Cooper City Budget and City Manager

The upcoming budget will be a very challenging experience and it will test the commission as to where they are heading on serious issues. Are they going to massively raise your taxes again? Our Budget Workshops are upcoming to set millage rates, debt levy, adoption of initial assessment resolutions and to set times and dates for public budget hearings, all at city hall. Visit CooperCitFL.org for dates and times.

The decisions made during this upcoming budget process are going to be difficult and will affect all residents in an adverse way, and I am doing everything possible to avoid that on your behalf. It’s past time to address the issue of solutions in order to reduce costs, not continuing to promote unnecessary feel good services while continuing to neglect and not improve core services instead of select favorite programs. The likelihood is that your commission majority will massively raise taxes again because this isn’t a primary election year.

One reason I see that the city is such a mess financially is that most career politicians on the dais care far more about keeping their political jobs than about helping you keep yours. My recent challenge to my fellow commissioners is “what’s the tough choice in 2018 that you’re going to make in order to make Cooper City better, more efficient and less costly to run?” You guessed it…no responses by anyone on the commission. Just the typical rhetoric regarding the budget process which doesn’t put more money in your pocket.

I recently motioned to terminate the city manager due to this continuing fiscal incompetence, lack of providing detailed information on agenda items, lack of providing information to residents and appointed board members. You guessed it, no support on your behalf from the political alliance. How unfortunate that those who run the city seem to not care a wit about those who pay their salary.

The city faces immediate tough choices in order to make this next fiscal year a priority to increase services, reduce taxes and improve customer service. My first priority after public safety is creating local jobs and lowering your taxes. Jobs are created here in our city by local business owners, not in Tallahassee or in Washington. This is why we need to elect like-minded residents, so they can save money and create more jobs.

One final note, there are candidates running for Districts 1 and 2 in November 2018, and I'm sure there are more to come. Hopefully you will make the right decision to seat commissioners in Districts 1 and 2 who will always look out for your best interests, not the interests of themselves and their political future or those who are political hacks of those on the commission.

To those of you that are concerned about what this commission wants to do regarding this upcoming budget process, please forward your concerns to me. I will voice them but I can assure you, they may be ignored if it puts money in your pocket.

The proposed Cooper City Charter Amendments….

Many have asked the question, what are these changes all about?

Well the answer might be. 

First and foremost one must recognize that the charter is liken to the constitution of that of our country in that it sets up the basic structure of the city government. In the case of Cooper City it says that the manner which the city will operate is by an elected commission specifying all the rules associated with that process and  providing  policies and ordinances by which the city manager will operate the city. As one would assume this involves many activities and much of the charter deals with many but not all of these rules. The key here is that these guidelines or rules are treated as the primary laws for the operation of the city. They range from election procedures to many of the other activities necessary for the process of the function of the city needs to perform its’ obligations.   

Do the proposed changes add or take away from the existing charter?

In most cases the proposed changes do materially alter the fundamental structure that has been in place for the last 35 years or so and has been only previously changed in very minor ways. Keep in mind that these types of changes can only occur every four years and absolutely require the voters to approve them. An examination of the proposed changes does raise several questions. The primary one is we the voter are neither familiar with city procedures nor do we wish to become lost in the weeds of this type of detail.  

Rather than provide a lengthy microscopic view a summary will provide a better guide. The changes start with the suggested need for an absentee rules for members of the commission. Seems somewhat childish as most of the commission members are of a character that such a stringent law is  hardly a necessity. Then there are several rather administrative type changes that seem totally out of place in the charter as opposed to simply directives to be given to the city manager as to how the commission wants the city to perform. The reason for a commission is to have them decide what is essential for the process of the city functions and to direct the city manager to implement them. 

Two major concerns arises upon viewing the requested changes.

(1) Is there an hidden agenda underlying the changes?

(2) Do we want to have the commissioners to become immersed in the details of the  running of the functions of the city ?

(3) Why has the current status of the city manager, highly skilled in the process of the city governance and well paid for his/her skill level now being reduced to one of simply a clerk following the direction of members of the commission, who in most cases have had very little if any substantial training or education in governmental management?

 Thus, it is fair to conclude that why are all of these seemingly minor (one could also call them trivial) changes be placed before the voters as being needed to be changed when that is what the city commissioners are elected to do when necessary after through and thoughtful debate? Several persons with whom I have spoken, knowledgeable in the workings of city governance,  have reached the pretty much the same conclusion which is, why is it necessary that these be put before the voters?

Rather than delve into what could require many pages of discussion, they have all agreed to the following statement, an old adage my father often said to me,
“If It Is Not Broken, Then Don’t Attempt to Fix It”.

Therefore it is urged that the residents of Cooper City cast a straight down the line the ballot, NO, to all of the proposed these changes, thereby putting the task of the commissioners to make the necessary changes when a need is required.

Cooper City's "Blow Me" Commissioner Strikes Again!

As reported by Bob Norman on WPLG last week, Cooper City's "Blow Me" commissioner has struck again! Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi (We like to call her Ma Lousy) attached commissioner John Sims' 'manhood', saying he needed 'a apair of Tweezers' to 'find it'... This happened when Mallozzi made statements on the dais using innuendo demeaning Sims' private parts.

The remark created a big yelling match between Ma Lousy and Mayor Greg Ross . Banging his gavel, Ross told Mallozzi to stop talking and calling for adjournment. Of course, she ignored him.

"Dammit," "I've never had to do this. I have never used this and I don't intend to. I won't accept it from the commission. I won't accept it from anyone out there." said Ross. "It's just another whack-job attack from her," Sims said.

This is not the first time Mallozzi has said outrageous things on the dais. In 2013, she made a suggestion that was caught on video to Gladys Wilson who was in the audience. That suggestion was for Gladys Wilson to perform oral sex on Ma Lousy, who said "Blow Me" to her during a commission meeting. 

The other commissioners responded with both support and fake disgust. Commissioner Jamie Curran stated "I'm totally embarrassed for everybody in this room," "I'm sorry to see this, especially for the young people [who] are here." Well commish, we are sorry embarrassed that you've stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from #CooperCity!

Ross said "I will not tolerate it from anyone," "This has to stop and it stops now." I guess Ross simply needs a bigger gavel to shut that sailor mouth of Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi.

Maybe a Recall is in order. If not, a Motion for Censure at the very least...

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

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