For the months of July and August, I will be present at 6:30pm on the night of each council meeting. Please feel free to stop by and talk with me at your convenience. ince a number of citizens normally come to the council meeting, my thought is that scheduling my “office hours” at this time might be more convenient for more people.

The council meetings are scheduled for the following nights in July and August:

July

07-14-2008

07-28-2008

August

08-11-2008

08-25-2008

Please stop in and see me if you get the chance.

• Reading meeting agendas & minutes
• Regular City Council meetings
• Downtown Development Authority meetings
• Planning Commission meetings
• Older Persons Commission meetings
• RARA meetings
• RAYA meetings
• Misc other meetings
• Community events
• Recognition dinners
• Correspondence reading & responding

The list is practically endless. One of the things that suprised me the most after I was appointed to city council was the time required to stay on top of the issues.

Stop in and Visit with Me

One of the promises I made during the campaign last fall was to keep regular office hours. Beginning this Friday, June 6th, I will be at the city council chambers from 2:00pm - 4:00pm. I intend to keep these hours for the month of June, after which time I will evaluate how effective those hours are.

Please stop in and visit with me. I look forward to meeting with you.

(Image courtesy of Mike Cherim)

With income tight and property values falling, many councilpersons, including myself, believed that a tax cut was necessary. After carefull deliberation, four days of budget meetings and hours of discussion, I am happy to report that we completed the budget process on Monday, March 21st.

City Income Will Fall in 2008

Income expectations are expected to fall this year, largely due to falling property values within the city. As a result of these falling values, the city expects to take in approximately .3 mills less in property taxes this year compared to 2007.

Eliminate the “Assistant City Manager” Position

We reviewed and completed the various department level budgets, and I am pleased to report there were no reductions made to city services. There was one change in staffing levels, however.

The council opted to eliminate the “Assistant City Manager” position, which was left vacant after the retirement of Carl Renius in February of this year. Replacing that position will be a new “Assistant to the City Manager” position.

This change in status will likely result in the employment of a younger Assistant who has expectations of future employment in the capacity of an Assistant City Manager or a City Manger.

The expectation is that this change in position will save the city approximately $30,000.00 per year without any reduction in city services.

Core City Services

I am pleased to report that there will be absolutely no reduction in core city services in 2008-2009. In fact, several significant changes were added to various department level budgets that are likely to increase the effectiveness of city services. But at the very least, no cuts were made.

Discretionary Spending

The biggest difference that took place in this years budget review was how the council addressed dispensing the discretionary income. This is the portion of the income that remains after budgeting for all core city services. This year that amount approximately $832,000.00.

The council took a very deliberate and cautious approach to studying all items that were discretionary in nature. When the final budget was complete, I am delighted to report that we had a remaining balance of .9 mills after all spending was complete. The council decided to return this .9 mills to the taxpayers in the form of a tax cut for 2009. This equates to approximately $690,000.00 that will be returned to your pockets.

The Final Result

There were no cuts to core city services. Several enhancement were made to department level budgets. Spending was critically reviewed and the fat was cut out of the budget. Money was returned to the taxpayers. It’s a win-win situation. And best of all, not a single dime was taken from any of the city fund balances. Not one penny.

Some people said that it couldn’t be done. Guess what? They were wrong and I am delighted to say so!

The interviews each lasted approximately two hours. Mark Nottley, our hired consultant, handled the interview introductions and opening round of questions. Then the council as a whole took over the interview process and each individual member was able to explore the areas they were interested in.

Terrific Group of Candidates

We were blessed with five finalists who all brought various skills and experience to the table. I am certain that each candidate would have been a solid choice to lead our city into the future. I thank them all for taking the time to apply and for participating in our hiring process.

One Candidate Stood Out

In the end, I thought the decision process was fairly easy. Early in the process, Mark Nottley had told us that in his experience one candidate generally stands out quite significantly from the rest of the interview pack.

Mark was right. One candidate did just that. He stood out among the rest and was the obvious choice to lead Rochester into the future. The council was unanimous in their vote and unanimous in their excitement for the chosen candidate.

Jaymes Vettraino - Our Choice

I am pleased to announce that Jaymes Vettraino of Kutztown, Pennsylvannia was chosen by the council to be the next city manager of Rochester.

Mr. Vettraino is a graduate of Michigan State University. He also holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Lehigh University.

For the past five years, he has been the Manger / Treasuer for the Borough of Kutztown in eastern Pennsylvannia. Prior to this he was the city manager in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvannia.

Mr. Vettraino will bring a very customer oriented and forward thinking approach to our city, He understands the role of technology in city government and how to apply it to better serve the citizens.

Information technology and information dissemination is also something Mr. Vettraino understands and applies in the public sector. He explained to us his theory of Google/Starbucks/Walmart and how it applies to municipal management. In a nutshell, Mr. Vettraino believes that citizens want instant information (Google), specialized and individual service (Starbucks) and a terrific value (Walmart). The idea is simple, but the manner in which he described it was brilliant.

The Borough of Kutztown is located in eastern Pennsylvannia - about one hour from Philadelphia. The town has a population of five thousand, but this number is a bit deceptive because Kutztown State University is located within the city and has a student population of over ten thousand.

In addition, Kutztown provides both electric service utility and cable television / internet services to their residents, the university and the surrounding township. Needless to say, this adds a significant degree of complexity to the responsibilities of the city manager in their community.

What’s Next

Mayor Stuart Bikson is currently handling the final details of the salary, benefits and contract details with Mr. Vettraino. I am confident that within a matter of days Mr. Vettraino will “officially” be our new city manager.

The future looks bright. Very bright indeed.

I was very pleased with how the council approached the review of these applicants. Mayor Stuart Bikson suggested a simple strategy that allowed the full council to move rather quickly, but efficiently, through the applicant resumes. After several hours of review, we were able to reduce the working number of applicants being considered to five.

Next Come the Interviews

The five remaining candidates will be scheduled for two hour interviews during the weekend of March 7th. These interviews will be orchestrated by Mr. Nottley, who will have 45 minutes of time to ask the candidates a number of pre-prepared questions.

After he is finished, each council person will have a short time (five minutes, perhaps) during which individual council members will be able to ask their own question(s).

Coming to a Consensus

After considering all the applicants, the council as a whole will begin deliberations about the candidates just interviewed with the goal of coming to a consensus about which candidate is the best person to manage our city. Assuming a consensus is reached, we will have identified the candidate who we would like to see lead our city into the future.

The Final Pieces of the Puzzle

Assuming a consensus was reached regarding a new city manager, it is the intent of the council to meet in closed session after the March 10, 2008 council meeting where we will discuss a compensation/contract package for the new manager.

Once this is complete, Mayor Bikson will be charged with making contact with our chosen applicant and “closing the deal”, so to speak.

My Thoughts on the Process

I was very pleased with the resume review process that we followed and with the resulting list of candidates. We were blessed with a very strong pool of candiates to review, and I am confident that we will be able to select a new city manager who fits the needs and expectations of the council and of the community.

The entire council has worked extremely hard on this issue. Each member has contributed directly to making the process a success, and I was pleased to see the manner in which we all worked together to reach this point in the hiring process.

From my perspective, the future looks bright. And it’s getting brighter every day.

The hiring process is blind, at this point, and we will not see the names of the candidates. Our job at this meeting is to weed through the resumes, discuss which candidates we think are the most suitable for interview, and pass those candidates on to an interview process two weeks later.

I am really looking forward to this process. The new council has a unique opportunity to help directly shape the future of our city. It has been thirty years since a city council was in a postion to choose a new manager, and who we hire will be critical to the success of our city as we move forward into troubling economic times.

Community Involvement is Solicited

When we choose the final list of candidates, my understanding is that the city council will make a public statement identifying the finalists. This unprecedented step will be taken so that all citizens and other interested people will also have the ability to review the candidates and to be involved in the selection process. At that time, I would welcome any phone calls or emails regarding the suitability of the candidates, any questions you might suggest that I ask in the interview process, or any other information that you feel is pertinent to the hiring process.

Please take the time to stay abreast of this process and to provide approrpiate input. It’s your city and your city manager. Get involved!

The first contract to be reviewed was for contracted auditing services. This contract is a three year commitment, and the firm chosen will be responsible for a yearly audit of the city’s financial records and financial position. The council solicited bids for this assignment, and four firms submitted proposals for the audit work.

Disparity in Pricing

Suprisingly, there was a nearly $60,000.00 difference in price between the lowest and highest bidder. This amounted to roughly a 50% difference in price, with the low bidder being in the $100,000.00 range and the high bidder in the $160,000.00 range.

Needless to say, this disparity caught the eye of several council persons at our meeting two weeks ago. At that meeting, there had been an initial motion to approve the interim city manager’s recommendation. His recommendation was to award the project to Plante Moran, the highest bidder. While I am not disputing the ability of this widely respected firm, I thought it was best to study the other proposal more closely so that a more informed decision could be made.

Apparently others agreed, because the matter was tabled two weeks ago. Each of the four firms was asked to come to the meeting of February 11 to discuss the matter and to answer questions regarding their proposal.

Due Diligence

Over the course of the last two weeks, I studied the proposals and drew up an outline of how I thought I should proceed. I decided that I would begin my inquiry by looking into the firm that offered the lowest bid, Post, Smythe, Lutz & Ziel of Plymouth.

In fact, the audit partner from that firm, Rana Emmons, was the only representative present at the council meeting two weeks ago. At that time, Ms. Emmons made a brief presentation and answered our questions. The fact that she had chosen to attend the meeting left an impression on me, and I think several other council members also commented on this.

I spoke with Ms. Emmons several times over the past two weeks and remained impressed with her credentials, experience and candor as it related to her proposal. I also took the time to talk with four of her professional references. Each of these references was from a city or township in the metro Detroit area. Each of these references gave a glowing, personal review of how satisifed they were with the service of Post, Smythe, Lutz and Ziel and with Rana Emmons in particular.

Easy Decision

For me, the decision came easily. Although I made note of the city managers suggestion that we approve hiring Plante Moran, I could not in good conscience approve a firm who’s bid was over 50% higher than that of Post, Smythe, Lutz and Ziel.

Couple this with the fact that Ms. Emmons comes highly credentialed and highly respected made the decision easier. On a further note, Ms. Emmons told the council that as the Audit Partner in this engagement she will spend 80% of the time working directly on this audit. This percentage of Audit Partner involvement is over 100% more than any of the other proposals. This fact did not go unnoticed by me or by other council members.

The End Result

There was a motion on the table from our last meeting to award the contract to Plante Moran. After discussion, this motion was voted on and rejected by a 6-1 vote of the council.

At this point I made a motion to award the contract to Post, Smythe, Lutz and Ziel. This motion was supported by Concilman Jeff Matis. After more discussion, a second vote was taken and the council awarded the contract to Post, Smythe, Lutz and Ziel.

Home Run

I am confident that Ms. Emmons will perform as an exceptional Audit Partner who will not only provide great technical service, but great personal service as well. I think the city and its residents hit a home run on this issue, and I was proud to be a part of the decision making process.

• East and west streets in the Norhwood/Highland area were not plowed
• The streets that were plowed were not plowed in a timely manner as in the past
• The city is restricting overtime for the DPW workers, resulting in the deficient plowing
• This decrease in plowing efficiency is somehow related to the recent resignation of the city manager
• That the current council is reducing city services as a result of their interest in studying the budget with an eye toward increased efficiency and a potential tax cut

As a result of this complaint, I contacted Interim City Manger John Hiller. He told me that there has been no change to manner or method in which the snow is plowed. He also told me there has been no change to the overtime practices of the DPW snow removal employees. I had no reason to believe any changes had been made, but thought it best to contact Mr. Hiller before replying to the homeowner about her complaints.

I assured the homeowner that neither the city administration nor the city council had authorized or made any changes to the way the snow is plowed.

The most recent snowfall was the worst possible combination of winter weather we ever have. First we had several inches of a soaking rain/snow mix which turned into a layer of slush. This was soon followed with six or eight inches of wet snow, and then by freezing temperatures which made the initial slush freeze in solid sheets below the snow. In my experience, this frozen ice layer is almost impossible to remove by light snow plows and may be the cause of some streets not being cleared to the pavement. My own street was in this condition, and that was after being plowed three times by city plows.

Politics Aside

I believe there is a small group of people still disgruntled about the results of the November 2006 election. This group is bent on causing difficulty and trying to undermine the efforts of the new council. Their efforts, however, are quite transparent.

In fact, this homeowner went so far as to complain about a situation on Highland Street in which the city is being sued over the refusal to allow a home developer to cut down a city tree in the greenbelt. She suggest that somehow this matter is the fault of the current council and that this is an example of the problems therein. What she forgets is that this matter was born during the last city manager’s reign, and is a direct result of action that he took several months before his resignation.

I only speak for myself, of course, but it is my observation that this council is taking their responsibility to represent the citizens very seriously. Questions are being asked that have never been sked before. The city budget is being scrutinized, city contractors are being studied and proposals for contracted services are being researched. All of this is taking place because the new council is interested in the best service at the best price.

Time Will Tell

People are always disappointed when their chosen candidates fail in their election attempts. This is understandable and is part of human nature. But most people don’t take this opportunity to try and undermine the efforts of the newly elected council members.

Time will tell if the efforts of the new council will be successful. I have every reason to believe that they will be. The group is bright, dedicated, hardworking, trustworthy and transparent. It’s hard to believe that these attributes will result in anything but success.

As part of that event, two Rochester public safety officers were honored for their achievements.

Firefighter Bob Tyrell

Bob Tyrell is a lifelong Rochester resident. He has served as a member of the Rochester Fire Department since 1961, and rose through the ranks to attain the position of Assistant Chief in 1988.

Needless to say, Bob has selflessly offered his time and dedication to the city for nearly five decades. His tireless efforts have helped make the Rochester Fire Department the fine organization that is is today.

Bob was recommended for this award by Fire Chief Dan Jacobson.

Police Officer Keith Harper

Keith Harper has been employed as a Rochester police officer since 2002. He holds a bachelors degree from Indiana University and is nearing the completion of his masters degree as well.

According to Chief Steve Schettenhelm, Keith has become a dedicated road patrol officer who has focused his attention on investigating drug situations. During a routine traffic stop this year, Keith developed information that lead to an arrest and the subsequent recovery and forfeiture of $12,000.00. Recognizing that these efforts were above and beyond the normal scope of his road patrol duties, Chief Schettenhelm recommended Keith for the American Legion award.

Our Thanks

Please join me in congratulating both Bob and Keith on their fine achievements. Our city is a safe place to work, live and play due in part to the activities of these two officers. Thank you for a job well done!

In reality, the meeting is a pre-budget discussion in which department heads present their requests for funding for the new fiscal year, as well as an overview of some of their 2-5 year goals. Based on the input from the city council, this series of meetings should help the city manager and finance director (at the moment, one and the same person) develop a budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

In past years, this meeting was generally dominated by the city manager, with brief input from the department heads themselves. As a matter of routine, these meetings were essentially rubber stamp sessions in which the city council moved quickly through the process and approved whatever was being asked for.

Now Comes 2008

As many readers already know, I have openly taken the position that the council needs to seriously look at a tax cut for the upcoming fiscal year. In fact, that was one of the main positions I took during my campaigning last fall, and it was an issue that many people I spoke to were interested in seeing through. Other candidates also spoke directly about a tax cut, and it’s my impression that the consensus on the current council is to look very seriously at doing just that.

One of the problems with the past budgeting process is that the manner and method in which the city budget was compiled and provided to the council made it difficult for them to determine just how much money was available for discretionary spending. In fact, even financial experts (which I am certainly not) expressed difficulty in understanding the past budgets. This year, the budget has been reduced to a more user friendly format and it is possible to get a much better handle on just what money exists and in what account it resides.

Some of these funds, however, reside in individual department accounts that add to the bottom line of the budget, but are ultimately not spent during the course of the year and thus should be considered as part of the discretionary dollars available for council review. In other words, these funds are not necessary to fund essential city services, but rather are available (once located within the budget) for discretionary spending. Or for a tax cut.

How Things Stand After Two Meetings

Because of the deliberate way the council is approaching these budget meetings, we were not able to complete the process in the two meetings scheduled. We have asked the city manager to further compile new budget numbers which will provide us with a better idea of the true financial picture relative to discretionary spending.

Once we receive that information, a third meeting will be necessary to finish the process. We have yet to delve into either the DDA budget (the part of it that is relative to the city council, that is) or the city council budget itself. Contained within these two budget classifications is where most of the discretionary spending occurs. Once we receive more detailed information from the city manager we will better be able to discuss and make recommendations in these two budget areas.

One particularly interesting item was a recommendation by Interim City Manager John Hiller that the position of Assistant City Manager be removed from next year’s budget. This would dovetail with the retirement of Assistant City Manager Carl Renius on February 22, 2008.

Mr. Hiller further recommended that the city move to fill the vacant Assistant to the City Manger position. This position has been vacant for nearly two years. It is expected that there will be considerable savings that result from this position shift. I commend Mr. Hiller for taking steps to reduce overall costs while maintaining the current level of city services.

In Conclusion

I was very impressed with how the two budget meetings evolved. The department heads provided detailed and useful information and were free to address the issues within their own departments. Each of them deserves our thanks for two long and grueling evening budget sessions. They did a very nice job, as did Interim City Manager John Hiller.