Fort Myers FL.
The main reason I constantly hound the Gateway Board of Supervisors is because I believe if they are left alone they will find ways to waste our money. Let's face it, even pointing this out doesn't stop them. Government, no matter the size, must always justify its very existence. They do it by finding ways to spend taxpayer money. When have you ever heard of a government working toward eliminating itself, therefore reducing the burden on taxpayers?
We all know the history of over $90,000 being spent on Wetland 47 engineering/attorney fees and that has gotten us nowhere. Unless you have the time to dig deep into what this board says every 2 weeks you may never know what they are planning.
Let's use their agreed upon hiring freeze as an example. You probably know we pay a landscaping company over a million dollars to beautify the community. Let's forget for a moment that someone decides to buy flowers every winter and we wind up either covering them with tarp or watching them die in the cold. Let that waste of money slide for a minute. With over a million dollars being paid to landscape, during a recession, the supervisors are considering hiring a "landscape manager". If a comapny we pay over a million dollars a year needs a "landscpae manager" to look over their shoulder to abide by a contract we made them sign then why do we need that company? Really. What does operations manager mean?
The district, behind the failed leadership of Bob Nielson, is using the Florida back-to-work program as a reason to bring on a new hire (if not more). In fact the district has submitted a request for 5 new employees at a cost of $40,000 worth of payroll expenses to you and me. I'm not even sure if that includes benefits. We all know what happens when the government money runs out on this "back-to-work" program. The jobs are still in place and we foot the new, much more expensive, employee packages. Remember this board is said to be in a hiring freeze. Does that sound like a freeze to you? Nielson has his voting ducks in a row though. Fineberg and Stanley march with him like soldiers as Supervsors Sichel and Neabauer continue to try to fight the out-of-control spending as you can see by this resolution HERE.
For 6 months now Supervisor Sichel has been asking for a complete and independent review of how the district government operates. Are we wasting money? Do we have too many positions? Can we consolidate jobs? How can we run the district better AND CHEAPER? The board, other than Neubauer, is doing nothing but delaying this idea. They refuse to fast-track a self exam like they fast-track your money out the door. This review should have and could have been done already.
These decisions are all the more reason for every Gateway resident to get involved this November when two seats (Nielson and Stanley) come up for a vote. A cost-cutting candidate will easily change the tide on this board and two strong fiscal conservatives will render (the appointed, not elected) Fineberg voice silent for at least the next two years.
