The independent., July 19, 2007, Page Page 2, Image 2

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The INDEPENDENT, July 19, 2007
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Assoc. Editor Noni Andersen, noni@the-independent.net
Opinion
Nope, no shell game here
City Administrator M.R. “Dick” Kline said even before
the June 25 public hearing on the city budget that he
had to have the new financial software up and running
in time to do the July 15 payroll. That was part of the
“rush” to get the budget approved. The official minutes
from June 25 reflect him saying he is unsure if he and
the company will be able to meet the deadline. He was
very casual when, at the July 16 council meeting, he
said, “I did not do payroll or pay the bills from the new
software.” We guess he didn’t HAVE to use that new
system after all. That means the cash disbursements
continue to use the old numbering sequences while the
budget information the council and Kline look at has
another numbering sequence that may or may not
match what ends up being used. But, we’re sure it’s
okay, because Kline has even stated, “I’m not trying to
run a shell game with the budget.”
He also said he got two diskettes from the software
provider so he can work at home at nights. Is it really a
good idea to have that kind of information leave city
hall? Plus, why does he have to work nights? Is it be-
cause he continues to rarely be at city hall from 8 a.m.
until 5 p.m. Good management practices say the man-
ager should be at work during the core hours that his
staff are there. Administrators may also have to put in
extra hours, such as being at city council or other
evening meetings. That’s why they get the big bucks
and don’t get paid overtime. Their pay is based on
them spending the number of hours necessary to get
the job done. But, that doesn’t mean they should work
evenings at home or weekends. Good management
practices also suggest that administrators need to use
their time off to ‘recharge.’
There is also the issue of Kline presenting a 06/07
supplemental budget to do interfund loans to cover the
$500,000 shortfalls in the Community Development
Fund and the missing loan reserves. Then, he included
loans in the 07/08 budget to cover the $500,000 short-
falls in the Community Development Fund and the
missing loan reserves. Then, he made changes to the
07/08 adopted budget, you guessed it, to cover the
$500,000 shortfalls in the Community Development
Fund and the missing loan reserves. Now, he’s gotten
council to approve a $11.50 raise in your water rates to
rebuild missing loan reserves. But, hey, if it doesn’t
bother your elected council, why should it bother you?
Out of My Mind
by Noni Andersen
Well, there’s good news and there’s bad
news. The good news is that Vernonia received
an Oregon Parks & Recreation Dept. grant of
$245,000 for the skills park. The bad news is that
it requires a 40 percent match. It’s important to
understand that the match doesn’t have to be in
cash; the use of city staff and equipment, volun-
teer work, donated funds and equipment all qual-
ify as part of the match. Other grants may be
used, depending on restrictions in the contract.
(Grants are contracts and when a grant is ac-
cepted, the conditions must also be accepted.)
The city administrator continues to warn that
the city’s finances are in “dire” condition (The wa-
ter rate just increased by $11.50 per month.) so
the potential negatives of even a good project
raise questions that should not be ignored.
Can we afford to use city employees and
equipment for new facilities when staff has diffi-
culty maintaining existing facilities? Will enough
labor, equipment and materials be donated to
dent the $98,000 match? Can enough of the right
kind of grants be obtained to offset the match? Is
there solid information on what underlays the
ground designated for the skills park?
Financial questions were ignored in the devel-
opment and construction of the learning center, a
major reason for the city’s budget problems. Ap-
parently, infrastructure problems raised costs for
the bike/pedestrian path on E. Bridge Street, the
other major budget drain.
Both the learning center and the bike/ped path
were, and are, good projects, but they put the
city’s accounts in the red. Interfund loans will bal-
ance the books for a while, but there should be
some serious questioning before any major new
expenditures are approved.
Unfortunately, questions about finances are
not well-represented on the council’s agenda.
One very positive aspect of the new grant is
that minimal staff time was used. The grant appli-
cation was researched and prepared primarily by
volunteers Bill Hansen and Scott Laird.
The use of volunteer grant writers is a win-win
situation. Their time can be used as part of the
grant funding match, and little staff time is used.
During budget meetings this year, I suggested
that, by using more volunteers for grant writing,
organization and promotion, the position of learn-
ing center director could be changed to half-time.
This would allow for a half-time financial clerk.
Reasons for my suggestion were two-fold:
1.) When large numbers of volunteers are in-
volved in any civic endeavor, their presence pro-
vides enthusiastic support, which entices more
volunteers to become involved.
2.) It is a colossal waste of limited finances to
use the city’s highest salaried person, the admin-
istrator, as a financial clerk. Additionally, it is fool-
ish (bordering on insanity?) to have only one
person overseeing all elements of a public budg-
et. “All elements” includes allocations, check
writing, deposits and more; everything involving
money coming in and going out. Taxpayers have
every right to expect good stewardship of their
funds. That is hard to guarantee when only one
person has total control.