Showing posts with label Crony Capitalists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crony Capitalists. Show all posts

Friday, October 6, 2017

Gloucester County Employees May Be Getting More Tax Dollars; But Is It The Right Type Of Pay Increase?


After publishing our story about Gloucester County’s Administrator and Attorney getting raises, we received numerous comments from Gloucester residents. It looks like there are a whole lot of people in Gloucester who do not agree with the Board of Supervisors repeatedly giving nice raises and increased hours of paid time off to our local government executives while our non-executive employees get little to nothing. In fact, there are employees who take home less pay now than they did ten and more years ago. This type of crony socialist practice in our local government should be considered unacceptable by anyone who has worked for a living.

Now there is talk of bonuses for county employees, (Imagine that, just before election time) but are bonus payments in the best interest of non-executive local government employees? Yes and no. If a person working for our local government has no intentions of ever retiring under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), then yes, bonuses would likely be beneficial to them.

Bonuses are not in the best interest of non-executive employees who intend to make Virginia government service a career. Bonuses are not included as part of a Virginia government employee’s annual salary when determining how much their retirement check from VRS will be. VRS defines Annual Salary as:

An employee’s full compensation payable annually, not including overtime pay, extraordinary pay, bonus pay, nonpermanent shift differentials or termination pay for annual or sick leave.

The best way to compensate or reward our non-executive local government employees is with a real pay raise. Throwing a bonus to these employees is nothing more than an effort to get by with paying these hard-working people as little as possible. What the current and previous Boards of Supervisors don’t seem to get is, these employees are the ones who provide us with water and sewer, maintain our infrastructure, repair our government used vehicles and perform numerous other important functions and services. They don’t get the concept of investing in those employees at any level, but they will hand out tax dollars and paid time off to executive employees like it is candy. Some things need to change in Gloucester and the last four years have not produced those changes. 

Below are the contents of emails one Gloucester resident received from some Gloucester County Supervisors when she questioned our local government employees’ pay. Sounds like the same old empty promises that have fueled the waste of Gloucester County taxpayer dollars in other areas. Like renting our libraries and health department spaces instead of owning them and not creating a revenue stream from health department rent that is paid to Gloucester by the Commonwealth, not consolidating compatible school and county services, building more parks than our local government should ever be responsible for and numerous other wasteful practices.  

From Andy James:

“Thanks for sending your e-mail.  I totally agree, all our county employees deserve a substantial raise, and even though I am one of seven on the BOS, will fight for this raise when it comes up.  Please know that even though the funding is tight, we still greatly appreciate the great jobs that our employees do to make it all work.  Also, the raises that we gave to Mr. Fedors and Mr. Wilmot were much deserved, as well.

 Sincerely,

 Andy James, Ware Dist. Supervisor”

From Phillip Bazzani:

“Coming from private industry as a retired executive at Newport News Shipbuilding, we always paid employees for performance and results.

Having said that, I will tell you that for the upcoming budget, compensation for all County employees will be our first priority.  Because this Board has simplified ordinances stifling new business growth over the last few years, and the significant organizational initiatives Mr. Fedors has implemented, we will have the ability to address compensation.  This is due to the additional sales tax revenue from new businesses who recently set up shop here, and savings/cost avoidance we have experienced thus far thanks to Mr. Fedor’s leadership.

Compensation will be a top priority for me in my upcoming term for all employees.  Moreover, Mr. Fedors has not indicated that the County will not provide the additional compensation bonus to our employees which is scheduled to occur at the end of this year.  

You will hear more about compensation as the year goes on.  I would be glad to talk to you more about this issue, so please do not hesitate to call me at 757-262-8462 (cell).

Phillip

Chair, BOS” 

From John Meyer:

“It was a pleasure to talk to you at the Jubilee – I just thought I’d take the time to put into writing what we discussed.

On the road trip back from the Governor’s Rural Prosperity Summit last week, Mr Fedors and I talked at some length about employee compensation.  There are several factors – sustained low wage growth; increased cost-of-living (to include health insurance); an improving economy that offers employees options; and increased competition for talent from other counties – that lead to the conclusion that county pay must be increased.  Brent is currently working on the pay structure for next year to determine how much it should be and how it should be allocated.  But there is no doubt in my mind that an upward adjustment needs to and will be made.

As for the 1% bonus this year – this was based on using the unexpended fund balance from last year, and couldn’t be awarded until after the books were ‘closed’ for FY17 (ending Jun 30, 2017).  The review is nearly done and the numbers look good.  There is no reason not to expect the bonus in the very near future.

Finally, with regards to Mr Fedors and Mr Wilmot salary increases.  As Mr James pointed out, they have been doing exceptional work – and the Board wanted to recognize that.  But something to keep in mind is that they are on a different pay cycle than the rest of the employees.  The budget and employee compensation for this current fiscal year has to be set in April.  The Administrator and County Attorney have their reviews in late summer and their compensation adjustment is determined by the end of September, and they are paid starting in January.  This out-of- cycle pay adjustment means that you could either think of them as the only ones that got pay increases this year – or you could think of them as being the first ones to get pay raises for next year … and as a leading indicator for good things to come for all employees.

Thank you for writing,

John”

Friday, September 29, 2017

Gloucester Board of Supervisors Increasing County Administrator’s and Attorney’s Pay and Benefits on the Sly


On Tuesday night October 3rd, the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors will vote on a resolution to increase County Administrator, Brent Fedors’ and County Attorney, Ted Wilmot’s pay and benefits, effective July 1, 2017. That’s right last July. Unfortunately, the vote will be held with no public discussion because the matters are contained in the meeting’s consent agenda. For those who do not know; a consent agenda is basically a list of public matters and supporting documents that are voted on collectively, with no public discussion. We can’t help but wonder if the County Administrator didn’t hide money in this year’s budget to cover his and the County Attorney’s pay increase.

There are other significant increases in paid time off, bonus paid days off, increases in the amount of accrued paid time off, increases in the amount of accrued paid time off that can be cashed in at the time of separation from employment with the County and increases in the amount of healthcare expense payouts by the county. Wonder how our blue-collar county employees will feel when they become aware of this nonsense?

We have provided the resolution documents in the Slideshare presentations below. We encourage everyone to review the increases and let the Board of Supervisors know this is completely unacceptable on many levels. Tell them the County Administrator and the County Attorney need to use their paid vacation time or lose it.



Thursday, September 28, 2017

Gloucester County Boards Check Another Box In The Page Middle School Property Deception


The Gloucester County, Virginia Board of Supervisors and School Board are moving forward with "their" value engineered consolidated transportation facility. I say “their” because “their” facility is certainly not what is in the best interest of the community. Tens of thousands of dollars was wasted on a study to determine the best, out of three locations, to construct a new county garage, school bus garage and utility yard. When the results of the study were presented to the boards, they completely disregarded all recommendations and had the person doing the study make the final results reflect what “they” wanted them to reflect.

There has been an ongoing effort to vacate the old Page Middle School property that started several years before the tornado “damaged” the school in 2010. We will provide a more comprehensive story on those efforts very soon. Gloucester needs these facilities and more, but we don’t need them piecemealed, value engineered and scattered throughout the county. They need to last and need to be able to be expanded when growth dictates. The land they intend to build the transportation facility on was supposed to be a place for a future elementary school. When Harry Corr and Breckenridge Ingles develop all the land they own in that area, a new elementary school will be needed there. But then isn’t that why the school board bought the property to begin with. So certain developers could obtain the Old Page properties avoid development proffers? That theory will be explored in a future story.

In the meantime; take a look at the documents contained in the Slideshare presentation below, especially the pictures and construction cost estimates. Pay close attention to the utility department photos, these are the places our employees who take care of our water and sewer systems work every day. A couple of things the study left out: If utility employees are working in the storage yard behind Southern States and need to use the restroom, they must travel all the way to the employee trailer on Carriage Street near the court circle on Main Street. That certainly isn’t within reasonable walking distance. The study also does not mention anything about the black mold issues in the basement of Utilities’ main office, which is also located on Carriage Street.
Tell the Board of Supervisors and School Board “their” transportation facility is not what “We The People” of Gloucester County need or want.


Sunday, September 24, 2017

Kenny Hogge, Sr. Will Not Talk or Meet with Candidates Before Election

After hearing various comments from multiple people and receiving multiple phone calls and text messages pertaining to my and others’ opinion about the mismanagement of the old Page and bus garage properties; I am letting everyone know, I will not be talking with or meeting with any Gloucester County School Board or Board of Supervisors candidates or board members until after the election. I will accept and publish unedited written statements from any and all candidates and board members.


I do not believe the People’s business should be done behind closed doors.

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point, Va.

Click This Link To View Our Old Page and Bus Garage Properties Opinion: http://www.gloucestercounty-va.com/2017/09/its-not-just-terrible-drinking-water.html

Click This Link to View Our Latest News and Opinions: http:http://www.gloucestercounty-va.com/

Thursday, September 21, 2017

It’s Not Just the Terrible Drinking Water That Needs Fixing in Gloucester County

Most Gloucester residents know how bad of a job our local government has done providing Gloucester with safe and quality public drinking water, but few realize just how many other areas our local government has mismanaged for years and continue to mismanage today.
One of those areas is utilization of the old Page Middle School and bus garage properties, associated construction and use of taxpayer dollars to fund Crony maneuvers and deceptions to vacate the properties. Kiser and the two boards back then began the mismanagement several years before they built new Page Middle School on T.C. Walker Road against the will of a majority of the community. Most people in Gloucester know that story, so we will focus on what is taking place right now. The following is our brief analysis and opinion about what is going on in this area of our local infrastructure.
The current boards, paid for a study to determine where the best place would be, out of three school board owned properties, to build a new bus garage, county garage and utilities department complex. The initial results deemed the old Page and bus garage properties to be the best and most economical option; that is until school board member Charles Records and supervisors John Meyer, Phillip Bazzani and Ashley Chriscoe got done manipulating the results of the study. Just like when Kiser and his corrupt crew were violating the community's trust, this location study was done for no other reason than to check a box in the process of deceiving the people of Gloucester. From here on we will refer to the current group of deceivers collectively as the Crony Four, because they “are”, the definition of Crony Capitalists with Socialist tendencies and have steered this latest ploy against the taxpayers.
The old Page property still has a VDOT approved entrance/exit and was so depicted in the initial study findings. The Crony Four had that changed. They added the made up, so called requirement of obtaining a right of way from adjacent property owner Harry Corr and reconstructing the Route 17, T.C. Walker intersection to the mix. Part of the so-called reconstruction entails leveling the north and southbound lanes of Route 17 in the vicinity of the intersection. This one made up item alone drove the estimated costs up by several million dollars, making it "appear" cost prohibitive to build on the old Page and bus garage properties. That was the goal, but the real picture is likely quite different than it appears. The very expensive Route 17 leveling is most likely a VDOT requirement to build a thoroughfare road for a large business park or residential development, but it is certainly not a requirement for the construction and uses contained in the initial study findings. We strongly believe the old Page property is wanted by an adjacent landowner and the Crony Four and their predecessors (the Kiser Crew) have and are doing everything possible to make sure they get it; no matter how much it costs the taxpayers in the long run. 
Once the Crony Four added enough fake requirements and costs to rule out the old Page and bus garage properties, they proceeded with cutting the size of the recommended complex. The first thing they did was remove a new yard and facilities for our public utilities department; further demonstrating both boards lack of concern about our crumbling water and sewer infrastructure, our utilities department employees who are trying to hold it all together while significantly understaffed and ultimately demonstrating their lack of concern about the people of Gloucester.
The Crony Four’s plan is to allow utilities to temporally use the old bus garage and its property until it is needed for “economic development reasons”. They seem to believe, or know, a developer will come along who is willing to pay to relocate Utilities’ operation in return for the old Page and bus garage properties, but if they know this, why don’t they let us know what the ultimate plan for the properties is. We believe it is because the Crony Four are doing all of this to take care of one or more of their friends or associates and Charles Records seems to be at the forefront of the current effort?
Over two years ago, we began to believe Charles Records ran for the school board for the sole purpose of trying to remove ownership of the old Page and Bus Garage properties from the school board. At the end of his four year term on the board, it appears this member of the Crony Four has been successful in doing just that and ironically, he is not seeking re-election this November.
During a joint meeting of the school board and board of supervisors on Sept 19th, County Administrator, Brent Fedors presented a timeline of future actions that includes a completion date for turning the old Page and bus garage properties over to the county. They claim their intent is to turn the old Page property over to Gloucester’s Economic Development Authority, but no information has been provided outlining what the GEDA intends to do with the property. This is troubling; especially since the GEDA already has comparable properties in the Gloucester Business Park that have gone unsold and undeveloped for years. What is so special about the old Page property that justifies the amount of tax dollars and time that have been waisted to obtain it from the school board? Wouldn’t you like to know?

It is not too late to put a stop to what they are doing, but "all" of us must let them know we will not accept what they are doing. Be sure to pass this on to other people in the community.
Look for more from us on how our local government is continuing to waste our tax dollars and allow our infrastructure to crumble in order to satisfy the greed and desires of a few. We will also be providing info on the Gloucester High School master plan in the very near future. If you care about the future of our County and Country; get involved, become informed and speak out. Demand transparency, make the ones we elect answer the hard questions and hold them accountable for their actions.

The following are presentations and meeting video segments pertaining to the latest transportation complex location study: