Coral Gables: Ethics in Government–Illinois politics is a wake up call

The prospect that the ex-Governor of the State of Ilinois is convicted and jailed for corruption brings home to the citizens and authorities of the City of Coral Gables the lesson that government should be run impeccably without the slightest suggestion of corruption or incompetent management. A series of events have brought me and the citizens of Coral Gables to believe that management changes need to be made.

Too much corruption and mismanagement have become widely evident in Coral Gables government. The (resigned, not fired by the City Commission) ex-City Manager Brown shamefully departed early because of a claim of abuse against him by a female staff person, and he was found guilty of falsifying receipts. A procurement officer has charged staff in the City of illegal procurement procedures. Charges have been presented to State and County government authorities and police. A recently hired procurement chief resigned after one day on the job and after meeting with the offended procurement officer. Also, the City Attorney has had to hire a personal lawyer to represent her in an ethics case. Evidence has been found of unregistered contracts and payments to consultants.

These add up to the tip of an iceberg.

(See numerous recent articles in the Coral Gables Gazette on these and related subjects.)

Mr. Volsky Dredges Up More on Ex-City Manager Brown

Mr. George Volsky, the persistent, dogged critic of the City Commission, the Mayor and the Administration of the City, writing for the Coral Gables Gazette states:

…City Hall critics allege, that under Brown and the “see-and-hear-nothing city commission Coral Gables become a “Lawless Banana City?” Still, serious questions remain: why had Finance Director Don Nelson cut 24 Tew-Cardenas $5,000 checks without the Purchasing Orders, as city procurement regulations mandate? Was Nelson ordered to pay by Brown, his old pal? How did Brown and Tew-Cardenas connect, and who knew about it?

That Sansores, Nelson’s top assistant, located only one Tew-Cardenas check, while the Gazette has the record of 12, indicates Finance Dept.’s disarray, as well as the uselessness of Eden, the costly “electronic baby” of our Information Technology department.

Expensive as Brown’s misdeeds were, the costliest is yet to come. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advised Coral Gables that former Mayor Don Slesnick’s administrative assistant Olga Garcia would shortly submit documents supporting her Brown sexual harassment allegation. Avoiding a public trial, as commissioners certainly will do, could cost the taxpayers $2 million, possibly much more.

Even should these accusations be half right certainly evidences that there are too many unresolved questions about the competency of the management of the City government authorities that need to be cleared up.

Presentation to Commission on 2007-2008 City Budget (3)

I respectfully recommend that the City Commission undertake the following urgent measures:

• Approve a millage rate of 5.000.

• Instruct management to prepare and implement an urgent plan to consolidate departments and units, reduce staff numbers, hold the line on salaries and benefits and reorganize critical departments such as Building and Zoning.

• The Commission should conduct in depth quarterly public workshops and hearings on the 2007-2008 budget execution based on well defined benchmarks for management.

• Start now to create a clear vision for next year’s budget so that further reductions can be made a year from now without further delay.

We together–city government, residents and businesses–will be facing “years of scarcity” and it is urgent that the Commission and management take steps to substantially cut current and future city spending. This will send a message to our citizens, businesses and city government staff that the time of taxing and spending is over. Now is the time to change the culture of spending and taxing of our Coral Gables government.

We have heard an appeal to protect the “quality of life” in Coral Gables and this a respectable goal. Hopefully, “quality of life” is not a metaphor for more government spending. A better metaphor for quality of life might be a “program for times of scarcity” benefiting us all.

What we need is a budget that fits these “times of scarcity” and not “times of abundance”.