Cooper City Commissioners have agreed to move forward with a plan for a salary increase for the mayor and commissioners despite substantial protests at a recent public workshop.

Some residents at the meeting called the proposed raise "beyond excessive" and "tacky." "The citizens and residents should decide your salary," said Pete Daversa.

Commissioners rejected the idea of a voter referendum since it's too late to add to the November ballot and a special election would cost up to $200,000, said City Manager Bruce Loucks. (they just now thought about it?)

Resident Vince Gordon said commissioners should give residents a chance to vote on the issue even if it means waiting until the 2016 election. (the City charter says pay raises are to be implemented after the election only for those elected. City attorney on the payroll of the city says it means  immediately upon passage of the ordinance.) "If you said you didn't run for the money, why are you up here asking for more?" he asked.

Commissioners currently earn $6,000 a year in salary not adding in all of the benefits, with the mayor earning 20 percent more. Those amounts are the lowest of all city commissions in Broward County, according to data compiled by Loucks and City Clerk Susan Poling. ( It is noteworthy that only 2/3 of the cities were listed . I wonder what the others are.)

Do other cities in the county let the people vote on pay increases or just take it upon themselves? Greed is the root of all evil.

Commissioner John Sims has consistently opposed this increase and was the sole vote against bringing an ordinance to an October commission meeting. At that time a specific dollar amount will be determined. "I have a problem giving ourselves a pay raise," Sims said. "This is public service, not a full-time job."

At a July meeting, commissioners discussed increasing their pay to somewhere between $12,000 and $20,000 . Commissioner Jeff Green said the raise was about "principle" and what the commission has done to help Cooper City have A rated schools, a low crime rate and increasing property values. Cooper City schools were A rated long before any of them became elected officials. "We're one of the few communities doing very well," he said. "I don't believe that happens by accident." This is because only people that have a true interest in the community run for office (in theory).

Commissioner James Curran supports a pay increase because of the additional time he puts into the position. (Mr. Curran is the head janitor of CCHS and is able to take time off when ever he wants to. I wonder if Runcie is aware of that liberal policy? Of course, Wendy Doll, principal of CCHS will not object. Budget 2014-2015 gives $100,000 to the Public schools, Hummm.)

Mr. Curran apparently needs the money now that the white envelopes filled with cash with no receipts, have been discontinued by the benevolent CC Optimist club. (If you doubt that call the SAO of Broward and ask for Jamie Curran’s sworn testimony regarding the allegation made by Gary Laufenberg & Robert Fiske. "I do beyond my civic duties. I'm not an eight-hour-per-month commissioner," he said. "I spend eight hours a week just in the city manager's office." That is a personal choice. What happened to the choice of the people?

Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi DOURVETAKIS and Mayor Greg Ross agreed. Take the “a” off of that last word and you will get what Lisa Mallozzi DOURVETAKIS and Greg Ross are really saying. (Rumor has it that Mayor Ross is pushing to change the current government type from city manager to strong mayor type. He probably will want another raise. His law practice seems to crumbling.)

"When you want to do something right, this becomes a nearly full-time job," Ross said. "We all have worked hard for the city. We've done real well by the people." Slap in the face of all volunteers in the community, specifically the optimist!

The first public hearing on the pay increase ordinance is scheduled for the Oct. 14 commission meeting.

Object Now! This is a sharp stick in the eye to the residents as later will do no good.

Cooper City Commission Set To Give Themselves a 100%-233% Raise

We are asking all of our Cooper City residents to come out to the special Commission meeting on September 11th at City Hall beginning at 6:30 PM. The Commission is discussing giving themselves a minimum of a 100% to a maximum of 233% pay raise! While the charter gives them the power to do it, it doesn't state the amounts. I can't imagine themselves giving THEMSELVES that kind of an increase. As Taxpayers this will mean a minimum of $30,000.00 per year up to $70,000.00 total per year, each. It is important to remember that it is an elected position and a part-time one at that, but of course Comm. Curran will attack me on that premise. We pay a city manager over $150K to run our city.

You can view the entire discussion at the Commission Meeting at http://cooper.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2... . If you would like to see the Commissioners discuss the topic of their raises click on http://cooper.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2... and go to 1:58. We went three times around before the vote. Listen to the rationale of some of the city commission members as to why they are voting for a pay raise...ridiculous, and absurd in my humble opinion as to why the commission deserves a raise! This is all about public service, not about making money on your dime!

Apparently some on the Commission have publicly stated that I voted NO at the above referenced meeting (and I quote) 'because it is an election year'. Let me set the record straight with truth and facts...I voted NO for the reasons explained on record in the above referenced video. In addition, I have voted NO for commission pay raises at least twice in the past, since I have been so fortunate to represent your best interests, for the same reasons. Don't be fooled...I think it is absurd for the commission to ask for a pay raise when there are families in Cooper City who are still struggling to make ends meet...

Hope to see you on September 11th at 6:30 PM at City Hall.

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/coopercitycorner

Yes, Let's give some of the city taxes to the school board

At first glance this seems OK. However upon a closer examination this starts to appear as a really bad idea. The track record of the Cooper City High School expenditures for the building repairs gets quite scary as it appears it might have been better to just have a big bonfire and let it the dollars fuel the fire. And a city commissioner, namely Jamie Curran, wants to ingratiate himself to the board by supporting $100K, (that's $100,000.00 of your additional taxes) to be collected by Cooper City and be given as a donation(?) to the public schools only, does that sound like discriminating against the charter and parochial schools?  This is being done as ‘doing for the Cooper City Kids’. Does that mean that all of the kids in the non-public schools are non-residents of Cooper City and therefore we should not be concerned about them? Contrary to some of the thinking in Cooper City all schools in Broward are paid for by all of the residents of Broward regardless of what city they may live in.  Sounds like some kind of convoluted logic.

To set your mind at ease please, click on the link at the end and get an ear full of the proposed $800 million bond issue and the manner of its planned expenditures, then think how your money, oops, donation just might be spent. Maybe Mr. Curran could explain how he can assure us as to how this benevolent distribution of Cooper City taxes will be properly done.

BTW, the estimate of the how much each property owner in Broward will be assessed in the event we blindly and IMHO, irrational approve this irresponsibly conceived burden upon the taxpayers of Broward at $50 per. Noting of course, this amount may well be the start of a process of double taxation. Lord, help us when the BLOC comes up with a taxing scheme that somehow the city must pay their fair share of the school board cost as another special assessment.

Let’s remember the famous quote of the CCHS janitor, (AKA your District 4 Commissioner), “everyone can afford $50”.  I guess it time to view the members of the commission in terms of their source of income. Three of the five directly on the public payroll and have not been just subjected to the vicissitudes of the economic impact as suffered by the private sector. Thus, one can conclude that fifty bucks ain’t no big deal. Tell that to the parents who spent substantially more than that getting their kids ready for the new school year.  

TAKE A LOOK. BCSB

Commission Pay Raises Survey

Please take the Poll/Survey on the issue of whether or not the Cooper City Commission should give themselves a pay raise, at http://johnsims3.blogspot.com located on the right navigation pane...

Why is Cooper City seeking to fund the schools, they are already asking for $800 million?

To Mr. & Mrs. Cooper City Taxpayer,

At first glance most of us are favorably inclined to the concept of diverting $100k towards schools for computer. The needs having been described by the head school janitor as urgently needed. Upon further contemplation not as favorably disposed towards the idea for some reasons I will convey to you.

While the idea of better computers sounds good, the proposed gift ignores that school funding is strictly a state & county function, with additional federal funds thrown in.  You will soon receive a notice, the TRIM Notice, AKA, notice of proposed property taxes. Review it closely and you will see that the amount you will probably pay to the school board is greater than your city tax bill for two reasons. The millage is greater and the amount of exemption is less thus a larger bill in most cases for the average homeowner.

There is also the question of the funding of school activities by a municipal government. While it is true in some areas of the country there are municipalities that are responsible for funding of the school system. However, given the structure of the school system in Florida the school board is a county level function will state funding as well as federal funds to the state/local school board. It is noteworthy that the Broward School System is the 2^nd largest in the country. Given these facts I find no sound legal or logical basis for municipal funding a requirement or even necessity that city taxes need be appropriated to the public schools.

The growth of charter schools both private and public does give rise to the question of funding and this is particularly true in Pembroke Pines. And we have watched that over the years and I am not sure that we can look to that as answer to enhancing the public school system in a municipality. I would wonder what the reaction is to all of this for parents who fund our public schools but receive not consideration for sending their kids to the non-public funded education systems.

The public schools are funded through direct taxes paid by property owners to the Broward Schools System. It now appears as though the Cooper City Commission has inserted into the budget a gift, that’s right Bertha, a gift of $100,000 to fund obtaining computers. The exact reason is not being made very clear. Is it for additional computers for testing or for day to day usage or for other reasons?

Apparently this gift request was made by the principal of the high school on behalf of the five public schools in Cooper City. No mention of the charter or private schools was included. This is occurring in the same time frame as the efforts of the school board to ramp up support of the $800 million bond issue to be paid by the property owners of Broward. (Sources knowledgeable on this indicate that a substantial portion will be directed to payment of the previous indebtedness of the school board.)

'Thank you' from Commissioner John Sims

Dear Neighbor,

On behalf of the campaign to keep John Sims as your Cooper City Commissioner on Tuesday, November 4^th, 2014, my faithful constituents, my campaign staff and I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest appreciation and gratitude for your very generous campaign contribution. I am deeply grateful for your friendship, support and extreme generosity!

It is through the direct support of individuals like yourself, that I will be able to continue to strengthen my message, convey my initiatives and to continue to develop new and innovative methods to serve the shareholders of our great city, you and our local business owners...

The People of Cooper City have blessed me with the opportunity to serve them again, and I am humbled by the trust and confidence that they have placed in me. I will continually strive to honor that trust and confidence every day in my service to our great city and its many diverse communities.

As we approach the election season, I wish you; your family and your colleagues the very best, and I faithfully promise to continue to provide the necessary leadership and to lead the charge in providing excellence, accountability and transparency in our local government services to our residents and local business owners.

Please ask your neighbors and friends to support me, and remember, it does not matter where you live in Cooper City…everyone can vote for me on the upcoming ballot!

If there is anything I can do to assist you in any manner, please do not hesitate to contact me as I am at your service. Again, thank you for helping to make our mission a reality.

Sincerely,

John Sims

Your ‘Go To’ Commissioner!
Cooper City Commissioner, District 1 (At Large)

http://www.keepsims.com

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