Saturday, September 27, 2008

City Council Work Session called for Sunday @ 6:30

The Dunwoody City Council has called for its first official work session to be held Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at Dunwoody United Methodist Church. 1548 Mt. Vernon Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338.

The agenda and documents to be discussed are available here.
  1. Discussion of Resolution Adopting and Approving Rules and Procedures for City Council Meetings and Public Hearings for the City of Dunwoody.
  2. Discussion of the proposed City Seal and Resolution to Approve the City Seal for use by the City of Dunwoody.
  3. Discussion of Dunwoody Crier as the official legal organ for the City of Dunwoody and discussion of Resolution to approve same.
  4. Discussion of the Vision, Values and Mission Statement for the City of Dunwoody and Resolution Adopting the City of Dunwoody Mission Statement, Vision and Values Statement as Guidelines for Elected City Officials and Actions of the Governing Body of the City.
  5. Discussion of Ordinance Providing for the Continuation of Ordinance and Law During the Transition Period Legislatively Established For the City of Dunwoody, Georgia, and the Adoption of Ordinances by the City of Dunwoody, Georgia.
  6. Discussion of proposed Chapter 1 ("General Provisions") of the City Code and Ordinance to Adopt and Approve Chapter 1 of the City Code.
  7. Discussion of proposed Chapter 2 ("Administration") of the City Code and Ordinance to Adopt and Approve Chapter 2 of the City Code.
Rick Hirsekorn. Representative of CH2MHill
  1. Discussion of proposal by CH2MHil1, pursuant to the RFP, to provide contracted services for operations of the City of Dunwoody.
Dan Weber, State Senator
  1. Discussion of the Hybrid City Implementation Approach model for operation of the City and provision of City services.
Fred Brandt, Representative of Executive Committee of Citizens for Dunwoody
  1. Discussion of proposal to hire Oliver Porter as Transition Consultant for the City of Dunwoody.
Ken Wricht, Mayor
  1. Discussion of the proposed schedule for regular City Council Meetings and Work Sessions

9 comments:

  1. Okay, just say no to Oliver Porter!!! He has already made up his mind that the sole source contract for CH2M is the way to go. Is this payback to Oliver for all of his support for the start up of Dunwoody? Is cronyism already beginning in Dunwoody? I'm confused, didn't we vote to break away from Dekalb County government just for these reasons?

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  2. I agree with ilovemykids. Oliver Porter does not seem to be a great choice. He's WAY too connected to CH2M. Do we even need a "transition consultant"? Don't we have a mayor and city council who will provide this service?

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  3. What have these people been doing for the last (extra) year? It is not as if the entire city government hasn't been a part of the Citizens for Dunwoody organization. If they came out of that multi-year experience without getting the best data for people to make a decision as Fran Millar claims, then we're in deep trouble.

    Under no circumstances should Oliver Porter be considered for anything going forward, nor should Ch2M/OMI. They have done enough damage already.

    Any council member who votes to use either of these two has lost my vote in the next election.

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  4. All three of the previous comments speak of or allude to cronyism. But the only two known choices before the council as a start up provider for the city are CH2M Hill and Don Boyken International, the company that Sen. Dan Weber proposes using for his "hybrid plan." Boyken is a Dunwoody resident and longtime DHA member. I have little doubt that he is a standup guy, but the facts are what they are. If Don lived in Smyrna and was not a member of the DHA, would his company be in consideration?
    I take both CH2M Hill and Don Boyken International at their word - that they have Dunwoody's best interests at heart. In most cases, folks tend to do business with who they know. That's a fact of life. We should not be surprised.

    www.dunwoodyusa.org

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  5. It appears to me that certain Dunwoody City Council members have already made up their mind to go with CH2M and are not even open to any other options. Again, wasn't this one of the problems with had with Vernon? Why does it seem the certain officials of City of Dunwoody are bound and determined to proceed in the same manner as Vernon and the Dekalb BOC? We were indundated with "vote for Dunwoody, control at the local level", blah, blah, blah. IMO, some of the early actions of some on the Dunwoody City Council don't appear to be any different than what were got out of Vernon. I hope I'm wrong.

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  6. ilovemykinds - I hope you are wrong as well. I know if I were voting on the issue (unfortunately my run for council came up short), it would be difficult. On one hand, we have a fairly good idea of the quality of services that CH2M Hill provides. But it comes at a cost. On the other hand, we could save a bunch of money, but really don't know if we've got all our ducks in a row. It's a tough call. I'd certainly be exploring the "hybrid plan" as much as is humanly possible.

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  7. Thanks to Bob Fiscella for contributing some measured comments here. And I agree with Bob that "it looks like a tough call."

    I appreciate them in contrast to, for example "Any council member who votes to (fill in the blank) has lost my vote in the next election."

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  8. It is a tough decision and I do nt envy the task ahead for the City Council. We can only hope our City Council representatives make an informed, fair decision on what is right for Dunwoody. What is right for say, Sandy Springs, may not be right for Dunwoody. My concern is that it appears that that the request to hire Oliver Porter, who is pushing CH2M incessantly, sends a signal that certain members have already made up their minds.

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  9. Porter is a broker, not a consultant. CH2M has promoted his book, which promotes their target market and business model if not just their company alone. They have on more than one occasion jointly promoted. The facts are there, spin them how you will, but if you connect the dots it is difficult to come up with a happy face, let alone an honest one. You hire Porter to negotiate the CH2M deal. Period. That is all he has done in this arena.

    You can cherry pick the facts to arrive at the conclusion that CH2M is wonderful, but you have to overlook some disturbing events in Bonita Springs, Ohio and Houston. These range for mere cost over runs to criminal indictments and a Federal investigation. In two cases this involved "consultants" who provided a buffer and conduit between the private and public organizations. This simply does not pass the smell test.

    So if you consider these facts and still decide these situations are compatible with your level of integrity as a council member, then you don't deserve my vote--I expect better.

    And yes, I am willing to pay for better.

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