budget Committee to spend $150,000 in 2009 on telecommunications upgrades, in addition to $170,000 that was allocated to that item and already passed by the last City Council, for 2008. The Capital Committee deemed this project the number one priority over all other capital projects.

Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton was able to realize significant cost savings by incorporating a comprehensive approach to the problem. As a result, the City would be expending $258,000, rather than the fully budgeted amount of $320,000. Additionally, savings of thousands of dollars were projected to continue for years into the future. The project would also allow redundancy in the system, along with a mobile emergency operations center, to provide coverage during power outages and other disasters, while also being portable for future transfer into a new Police Station.

Mayor Johnson and Commissioners Franck and Ivins voted in favor of reallocating the funds to this year’s budget, undertaking the project now and realizing significant savings. Commissioner Kim, who has been publicly complaining about problems with telephones in the Police Station for more than one year, voted against the project. Commissioner Scirocco also voted against the telephone system. Neither Commissioners offered an alternative solution or cost estimate, except that both noted vaguely that the Police Station system should be replaced, without addressing the remainder of the City’s needs.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor expressed frustration at the gridlock that has frozen City Hall for too many years. Johnson stated, “It is unfortunate when public officials ignore problems that they themselves have complained about, in order to make political points. That is not service to this community, that is not leadership. Some on the Council, unfortunately, are continuing bad practices and preventing the City from moving forward”.