How low can we go?

I found the 2010 lean and clean and smart annual report produced by the Public Information Office on the municipal website. So many changes since 2010!

Concerning the cover of the report, the PIO writes: "What better symbol of Mt. Lebanon’s clean, transparent government than water splashing from the fountain at Clearview Common, a popular Uptown gathering space." I don't think I had submitted any Right To Knows for the municipal side of our government at that point. Former commissioner Dan Miller took pride in sharing documents with residents.

In 2010, our municipal government was tightening its belt. Manager Steve Feller writes: "Kept the undesignated fund balance at above 10 percent, the amount recommended by rating agencies." This year, as a result of our greedy Commission, Moody downgraded our ratings. Moody's reports challenges to be:

CHALLENGES:
Below average fund balance
Large overlapping debt with local school district

The spending of $800,000 on artificial turf violates the terms of the ordinance established by the commission.  The ordinance states that unassigned funds Cannot be used for regularly scheduled and reoccurring operational expenditures. The artificial turf is to be replaced every eight years.

Recycling is up, "increased participation over two years by 89 percent." Now we are faced with another hidden tax a.k.a. "Pay as You Throw" next month, to encourage more residents to recycle. 

Look at the partnerships:

"Share services, form partnerships; right-size and reduce redundancies
This is just good common sense. Here are a few examples:
• Signed a new two-year agreement with the school district
and the Youth Soccer Association for continued maintenance
of school athletic fields.
• Implemented the “Go Zone” uniform signage program with
the school district.
• Decided to consolidate parking authority operations into
municipal government by December 31, 2011.
• Developed a retail management and promotions strategy for
Uptown in partnership with Duquesne University."

The two year agreement with the school district and the YSA (Youth Sports Alliance, NOT the Youth Soccer Association) was a disaster. Now, the commission has chosen to enter into another maintenance agreement with the school district for Middle and Wildcat Fields.

The "Go Zone" is a disaster and has been discussed here on Lebo Citizens.

The Parking Authority was consolidated, but I'm not clear on how the funds are being spent in regard to the latest bond issue.

Retail management and promotions strategy: We couldn't have a finer manager of the Commercial Districts Office, but the TOD is going nowhere, thanks to our commission.

"Coffee with the Manager, a community relations board program that invites residents to discuss issues with the staff informally at a coffee house." and "People don’t always have time to attend public meetings, so they appreciated Coffee with the Manager, a community relations board program that promotes transparent government by inviting residents to meet informally with Manager Steve Feller and other staff members at a local coffee house." Coffee with the Manager is history. Susan Morgans said that it was not well attended. I believe the last coffee was concurrent with the Candidates Forum. 

Changes include the power structure of our municipal government. For instance, the organizational chart shows the Boards are higher on the organizational chart than staff. Now, the staff tells the Boards "how it is." 

An interesting read on undesignated funds:

The total fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities in a specific fund of the municipality. The undesignated portion of the fund balance represents expendable available resources that can be spent for emergencies and future uncertainties. In the General Fund, the municipality’s primary operating fund, the undesignated fund balance decreased by $487,434 from 2009 to 2010. This decrease was caused by use of fund balance in the 2011 budget and a designation for 2012 to help with pension contributions. The municipality has worked to increase the General Fund’s undesignated fund balance from a low of 4.1 percent of operating revenues in 2004. Rating agency and industry standards recommend an undesignated fund balance in the General Fund to be 5 to 15 percent of operating revenues. At year-end 2010, the General Fund undesignated fund balance was 11 percent.

Newcomers should read about real estate trends.

While the real estate market has significantly declined in other areas of the country, the values in Mt. Lebanon have not been as vulnerable. After a dip in average sales price in 2008, the prices in Mt. Lebanon showed recovery in 2009 and remained steady in 2010. The average sales price increased a mere 0.1 percent from 2009 to 2010. The number of properties sold has been constant in the past, but in the last few years has been far more market sensitive.

We are moving in the wrong direction. There is less transparency, more debt and wreckless spending, lower fund balance, poorer ratings, and the staff is out of control. Have I missed anything?

Well, well, well

Thanks to the School District website, I see that January is School Board Recognition Month.

             

School Board Directors sans Scott

January is School Board Recognition month, giving us an opportunity to thank our Board members Elaine Cappucci-President, Lawrence Lebowitz- Vice-President, Mary Birks, William Cooper, Scott Goldman, Edward Kubit, William Moorhead, Daniel Remely, and Michael Riemer, who volunteer so much of their time to provide strong public schools for our community. For more than 175 years, communities in Pennsylvania have had a voice in the operation of their schools through a locally elected board of school directors consisting of individuals from their community. These people are our neighbors, friends, community leaders, and parents– all with one common goal – making sure students are properly educated in preparation for life. 

Our School Board enables us to have local control of our public schools, meaning that decisions on school programs are made by local, elected representatives who understand the community’s unique challenges, values, culture and circumstances. With the advice and counsel of the educational professionals they hire, our school board has a bearing on virtually every aspect of our schools. It’s a huge responsibility and we are thankful to our board members for their dedication, hard work, and commitment to providing the best education possible for our students and a strong school system that benefits our community.

Yep, there they are, all except Scott Goldman. Not even a cardboard cutout of the lone wolf, or is it coyote? Scott Goldman is the only one who says what he feels and votes according to his conscience. For that, he doesn't make the photo, I guess.

This is the group that will be approving a $74,000 trophy case tonight, a number that is listed as the low responsible bid. What it really represents is the ONLY responsible bid. I missed a golden opportunity. I should have subcontracted a cabinet maker and submitted a bid for $70,000 and make a tidy profit.  Boy, did I screw up.

We are thankful for this group of dedicated volunteers who brought us TERC Investigations, Go Zones, $2.6+ million in change orders, student parking fees, activity fees, lucrative salary deals for administrators, and for hitting a new low in rudeness to stakeholders and parents.

Yes, we are thankful. Happy School Board Recognition Month!

A possible solution to Go Zones?

This email went out to Mellon Families today.

From: Mellon Middle School Administration <noreply@mtlsd.net>
Date: January 3, 2014, 3:29:13 PM EST
To: Mellon Families
Subject: Mellon Announcments
Reply-To: Mellon Middle School Administration <noreply@mtlsd.net>

Hello Mellon Families,

We hope that your holiday break was restful and that you are staying warm through this cold spell that we are currently experiencing.  We have two weather related announcements for you:

1. The Pittsburgh Area Shelters are in desperate need of warm blankets and winter coats.  Next week, Student Council is sponsoring an emergency blanket and coat drive.  Students, Faculty, and Staff, please go through you cupboards and closets and donate those gently used and loved blankets and coats to those in need.  Donations can be given to the homeroom teachers all next week (January 6-10).  Please Help!
2. On days where we are on a 10am start, the traffic around Mellon is significantly more congested because both Washington and Mellon are starting school at the same time. Today, and on 10am starts in past school years, we have had a significant amount of tardy students because of the traffic congestion.   Please plan accordingly and leave yourself a little extra time to get to Mellon on those mornings.  On 10am start days, the door to the cafeteria is open at 9:15 so that students who are dropped off early have somewhere to go to get out of the cold.  Thank you for your help in trying to get your students here on time when school is delayed.

Sincerely,

Mellon Middle School Administration

Mellon opens the doors 45 minutes before 10 AM starts and an hour early on normal days. Elementary schools give kids ten minutes. Why don't the elementary schools allow kids in the school gym or cafeteria and/or classroom at least 20 minutes early to avoid Go Zone mania? Is it because it will require teachers to go on duty early? 

Will the ESB be asking for 1,861 trees?

That is how many trees need to be planted to offset the carbon footprint from artificial turf at Wildcat and Middle Fields. At least that is what page 6 of 16 claims in The Dirt on Turf.

In 2006, the Athena Institute conducted a study researching how much a school would need to do in order to offset the carbon footprint of an artificial field. The purpose of the study was to estimate the greenhouse gases emitted during the life cycle of an artificial turf field as opposed to a natural grass surface. The study determined the number of trees to be planted to achieve a 10-year carbon neutral synthetic turf installation. The result was that 1,861 (+23%) coniferous trees would be needed to be planted as a carbon offset. 

The Environmental Sustainability Board has been unusually quiet about artificial turf. At a recent commission meeting, Commission Liaison to the ESB and President Elect Linfante assured residents that the ESB is on board with plans for artificial turf. However, when I asked ESB members, Kathleen A. Habrovsky and Andrew Baram, prior to their Pay As You Throw presentation, both were opposed to the idea of artificial turf. Kathy said that it came up over a year ago at an ESB meeting, but were told that it was not an issue since there was no funding for artificial turf. I have not looked through the newly posted ESB Minutes for confirmation. Thank you, Susan Morgans, for finally posting them.

Another silent environmental group is The Mt. Lebanon Environmental Team. "The Environmental Team is a group of local Mt. Lebanon (Pennsylvania) citizen volunteers devoted to improving the environment by working with residents, elected officials, institutions, businesses and the Mt. Lebanon Environmental Sustainability Board. The team is dedicated to responding to the global and local economic, social and environmental challenges associated with energy demand and human contributions to climate change and to improve the effects of these changes on our community and neighbors." A link to their website, lebogreen.org, can also be found on the Municipal website. [That will be the day when Lebo Citizens, another blog and website started and maintained without a single tax dollar by this volunteer, will get a link on the Municipal website!] From an email:

From: Kristen Linfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: Re: Lebo Green
Date: Tue, Oct 15, 2013 2:36 pm
Not a single tax dollar goes to the Environmental Team or their website. It is a completely volunteer group. One of their members created the site and manages it. This group is not affiliated with the municipality or the SD.
Kristen Linfante
Commissioner, Ward 3
(412)561 -27 90

It is not clear to me why the ESB and the ET are not saying anything about artificial turf. A June 28, 2010 presentation by the ESB outlined their goals, which included Municipal and School Buildings Energy Conservation, initiating a Pay As You Throw program, and establishing No Idling Zones. (How's that working for you?) Future goals include Monitoring and Verifying Results. I wonder what their take is on Go Zones. Come to think of it, they're pretty quiet about that too. Maybe counting garbage cans has become too time consuming to comment on artificial turf and idling in No Idling Zones.