The Bulletin Board Is Back
The new Perkasie Opinion Bulletin Board is up and running! With new and more powerful software, it should be here to stay, and you are welcome to use it to discuss local issues, or even create a poll (only registered users can vote, however -- but it's free). A link to reach the Bulletin Board is in the menu at the top right of the home page, or you can go directly to http://forum.perkasie.com/. I invite you to register and participate! Discuss issues mentioned here, or your own issues. Discussion is intended to be primarily Perkasie-focused, but there is a general discussion forum where almost anything goes. Let me know if you have any problems.
Also there was a programming issue that prevented some from posting comments here on the blog. I believe that issue has been resolved, so comments can also be posted here once again.
Bob Bergey on 08.16.04 @ 11:35 PM EST [link] [add a comment]
Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Public Works Dismissed
Well, here we go again. Perkasie Borough Council tonight summarily dismissed long time Borough employees Neil Fosbenner (employed for the last approximately 15 years), Superintendent of Public Works, and Jim Soliday (27 year employee), Assistant Superintendent of Public Works, in a move that, according to Council President Lee Metzger, will streamline Borough services and save Perkasie Borough an estimated $25,000 a year. The Public Works department and the Public Utility department are to be combined into one new department, to be headed by Phil Ivins, currently Superintendent of Public Utilities (electric department).
Council had no public discussion on the move to combine departments and asked for no public input in a move that is highly questionable, along with dramatically terminating two long term key employees, for a very small projected savings. In fact the savings are likely to disappear completely if the former employees file suit against the borough, a real possibility because of the way Council conducted the secret proceedings. The lack of discussion became painfully apparent when Council had great difficulty answering simple questions from the press at the end of the meeting, such as how many employees each department had (neither Council nor the interim Borough Manager had a ready answer!), or the salary of the new department head. Phil Ivins, the new department head, will receive an $8,000 salary increase (to nearly $80,000) to manage the new combined department.
This Council's incompetence becomes more apparent with every meeting. Micromanagement is just the tip of the iceberg and probably the most obvious symptom of the problems. Plus they have either fired or encouraged the resignation of nearly all of the key borough staff and services: the Borough solicitor, the Borough engineer, the Borough manager, and now the key public works staff [forgot to include the resignation of the Director of Community & Economic Development in that list -- ed. 8/24/04]. It appears to me that they're trying to create an entirely new staff who owes their jobs to the current council, and will be "yes" men to Council without questioning Council's wisdom or judgment on the management of the Borough. It's a setup for disaster in the years ahead -- sooner if not later. And already there are money problems -- the "savings" apparently aren't materializing as they fight projected deficits for the remainder of 2004, and slash the 2005 budget in ways that are likely to cost the Borough big-time down the road.
It shouldn't be all that surprising. No one on this Council has experience managing employees, and almost none have experience handling a multi-million dollar budget. Council is wasting time making decisions staff should be handling, such as approving what family can rent a park pavilion, or deciding what to do with helmets donated to the skate park, while the big issues are given 30 seconds on the agenda and employee morale is at an all time low. It's so bad that Council meetings that should have been finished in less than two hours have expanded to six hours, and the Finance Committee is taking six months to do what previous committees have done in three. There is no effective leadership on Council; the Council president mutters under his breath, the solicitor looks confused, the interim borough manager appears lost, and the mayor just sits there holding down his chair. Council's only direction so far, if there is one at all, is to look for more ways to cut spending and services. But they're being penny-wise and pound-foolish. No one seems to have a grasp of the big picture, or the long term consequences of their actions. There is no vision, no plan, with issues handled only as they come up, like fires that must be put out. Or, perhaps, the vision is top secret, discussed only behind closed doors, like the move to consolidate departments. Whatever it is, the public is being left out almost completely. And the downward spiral continues ....
Bob Bergey on 08.16.04 @ 11:18 PM EST [link] [5 comments]
Perkasie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania 18944
