Budgeting and Spending Sprees
by Dale Tyler

On the agenda for the final City Council meeting of 2009, item No. 7 on the consent calendar calls for the expenditure of at least $150,000 for “shade covers” as follows:

On October 18, 2009, the City Council asked staff to seek bids for the installation of shade covers over the bleachers of 8 little league fields. The fields proposed are 4 fields at Youth Athletic Park, 2 fields at Gilleran Park, 1 field at Bebee Park, and 1 field at Curtis Park. Staff has prepared a set of specifications to seek bids for purchase and installation of the bleacher covers. The covers being proposed are approximately 18’ x26’. The nature of the construction is to dig holes in the current hardscape, install rebar cages filled with concrete and bolts, and then bolt the covers to the footings. The preliminary estimate for this effort is in the range of $140,000 - $150,000 for all 16 covers. Staff has attached a schedule for advertising, award, and installation. Once the bids are received, staff will recommend a resolution be processed to fund this effort based on Council approval.

There are a number of interesting things about this expenditure. Among these are the approval process, the lack of public input, the use of the consent calendar to stifle debate and the fact the city has almost no money in unallocated reserves.

Most interesting is that it did not go through any kind of budget process. Normally, projects like this are considered by the Community Services Commission and the city staff, placed on a list of priorities and then, if there are sufficient funds and they are the highest priority item, the expenditure is scheduled to be made in the next budget cycle.

In this case, the item came up from a single council person, Frank Ury, and did not follow any of the usual procedures. He claims that there were “a number” of letters from citizens requesting this improvement. Even if there were citizens wanting shade covers, there is no reason to make them the highest priority expenditure in the city. By spending this money on shade covers, instead of restoring full funding for the library or resuming deferred maintenance on our decaying slopes, Ury and staff are sending a message that the budget process means nothing and that any expenditure that strikes the fancy of a city councilperson will be considered above all others. Ury, always the bully, is trying to curry favor, perhaps to gain some campaign contributions.

Then there is the lack of public input. Although the item has been discussed during one other city council meeting, it has not been up for discussion at the Community Services Commission. The lack of public process means that Ury and the staff are fairly sure there would be an outcry and many problems with getting this project approved. Like the ill-fated Oso Viejo dog park, failing to involve the community just adds to the resentment people feel about the autocratic way the City Council and staff run our city.

Using the consent calendar to prevent public input is a time-honored tradition that goes back to Susan Withrow and Sherri Butterfield. During their tenure, before they were thrown out in 2002 by a tremendous voter backlash, they often used so-called agenda management to try and prevent the public from learning what is going on at City Hall. Ury, Kelly and MacLean voted to make it impossible for the public to force items off the consent calendar for discussion. Of course, another councilperson like Cathy Schlicht or J.P. Ledesma can pull an item for discussion, but why try and hide it among the routine city business?

Finally, there is the question of the city's current financial condition and whether we should be spending what little reserves we have remaining on luxuries like shade covers. Children have been playing Little League and other sports in the city since before it became a city. During that time, parents and others who came to watch them play provided their own shade, mostly in the form of hats. This has worked fine for many years. Covered bleachers are an extravagance that we can ill afford. It has been reported that we have less than $400K in unallocated reserves. We have cut millions from city slope maintenance programs and library support due to the city's decreased tax collections. Yet, Ury thinks the most important expenditure in the city is shade covers. He needs to wake up and read the financial reports. Given the usual cost overruns on almost every city project, the proposed $150K will grow and likely exceed our current unallocated reserves by the time the project is completed.

The citizens of Mission Viejo are not being served by the current council majority of MacLean, Ury and Kelly. Hopefully, they will get the message that we are tired of the out-of-control spending, the waste of taxpayer dollars on luxury projects and the general decline of city infrastructure maintenance. MacLean, Ury and Kelly, along with city staff, are spendthrifts who won't stop until they run out of checks in the city checkbook.