lean machine
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What is the point of these boards?Why is there (used to be anyway) a Park and Rec board at all? What good does this do? The advisory thing maybe made sense before we had a full-time professional P&R director. But it doesn't do any good now. Nobody on the board has credentials in park design or maintenance, recreational programming, or anything else that Lydia may not possess or have access to. They don't give the city anything it doesn't already have except more micro managing. How about we let her do her job and report to the mayor and soon to the city manager.
If we do keep this P&R board to advise the mayor, do we also need a board messing with Mike Ball? Dan Koeugh? Beth Hedberg? Babette? Cindy Walker? Of course not. Let's let professional people do their jobs and get these amatuers out of the way.
The need for this kind of meddling ended when we hired a full-time person to head the respective departments. These people need to get hobbies and stop meddling. You want to speak up at council or call the mayor do it, as citizens, but get over this little power trip. It is getting old.
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Guest
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Point taken. If you think about volunteering for a hospital, the zoo, the DNC or any other organization, the volunteers show up and do as they are directed. They don’t do the directing.
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Guest
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you are talking apples and oranges. not the right kind of volunteers. boards are established to make plans, not just follow plans. they are a great boon to the city for the most part. who knows, after we get a city manager how things may change. will be interesting to see what will happen. boards offer a lot of work for free, varied opinions and since they are citizens, have a good understanding of their community. never underestimate their importance.
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Guest
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Using Lean Machines logic, why do we even need a City Council? Why do we even need elections? Let the pro take care of it for us.
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The Harlander
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Lean Machine
Exactly where has the P&R Board meddled in the affairs of the Parks & Recreation Directors business? What hindrance have they caused her? Please be specific. To my knowledge they have only benefited the Director by providing cheap labor for the few events the Director actually conducts. According to the ordinances and Charters of most cities, including Edgewater, the primary purpose of the P&R Board is to draft the P&R Master Plan just like the Planning and Zoning Board drafts the City's Master Plan.
| Quote: | | If we do keep this P&R board to advise the mayor, do we also need a board messing with Mike Ball? Dan Koeugh? Beth Hedberg? Babette? Cindy Walker? Of course not. Let's let professional people do their jobs and get these amatuers out of the way. |
Did you know that we passed a new City Charter? Soon we will have a City Manager instead of a Mayor managing the City. Guess who that person will answer to? That's right, all them amateur elected and appointed people you so disdain, in other words, We the People of Edgewater. We the Citizens through our taxes are the stock holders of this civic corporation and thereby the controllers of our destiny by electing representative leadership from within our ranks. They in turn will appoint member stock holders to act as liaisons or advisors in implementing the public policy and keeping the "professionals" in check and balance. It is the way things are done in the Republic, known as The United States of America.
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Guest
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| The Harlander wrote: | | ...the primary purpose of the P&R Board is to draft the P&R Master Plan... |
A master plan is a comprehensive plan that outlines objectives and a means of achieving them. So why aren’t they doing it? Instead they are trying to program activities expecting the Parks and Rec department to implement them while council is discussing a $10,000 ‘appetite’ for a gravel path. Council and the P/R Director should be working to support an approved plan, not piecing together ideas de jure. I don’t get the impression that the board is working on the big picture for parks and recreation.
They know how to do it. They did it for the tree master plan. Now they need to do the same thing for our parks and our recreation programs.
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The Harlander
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If you read the P&R Boards description in the old Charter, the Mayor must direct them to write a Master Plan. Which the Mayor did, but since the new Charter passed it is unclear as to the Boards duties and they are on hold. As soon as things are cleaned up I'm sure they will get down to business and start drafting the Master Plan. The Board at this time is silent on gravel walkways and such. As a matter of fact I don't even believe the P&R Board is meeting. This is not to say that members of the Board are not pursueing independent lobbying efforts, which is their rights as citizens (stock holders).
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The Harlander
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Guest of Aug 19 9:18am
| Quote: | | They know how to do it. They did it for the tree master plan. Now they need to do the same thing for our parks and our recreation programs. |
Has it occurred to anyone, including City Council, that these two boards are not compatible, time wise. How do they choose a priority, the Tree Commission or the Parks and Recreation Board? That's a lot on one persons plate. How many hours in a day? Where does one spend ones time without damage to one cause or the other? These entities need to be split up so they can focus on the task at hand. The urban forest or the recreational needs of the community? They have two very distinctly different objectives being served by a small contingent of five. It is time to split them up and let each entity serve the community to the best of their abilities.
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Guest
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I don’t see the compromise. You could read the other post to say they did a good job on the tree plan, that job is done, why not use the same approach on parks and rec. A master plan is good for several years. A couple of years spent on one, and then the next couple of years on the other makes sense to me. Especially since these guys seem to know how to draft a good plan. It’s a good group of people, why split them up?
Back to lean machine’s point, a board’s job should not be to micromanage. They should submit their plan for approval, and once approved let the city take care of the implementation.
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In retrospect
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What's With Eliminating Citizen Represetation?I might have bought Lean Machine's logic last August until I observed the P&R Director and the Mayor. They were sabotaging the efforts of the board by nodding and smiling and not supporting their goals, while the P&R Board tried to represent the citizens of Edgewater and their need for more P&R programing. Lydia and the Mayor ignored their recommendations and finally decided to spend Open Space money to do a Recreation Master Plan.
A master plan in a city with no money. Come on... That means you get a nice plan on glossy paper no one will ever implement.
In the meantime, what you have gotten from your Parks and Recreation Dept. is a few arts and crafts events for preschoolers and "Family Board Game Night". Congratulations.
Hey, if that's what you call a Parks and Recreation program, fine. I have a car, I'll go somewhere else for mine, too bad about the kids who can't drive.
Maybe that is what they had in mind, all along...No Parks and Rec. Program.
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Guest
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If you look at what is and has been going on with our P&R department the last couple of years, you must conclude that it has been poorly directed, and a lot of money has been thrown into bad projects, bad management and overpriced maintenance contracts.
I would absolutely love to 'just let her do her job', IF she would do it. But it is painfully obvious that she has no idea how to do her job. She whines because she doesn't have time to do her job. OK - so what exactly is it that she doesn't have time to do? And what is she doing with all her time? There comes a point where the mayor needs to stop pandering to this child and do what is right for the city. You can bet that if it were the mayors money, she would not be paying for the sloppy job that the P&R director has been doing.
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Guest
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You are right. We need the mayor to vacate this department. Put it on hold just like the fireworks until we can get our $$$$ and our $#!] together.
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Mister Bill
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Parks and RecreationJust a thought to the last 3 posts on this subject. Have any of you forwarded these thoughts directly to the Mayor? She does have a phone number and she does have an e-mail address, and usually she attends council meetings and is available to hear thoughts from citizens during public comments portion of the meeting. If you haven't already (and somehow I suspect that not one of you have) please let your thoughts and ideas be known to the Mayor. This forum is excellent for communicating between each other, but somewhere along the line direct communication with your city officials is essential.
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Guest
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Funny Mister BillOh, Mister Bill, you are so funny.
I know you say you are hard of hearing, but I'm quite sure that even you have heard the mayor refuse to answer citizens questions about what is going on with that department - or any other for that matter.
Go ahead - give her a try.......
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Guest
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I have. And I'm sorry Mister Bill, but our current mayor really doesn't care 2 cents about what we think.
She has excuses for whatever she does care to respond to, and well, the rest, she doesn't have to answer.
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Guest
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I have on several occassions tried to communicate with the Mayor in person, by phone and email on several issues. The woman simply has no ears or else she has no mouth, possibly both. She is way in over her head.
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Guest
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The Harlander said we will sonn have a City manager that answers to and receives direction from the amature Council.
Why do we need a City Manager then if Council will still be calling the shots. If you have a pro then let them do the job and maby we have a chance to survive.
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Guest
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The Manager should be able to do his job with little interference from Council but I doubt it will work that way.
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Guest
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You want power? Be willing to answer for itTAINTED! TIAINTED! YOU ARE ALL TAINTED!
'Tis the season. Show a little faith, a little good will. What you believe will come true.
Careful what you believe - it will come true.
“A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true.”
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Patriot
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We have generals who answer to and recieve directions from an amatuer President. Why do we need a President?
We have law enforcement who answer to and recieves direction from an amatuer legislature. Why do we need a Congress?
There could only be one reason for this foolishness. A Government for the People,of the People and by the People, as stupid as that may sound to some.
Merry (dare I say it) Christmas everyone and God bless America and her new President.
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Guest
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Joy to the World, let love abound....
(okay I changed the words a little, but seriously, JOY TO THE WORLD!)
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