Schipske to Propose Shifting Consultant Money to Hiring Police -- Appoint a Citizen Blue Ribbon Panel to Serve as Consultants

Long Beach Police Department (California) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Schipske to Propose Using the $500,000 Approved by Council for Consultants to Restore Cuts in            Police Services– Says Mayor Should Appoint a Citizen Blue Ribbon Panel to Serve as Consultants to City Management

December 8, 2012

Long Beach, CA – Just one week after the City Council on a 5-4 vote approved spending up to $500,000 to retain Management Partners, a Cincinnati, Ohio based consulting group to advise on governmental reform, Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske announced that she will make a motion during Council on Tuesday to redirect the $500,000 to the Police department in order to “restore some of the cuts that were made to the department this budget cycle.”

“Every area of the City of Long Beach is experiencing a severe increase in crime,” says Schipske who placed an item on this coming Tuesday Council agenda, asking for an update on police response times. 

“I placed the item concerning the Police response times because of the numerous complaints I received from residents who are concerned about the increases in crime. My constituents are having their homes and cars broken into constantly and are being told that due to budget cuts there are not enough police. I don’t know how anyone on the council can tell our residents that we need consultants when we don’t have enough police.”

Schipske also will propose that instead of hiring out of town consultants to review the City of Long Beach, that the Mayor should appoint a “Blue Ribbon Citizen Panel” and let them advise on how to improve City management. 

“This City has 450,000 people and among them are many talented people who know a thing or two about how to make organizations run better. Many of those people actually work for the City of Long Beach or are in the private sector that does business with the City. We also have expert faculty at our major university and community college so I am confident we can fill a ‘Blue Ribbon Citizen Panel’ quickly and without spending $500,000.”

#30

What Council Did Last Tuesday

There they go again...spending money we don't have and without even getting the details.

Two Really Bad Ideas on Council Agenda Tonight

Two very bad proposals were placed on the agenda that spend money we really don't have and gave authority to the City Manager to spend up to $250,000 without City Council approval.

Earlier this year, City Management hired a consultant, Management Partners, who took exactly one month while we were debating the budget, and were asked to come up with a list of issues that they feel needed to be changed.

One month is nothing to determine what a city needs and the consultants admitted they didn't really know Long Beach. The City spent $80,000 for the one month report and today on a 5-4 vote the council approved an additional $500,000 for a study that had no parameters. (By the way, City Management did not even go out for a bid to see if other consultants could perform this work for less.)

No specifics or details were given to the City Council as to what the consultants would do for $500,000 -- no proposal, no indication of the numbers of hours they would work or when we would see their work. Nothing.

When I asked if the Council would be given the contract to review, the City Manager responded "no." So I voted against the expenditure. I will be damned if I will asked to approved spending $500,000 and I can't see the contract.

What was also very troubling was the fact that as I sat in Council I went on line and found several proposals given by the same consultant to other cities with specifics as to hours, the scope of work and the timeline for completion. But somehow, the City Council in Long Beach could not be given the same information.

Oh, here's the part you will really find interesting. Councilman DeLong spoke and stated: "Isn't it true that Management Partners said it could save the City $28.8 million with their ideas?" Oh, my "yes" was the response and the $500,000 proposal was agreed to on a 5-4 vote. Really? We don't even know what they are going to do for the $500,000 but we know they can save the City $28.8 million? Why not $50 million? Why not $10 million? Amazing because Management Partners didn't promise the other cities it did reports for it could save them that kind of money.

The other motion was to increase the authority of the City Manager to make purchases up to $250,000 without City Council approval. The item was amended to $200,000 but I voted against this bad idea that raised his authority from $100,000.

In this economic situation it is fiscally unwise for a City Council to give authority to spend this level of money without oversight. I asked if any other City in California allowed their City Manager authority up to $200,000 or $250,000 and the answer was "no." I guess we're special. No information on how we are spending money and now we've upped what can be spent without our approval.

I did speak out on both of these bad ideas and pointed out that my constituents have asked repeatedly why in a City this size with the number of managers we have, we continue to hire outside consultants. By increasing the amount the City Manager can spend without our approval he can continue hiring more and more consultants.

Sometimes I think we have gone mad in this City. We don't have enough funds for police and fire, library and parks but yet we can spend $500,000 on consultants. (And almost $1 million on a tunnel design that went nowhere.) Reminds me of the story: The Emperor Has No Clothes -- everyone was so afraid of the emperor that they dare not tell him he was naked. They ooooed and ahhhed and said what a "fine garment you are wearing" instead of stepping up and telling the truth.

Let me know how you feel about these two items by emailing me at: district5@longbeach.gov.

Sincerely,

Gerrie 

Gerrie Schipske 

P.S. I  learned that the City spent almost $1 million dollars on a study and design for a tunnel that will not be built between the Police Department and the new courthouse.

Two Bad Ideas Brought to City Council

Two very wrong proposals were placed on the agenda that spend money we really don't have and to give authority to the City Manager to spend up to $250,000 without City Council approval.

City Management hired a consultant Management Partners who took exactly one month while we were debating the budget to come up with a list of issues that they feel needed to be changed. One month is nothing to determine what a city needs. The City spent $80,000 for the one month report and today on a 5-4 vote the council approved an additional $500,000 for a study that had no parameters.When I asked if the Council would be given the contract to review, the City Manager responded "no." So I voted against the expenditure. I will be damned if I will asked to approved spending $500,000 and I can't see the contract.

The other motion was to increase the authority of the City Manager to make purchases up to $200,000 without City Council approval. In this economic situation it is fiscally unwise for a City Council to give authority to spend this level of money without oversight. I asked if any other City in California allowed their City Manager authority up to $250,000 and the answer was "no."

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