Publisher's Note: This is the first Issue of an anonymous letter circulated around January 13th, 2010. The contents of the letter were made known to a small group of people, including the publisher of theguardiannews. Some of the questions contained herein were addressed to City Council at the January 26th, 2010 meeting under a separate post on this site. A few people have requested to have the contents of this letter published and I am providing it here for their benefit. Except as previously noted, I have no opinion on the material contained herein, but the public may which to comment, which are welcome.
The Sidney Citizen
Prepared by a group of concerned citizens of Sidney, nebraksa
January 13, 2010
Welcome to the first issue of the Sidney Citizen. Upon watching the Sidney City Council meeting on January 12, 2010, it became apparent to this writer the vocal minority set the stage for what became an ugly mark on Sidney’s history.
The Sidney Citizen shall serve as an open letter to the members of the Sidney City Council and the Sidney City Manager, written on behalf of several concerned citizens.
Councilman Bob VanVleet opened his agenda item, a discussion of separating the City Manager and Economic Development duties, with what seemed to be a positive statement of Gary’s accomplishments. He then turned the floor over to the guests of the packed council chamber. As each member of the public came forward, most angrily supported the councilman’s viewpoint, Mr. Person does a great job.
While carefully listening to each of the individuals that came forward to support City Manager Gary Person with endless accolades, one had to consider the connection each of those speaking had to Mr. Person. It would appear that each had benefited directly from Gary’s position as City Manager and / or his role as Economic Development Director. They were either employed directly by him, or they were recipients of economic development monies, or served on one of his many boards. It was also assumed by most that everyone there was to support Mr. Person.
One of the speakers spoke of an alleged under-current , referring to apparent rumors. Councilman VanVleet commented in his closing arguments that the under- current appeared to be in the audience. There is an under-current, it is the “word on the street”.
This writer has listened to the “word on the street” and now feels compelled to request public action by the Sidney City Manager and the Sidney City Council. There are a number of concerned citizens and city employees in this community that don’t speak out. Reasons vary, from fear of public bashing to fear of repercussions at city hall. Some city employees have been banned by city management from speaking directly to any city councilmen on any subject. And yet, the City Manager’s Administrative Assistant felt free to stand up and provide her support. What repercussions would a city employee with an opposing view expect to receive?
So, let’s try to sort out and identify some of the issues that we believe need to be openly discussed by the City Manager and City Council.
There is an inherent and obvious conflict of interest between the two job positions currently filled by Gary Person. As a City Manager, one should focus on the efficient and economical operation of the city. The City Manager is hired by and answers directly to the City Council. This did not appear to be the case at the council meeting. Gary Person seemed to forget, as he was lambasting the council members, that he works for them. They have the power to hire and fire the City Manager. Most employees would have been either reprimanded or fired for the insubordination he displayed during a public meeting. Many are of the opinion that the city council should have exercised their authority to fire Mr. Person after his rant and personal attack, both on the radio and at the public meeting, of the Mayor and council.
As the director of Economic Development, the loyalty is to sell the community to prospective businesses and industry. By most accounts, Mr. Person excels at this task. He does have the knowledge and contacts to draw upon towards this goal.
However, it is also commonly noted that no other community has these two roles combined. Why is that? Is it because there are conflicting duties between he two jobs? As Mr. Person explained how every department gets involved in his economic development projects, did he forget the taxpayers are paying for that involvement? Is it possible the true costs of Economic Development are hidden in the process of having these jobs combined? Are the true costs being accurately separated, tracked and reported by Mr. Person or the City Clerk / Treasurer?
Sidney’s Economic Development is funded by a one-half of one percent cent sales tax. Does this money go into a separate fund or is it co-mingled into the general fund? When a city department spends time evaluating an economic development project, is there reimbursement from this fund to the city?
It was stated that Mr. Person gets paid for one job – city manager. Does he actually perform all of the City Manager’s duties, or have several of those duties been delegated to other city employees, who also receive additional compensation for performing those duties? Do all city manager administrative assistants receive a compensation package in excess of $70,000 per year, or is that because ours has also taken on the role of human resources, a role that would normally be part of the city manager’s duties? Sidney has a Public Services Director. This is another duty delegated by the Sidney City Manager, with an annual compensation package of over $80,000. Now, how much is the total City Manager / Economic Development Director package costing the City of Sidney? Apparently, the cost is far more that the stated $120,000 plus compensation package he receives. What are the hidden costs of Economic Development?
Many of the speakers at the council meeting proclaimed Mr. Person’s economic development abilities. He obviously has state wide contacts and notoriety, and the plaques on his office wall support his endless involvement. But, do all of Sidney’s economic development accomplishments belong to Mr. Person? Consider the growth of Sidney, and the source of the majority of Sidney’s growth and jobs….Cabela’s. If the Cabela’s factor was taken out of the equation, how would Sidney and Mr. Person’ s economic development performance compare to the rest of the state? This writer would have to contend we, and Mr. Person, would be average, at best. City council and the citizens should see an economic development report with Cabela’s growth separated from the total. That would be a true comparison to the other cities mentioned by Mr. Person’s supporters.
The City of Sidney is now in an economic crisis. Or, were we supposed to know that? Mr. Person readily explains how the State of Nebraska is keeping our local sales taxes to pay for the state’s economic development packages. Of the nearly $700,000 sales taxes collected in recent months, the state has or plans to keep over $450,000 for economic development. While it is argued whether this is a state or local responsibility, this, too, is another cost of economic development. The Economic Development Director may not want it looked at that way, but the City Manager should be looking at every way possible to reduce costs for the city. Is this another conflict of interest as the result of combining the jobs? It would appear so.
Is the City Manager preparing our community for additional financial shortfalls? Do we know how much more sales tax is going to be retained? Mr. Person has stated that we don’t know, and he’s even stated that it would be illegal to even ask the State of Nebraska who is getting these refunds and how much more we can expect to lose in the future. Are these not public programs? According to the coffee shop talk, Mr. Person recently advised his staff to trim travel costs because a local business had told him, out of courtesy to the city, they were going to file a claim for an additional $300,000 of refunds due to economic development programs. Just travel costs? Are there not any state or local reporting requirements or cost projections for economic development programs? Has this been discussed at a council meeting for the benefit of the public’s knowledge? Have the city council members even been informed of this? What is the City Manager doing to prepare the city for this shortfall?
Another concern expressed regarding the half cent sales tax for economic development relates to the sales tax rebates that are being retained by the state. Is the state keeping all of the sales tax collected, or are they sending the half cent sales tax for economic development? If they are keeping all of the sales tax, where is the current economic development funding coming from? Mr. Person stated that the county kicks in $20,000 per year. Are sales taxes received from the state being prorated between the city’s general fund and the economic development fund, or is the economic development money just taken from the city’s general fund? Again, is this another conflict between the combined jobs?
The City of Sidney is in the process of hiring a new Chief of Police after the unexpected retirement? of the former chief. Makes it sound like the public is not being informed of everything. It became apparent after Mr. Person’s explanation that the entire hiring process needs to be evaluated. Although city council members were part of the initial scoring process, everyone else involved in the process are either hand selected by the city manager, or appointed by the city manager. In the end, the ultimate decision is made by one person, the city manager. As we look at our city’s current economic state and expected budget shortfall, wouldn’t it be prudent to stop this process and name an interim or acting chief from within the department until our budget crisis is identified and addressed?
Many of the comments at the council meeting indicated that Mr. Person was irreplaceable. The apparent theme was that only Gary could do both jobs. Then, one speaker commented that after a short period of mourning period, everyone would continue on. Irreplaceable? Really? Even Mr. Person stated he had better offers for better jobs. I would think these arguments would support the need for the city council to have the ability to separate the jobs and to retain the right to appoint successors.
Separation of the duties of City Manager and Economic Development Director needs to be put on the agenda and discussed again. The council should have the ability to do this, even if it is decided Mr. Person should continue to do both jobs. It will eliminate an obstacle when Mr. Person, for whatever reason, discontinues his role as City Manager / Economic Development Director.
The “word on the street” today, the day after the council meeting, also points out the lack of impartiality of the press. Both the radio station and the newspaper stated their support for Mr. Person. News should be reported. Opinions should be kept to the editorial page. Based on the comments by the press, it is likely today’s reporting will be biased and less than fair or accurate. Hopefully, they will report both sides of the issue.
Another item discussed on the street today was the City Council’s Code of Conduct. Councilman Gaston made it his mission as mayor to develop this Code of Conduct. Apparently, Mr. Gaston has either forgotten the substance of that code, or he failed to indicate that it did not apply to all councilmen equally. Specifically, it should be updated to exclude Mr. Gaston. He had substantial opposition to an agenda item, but were the other councilmen notified prior to the meeting? Mr. Gaston also proceeded to publically berate his fellow councilmen. Mr. Gaston and the other councilmen should discuss Mr. Gaston’s failure to follow his own code of conduct.
Also, comment was made regarding the use of an outside attorney by city council. After hearing another of the City Attorney’s dissertations, with no real opinion clearly expressed, one has to ask if the City Attorney represents the City, Mr. Person, the City Council Members, or all of the above. Did he contact Mr. VanVleet to discuss the agenda item and provide any guidance or advice regarding that item? Or did he solely counsel Mr. Person?
In closing, our council members have been elected to represent “We the People”, all of us, the vocal minority and the quiet majority. Not all votes need to be unanimous to be right. We urge you to ask these questions and address these issues at the next city council meeting. Put us on the agenda. Maybe the next agenda will include some of these items, and instead of listing the item as “Request of Council Member Van Vleet”, they will be listed as “Request of the quiet majority”. We await your response.
We watch - we listen - we vote!
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