Friday, January 16, 2015

New Year, unfinished city business: Resolution





















Posted by Kathy Meeh
Posted by at

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, here's one for our feckless city council and their senior staff...come clean about the 4 million bucks. You've either set a new low for Pacifica City Councils or you're staging a cover-up for your own reasons. You're all in the muck together on this one.

January 17, 2015 at 1:52 PM
I Love Pacifica! said...

You are mistaken. There is no 4 million dollars lost. These were inter-fund transfers. Say you have five dollars on your person. What Pacifica did, was taking 5 dollars out of one pocket and putting the 5 dollar bill in another pocket. You originally were going to buy a BART Ticket with that 5 dollars, but you switched pockets and spent it on a Vegan Burrito instead. Pacifica is a wonderful place. Everyone here is good and honest. The money was not embezzled, or anything sordid like that. Give City Hall, our City Manager, Assistant City Manager and our City Council the (Big Mike, Karen, Mary Ann, John and Sue) the benefit of the doubt!

January 17, 2015 at 2:09 PM
Anonymous said...

ILP, that was beautiful. I could hear James Taylor singing You've Got a Friend in the background. Just a lovely, lovely moment. Thank you, tender heart.

January 17, 2015 at 3:12 PM
Anonymous said...

209 The longer they stonewall, the more sordid they all appear. I'm someone who actually believes these are simply "paper" errors. Burritos instead of Bart tix? Absolutely. Full disclosure could prove that and put it to rest. Claiming they are unable to figure it out or haven't the manpower to do so, is outrageous--even by Pacifica standards. Was a decision made to stonewall? By whom? When? In what universe does someone entrusted with 4 million dollars of other people's money not have to account for it? No universe this council wants to be seen in.

January 17, 2015 at 3:37 PM
Tom Clifford said...

When you or I decide to spend our money on something other then it was set aside for that only imparts us and our goals. When the City Council and City staff take public money from one or more special funds and spend it on ?(nobody at this time can say with absolute certainty what the $4,000,000 bought).

I for one want detailed answers as to what happen and how we keep it from ever happening again.

January 17, 2015 at 4:31 PM
Anonymous said...

If ILP is correct, the City's books, which must strictly adhere to standard and generally accepted accounting practices, should show such a transfer. If not, something is very, very wrong in P-town. Additionally, if it was a transfer, it could very well constitute an illegal misappropriation of funds which would have criminal implications.

January 17, 2015 at 4:46 PM
Steve Sinai said...

I do suspect it was just some kind of accounting error, but I'd sure like someone at city hall to confirm that.

January 17, 2015 at 4:56 PM
I Love Pacifica! said...

We elected our leaders, some more than once, because they were are the most trustworthy people in Pacifica. Others that we could not trust...were not elected. To me, elections are trust contests. The most trustworthy win.

Only a few of you here are nitpicking complaining and being bad sports. Most people in Pacifica, this includes your neighbors, TRUST City Hall. Let's continue to trust them!

Let the Sunshine In ! Here is a video for all you sad sad people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVogUqWScYc

January 17, 2015 at 5:01 PM
Anonymous said...

Sunshine, speak for yourself. Winning an election does not come with a lifetime supply of public trust and respect. That has to be constantly earned in office with integrity, a backbone and a sense of duty to the people. I don't know what your relationship is to this council, or if you are serious, but you are one scary sheep. Whatever went wrong with the books (and I think that's all this is) it needs to be disclosed now. This council has failed miserably in their duty to the public and each other. Tainted.

January 17, 2015 at 5:57 PM
Anonymous said...

I want to know where all the Frontier land Park remediation money is going. Obviously, it's not going into Frontierland Park!

January 17, 2015 at 7:36 PM
Anonymous said...

I Love P

What planet are you from "trust contest"

January 17, 2015 at 7:53 PM
I Love Pacifica! said...

Planet you ask? Planet Pacifica! The best planet around.

Don't you trust your council? If you don't trust your council then ask yourself why did you vote them in office? And if you didn't vote for them, what are you going to do to address your non-trust issues?

I'm here to say I BELIEVE in our little city of Pacifica, and I love our council!. Love it our Leave it! It's not a crime to love our city of Pacifica. Have some Pacifica Pride!

Meowww!

January 17, 2015 at 8:46 PM
Anonymous said...

736 What a great question. Are they still collecting that? I think it was $75,000 per year from the old Coastside Scavenger to the city and it went on for at least 20 years. Did it continue with Recology or was there an agreement that ended it? Chris Porter would know.
Rumor was it all became mad money for pet projects--and, no, that doesn't mean a dog park. No sign it was ever used on Frontierland. When that was renovated years ago it was done with volunteer labor and donated material.

January 17, 2015 at 8:50 PM
Anonymous said...

753 If he's not a prankster, ILP is probably a satellite in orbit around one or more council members. Some of them have a heavy gravitational field that just sucks the unwary right in. Whoosh!

January 17, 2015 at 8:57 PM
Anonymous said...

ILovePacifica has an attitude that pops up now and again throughout history. Usually in proximity to something truly horrible. Lucky us, it's only money. Is this a great country, or what?

January 17, 2015 at 9:02 PM
I Love Pacifica! said...

9:02...thats because
I LOOOOOOOVEEE PACIFICA

I LOVE YOU TOO!

January 18, 2015 at 7:40 AM
Tom Clifford said...

By now it should be clear that I.L.P. is a troll just out to get a reaction from the rest of us.

January 18, 2015 at 9:28 AM
Anonymous said...

Anyone know anything about the remediation money for Frontierland Park? Is it still being paid to the city? By the same method as Coastside Scavenger? Potential millions. Where did it go?

January 18, 2015 at 10:30 AM
Tom Clifford said...

Good questions, I'll see if I can get answers on Tuesday.

January 18, 2015 at 2:21 PM
Anonymous said...

Good luck, Tom. 20 years @$75/annual would be 1.5 million (there's that word again). Might also be interesting to learn if the remediation payments continue, ran their course, or if they disappeared in the terms of the change-over from Coastside to Recology.

January 18, 2015 at 3:56 PM
T.H. Clifford said...

Anonymous 3:56
An that is without counting the interest that should have been earn over 20 years. All good questions.

I will do what I can to get the answers.

January 18, 2015 at 5:10 PM
enough is enough said...

regarding "I love Pacifica"......
We've been Bwayed.

Now for the adults - No matter what the reason, an unaccounted for $4,000,000 must be accounted for. Otherwise let's agree that,
Council does not get to play with one cent of the public's money.
This is serious business and must not be swept under the carpet.

January 19, 2015 at 10:33 AM
Anonymous said...

1033 It is a big deal. I can't believe someone like Supervisor Horsley (former SMC Sheriff) hasn't inquired. Or someone from the County Manager's office. They can't all be brain dead. Pacifica has long been the butt of every joke in RWC. What is the official story being put out by this city council through the backdoor lines of communication they use? Council must be telling a very reassuring story or do you believe no one has asked? From here it looks like the strategy is shhhhh, keep quiet, time is on our side. That's a political strategy, not one that leads to the truth.

January 19, 2015 at 12:15 PM
Anonymous said...

Not sure of the process but surely the Grand Jury should be looking into this.

January 19, 2015 at 1:25 PM
Anonymous said...

Grand juries have no power and are just nuisances for public officials. Ask Therese Dyer to lead the investigation.

January 19, 2015 at 1:59 PM
Anonymous said...

Most of the time I'm almost willing to believe it's all due to an accounting error that happened several times in the past decade. Inter-fund lending was the Golden Goose for a decade. Probably started out with correct accounting and then they either lost that skill set or decided not to leave a trail. Maybe a little of both. Corners were cut. I don't believe the entire council was in the dark. Some, yes, but a couple are too clever and much too cautious to be that ignorant. This stuff was hidden on purpose until it either could no longer be concealed or there was value to a half-assed, vague reveal. Who knows how much it really is, 4, 6, 8? The records can be reconstructed if this council demands it. Big if. Better watch the consent agenda for the destruction of records.

January 19, 2015 at 2:35 PM
Anonymous said...

$4,000,000 of public money is missing from a 38,000 person town and no one is interested?????

January 19, 2015 at 2:42 PM
Anonymous said...

Yes, Grand Juries are a huge nuisance for Cities under investigation and that's a good thing. They have far-reaching powers. A Grand Jury is more than the individuals that serve on it. It's unfortunate when we trivialize the process because of personalities or a decision we don't agree with or fail to understand.

The SMC Courts website has all the info on how to get them to investigate something. It's not a complicated process to begin.

January 19, 2015 at 2:45 PM
Anonymous said...

Grand jury doesn't care about Pacifica. Thus they are letting it rot on the vine.

January 19, 2015 at 7:17 PM
Anonymous said...

2;45:Pacifica sure needs a Grand Jury Audit.Pacifica's bookkeeping is an embezzler's dream come true.NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING!A report might come out end of June, when investigations are completed.

January 19, 2015 at 7:26 PM
Anonymous said...

If we realty care, and we should, we should support a ballot initiative/referendum calling for an independent audit of the City's books by a reputable CPA firm, with particular attention given to the $4 million, the Lower Fronteirland remediation fund, diversion of sewer fund monies, closed session land purchases, etc. Let's see where all the money our City Council keeps telling us we don't have really goes. Let's see if it's just "innocent accounting mistakes".

If one man was able to successfully implement term limits through ballot initiative, certainly we can all join forces and make this happen in this Podunk town.

January 19, 2015 at 9:13 PM
Disincorporation Daniel said...

We are long over due with a Disincorporation or Merge with another city rant....just saying

January 19, 2015 at 9:31 PM
Anonymous said...

I find it highly suspect that Ritzma and Rhodes both ran out of town right before the 4 million bucks was "unaccounted for"

January 20, 2015 at 7:13 AM
Anonymous said...

713 You actually believe the 4 million dollar problem was discovered last fall? They've been hiding that fugly wart from the public for years. Council has staged their reveal. They've moved on and so has everyone else. No biggie. Some might question why Ritzma was passed over for the CM job, but I wonder if these changes were about a lack of financial wizardry or library wizardry? Maybe no one liked her? Maybe it's all just a happy happy coincidence? Maybe we'll have a finance director/manager one day if council decides it's one of their priorities. Eh, what's the hurry? They dropped that bombshell and hardly anyone noticed.

January 20, 2015 at 3:39 PM
Anonymous said...

You're wrong!
A lot of people have noticed and soon so will Hill, Horsely and the media. $4,000,000 is a huge amount of money and public trust is priceless.
This is NOT going away. A full accounting is mandatory.

January 20, 2015 at 7:46 PM
Anonymous said...

746 It's been a year since this disaster was shared with the public and nothing has happened. It's been dismissed as an accounting error and in all likelihood that's what it was. Given Pacifica's already laughable reputation that excuse will fly. Council can claim ignorance and whine about short-staffing. Who's going to argue with them? What really happened? Just speculation, but we haven't had a qualified, experienced finance director since 2007 when Council, on the recommendation of a cost-cutting temp CM, approved the consolidation of the HR and Finance Directors into one Admin Services Director position. The temp CM Norton then chose HR Director Ritzma over Finance Director Lemon for the job. Lemon was a highly qualifed, very blunt spoken finance professional. You think we could have used someone with her skills and attitude going into the Great Recession? When the cat's away, the mice will play.

January 21, 2015 at 1:36 AM
Anonymous said...

Her name is Maureen Lennon.
It was Vreeland who drummed her out because she wasn't willing to cook the books to support his lies.

January 21, 2015 at 12:21 PM
Anonymous said...

Yes, of course, Lennon not Lemon. I think the problem started when Ms. Lennon ran afoul of City Attorney Cecilia Quick. Downhill from there. In the diligent performance of her duties as city finance director (I think it was during budget prep) Lennon found that Ms. Quick had been charging (like burying)) hundreds of thousands of dollars she spent on outside attorneys to the Capital Improvement Fund although no monies had been budgeted to that fund for these charges. By doing this, Ms. Quick's department avoided being over-budget. The Cap Improv Fund receives grant reimbursements for capital projects. These extra attorney charges were usually for land-use attorneys and you know what they were doing. CM Joe Tanner directed Ms. Lennon to correct the books and charge the expenditures to the City Attorney's budget, thus putting Quick way over budget. Those reversals were made and I believe others planned that would impact the next budget. Ms. Quick would again be over budget. I'm no accountant, but it's this kind of stuff that could be part of the 4 million or whatever the number really is. How many other depts also charged their costs to the CIF, etc? Did the practice resume when Lennon was forced out? Golly, what do you think? And then Lennon really pissed off Quick by suggesting that instead of hiring an Asst City Attorney to report to Ms. Quick, the city should hire a land-use attorney to report directly to the CM and Council. Adding fuel to the fire was the discovery that council had no idea of Tanner's salary. Through a very rich contract with a "top dog" provision he was making over $250K per year putting him at or near the top for CA CMs. Vree and others became very concerned they would appear incompetent. Forget the batshit crazy stuff going on in the CIF and other city accounts, we're talking political damage here and that just can't be allowed to happen. Meanwhile Tanner is recruited away by frantic Vallejo. They were probably impressed by how much we paid him. Woohoo that guy's gotta be good! Ritzma brings in Norton as an interim CM. Council tells him cut a million bucks. He comes back with the job consolidation plan for HR and Finance. Council approves it. Norton picks Ritzma and it's bye bye Lennon.
Has anything changed? You be the judge. I'm LMAO.

January 21, 2015 at 2:54 PM
Anonymous said...

Hurts when I laugh. Only in Pacifica would a city attorney regard the bundle she spent on land use attorneys (to block use of the land) as something to be charged or buried in the Capital Improvement Fund. Incoming grant money to that fund was supposed to reimburse the city for legitimate Capital Improvement Projects like Palmetto, not pay for outside attorneys to stop developers and so on. Say, wasn't the CIF the fund that ran dry last year when the Palmetto Project ground to a halt?

January 21, 2015 at 4:42 PM
enough is enough said...

Crooked politicians have always relied on the stupidity of the masses and the complicity of their sycophants.
Ms. Quick had as much on Vreeland as he had on her. They needed each other for cover.
If Pacificans honestly believe that the "deep sixing" of Lennon was the decision of interim City Manager Norton, then I've got another Bush and Romney for your GOP consideration.
Come on people, are you really this stupid?

January 22, 2015 at 8:18 AM
Anonymous said...

818 Genug is genug...whoa there cowboy. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough for you, although I think your obsession messes with your reading comprehension. Norton didn't put the thing in motion, he merely carried out his role. Hired gun. Was his decision pre-determined? Of course, just like his job consolidation plan. Getting rid of Lennon put big smiles on several faces at City Hall. Ms.Quick, Mr. Vreeland, Ms. Ritzma...ear to ear grins. No girl scout Finance Director was going to upset their apple carts! Working together for a common, thoroughly despicable goal. One of the saddest chapters in the story of Pacifica.

January 22, 2015 at 11:28 AM

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