"Transparency" Times Two
Slow news day in the land of Newport-Mesa. Good thing, too.. I needed a rest from last week.FIRST EDITION OF WEEKLY "E-BRIEFING"
Costa Mesa CEO Tom Hatch introduced another new feature of the "transparency" he promised us last March when he hired Bill Lobdell as Interim Communication Director. This is the "E-Briefing" - a feature that is supposed to appear each week and will discuss things going on in City Hall and elsewhere in Costa Mesa. You can read the first edition HERE and subscribe to it via the City Web Site under the "Email Notification" section on the lower right side of the Home Page. It looks to me as though this is going to be yet another helpful feature for any residents actually interested in current events and plans afoot.
CITY COUNCIL COMPENSATIONLobdell also sent out an announcement, also under the sub-title of "transparency", providing a copy of the City Council compensation in an easy-to-review format. I can't find a link to it on the City Web Site, so reproduced it below for those of you with eagle-eyes. One thing you'll notice is that they misspelled Gary Monahan's name... Just click on the image and it will increase in size so you can read it.
REMINDERI intend to use more video clips from city meetings in the future. In order to view them you need to download and install Silverlight software from Microsoft. Go to the Silverlight site, HERE, and download it and follow the instructions for your particular computer to install it. You'll be glad you did.
Labels: Bill Lobdell, E-Briefing, Silverlight, Tom Hatch
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 6/27/2011 10:18:00 PM
10 Comments:
OMG they misspelled Monahan's name! This is front page newsworthy stuff and we heard it here first! Now lets see some pictures of cats with funny hats.
How about the fact that Riggy isn't collecting on health insurance eliminating one more cost to tax payers? Not newsworthy enough?
hehe this cat is wearing a mini football helmet...
there was some news next door in NB concerning lifeguard pensions. where's the outrage? how many people must drown if they don't get 3@50? Wastewatchers: get over there pronto. Police and fire negotiations coming up next. Everyone may die if they have to pay their 9% contribution.
Guess only the trolls come out on the slow news days... but regarding Newport lifeguards, that's a tough beach to patrol - watch the wrongful death lawsuits pour in if/when those jobs are outsourced.
Like the new newsletter, though - some useful info, and it puts all the politics aside for a change and reminds one of what a great community Costa Mesa still can be.
Mike, in my opinion, contract labor does a far better job than government employees do because government employees take their jobs for granted. Contract labor has to be on their toes constantly because they know how easy it is to replace them.
If you've ever walked into a state or federal building you've noticed "the attitude". They essentially tell you to just take a number and wait. Does DMV come to mind?
A perfect example of this factor is Roy Kronk's call to 911 re his discovery of Caylee Anthony's skull. The dispatcher couldn't possibly have cared less about what he found. Listen to the recorded call yourself. CNN is giving plenty of air time to that call right now.
Yes, the great Anti-Christ, Jim Righeimer, doesn't take a City Council stipend. Didn't see that one on the "Wastewatchers" waste list.
Still waiting for that "waste"
Speaking of transparency, I looked on the city's website and could not find any mention that Lobdell has just been re-hired for another 3K a week. That's $156,000 a year. According to indeed.com, that is over twice what we should be paying. This smacks of cronyism. Where is the notice and where is the outrage? For an administration that wants to outsource and put everything out to bid, they're not doing a very good job here. Something is rotten. Why wasn't this job posted?
Hypocrites?, If you're a regular reader here, or follow council meetings, then you will remember that I announced Lobdell's extension on June 17th on this post: http://abubblingcauldron.blogspot.com/2011/06/budget-workshop-success.html
His is a temporary gig and has been extended until early October - maybe. If Hatch reorganizes and creates a full time position to include what Lobdell's job has been, then he's gone. The Daily Pilot also announced the extension of his contract.
Hypocrites?
Why should there be outrage? Lobdell is giving the taxpayers exactly what they have been wanting ..... really great communication. Furthermore, Lobdell is a well respected professional in his field, and a local, so Costa Mesa residents feel comfortable with him. We pay the out of town cops far more than Lobdell and we get no communication from them, other than DUI stops (which serve no purpose because the drunks then go around them).
On top of that, Lobdell gets no employee benefits. Therefore you are comparing apples and oranges with regard to his remuneration.
Didn't the Employees Salaries the city released have a Total Compensation Column. If this is being called Total Compensation then how about staying consistent and putting out the same info the way it was done to the employees.
How come Hatch's 9 month severance package isn't factored into his total comp? Would that not be part of it? If the employees have their unused time banks (vacation, holiday etc) factored in, it seems like 3/4 of a year of salary and bennies ought to be counted too.
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