Archive for the ‘city charter’ Tag

Questions About Assistant City Manager Answers

On Tuesday, September 8th, Assistant City Manager Raul Lavin addressed several issues on The Morning Show with Preston Scott. Research by Tallahassee Reports indicates that answers given by Mr. Lavin on the deferred compensation and the electric utility reserve funds are not consistent with information contained in publicly available documents.

Deferred Compensation

On the deferred compensation, Mr. Lavin said:

“It is my understanding that this came up as part of a charter review commission discussion about commissioner salaries and benefits and after that it was brought forward to the commission in a publicly noticed meeting[...]”

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City Charter Violation Discussed After Compensation Vote

The ongoing investigation by Tallahassee Reports into the April 13, 2005 vote that increased City Commissioner compensation by approximately $21,000 continues to uncover new details.

Discussions with city officials has revealed that the initial report that the elected officials received employer paid deferred compensation and that appointed officials received employee paid compensation was incorrect. In fact, both the appointed and elected officials receive employer (citizen) paid deferred compensation.

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Commissioner Mustian Weighs In On Compensation Issue

The research into the deferred compensation issue continues to reveal new information. Today, Commissioner Mark Mustian, the only Commissioner that voted against the measure, stated the following:

I saw the deferred compensation as an increase in salary and my view was that is was something that needed to be addressed in the City Charter.

Further research has determined that the key question to be answered is who gave the go-ahead for the the deferred compensation for the elected officials to be employer paid?

The question has been submitted to the City in the form of a data request.

Did City Commissioners Violate City Charter With Compensation Vote?

The investigation and research into the April 13, 2005 vote by the City Commission, which resulted in an approximate increase of  $22,000 in City Commissioner compensation, continues to reveal new details and raise troubling questions.

Tallahassee Reports has learned that the elected City Commissioners are the only city employees who receive employer paid deferred compensation. The benefit afforded other appointed officials is consistent with the traditional understanding of deferred compensation. Depending on their age, the appointed officials are allowed to reap the tax benefits of deferring up to $21,999 of their own salary.

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A Tallahassee Utility Authority-The Rationale

The push to acquire signatures supporting a Tallahassee Utility Authority began on April 15, 2009. To date we have gathered almost 750 signatures.

The goal is to have as many signatures as possible when the Tallahassee City Commission has the public forum addressing possible changes to the City Charter. The date of the forum will be announced on Wednesday April 22, 2009.

You can  support the movement by going to TallahasseeReports.com and downloading the form. Fill out all the information, sign the form, and then either fax it or mail it to our office.

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Is It Time For A Tallahassee Utility Board?

The Tallahassee Charter Review Committee has been meeting over the last two months with the charge of reviewing possible changes to the Tallahassee City Charter.

Among the issues that have been discussed is a separate regulatory board for the utility functions of the city.

After five months of research, including dozens of interviews with city employees and Tallahassee citizens, the facts seem to indicate that it is time to consider a separate utility authority.

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