Rome: Before The Autumn

Feel Free to vote before and after reading this article. (you can change your vote at the end if you change your mind).

Since September 09 various supporters and sympathizers of Don’t Bankrupt Ferndale have involved themselves both directly (by attending meetings) and indirectly (through correspondence) in the proposed Ferndale Library/Police Station Swap project. After a few meetings the resulting sentiment was that factors not in the control of the city council (such as the restrictions of the $1 million donors regarding new the library’s location, or the soil conditions of proposed “temporary” location for the library at the Boys and Girls club barn, etc) would force them to put the project on hold until the details could be worked out.
This last Monday the Mayor and his administrative staff brought the Library/Police Swap project back to the forefront of the council’s attention, with a swiftness like that of an impending crisis. The issues that originally halted the projects progress have not yet been hammered out yet the new concept has been rushed to the council, introduced by Councilmember Olson who as it stands now will be replaced by a newly elected incumbent this January. The council in a 4-3 vote authorized the architect to move forward on the 18,000 sq. ft. version of the police station with options for a reduction to 15,000 sq. ft. with Council member Hansen, Downey, Ingram and the author of the latest proposal Olson voting in support, and Council members Malpezzi, Feria and Zimmerman opposing the measure.
The Project has been taken off the work desk and back into “fast track to passage” mode.
Here are a number of issues Don’t Bankrupt Ferndale has with the process and nature of the project in question.

Luxury Disguised as Moderation


Residents of Ferndale have number of essential needs; one of them is an effective police department.
The current plan is unaffordable. In 2005 the city expenditure budget was $4,536,768.00. The 2009 budget estimate was $7,169,234.00
This increase amounts to $2,632,466.00 (Increase of 58%)
Despite only an 11% increase in population over the same period of time, the cities expenditures have gone up almost 60%.
What’s worse, this year the city has already approved Mayor Jensen’s request for $8,000,000.00 dollars worth of debt, for the Library/Police Swap Project (debt totaling about $20 million with interest and other expenses over next 20 years, which Ferndale taxpayers will have to pay back. The administration plans to increase solid waste taxes to pay for the project.)
The City hopes that the project could be completed for around $5,000,000.00 - $6,000,000.00
Our residents cannot afford this additional burden in these hard times; one essential structure is not enough for the money being proposed. In addition the original intent of the project was a law and justice center, this police station will not include a courtroom and does not address the justice center needs of the community. Currently, Ferndale conducts its municipal hearings in the city council building. The cost of this project (if all goes well) is too high for the resident to bear. It is too luxurious a project for the residents of Ferndale to afford at this time, and in its current form neglects other related needs in the community.

How Quickly The Tables Turn


Mayor Landcastle was voted out of office two years ago, and Mayor Jensen was voted in, by overwhelming majorities. It was a clear signal of voter dissatisfaction with the person, policies and governing style. All by one incumbent Councilmember was also removed and three new members elected. Mayor Jensen and the new council members were seen as fresh, open candidate who would listen to the people, trust voter judgment, as people who had the interest of their community in mind, people who cared about Ferndalians and their opinions.
The recent decisions by Mayor Jensen and his current administration (an administration entirely recruited by the last Mayor) to present the budget of 09 to the current council seriously hampers Mayor Jensen’s image of someone who cares about what Ferndalians think. This election 2 council seats have been hotly contested and their outcome could have serious implications for the nature of the Police/Library Swap Project.
But let us grant that Mayor Jensen is acting in the best interest of the people of Ferndale and the haste was appropriate. The fact that the people did not have the opportunity to reject (or approve) such an expensive project is troubling for the very same reasons. The Mayor decided to go the route of a councilmatic bond. This by definition is debt without a vote of the people who will be paying for that debt and impacted by that project.
The decision to go the route of a councilmatic bond without confronting the people who will pay for it, make the image of Mayor Jensen that of someone who doesn’t care about Ferndalians opinion.(or doesn’t trust a judgments of his electorate, the very attitude the last administration has been accused of.
Let’s hope that’s not what the Mayor or the councilmember’s who voted for that councilmatic bond believes.

All Plans Sound Good When Reason Is Abandoned

Under the leadership of Mayor Landcastle the city built up its administrative infrastructure, because we all anticipated a huge wave of growth. They believed that the population would grow quickly and businesses would flock to Ferndale, putting pressure on various city departments. It looks like majority of our leaders still believe that to be a case, and seem to be willing to gamble on it with Ferndale’s future.
The 2005 budget for Police Department was $ 1,570.449 and in 2009 jumped to astonishing $ 2,541.827- an increase of $971,378 in just 4 years. (Increase of 61%) crime has also dropped over the same period of time.
The budget for Planning Department was $396,857 and in 2009 jumped to astonishing $722,974- increase of $326,117 in just 4 years. (Increase of 82%)
The Building Department’s budget shows a modest increase – 2005 at $210,212 to 2009 $259,230. (Increase of 23%)
Mayor Jensen was elected in 2007 and continued to expand the city’s government along the same assumption of growth for Ferndale. Ferndale’s 2005 population estimates according to the Census was 9977, according to the city’s website the 2009 population is 11,080- an increase of 1103 people in 4 years. (Increase of 11%)
This means that as the population increased 11%, the departments designed to serve the community increased a great deal more. We have received more government (not to mention a bigger tab) each year than we received people in Ferndale.
Reason has been abandoned. Growth has not happened the way it was forecasted by the city (the most current projections are low to no growth at best), yet we continue to retain or expand elements of government.
Instead of reforming and consolidate existing administration structure we are eliminating or reducing essential sidewalks and road maintenance, as well as other funds and rapidly draining our reserve funds to try to keep our overbuild administration on life support in to the future.
Between the 2009 and 2010 budget Ferndale administration transferred almost $1 mil from reserve and other funds to cover current expenses.
This project and its large cost will only continue down the same path.

The Taxpayer… The Voter… WHO??!!

Input from the people that will be directly impacted by this project has been severely lacking in this process.
The council approved the mayor’s plan for the $8,000,000.00 needed, without approval from the people that will pay for this project for years to come. This project is not something that can be eliminated once completed. It will stick to this community for years to come because we will be paying it off for years. Paying for a project for 20 years does not have to be a bad thing, but in this case it is. There has been inadequate consideration of public input on the issue that will affect us for years to come. $8,000,000.00 of our money should warrant more scrutiny then a few meetings, it should warrant a public vote.
In addition we at Don’t Bankrupt Ferndale have said it before and will continue to say it “The people of Ferndale should be allowed to reject or accept such an expensive and high stakes project” because they will inevitably be the ones impacted by this for many years.
Council members will come and go, so will mayors, but the taxpayer stays to pick up the tab forever. A few poorly conducted projects and Ferndale may be bogged down by debt for a number of years, and unable to do any crucial projects.
So far the closest thing we have to data on what the resident of Ferndale think is the recent election. 2 council members who are strong supporters of the Police/Library swap project have had closely contested races in the recent council election, and the only member for re-election to retain his own seat (according to the most recently published election results) is Council person Zimmerman, who received a great deal of support (1886 votes as of now).
Mr. Zimmerman also happens to be the only member for re-election in the current election cycle who questions this complex, expensive project and poorly executed process and sees the need to balance Ferndale’s great needs with our abilities to fulfill them on more than one front.
If this is any indication of the sentiment of the voter in Ferndale, it is that at best the police station/library project in current form is controversial, and warrants further scrutiny, if not amendment.

Thou Shall NOT Ask the Right Questions, Expecting to Get an Answer



How will Ferndale maintain the 18,000 sq. ft facility in the years to come?
How we will pay for staffing that facility?
Are we going to see an additional increase in the police budget over and above $ 1 million increase in the last four years?
Will we hire more officers in near future? Or will the building sit partially empty, and unutilized, and for how long?
There are much more questions we will keep asking and hopefully get some answers, if there are any.
People deserve answers, taxpayers deserve a real voice.
That is what honest democratic process should be like, otherwise it is just smoke screens that belong somewhere else, not in this great country.
(If you wish to see, how your council discussed and voted last Monday. We are going to post video clip Nov 19/2009 in the “YouTube” section of this blog in the right upper corner of this page. Stay tuned, for sure more to come.)

Some Final Thoughts

We are not opposed to something the community supports, but evidence should be provided that the community actually supports it, and so far evidence does not exist that the community supports this project.
All the problems with this project have not been hammered out yet, and a final plan has not yet been approved. But the money for this project has already been approved. We have committed the community’s resources to a project that we have not yet committed to build. This in itself is a problem.
We have seen great increases in our government’s budgets and only small increases in the population it will serve. This project will only add to this problem.
Taken as a whole this project is bad news for Ferndale, its residents and the government apparatus who support it. We ask that the people, who will pay for the project be allowed to decide if they want it or not. Let them vote.

And Mayor,
PLEASE

Don’t Bankrupt Ferndale