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seymour

[-]

(05/12/08 05:45 PM)

Insider: While there are close to 70 city vehicles, not all are taken home. For example, the assessors, board of health, plumbing inspector, electrical inspector and others all have city vehicles, but none are taken home on a regular basis. But the Police do have the highest amount, and the reason for some (if not most) going home can not and will not be explained

Also, as far as claiming the use of city vehicles on their pensions, city employees have to pay taxes on the benefit first before they can claim it on their pension when they retire. I checked with the city auditor today and she said no City of Gloucester employee has ever claimed a city vehicle as part of their employment compensation. This benefit was first claimed by one corrupt midget (Billy Bulger) and has continuously been challenged in court. The most recent local challenge that I am aware of is Beverly Public Safety Director Ken Pelonzi, who actually paid the taxes for the compensation of his city vehicle but has been denied the extra pension by the Beverly Retirement Board.

But if this Mayor is serious about making things right, she would collect the keys to all city vehicles with the exception of a few, collect all city owned cell phones, pagers etc., and stop giving elected officials the over $12,000 benefit of health insurance. I bet that would save over $250k easy.

globalwarmer07

[-]

(05/12/08 05:47 PM)

Ok. So today I was almost run off the road by the High School Cata bus in Lanesville. The bus driver was on the phone. I am thinking I should call the bus barn to report it. My neighbor tells me she has seen the yellow school bus driver on the phone a number of times.

Insider2004

[-]

(05/12/08 06:04 PM)

Seymour,

There is a pending case in Gloucester with a previous City employee who is claiming his vehicle as compensation.

o Realist o

[-]

(05/12/08 06:49 PM)

Excuse me, but in the '90s there was a huge brouhaha, because the city was NOT documenting on W-2s city vehicles as compensation, therefore, NOT being taxed on this amount of money - applied to city employees by who exclusively drove city vehicles (DPW Director, City Engineer etc.). So, city started doing it correctly...at least for awhile.

mya crakstinks

[-]

(05/12/08 07:36 PM)

best way to save the city money shit in another town

Ward4 2NoMore

[-]

(05/12/08 07:39 PM)

MMickkeYY [-]

Posted: 05/12/08 03:26 PM

How about an ordinance prohibiting town employees from using city vehicles for "romantic" liaisons?

MMickkeYY you got that one right and one of the horny little devils posted in this thread

Jenna Anon

[-]

(05/12/08 07:51 PM)

Seynour,
10 city owned take home vehicles in the Police Department alone, are you sure that sounds like a lot, I didn't think this city had 10 detectives.
Do all detectives get their own take home vehicle?
Are they parked at the Police station when they are not working?
Seymour are you sure they take home these vehicles or do they just use them when they are working. If what you are saying is true, I hope the Mayor looks into this and serves the tax payers well.
I am going to start doing my homework on this I WILL try to get cold hard facts from this topic!

mya crakstinks

[-]

(05/12/08 08:00 PM)

you would be surprised to know whos been bent over in a city vehicle

lake st

[-]

(05/12/08 08:09 PM)

Jenna Anon wrote:
Seynour,
10 city owned take home vehicles in the Police Department alone, are you sure that sounds like a lot, I didn't think this city had 10 detectives.
Do all detectives get their own take home vehicle?
Are they parked at the Police station when they are not working?
Seymour are you sure they take home these vehicles or do they just use them when they are working. If what you are saying is true, I hope the Mayor looks into this and serves the tax payers well.
I am going to start doing my homework on this I WILL try to get cold hard facts from this topic!

I'm not sure at how many vehicles the GPD has, but I believe most of the detectives use vehicles seized from drug dealers, the only expense with those vehicles is fuel and maintenance. I was told the GFD has only one take home vehicle assigned to the fire chief.

regnar

[-]

(05/12/08 08:26 PM)

DPW Director, City Engineer, Fire Inspector , Fire Chief, Police Chief, and a couple of police detectives - I can't think of any more that have vehicles 24/7. If there are, its not 65 more.

Ward4 2NoMore

[-]

(05/12/08 08:30 PM)

The city needs to spend money to save money.
1 Move all city departments under one roof or complex ( Fuller).
2 Sell all unused city owned buildings.
3 Put solar panels on all schools and city buildings and make them energy efficient
4 Put windmills on city property
5 All city vehicles that can be should be hybrids
6 Work with National Grid to install solar street lights.
7 Better accounting of fuel use at DPW.
8 Build new combination central fire & police station at new city complex Fuller.
9 Build new fire station centrally located in ward 5, staff appropriately and close Magnolia and West Glou.Stations
10 Audit the GPD
11 Do not give Sam Parks the TIF he is asking for.

Last Edited By: Ward4 2NoMore 05/12/08 08:49 PM. Edited 1 times.

globalwarmer07

[-]

(05/12/08 09:04 PM)

Bravo Ward4

Zannylicious

[-]

(05/12/08 09:24 PM)

Sounds like a Plan...

Now how do you do it???

OKCorral.abettercapeanno...

[-]

(05/12/08 09:28 PM)

You have some good ideas Ward 4

In the long haul this city will have to enlarge or build new green schools, not with a modular class room.

1 Enlarge Veterans in Ward 2 use the ball field to do this and close East Gloucester
2 Enlarge or build new Beaman and close Plum Cove.
3 Build a larger school in Ward 5 and close West Parish.

"I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride, I'm wanted dead or alive"
BON JOVI

OKCorral.abettercapeanno...

[-]

(05/12/08 10:11 PM)

Short Term easy to accomplish

1 First thing in Ward 4 plan is the TIF, Mayor Kirk should say no to the TIF for Parks.
2 Better accounting of fuel use at DPW.
3 All city vehicles that can be should be hybrids
4 Move all city departments under one roof or complex ( Fuller). Start to plan, building will be empty after this school year.
5 Audit the GPD, waste land no brainier
6 Sell all unused city owned buildings, some before and the rest after move to Fuller.
7 Put solar panels on all schools and city buildings and make them energy efficient. Go after state and federal grants.

Long term planning needed.
8 Work with National Grid to install solar street lights.
9 Build new combination central fire & police station at new city complex Fuller.
10 Build new fire station centrally located in ward 5, staff appropriately and close Magnolia and West Glou.Stations
11 Put windmills on city property
12 Enlarge Veterans in Ward 2 use the ball field to do this and close East Gloucester
13 Enlarge or build new Beaman and close Plum Cove.
14 Build a larger school in Ward 5 and close West Parish.

"I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride, I'm wanted dead or alive"
BON JOVI

Willard J Clinton

The REAL waste bankrupting the city:

[-]

(05/13/08 01:31 AM)

Have one teacher on the payroll for every 25 pupil classroom instead of two teachers on the bloated GTA payroll for every classroom.

Savings: $12,000,000.00 per year.

Jettison the excess school department management whose bloated contracts GTA, the SC, and City Hall are too ashamed to post online for all to see.

Savings: $3,000,000.00 per year.

Jenna Anon

[-]

(05/13/08 08:32 AM)

Even if the city vehicles are taken from drug dealers it still cost thousands for gas and insurance.

MMickkeYY

[-]

(05/13/08 08:47 AM)

Lake I am sorry if I touched a "nerve".
And ya it probably wouldn't save much money if "boinkin" in CITY vehicles suddenly ceased.

Dear GABBY

[-]

(05/13/08 09:14 AM)

unless a city employee, which would be a fire chief , deputy, dpw, or the queen Mayor herself is on call - NO ONE- should take home a city vehicle.. The insurance premiums , liability , and gas hikes a lone could put any city under let alone gloucester miles need to be accounted for .. Drive to work in your vehicle and then take the city car during the 8 or so hours you are on duty.
If phone privellages are abused and used during unscheduled hrs then the City offender should have to pay for those charges incurred immediately.... ----
Sick time should not be able to accumulate into 3000 hrs... god knows 1/2 of the employees do not use slips for time out , so they accumulate until retirement until they can suck the pension into more monies... --- Comp time given for perks instead of what it was intended, should be forbidden (-tis not right)
City equipment should not ever be used for your home, not even to borrow- the wear and tear will cost the city bucks - (sorry sir, but Daddys lawn should not have been cut on our dollars- rather you should cut daddys lawn on your own time -perhaps a sunday)
Summary: We need accountablity- just because a person might be respected and into tenure does not mean they do not short change the system- accurate records should be kept and checked every 4 months, of gas- milegage, comp time, sick time, city equipment, etc-
abuse happens and you can bet your bottom dollar , when somebody is nearing retirement the abuse grows as with their pensions..
YOU HAD TO GET ME GOING !!!!!

Matisse

[-]

(05/13/08 10:47 AM)

The level of accountability that you crave is admirable, but the city does not have the tools or personnel in place to make it happen. Use DPW for example.

They have a director who has not been reappointed, and two out of the three operations managers have left and have not been backfilled.

Most of their vehicles are 10+ years old and frequently require repair---which means they are in the shop and not on the road working.

Most of the employees have been there for many years and have accumlated tons of vacation and sick time.

Very little is invested in the workforce. Ask any of the employees when they last attended a training or skill development/review session.

Reviewing telephone and attendance records and documenting work performance are tasks which take time. There are over 40 employees on Poplar Street with many different functions working under a single manager. The manager to employee ration is too high for any person to properly supervise and develop their staff.

They are still "working out the bugs" on the financial management system that was implemented over 3 years ago.

They work in a building that was erected in the mid 1940's that has not been updated. The windows are falling out of the building.

In difficult economic times, public employees are subject to an increased level of scrutiny. Some of it is warranted----and some of it isn't. There are slackers in every work environment. Don't paint all of the city workers with the same brush. Some work as hard and you do.

(Disclaimer: I am NOT employed by the City or related to anybody who is)

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