Keep meaning to write something about this, but haven’t had time to digest it. I’ll just go ahead and post this dialogue between Mayor Bob and our shy, mysterious brethren over at "The Pulse of Columbia."
Actually, it starts out as a dialogue, but the last few messages are from Mayor Bob alone:
THE PULSE: We heard from a mutual friend just this week that you read The Pulse often. We appreciate that Mayor Bob!
We would really love to get your take on some of these issues.
Would you be willing to answer some questions… with your unedited responses posted on our blog?
Your Friends at The PulseMAYOR BOB: I would be delighted answer any questions from The Pulse. Please use this email address.
Would you be willing to answer one question?
Who are you?THE PULSE: Mayor Bob,
Thanks for your willingness to answer our questions… and questions that have come from our readers.
Here are five topics that have come up in various conversations we’ve had with friends across the City. As we said, we will gladly post your unedited responses to these questions on The Pulse so that our readers can know first-hand what our City’s leadership says. Don’t feel you need to answer all five at once, we’ve told our readers that when you respond to a question, we’ll post the response.1. The City is facing litigation from its failed attempt to build an estimated $69.9 million publicly-funded, city-owned convention center hotel where the Hilton currently stands. A number of companies, including Stevens & Wilkinson, Gary Realty, Garfield Traub Development, and others have sued the City for several million dollars for work that they did in the hotel’s development prior to the city-owned hotel deal falling apart. The City has also given $6 million in subsidies for the hotel since 2002. In a December memo to Council, City Manager Charles Austin listed the City’s contingent liability for this litigation at $10-14 million. How much has the City actually spent to date for the development, subsidies and other expenses for the hotel? What is the status of the lawsuit? Who is representing the City? And how is all of this being funded?
2. It took 18 months to close the City’s 2005-2006 financial books. Thus far, the City has yet to completely close and audit the financials for 2006-2007. When will that be completed and what is holding up that process?
3. In 2009, SCANA’s subsidies for the CMRTA will run out. Currently the system operates on an estimated budget of $11 million per year, with $2.47 million of that coming from SCE&G. Research and projections from the CMRTA put the real need for funding at $25 million per year to provide the resources needed for the CMRTA to best serve the region’s public transportation needs. What is the exact financial figure that the City will have to bear to keep CMRTA operational? Where do you expect that money to come from a budgetary planning standpoint? Will there have to be cuts in CMRTA’s services or more increases in bus fares once the City takes on the greater financial role?
4. The number one issue repeatedly mentioned in surveys of City residents is that our people want to feel safe in our communities. Since 1998, the public safety budget has only seen a 29% increase, while general government expenses have increase 221% in the same time period. With the changes in leadership over the last year, controversies within the force regarding certification testing, and the net number of police and fire officers dropping since 1998 is the City fulfilling its obligation to the residents and businesses of Columbia when it comes to crime, public safety and eradicating gangs? What are the benchmarks that you, Council and the City Manager consider to be key to keeping our City safe?
5. City Manager Charles Austin has called for 5-10% across-the-board budget cuts for the 2007-2008 budget year. If public safety and basic services need to remain at their current levels (if not increase), where does the City plan on tightening its belt financially to cover the cost? Is there a formal budget process? Who is involved in this budget process? What is the timeframe for the budget process? How are you and City Council a part of this process?
Oh… and by the way… to answer your question… The Pulse of Columbia is every taxpayer, business person, mom and dad in this City that has not had or used their voice in City government before. We just ask the questions we have and that we’ve heard. We believe that City government can’t run without the taxpayer’s money, and we just want you to know what everyone is thinking.
As always,
Your Friends at The PulseMAYOR BOB: Be glad to answer, but who is The Pulse? Why the mystery? Why not tell who you are?
MAYOR BOB (seeming to do a double-take): "Oh… and by the way… to answer your question… The Pulse of Columbia is every taxpayer, business person, mom and dad in this City that has not had or used their voice in City government before. We just ask the questions we have and that we’ve heard. We believe that City government can’t run without the taxpayer’s money, and we just want you to know what everyone is thinking.
As always,
Your Friends at The Pulse"Come on guys!! You can do better than that! Who is/are The Pulse? Why be anonymous and secret? What are you hiding? Why throw the rock and hide your hand? I will commit to answer any question anytime if you will tell us who you are.
MAYOR BOB: Let me answer number five first (we just finished a City Council meeting on the budget for police and fire).
The question:
"5. City Manager Charles Austin has called for 5-10% across-the-board budget cuts for the 2007-2008 budget year. If public safety and basic services need to remain at their current levels (if not increase), where does the City plan on tightening its belt financially to cover the cost? Is there a formal budget process? Who is involved in this budget process? What is the timeframe for the budget process? How are you and City Council a part of this process?"Answer:
The 5-10% cuts have not come to City Council. Each of the last few years the City Manager has asked staff to prepare similar cuts on a contingency basis in case they are needed. To date we have never had across-the-board cuts. The City Council voted unanimously today to accept the City Manager’s recommendation for the police and fire retention plan to be phased in over three years (we will try to do it in two years). The total cost will be in the range of $2.5 million (from memory this morning) that will go for higher salaries for our police and fire officers. Additionally, the City Council voted unanimously to establish 375 officers as our goal for the Police Department. That will require adding an additional 19 officers to the Police Department. The budget will be before the City Council in April with a final vote in June.I will keep answering the other questions as quickly as possible. Now come on Pulse, jump in the "full disclosure" pool with the rest of us.
MAYOR BOB: Dear Pulse, Here is another answer.
Question: "3. In 2009, SCANA’s subsidies for the CMRTA will run out. Currently the system operates on an estimated budget of $11 million per year, with $2.47 million of that coming from SCE&G. Research and projections from the CMRTA put the real need for funding at $25 million per year to provide the resources needed for the CMRTA to best serve the region’s public transportation needs. What is the exact financial figure that the City will have to bear to keep CMRTA operational? Where do you expect that money to come from a budgetary planning standpoint? Will there have to be cuts in CMRTA’s services or more increases in bus fares once the City takes on the greater financial role?"
Answer: I serve as Vice Chair of the RTA and Chair of the RTA’s Service and Standards Committee. I will try to answer the question in three ways. First, Richland County is currently providing funding to the RTA through the vehicle registration fee. The County has established a Transportation Task Force chaired by Columbia College President Caroline Whitson to study long term funding options for all transportation needs including the RTA. We are working with Richland County to insure that current funding (vehicle registration fee) continues until a permanent source is found.
Secondly, the Service and Standards Committee has and will continue to make cuts and additions to the transit system. There is a detailed criteria for evaluating every bus route. The $25 million budget represents the optimal bus system. I doubt we will ever get to that level.
Thirdly, if the current funding provided by Richland County ends and no replacement or permanent funding replaces the vehicle registration fee, then the bus system would be reduced to just what the SCE&G subsidy ($1 million of the SCE&G is permanent every year), state and federal funding. The Service and Standards Committee has this reduced plan ready if needed. The reduced plan would be a drastic reduction. Under current State law, Columbia could not raise millage to cover the loss of RTA revenue, so a reduced system is the only option.
MAYOR BOB: Dear Pulse, I wanted to answer your follow up question.
Question: "Also… our readers are continuously asking us how to get more involved in the budget and financial planning process for the City. Mayor Bob… how can they do that? You had such a nice evening the other night for the State of the City, could you sponsor an evening where we can all sit down and talk through the City’s budget plans for next year?"
Answer: The City normally has a number of budget work sessions and an evening budget public hearing during the budget process. If your readers think another approach is needed we would certainly be open any suggestion.
MAYOR BOB: Dear Pulse, I wanted to answer another follow up question.
Question: "The reduction Mayor Bob is mentioning here would cut the bus service by nearly 85%. For some people in the City, public transportation is their only option. The big question then would be what areas of town would see the biggest hits from the “reduced plan” the Mayor mentioned?"
Answer: A 85% cut would be devastating to all parts of town. These cuts would shrink the bus system dramatically. Both Charleston and Greenville had to cut their bus systems in a similar way. The public quickly saw the need for the system. In Charleston’s case a referendum was passed after those cuts. Hopefully the current vehicle registration fee funding will continue unless and until another funding source replaces it.
The folks at The Pulse — of whom I would think a great deal more if they didn’t hide their identities — must have studied interrogation under George Smiley. His favored method was to ask a question and then shut up, holding his pen poised over his notepad for as long as it took the subject to start talking just to fill the silence.
I feel bad for Mayor Bob. He really does try to accommodate citizens as much as he can. He deserves to know who’s asking.
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Mayor Bob is obviously more honest than the cowards at The Pulse, who hide and lie by claiming to represent everyone while they pursue their own private agenda. … I wouldn’t blame the Mayor one bit if he told The Pulse to drop dead.
So…you considered those answers? Did you learn anything from those “answers”?
The city is in terrible shape. Much worse than most can ever know. But Mayor Bob does the double shuffle…and all is ok.
Huge debt, declining services, yada yada yada…no one cares.
Yeah, I considered the answers and, no, they don’t solve the problems. But at least the mayor is willing to respond openly and engage, while The Pulse plays hide ‘n seek and misrepresents its constituency. An organization is only as effective, and credible, as its leadership. The Pulse obviously has none of the above.
The mayor obviously isn’t willing to answer the questions. What difference does it make who points out that the mayor has no clothes?
Then get a new mayor, if you really believe that’s the problem. But don’t expect positive change from anonymous griping. … I’m surprised you would subscribe to this kind of chickensh**, Lee. It’s no different than the Sturmabteilung behavior you objected to just a few days ago.
Well, the press simply refuses to truthfully, and painfully examine the scams, theft, fraud and abuse of our system. Therefore the only people that can and will speak about them are the people in the know that must try to hide their identities because they need their jobs, etc.
Believe me, a mute fool could stumble onto what is REALLY going on at the state house and city hall…but the SC press is more intent on printing the easy, brain dead stories of yesterday.
Well, when they get tired of picking on Ben Tillman, maybe they will start reporting about the real, criminal offences committed every day in Columbia. But they run from them because they are more difficult, and complicated than the average hit and run car crash or husband beats wife story.
The press have no special powers or skills. Anybody can file an FOIA request, if they know where to look. If you’re waiting for the media to resume a watchdog role in our society, forget it. They’re all owned by big corporations who have no interest in the public good or in alienating the public officials who regulate industry. Those days are gone forever. All of which adds up to: if you really believe a blind hog can find corruption in government, you’ll have to do it yourself. Bitching about the press will get you nowhere.
Well, Gordon, the problem is I don’t happen to run a newspaper. Or get their special tax privileges. Or their protections under the law, or have their training or experience.
Yes, I realize the press is of little good to the thinking public now and that the State is but an ad rag with obituaries. But I would suggest that corporate ownership is but one problem…and would further suggest that the lack of vision, laziness and sheer moral lethargy by the press allows the boys in Columbia to run wild with our money and our rights.
At the end of the day each of us must feel content with what we do. Brad is comfortable chasing every comment by anyone remotely connected with a presidential campaign, but can’t lift a finger to find out who has given our governor millions of dollars…and why. He hasn’t time to inquire how the school choice cabal of wealthy out of state donors is just the tip of the iceberg and that below the surface they represent just one arm of a stream of cash flowing to Sanford and Company representing companies enjoying huge contracts from DDS, HHS and other cabinet agencies. No…they just can’t fit it in their schedule.
But is nice that you contend that corporations don’t care about money. As best I remember, Lost Trust was a boon to the newspaper business…
You’re obviously confused, rolo. All corporations do care about is money, in the form of shareholder earnings. And they own the media, and the cost of journalism is just red ink on their balance sheets. The less they spend on reporting, the more they make. So it’s no coincidence that news is shallow or lacking in investigative quality. As for Brad, he doesn’t even work in the newsroom, so you’re right that he doesn’t lift a finger to do what you would have him do. Not his job. If it makes you feel better to blame the state’s problem on press, have at it. Won’t change a thing. Truth is, Sanford and all the rest were elected by a majority of voters, not a majority of the press. You fix that on Election Day, not by complaining to the media. There is no Fourth Estate anymore. Wall Street bought it.
Ok. So, lets walk though this. If Brad had a significant editorial headline such as:
Who gave Mark Sanford all those millions and why?
And then the editorial called the Governor out about the issue of his nonprofits and all of their hidden money. Brad names the names of the nonprofits, and the registered agents for them all. He demands disclosure from each and every person associated with them. He points to the commonalities of all the groups, and their links to their more public shills like Club for Growth and SCRG. Then he points out the lack of oversight by the IRS and the ethics commission. And that this money can be converted for personal use. He points out that our Governor should not have two masters, and that his paymaster should be the taxpayer, not the secret donors to these nonprofits. He points out that rich men can have extraordinary impact by giving to these groups when an average man cannot. He points out that this slimy practice is simply bad government, and that men of honor would not wish to be involved in it.
Then, Sanford will point the figure at others (good, these guys love to spread the blame). And the sunlight will then shine on them. Others will begin to give information, and ask more questions…and hopefully, a debate about transparent government will begin. And then change can be accomplished. Disclosure…which is the foe of every crook, is the goal.
The bottom line is that all of us “in the know” crowd see the rich and powerful pulling stings in Columbia on a daily basis, and leaving the working taxpayer the bill. Brad could act, but won’t. Others could act, but won’t. It takes real courage and energy to make a difference, and frankly, most people just don’t have what it takes.
“It takes real courage and energy to make a difference, and frankly, most people just don’t have what it takes.”
I couldn’t agree more. So here’s how the process would work at most major newspapers, if you want to be courageous and make a difference.
The editorial department where Brad works does not initiate or investigate allegations of this kind. That would start in the newsroom. After the news story is published, the editorial department might follow with an editorial of their own, calling for Sanford to do the things you suggest, assuming the news story contained sufficient fact to support your allegations.
So, to make a difference, you should first call the newsroom and ask for a governmental affairs editor. Talk to that editor, name names, tell them who’s corrupt and why, and where the newspaper can look to get documented proof of your allegations. Since you are in the know, that should be no problem.
Mr. Hirsch,
I favor the dirt coming out on Mayor Coble, Columbia City Council, and the departments from any direction it comes from.
I wish people would do it in the open, but the best source of facts is sometimes those on the inside, working for the government or doing business close to it. They will be fired, blackballed, and have every agency from the Water Department, Zoning, Business License, and SC Dept of Revenue trying to shut them up and shut them down.
No doubt insiders are the best sources, and risk is involved. Whistle-blower laws can protect those insiders. There’s no shortage of attorneys who will represent whistle-blowers on a contingency basis, thanks to the damage awards provided for by law.
Just Google for “whistleblower attorney sc” for a list of local Qui Tam lawyers. … This can be a far more productive (and protective) approach than complaining about the press. All you need is somebody with the courage rolo advocates.
Whistle-blower laws only work for government employees, and not very well.
They don’t work at all for mere private citizens, or anyone doing business with the government.
That’s one reason I try not to do any business in this rotten state, and no business with any government entity.
Wrong again. Anybody can bring a Qui Tam action and claim the cash prizes offered by the Justice Department, which has recovered billions in whistleblower lawsuits and paid out millions to whistleblowers themselves. If you claim is strong enough, a US Attorney may even represent you at no charge. To boot, the majority of our most famous whistleblowers come from private sector jobs, not government.
All that sounds good, Gordon, but the reality is different. Just look at the demotions of the FBI agents who tried to alert their bosses to the 9/11 plots. To recover money as a whistleblower, you have to reveal gross corruption. The garden variety corruption practiced by our city leaders and legislators has become accepted practice, just part of the spoils system.
Defeatism doesn’t become you, Lee.
Gracious Me!! Who would have thought that we would have started such as ruckus here on Brad’s blog by simply pointing out a few issues that the City of Columbia is facing.
Yeah… I guess Gordon you are right… “The press have no special powers or skills. Anybody can file an FOIA request, if they know where to look. If you’re waiting for the media to resume a watchdog role in our society, forget it.”
We have government… as Lincoln so aptly put it at Gettysburg… of the people, by the people and for the people. And if we don’t do our part in holding government accountable, instead depending upon someone else to do it for us… then we are no different than Rolo described the press with a “lack of vision, laziness and sheer moral lethargy.”
We decided to stop depending on the press to be our watchdog, and guess what, at least people are talking.
Oh… and by the way… before you say we “hide and lie by claiming to represent everyone while they pursue their own private agenda”… we are speaking for people who haven’t had or used their voice in City government. If you have… you’re right… we’re not for you.
Gordon,
I filed a FOIA request for construction contracts for Riverwalk, and they said they couldn’t find them. Apparently the claim is that the work was done on a handshake.
“There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”
— Abraham Lincoln
Well, a good “Gracious Me” to you, too, Ms. Pulse. I can almost hear your teacups clinking from here. And shame on you for bringing Mr. Lincoln into this. He would have called you cowards to your face.
As for my voice in government, I have no trouble expressing myself whatsoever, by my real name, and certainly do not require your help.
Oh… and by the way… we would never have heard of “The Pulse” (such a cliche’) were it not for Brad who, I believe, is still among “the press” you deride but has graciously given you this undeserved forum.
So come out, come out, whoever you are … a maiden name will do just fine if it is your husband who objects.
Lee … email me directly on Riverwalk and I’ll be glad to help, if you’d like to discuss further. If public money truly was spent on a “handshake” you have them already.
Ah… Gordon. Who said we derided the press? We simply said, “We decided to stop depending on the press to be our watchdog, and guess what, at least people are talking.” And look at this… you’re talking!!! Amazing!!!
I’m laughing at you. There’s a difference.