Archive for the ‘Mayor Marks’ Tag

How Many Aides Do COT Commissioners Have?

During a recent public hearing on the COT budget, a number of citizens criticized Mayor Marks for having four aides. Each time a citizen leveled the charge, Mayor Marks shook his head as to say no that is not the case.

A quick perusal of the budget for the Office of the Mayor indicates there are four budgeted positions. However, that number includes the Mayor. So for 2010 the Mayor has 3 aides. In 2008 he had 3.5 aides.

The expenditures for the Office of the Mayor in 2008 was $689,000, in 2009 the estimated expenditures is $573,000, and the budgeted amount in 2010 is $592,000.

The other four commissioners each have one aide. The 2010 budget for the part-time commissioners’ offices is $161,000, except for City Commissioner seat #1, which is $12,000 less at $149,000. This seat is occupied by Mark Mustian.

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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Data Request Provides More Info on City Benefits

A data request submitted by Tallahassee Reports, and quick turn-around from city officials, have led to detailed information on how the City Commissioners obtained an employer paid deferred compensation benefit on the order of $20,000 a year.

This is what we know:

  1. The benefit was passed on April 13, 2005 by a 4-1 one vote.
  2. Those who voted for the benefit were Marks, Gillum, Katz, and Lightsey. Mustian voted against the measure.
  3. The language included in the item produced by city officials states the option was described as “approve extension of the deferred compensation benefit currently provided to city manager and city attorney to all elected and appointed officials.”
  4. The vote made the action retroactive to September 2004.

Based on this information, Tallahassee Reports has submitted another data request seeking further clarification.

City Commissioner Benefits Are More Than You Think!

A tip from a frequent reader of this site, followed by a public data request, has revealed interesting information about the benefits that Tallahassee City Commissioners receive for their public service.

The salary of City Commissioners has been discussed in public for many years. Since the installation of the full-time Mayor position, the salary of the four part-time Commissioners was set at $36,000 per year and the Mayor receives $72,000 per year.

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Saudia Arabia – The Rest of the Story

The Mayor of Tallahassee, John Marks, is currently in Saudi Arabia on a seven day trip to develop business opportunities and exchange ideas. It has been reported that the trip will be at no expense to American taxpayers.

However, a discussion with the Mayor’s Office indicated that the Mayor was joined by an administrative assistant and that both the Mayor and the assistant will receive their normal pay while on the trip even though the US Conference of Mayors is the reason why the trip is taking place.

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Travel Records Show Mayor Hit The Road More In 2008

Travel records provided to TallahasseeReports.com show that Mayor Marks has increased the travel billed to the city each year over the last three years.

During FY 2006, Mr. Marks was on the road for 29 days at a cost of $16,460, in FY 2007 he was on the road 31 days for a cost of $16,731, and in FY 2008 he was on the road 44 days at a cost of $24,062. City officials reported that in 2008, approximately $6,000 was reimbursed to the city by various organizations.

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Charter Review Committee Says No To Change In Electric Utility Structure

On April 6, 2008 the Tallahassee Charter Review Committee began to take votes on recommendations to be forwarded to the City Commission.

The Committee voted 5-4 to formally establish the responsibility of the Mayor in area of economic development, regional cooperation efforts, and diplomatic relations.

The Committee voted 5-4 to pursue the establishment of an airport authority and transfer operations of the Tallahassee Regional Airport to such an authority.

The Committee voted unanimously to recommend no change in the structure of the Electric Utility, but recommended the pursuit of joint ventures and sales alliances.

The Committee voted 7-2 to recommend no change in the current method of electing City Commissioners.

The Committee voted 8-1 to recommend no change to the City Charter with regard to management of personnel.

Video of Commissioner Lightsey Going to Bat for Consumers

Last week TallahasseeReports.com posted an article about the City Commission meeting on April 7, 2009 at which there was a discussion regarding Tallahasse’s carbon footprint. TallahasseeReports.com has obtained a video of Commissioner Lightsey’s comments.

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Commissioner Lightsey’s comments during last
week’s City Commission meeting.

Commissioner Lightsey commented that the City should wait and conduct further research into the various options available, as well as consider any possible future taxes and offsets before launching into an RFP process for any new energy projects.

She defended the customer base saying that the customers already pay higher rates because of the various carbon reducing programs and that adding any further projects without some sort of offset would be “a very very hard sell.” She would later say that City is “already very clean” and that at some point “someone’s got to speak for the customer base.”

The video showcases her comments in their entirety.

The Facts Behind Tallahassee’s Carbon Footprint

On Tuesday, April 7, 2009, the Tallahassee City Commission heard a presentation from the head of EPER (the Green Department) entitled “Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan.”

You can view the slide presentation here.

Among the facts revealed are:

It Is Time For The City Of Tallahassee To Take Action On Electric Rates

It is time for the City Commission to take concrete steps towards addressing the high electric rates the people of Tallahassee are faced with year after year.

TallahasseeReports.com has researched and addressed the failure of the City Commission to deal with transmission line problems that plague our connection with Progress Energy and deprives the City of Tallahassee the ability to import and export power for our economic benefit.

Here is a possible course of action to address this problem:

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