The power of positive thinking (August 15, 2015)
For the benefit of councilman Emick, I shall positively
address more Town of Apple Valley misinformation.
I am positive the term warrants
is the same as checks.
I am positive that only three council members (Bishop, Emick and Stanton), are voting on the town’s warrant registers. I am positive Mr. Bishop is the primary council signature on the town’s warrants to date. I am positive there were 259 missing warrants on the town’s warrant registers, undetected by the council, this past fiscal year. I am positive Mr. Bishop is up for re-election next year, and Emick and Stanton two years after that.
I am positive Marc Puckett presented a public list of document requests last week. I am positive Mr. Puckett labeled records requests as Ranchos Water related erroneously. I am positive some records requests related to past planning commission actions. I am positive some records requests related to the prior $14 million in loans to the RDA, which were not repaid, and are now lost. I am positive a citizen found the 259 missing warrants that went undetected by the council voting on them. I am positive many records requests were related to the 259 missing warrants. I am positive that a citizen found the $12 million mathematical error on the Ranchos Water valuation. I am positive records requests were made due to the $12 million error found. I am positive a citizen found the $180,000 mathematical error in the Town’s budget. I am positive some records requests were related to the inconsistent and mathematically incorrect figures in the budget. I am positive a citizen found the $200 mathematical error in the total records request costs in the power point presentation. I am positive the picture of stacked boxes representing a records request shows 17 boxes, but Marc Puckett counted 22 boxes. I am positive I would prefer that Marc Puckett, the one in charge of the town’s money, had at least an elementary ability to count or know how to do addition. I am positive if Marc Puckett spent more time on accurate town finances, and less on trying to spin
the actions of others to suit his desired negativity, it might reduce the records requests. I am positive that just because a citizen is opposed to the Ranchos Water acquisition that does not mean their records requests are related to Ranchos Water.
I am positive the town’s budget resolution claims $103+ million in expenditures this year. I am positive the town’s budget resolution claims $91+ million in revenue this year. I am positive the difference in expenditures over revenue with those figures is $11+ million. I am positive that Frank Robinson has stated in his budget narrative, for at least the past two years, without another revenue stream, the town cannot maintain the current levels of service. I am positive that without the Ranchos Water revenue, and the ongoing unchecked town spending, the town’s financial situation will only continue to decline.
I am positive Ms. Stanton is in error to suggest that citizen’s who request records view it as a badge of honor.
I am positive citizens view the need for records requests as a badge of shame
upon the town. I am positive many requests would be unnecessary if the town’s work products were accurate, informative, and transparent. I am positive I would much rather spend my time in a journey of leisure activities. I am positive I cannot afford a journey of leisure activities until the town’s financial fiascos have ended one way or another.
— Leane Lee, Apple Valley, CA