"ON A HORSE WITH NO NAME"
The horse story, an allegation was sent to this post by anonyomous Painesville landscaper, that insinuated that the "quote" system that the city used for the $62.50 per hr. lawnmowing fee was a "quid pro quo" [ favor or kickback] for boarding his horse at a city employees barn that just happens to be the person you must contact. He alleges that no public bid or advertisment was posted and the work ended up in the person who boards his horse at the employees barn for a fee. It is a fact no bids were advertised and this quote could be worth $10,000 a season. The question is why would a mid-level management person be in charge of getting quotes, when were they submitted and how come no Painesville people were contacted? I could care less about a horse my question is how did a contractor in Chesterland know about a "quote" but Painesville landscapers did not? Should maybe the city do as they suggest and "Shop Downtown Painesville."
If any of this is fact should the city ask for more "quotes" NOW!
posted by terminator1 @ 3:52 PM
32 Comments
32 Comments:
Haven't you been reading your own blog.? Now your going to bring the whole building dept. down on you, I figure about 6 citations. I guess YOU will have to learn the hard way.
If this is true then we should all be outraged! I will reserve spreading this further until I know the facts, but is blatant favoritism if this played out the way it is implied. I want answers. But anyone who questions this will be labeled by the city as a troublemaker. The employee who did wrong will not be punished or criticized, but any citizen who questions this will be labeled. But I should be brave enough to look into this and fight injustice. We all should.
Who decided who got the contract? Was it the "connection"? Because if they had no decision making power then your quest to dig dirt on the city dies there.
stop jumping to conclusions.
"I will reserve spreading this further until I know the facts..."
Isn't this the opposite of what you are doing by posting on the blog that this is favoritism and talking about some "employee who did wrong". What if nobody did anything wrong. What if you are just a patsy of term and is three friends? Will you issue an apology?
"$10,000 a season" - Where do you get this? And isn't this a small portion of any landscaping business's revenues?
"maybe the city do as they suggest and "Shop Downtown Painesville" I don't think that forcing the city to only take business from the city is legal. Furthermore, I'd be angry if they spent my tax dollars on a more expensive landscaper if there was a cheaper one that lived outside the city.
Connection? The Assistant City Manager said to contact this person Why? $10,000 a year that was his figure.$62.50 was not a bargain price.I think the the expensive landscaper lived outside the city. Shop Downtown Painesville? Just taking their advice, it is good advise,right?
Put the job up for re-bid and advertise it and open them on July 6,2009. Then will find the true price.
I guess we don't need to move to Cleveland to get Cleveland Politics if this is true.
Rita, do the right thing. If only for appearance sake. Have another bidding process and see what shakes out.
Why would you contact a building inspector? Does this person make a recomondation? How was anyone to find out this job even existed. Nothing was done wrong. Nothing was done right!
That about hits it on the head. What was done right?
I believe you will find more than a horse at the end of this.
With no answers from city hall.
This circumstance was probably not an "official" city contract. The property owner was cited for grass too high, if the owner did not fix the code violation it is up to the building inspector for that area to find someone to correct it. The amount spent is then added to taxes or put on the property as a lien.
The owner in the end pays for the cost. As long as the cost is not unreasonable (some cities charge more)I don't see a problem. There is no guarantee that the job will happen again and again. It's not like this is a contract to cut the cemetary grass all year long.
This is a very reasonable answer, and all of it is true. City money is being used and the city only gets their money when the taxes are payed. It still doesn't explain how someone from Chesterland got the job instead of a local landscaper? Will the same person be called again and again?
lets see, I need a grass cutter quickly for a small job, do I call Virginia and get accused of trying to trap illegals or do I just call someone I know and ask them if they can come do it?
Lets forget the conspiracy ideas, might have been a bad judgement call on the spur of the moment, but I doubt it was anything else.
some people on here should be movie writers with all the wild things they imagine.
Lets say your right. Then the question becomes why did you wait until the last moment to find someone, this work happens every year?
With the economy the way it is doesnt any city officals know any landscapers in town,why not?
Nothing planned? Just bad judgement. Do you correct it?
Now wait. This wasn't just a spur of the moment. At the council meeting Rita talked about going over the "contract" and she had given the ok that day to have it signed. It is a contract for the season, and a guarantee of more work. so, yes, that does raise questions. A bid should have been put out to all, not just to one. It's not like they just say "hey, JD, get over to such and such address and cut a lawn for us". this is a "CONTRACT".
Of course you correct it, isn't that what you want this blog to be for? Maybe if we are a little less judgemental people would admit mistakes and work towards correcting them. The last I looked ALL city employees are humans and ALL humans make mistakes!
Correcting a mistake or bad judgement is alot different than some of the posters thinking it is corruption or conspiracy.
The real question is why are we going outside our city service department? Most other cities handle this in house. Then you don't pay anyone to do
the job and the city gets to keep all the money.I question why the city employees can't cut the grass. They spend alot of time at rec. park?
No one seems to want to mention the horse angle to this story. Wonder Why?
The problem is this individual won't admit they made a mistakee..but instead will go on a head hunting mission to find the person who brought this to light..and well you know the rest. Ask most builders and business owners why they steer clear of the city. Ask RDP about the greetings they received from her..might be why their looking to move to Mentor or Concord.
Dog and pony show? All this over $62.50 to cut grass. The only thing that will come out of this is Term going to have to rebuild his house in 60 days or less. Everyone knows the building department is an enforcement arm of the City of Painesville. You make waves, heres some things to keep you busy!
Looking for some real money?
Ask your councilman how much the city has spent with Burgess&Niple in the last five years. Everything from providing an employee to God knows what else. Whats the connection? A Councilperson and her husband. Please find out the amount and how much of it was put out for bid?
What other communities do this amount of business with B&N.
Stop with the grass and the horses!
KAREN
Whos RDP?
first of all the business in question isnt located in chesterland, second of all the amount paid to cut the grass covers insurance, equipment, fuel and lets not forget taxes. so take 30% of the 10 grand and give it away to the government. and work for 5 months to get it. and it is an hourly rate. not all yards take an hour to cut, if it takes 30 mins. that is what is billed. people should do some research before they jump to conclusions. and posting as anonymous is a joke, sign your name and do your homework.
Maybe it isnt, but the business is said to be listed in the yellow pages as a Chesterland number? {Google it} 30% is given away? John, now thats pretty anonymous, isn't it?
The way the city handled this is a joke, John.
It still could have been 30% of a more realistic quote. Any way you look at it $62.50 is outrageous. Look at surrounding cities. They don't spend anywhere near this much. ridiculous. But the point is, that no bidding went out.
John, Just TWO questions.Do you own a horse and board it in Chesterland. and do you own the company in question?
Mary Poppins
no i don't own a horse. and 30% is the average taxes paid on 1099 income. so basically, work 5 months for approx 7 k in revenue. take fuel, equipment repair and maintenance. and insurance out of it and what do you have left. not much.
What does Mentor charge?
"so take 30% of the 10 grand and give it away to the government."
Well the city gets reimbursed for the upfront money from the homeowner. And the city gets income tax for the wages earned, soooo, The city is getting MORE THAN 100% of its money back. So shouldn't we just start paying $100/hour and have even more of a profit for the city through income tax? Even if 62.50 was high, wouldn't it be kind of stupid to lower it?
You people need to think things through before complaining. You want to complain so bad you are willing to shoot yourself in the foot just to do it.
We need to think things through?
Or we cut it with our employees and collect their city income tax. The city charges more than the cut cost now. You think about it, again! Ask the City what they charge the homeowner subtract the cut cost, not a bad deal.John.
the whole point is not even the amount any more. It is the fact that it was given to a company without posting bids! That is the issue!
Why not charge $80,000,000 to cut the lawn, collect the city income tax on that amount, then everything in town would be free. Must be the math the 50% policy the school board teaches and loves?
RDP I believe is a company that has started on Corwin Dr. in Painesville that does performance modifications mostly on Dodge vehicles.
This I guess wouldn't interest the city in helpimg them expand. Not where we want to take Painesville, I guess?
My problem is what businesses does the City Manager wants to attract?
Why is it even her decision?
Term, do you know who the owner of RDP is, he is one of the people you have a problem with.
You need to check it out....
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