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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
 Posted - 12/26/2006 : 8:18:23 PM
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 Why is it our elected officials vote first and think later?
I'm watching the Board of Alderman argue that the tax exemption many of us got last year should have been offered again this year. Why didn't they think of that before they approved the tax rate?
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Edited by - justme on 12/26/2006 8:19:16 PM |
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H1ghCh4r1ty
Advanced Member
967 Posts |
Posted - 12/26/2006 : 11:06:07 PM
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Simple answer to a simple question....they are stupid people. They are selfserving and have no concern for the constituents just for their own publicity and free health insurance.
Let's keep in mind who put them in office.....
Emile Schoeffhausen |
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Court4Fred
Advanced Member
1201 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 08:44:29 AM
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| Don't let the administration off the hook. They set the tax rate - not the elected officials and they set it without adding the residential exemption. They also set it very late in the game, which wouldn't allow anyone any time to question their antics. |
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H1ghCh4r1ty
Advanced Member
967 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 4:25:00 PM
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As usual, my dear Court, You speak are quite right. I may have been imbibing a wee bit much of the sacrifical wine not to recognize the Administartion's involvement.
Regards,
Emile Schoeffhausen |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 4:52:02 PM
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| Well, just to throw my two cents in, there's plenty of blame to go around on this one. Yes, the Administration tried to pull a fast one, because they seem to think that the public at large drinks from the same Koolaid fountain as they all do, but . . . did it never occur to any member of the City Council, when they were discussing the minimal residential factor, to raise the issue of whether the 20% owner occupied exemption would apply this year? |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 6:51:12 PM
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| That's exactly what I was talking about Citizen. They sit there like school children who are afraid to ask a question that might make the other kids think they're dumb. (We already know the answer to that one!) After they get input from family, friends, and constituents, they come back and try to undo what's now a done deal. None of them seem to be able to think on their feet or shift gears very quickly. |
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Court4Fred
Advanced Member
1201 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 8:20:12 PM
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| Citizen, you make a very good point; members of city government should have raised the question at the time they were setting the MRF. Perhaps with the mayor out of town (was he really in Vegas?) and the ever pleasant budget director on hand, they simply wanted to get the meeting over with...quickly. The fact is, none of our elected officials are tax professionals and rely on the assessor's office and the executive branch - the mayor's office, to provide good advice. Given this latest sleight of hand (show the low tax rate, "forget" to mention the residential homeowner exemption wasn't renewed) city government now understands that these people can't be trusted. In fact, they would do well to obtain outside advice from a tax advisor not connected to this administration...because next year's going to be a doozy. |
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richie
Senior Member
139 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 08:01:39 AM
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| I was watching the meeting last nite. I felt like I was watching Lawyer McGongale vs. Vetrano just questions no answer it struck me funny.. what I didn't get was Carlo with the bidding I must of left the room for a sec. and the next thing you know there was yelling can anyone fill me in. |
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Court4Fred
Advanced Member
1201 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 08:32:05 AM
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| Lawyer McGonagle? Where was Lawyer Van Campen for that kind of questioning? I seem to recall that he enjoyed playing lawyer with the previous mayor. With no answers coming back from the Budget Director? Perhaps it's because these actions are hard to defend. It must be difficult to defend your boyfriend getting a bid, after the initial bids were tossed. |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 08:36:41 AM
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| I didn't see the meeting, Richie, but if I understand the "aftertalk", Carlo was upset because a bid that was submitted by his uncle's company -- which was the lowest bid for whatever project they were talking about -- was thrown out along with the other original submissions; of the second group of bids that came in, one came in about a hundred bucks lower than that first low bid, and allegedly, the budget director's boyfriend works for the company with the lowest bid. She denies it, of course. |
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richie
Senior Member
139 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 10:07:11 AM
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| ok I give up who is the boyfriend? didn't know had one. |
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bbpolitical
Forum Admin
265 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 11:25:24 AM
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I have the meeting on tape, I will look for the incident and get back to you.
Michael
I am an average resident of Everett who would like to see more communication about anything and everything to do with Everett |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 12:05:45 PM
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| I wondered what the yelling was all about, that was when I got back to the meeting. So now we can add bid rigging to the the list of offenses by this administration. How do these people sleep at night? |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 12:39:46 PM
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| I just finished watching the tape of the Aldermen's meeting. It was not quite clear what Carlo was getting to, Mr. Nuzzo put an end to it and that is when Carlo started to raise his voice. It looked like Mr. Nuzzo was covering for the administration. Did not say he was, it just looked that way. He should of let Carlo ask his questions. When do they ever go by the exact rule of parlimentary procedure. |
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EverettsPride
Advanced Member
1140 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 1:34:48 PM
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Are you kidding me?? I hope someone is looking into this. And people may say things about De Maria, but at least he is an honest hard working guy who cares about the city. Carlo if your reading here I hope you notify the state about this one.
Sally |
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bbpolitical
Forum Admin
265 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 2:48:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by EverettsPride
Are you kidding me?? I hope someone is looking into this. And people may say things about De Maria, but at least he is an honest hard working guy who cares about the city. Carlo if your reading here I hope you notify the state about this one.
Sally
I agree with the concern of DiMaria. Hopefully this will be added as an item to the next meeting calendar so that "parliamentary procedure" will not be an impediment to asking the tough questions.
I, however, think the issue was aired. Here is the commentary (Note that Carlo DiMaria and Janet Vetrano had already discussed this over the phone and she had invited someone else to the meeting as a result (Chief Financial Officer)):
Carlo: The problem I had was irregularities with some bidding that we had down at the.. um.. cemetary I beleive, where something was put out to put out to bid. We received three bids in and that bid was withdrawn.
Janet: Actually I have the Chief Finance Officer if he would attend because I don't handle any of the bidding or contracting, Mr. Pedulla does, and if you would like I beleive he has the information...
Carlo: Yeah, if he could come up for us.
Mr. Nuzzo: Mr. Pedulla, would you please come forward.
(Note: Parliamentary procedure was presumably already being broken by this time as the Chief Finance Officer was coming up to talk about Bids, not about the Budget, which was the calendar item and the crux of the violation of parliamentary procedure argument to come later from Mr. Dragone)
[Mr. Pedulla comes up and identifies himself for the record]
Carlo: Good evening Mr. Pedulla. Mr. Pedulla there was a bid in the city maybe 5 or 6 months ago where Revere Aluminum, Everett Aluminum, and Angelo DiPerro and Sons Construction Company, which happens to be my uncle, bid on a job down at the cemetary to repair a roof, put a porch on... to do some work in I beleive , I don't know what type of bid you'd call it... but they went down, they gave their price. It was awarded to the lowest bidder. It was withdrawn and I beleive the company that Alderman McGonagle speaks about (Carbonigro Construction Company (apologies for the spelling, I can't find the correct spelling)received that job. It just seems like it was a little underhanded.
Mr. Pedulla: [Proceeds to list vinyl siding/window replacement bidding facts about a June 15th bid opening which turns out to not refer to the bidding Mr. DiMaria is speaking about including a $17,424 winning bid for Carbonigro. DiMaria proceeds to ask if there was prior bid, to which Pardella replies "That's news to me, Mr. Montgomery"]
Carlo: I'm going to produce for you some documents that one of the contracters has on this proposal, was given the job to do the work, and then was taken back due to irregularities in the bidding process maybe because it wasn't a sealed bid.... Are most bids sealed?
Mr. Pedulla: In this case, yes, absolutely... (paraphrasing) If a bid was not accepted, likely, it did not meet the requirments, either it was late, it was not sealed, did not have a deposit, it can be all kinds of different reasons.
(4:20 has gone on by now)
DiMaria then asks Janice if her boyfriend has any affiliation with Carbonigro to which she says no (following up on Joe McGonagle's question prior about any relationship she might have with the company.
By this point, the meeting had turned into a heated bidding irregularity speculation argument after which Mr. Nuzzo stopped the discussion a minute later.
It was then let go, but not before Mr. Dragone came up and made a complaint about the parliamentary procedure rules on behalf of the soliciter's office, when he was merely invited up to clarify a question about a case brought by GTA landscaping against the city.
Nuzzo: I agree with you as I had stated and from this point on lets keep the questions from this point on to the budget, no names or individuals mentioned. If you want to go in that direction, you have to put other pieces on this calendar.
So, in summary, it seems to me that it didn't take much time for a lot of heated words to be exchanged, but the buildup to it was obvious and allowed to continue for a good 5 minutes, only to be ended with a final shot fired by the city. Di Maria tried to fire back by suggesting Mr. Nuzzo wasn't concerned about issues facing the city to which Mr. Nuzzo was understandably offended, declaring Carlo out of order.
I think that McGonagle and DiMaria should sponsor this item being added to the calendar for the next meeting so that the matter can be fully disclosed.
Michael
I am an average resident of Everett who would like to see more communication about anything and everything to do with Everett |
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Elected Officials
