As previously reported, interim commissioner Fred Messerle arbitrarily and unilaterally reduced research fees at the Coos County planning department last summer. Fees charged by the department on applications requiring research are set by the budget committee charged with keeping the department self sustaining and ratified by a vote of the commission. Nevertheless, even after voting to adopt the budget, Messerle used a statement printed on the department fee schedule implying the liaison, working with the planning director, may reduce fees to enact a widespread fee reduction from $75 per hour to $60.
The fee adjustments jeopardized the department’s self supporting status and were contrary to the approved budget so planning director Patty Evernden has invoiced the county for reimbursement out of the general fund. In an email from treasurer, Mary Barton, she says “…if the Board wants to maintain the current structure they’ll need to make your office whole by subsidizing your operations.”
Evernden, who decided earlier this month to retire at the end of June, has been dealing with the budget crunch like everyone else and sent the county two invoices on June 12. One invoice for $14,490 for 4.5 months of employee time to be billed to the general fund and another for $20,760 to collect 1,384 hours at the $15 per hour rate reduction.
One of the beneficiaries of the fee reduction was Commissioner Messerle and during the July 10 BOC meeting, he was grilled by a citizen, Phil Thompson, questioning his authority to make an across the board fee reduction. Messerle’s response is bizarre at best.
In the economic times that we are in it is not realistic that the planning department, with the amount of volume that they’ve got, that they’re going to be able to cover their expenses with just their fee structure. The idea that the people, their users if you will, the people that are trying to do something in the county get stuck with the whole bill.. uh, that’s not fair either. The decision was made as a matter of fairness for these user groups uh, as a matter of fact this will uh, this item will be on our agenda next Tuesday on the consent calendar next Tuesday morning.
“In the economic times that we are in it is not realistic that the planning department, with the amount of volume that they’ve got, that they’re going to be able to cover their expenses with just their fee structure.” Is Messerle daft? That’s precisely what budgets are for, to establish need and associated staffing levels and fee structures to cover those costs. Messerle has been caught napping before, was he sleeping during the budget hearings?
“The idea that the people, their users if you will, the people that are trying to do something in the county get stuck with the whole bill.. uh, that’s not fair either”. This sentence doesn’t make any sense at all. What does he mean by “doing something”? What does he mean by “stuck with the whole bill”? Is he implying that someone “doing something” like applying for a boundary line adjustment is “stuck with the whole bill” simply because of a $75 per hour charge for research?
“The decision was made as a matter of fairness for these user groups…” Are we to understand that “user groups” that “do something” should not pay the costs associated with that something?
Messerle also explained his decision to reduce planning department fees with this confusing statement.
… because that is within the purview of the planning director and the liaison to be able do that and frankly the reason for doing that was that in their calculation they had included their contingency fund to come up with their rate. And that is akin to basically agreeing to do something to recover your costs, your operating costs to do a project and then at the end of it you calculate your payments to count in to it and that is neither proper nor fair.
“…the reason for doing that was that in their calculation they had included their contingency fund…” Years as a cost accountant, controller and chief financial officer for a major California real estate developer taught me one thing… always factor in a contingency fund. It is common business practice, expected and frankly, good policy. The planning department is required to maintain a reserve fund precisely because it is a self supporting (or was until Messerle came along) department.
Here is the key issue? Who should pay for Messerle’s mistake? According to Messerle…
” …uh, as a matter of fact this will uh, this item will be on our agenda next Tuesday on the consent calendar next Tuesday morning.” To be accurate, the invoice for $20,760 along with another planning department invoice $14,490 attributed to actions made by the human resources department are on the consent calendar, which is not up for discussion, and will be paid out of the general fund. This means that “as a matter of fairness” you and I picked up the tab for those “user groups”, which include Fred Messerle and Sons, Inc, Pacific Connector Pipeline, Messerle contributor and PAC board member John Knutson and more. Matters of conflict of interest are under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission and I encourage the public to file a complaint on this matter.
Rather than let the board sweep the matter aside and simply transfer money from the general fund to the planning department, demand that Messerle reimburse the county for his poor judgment.
Bob Main
(541) 396-3121 ext 770
Fred Messerle
(541) 396-3121 ext 247
Cam Parry
(541) 396-3121 ext 281
Watch the full meeting online at Coos Media Center
Al…
Bulllll Sheeet!
UR monies spent, are from the earnings of taxes collected. If this is correct, 1. I want the name & number of who the money manager is. I have a job for them. & 2. What is the difference? Without robbing education for example of roughly 400K a year there is no “earnings”. I recall fuzzy math being in the neighborhood of 4 million in UR coffers. UR needs to be cut & fund a bond to build a new school with the same monies collected every year.
For those of you who have worked yourselves into a frenzy over the UR money, I’d like you to know a few facts: 1. Coos Bay UR money does NOT come from tax dollars. It comes from earnings from tax money. No earnings, no UR funding. 2. The amount awarded was NOT $20,000. It was $6,000. 3. If you drive by my shop you’ll see, first hand, that this money has not been spent. 4. I have not decided if I’ll use the UR money because of the fine print. By signing, I agree to a property reassessment, which means that in the long run, I may end up paying much more than I receive. So, technically speaking, UR funds are nothing more than a City loan that I and other recipients will have to repay – with interest.
I would like to hear how Shallow Al justifies his actions. Better yet, I would like to see what the ROE is for a Messerle, either one.
Maybe he doesn’t annoy others quite as bad as he does some of the readers of Mary’s blog. To Al’s credit, he has the courage to confront his detractors, for better or worse. However I would not discourage him from participating in this forum, even when it gets testy between the participants. His input is at the very least informative, even when we don’t like or agree with what he says.
The difference is Al is involved with a group, that wants to restructure the county government in a way that can favor that group. He has been very vocal about government waste and handouts, while sticking his hand into the money chest.
The hypocrisy in that is quite annoying and Al reminds us that the system is rigged.
His “our government is doomed mantra” loses its credibility when he takes tax dollars for himself, and tells us how dire the situation is for our government. The other recipients of URF aren’t playing both ends of the stick in a public forum like Al’s doing. That’s why he upsets so many at this site.
I question if the more vocal contributors here are unfamiliar with the fact that other Coos Bay business people who appear not to need a handout also received “Urban Renewal” dollars. Not Al alone. We have two pots of tax money – downtown and Empire. At least one city councilman took money. Jerry Brown of California got one thing right, recognized that Urban Renewal monies are spent for many things but, and he closed down mosl Urban Renewal programs. Why don’t people who want to spend money prudently question why the city of Coos Bay pays the peoples tax money into accomplish nothing SCDC while paying huge bucks for a city employed economic development / jobs creator / facade improvement (what Al got) / whatever manager?
al
July 16, 2012 – 7:49 am
Themguys – you have no reason to point fingers at others or blame others for the condition of this county when you openly express your disdain for business, for business owners, for jobs, and for the taxpayers who are delivering those “free” tax dollars you keep talking about. (And interesting interpretation, to say the least.) You keep fighting change, but progress only comes with change.”
Wrong Little Al, I don’t like anyone who prances around his community like Chicken Little, wanting every voter to know what dire financial straights this county is in, all the while chucking to himself as hey applies for and sucks, got that Little al? Sucks public monies for his private business, which if he managed his business properly wouldn’t be needed. And I don’t like people who laugh at those working stiffs who paid for your sucking.
I also think it’s really very cheesy for a small group of “businessmen” to control who and what happens in this county, and convincing the poor dolts who still live here, they and only they can save their jobs and their future. Forty years on, and you boys been running this county, where are the jobs Little al? You call yourself a businessman, so what has been the return on my investment in the Port for the last ten years? And while you’re at it, when does the Airport start making it’s own way? Any idea on that one?
Don’t preach Little al, you’ve shown what kind of man you are. I had a small business too, but I never for one moment thought of applying, as you did, to suck up other peoples’ hard earned money because I couldn’t pay my own way. But that was me.
That is precisely what happened and if I were a budget member, I would be furious also.
So, is what you are saying, that Fred and the planning department lowered fees last year, the planning department then re-set those fees in december without Freds knowledge? So during the budget committee meetings Fred believed that the fees were still at the reduced rate he set and he still said nothing when the on point question was asked.
If that is the case, you can trust me when I say that will not make the budget
committee member any less angry.
The Planning Dept may not have mentioned it because the director reset the fees back to their normal levels last December. Today, Fred acknowledged he had no idea this had happened and wants to credit the last seven months of applicants. The shortfall was paid out of the general fund under the budget line item “contract services”…
If you go back to the budget hearings of this year, when the planning department first appeared (i Believe) one member asked a direct question regarding the cause of the reduction in revenue for the planning department.
Neither Fred, nor the planning department said a single word about fee reductions.
I can tell you that the member in question is livid about that “oversight”.
Themguys – you have no reason to point fingers at others or blame others for the condition of this county when you openly express your disdain for business, for business owners, for jobs, and for the taxpayers who are delivering those “free” tax dollars you keep talking about. (And interesting interpretation, to say the least.) You keep fighting change, but progress only comes with change.
I hope they pay it out of the commissioners’ expense accounts
Fred is trying to hide his error and bury it in the consent calendar. We have a right to know what account it is taken from
Dear Eldon, you are not the only person in Coos County. I was talking about the last election, the primary. Sorry you got so confused. I don’t vote for a payback, I can’t speak for anyone else but myself, I just wanted honest people running the county. Enough did vote for Messerle to be on the ballot, didn’t they? What the h are you talking about? You’re mumbling.
“We just weren’t thinking about paybacks”?? Some of us certainly were! I was. I think Mary was, too!
“The people of Coos County have no reason to bitch about anything concerning jobs or the economy, they voted for the perps”??? Gee, thats funny, i don’t recall voting for them. I don’t recall anybody voting for them, except a few people on a committee.
Doing what he’s paid to do. Return the favors granted to him.
Silly silly M, you should know that.
Sad thing is, he’s doing it right in front of the tax payers, and they don’t lift their heads up to see it, they believe what they’ve been told for four decades, about who brings jobs to this county. With their track record, they should be run out of town on their god damned rusty rails. Instead, we the people will continue to subsidize these job messiahs for another four decades, this county will not move forward, ever. It’s over for those of us who believed their propaganda about this county being on the edge of something big. We just weren’t thinking of paybacks, we should have been. These people with the aid of every news outlet, especially the only paper in NB or Coos Bay, will continue sucking millions and millions of free tax payer dollars for eternity. How you going to fight these people when they do their deeds right out in the open? It doesn’t seem to matter to the voters whether they are breaking laws or not.
Walk around Coos Bay, North Bend, Coquille, etc., and look around. Then thank SCDC, Barton, Messerlies, etc., for the robust economy Coos County has sustained for forty years. Without an honest news source, nothing is going to change here. The people of Coos County have no reason to bitch about anything concerning jobs or the economy, they voted for the perps.