No apology necessary
To the Editor:
Mr. Cleverley, I find your letter almost laughable, if it did not contain such a serious matter. Let's break this down paragraph by paragraph. (Cleverley's comments are in quotes.)
"As a candidate for Florence City Council, I have a duty to apologize and inform you of the status of this community."
You as a candidate have no duties at all, especially to apologize or inform, other than to state your ideas of how you think things should be run within this city. As a candidate you do not represent anyone, other than yourself. You are just John Q. Public, or to state it more plainly
"In the past I have sought to implement full compliance with the Americans with Disability Act
What you did concerning your ADA action toward this city was wrong. You know this statement to be true, as well as I. You did not try "in good faith" to resolve whatever issues you had concerning ADA compliance.
Here is another fact you need to realize: NO city is ever in full compliance with ADA law. The reason being that even after all these years the law is ever changing, and being interrupted by the Justice Department and the courts. Again, you have no right to assume you represent any disabled person except yourself within this city. To my knowledge you hold no office or appointment within the government of this city.
"Information obtained
I do not understand your data within this paragraph. I count at present four full-time employees of which two are on salary, nine part-time employees, and one employee within the police department who is a trainee or reserve officer who receives no pay.
The fire chief receives $100 a YEAR, by the way, which doesn't even start to pay his expenses let alone his time to attend council meetings, Marion County Fire Chiefs' meetings, etc.
If you want to compare things within my city's workings, don't you think it is a little unfair to use 2002 statistics compared to 2007? I am sure if you went back far enough you could find it only took two men and three horses and a part-time mule to run this city.
Some of the services this city offers take so much expense, and so many employees to man, no matter the fluctuations of the population. Part of the reason it takes more people and more money to run this city is because of people like you and a few others who thinks it is his or her obligation in life to make sure this city crosses every T and dots every I.
Saying this does not excuse this city from doing the above, but instead of just bitching, hiring lawyers, and filing complaints maybe you all should volunteer, and HELP cross T's, and dot I's.
"The annual budget for the City of Florence, based upon copies obtained through the county clerk's office for Marion County, demonstrates an increase from $743,761 in 2002 to an estimated $799,196 for 2007."
According to my calculator the difference between $799,196 (2007) and $743,761 (2002) is only $55,435.00. If you spread that out over five years, and consider that a new water project, and a new city hall, new lawn mower, debt service obligations, etc., have come on board
"The final assessed valuation for the city in 2002 was $2,056,464 and for 2007 is $1,580,568 a decrease of $475,896 with a remaining debt load of $441,072."
The mills within a City budget are directly tied to the valuation. You need so many mills to raise a certain amount of money. When your valuation goes down it takes more mills to raise the amount of money you need to run this city. Do you realize what this really means? We ALL should be taking better care of our homes and property, not only inside, but outside as well. Better curb appeal equals better and bigger evaluations. How, you ask? Evaluation starts with market value. Market value is directly tied to sales of similar size and construction of homes and property sold within a given time.
"The data suggests a decline in population, an increase in the number of city employees, a decrease in assessed value, and upon further investigation, the discovery of multiple issues of non-compliance to state and federal laws, statutes, and regulations
Your opinion, of which, you are entitled to. But evidently not the opinion of the state, nor the federal government or they would be correcting or fining the mayor and council. And evidently not the opinion of a vast number of city residents or they would be raising "old Ned" to coin a phrase.
"Prior to September 2005, the city received 11 violations from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the city also received monitoring violations for the months of September, October, November, and December of 2005, also a violation in January and again in March 2006, for a grand total of 17 violations pertaining to the city's water."
Official records show 18 violations, and none were finable or to my knowledge the city did not get fined for any of these violations. In my opinion we still have the best tasting water in the county.
"This does not include citations for the sewage ponds, dike or burn pit."
How do you know it doesn't include citations from sewage, dike, or burn pit? Almost two-thirds of the violations you listed were not identified by your source.
"Since April 2005, I have sought to petition local, state, and federal government agencies on behalf of the community. Issues include medical care, emergency services, community development and involvement, health and environment-all items listed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as essential services."
Evidently they (local, state, and federal agencies) did not agree with you either. Who appointed you to do that on my part or anyone else's? I will do my own petitioning, thank you. Quit bellyaching and get out and become involved, and you will realize the excellence of our emergency services and the diligence of volunteers who are actively working on community development and health and environment issues. And by the way, who cares what the U.S. Department of Agriculture lists as essential services? I would hope all the citizens of Florence would decide what is or is not essential services in our small town.
"The issues remain unresolved; therefore, I render my personal apology. The greatest lesson learned was that change must be accomplished within the confines of the governing body, a body committed unto the community rather than self-interest."
The only apology you need to proffer is that you "presumed" the citizens of Florence wanted YOU to speak, petition, etc. for them. If you are elected you will learn real soon it takes THREE votes to do just about anything, and you will learn a lot of things are mandated by county, state, and federal governments and most of them are unfunded mandates.
"A body committed unto the community rather than self-interest."
Talk about self-interest — this whole negative Florence bashing letter is all about your self-interest. A political ad you didn't have to pay for because you called it a "letter to the editor."
If Florence is so bad i.e., too many employees, no ADA compliance, city spending out of control, decreased valuations, declining population, city government failing to provide necessary services, mayor and council not obeying state and federal law, unsafe drinking water, no adequate medical services, no one working toward better community development and involvement, health and environment issues, why would you even want to live here let alone run for office?
And do you realize how many hours, weeks, months, and years of hard work, non-paid efforts of people in this city you have voided or not recognized by your negative self-interested letter?
Let me make one thing crystal clear. Do NOT speak, petition, or other wise mutter in my name. I can speak, petition, or mutter for myself.
Del Leeds
Florence
