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Bunkers era ends
Technically, he is still mayor until midnight. In reality, the era has ended, as Dean Bunkers has cleared his desk and left City Hall; he resigns less than two years after becoming Ocean Shores’ first elected “strong” mayor. To summarize what many are saying: “He did his best, but he inherited a mess.”
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on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 3:59 pm and is filed under North Coast News.
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We can only hope there is something left after the storm. I hope we are not like New Orleans, Haiti, or Vesuvius. All did not fare well after the “natural disaster”. Our disaster is man made. Yet it is still going to be just as devistating. Maybe Tom can run an article that clearly states the cities current situation. What is going to happen over the next few years based on projections for worst case, best case, and somewhere inbetween. How will we be impacted by debt from the Fire House, Convention Center and all the borrowing from other funds in the city. How will we pay them back? What revenue drain it will cause? What will be left? Can we operate with less?
While it is good to look to the past and learn from history, maybe it is time to quit whining about the past and look toward finding the silver lining in a dark and rainy cloud. Remember, all storms pass!!!!
rafael,
It’s kind of like watching a train wreck.
When they fired Weiser, the first thing they did right in many years was put out a request to interview prospective candidates for a professional city manager. Then they did a turn-about from the right path and hired the police chief, who didn’t have a clue as to how to be a city manager. Then the citizens got mad and changed the form of government to get rid of the city manager. Then we had a navy captain apply for and get elected for the job, once again, not a professional city manager. If, at that time, he would’ve done the right thing and interviewed for a professional city manager, and confined his duties to being just mayor, we probably wouldn’t have the problems we have today. But it took 20 months for him to decide that it was the wrong decision, so here we are once again, wondering what to do next.
I have an idea that we haven’t tried yet—WHY DON’T WE INTERVIEW FOR AND HIRE A PROFESSIONAL CITY MANAGER?
According to the reading CAC received from MRSC, we have the option to do this, and do the salary adjustments but if we don’t do it now, we won’t get another chance for another 31 months, so not why not do it right this time? But just watch: the council in its infinite wisdom will appoint one of its favorites who is not a “professional city manager” and we will have another 31 months of incompetent city administration.
The bottom line was then and is now is the simple fact that we have no money because all of our taxes and fees other than property taxes have gone down the toilet. Ask the business owners who have paid their B&O taxes. Ask how much they went down. That will tell you from their mouths. Everyone speaks about the LID and Roundabout. Both are not the direct cause. They indirectly impacted businesses from September 2009 to date. However, the economy is what brought the rest of the year down. The LID is going to be each property owner’s tab. It is not the cities tab. The roundabout used utilities money and LID money. Both do not impact the General Fund. So, where did the money go? Salaries. From top to bottom we are paying people money. Can we cut, probably. Will it impact us, yes. We just need to realize that we can not have our cake and eat it too if we are not willing to pay for it. Are we willing to pay for it? Probably not. We have mortgages, children costs, insurance, rent, or any other host of other priorities. Can we live with less? Yes. Do we like it? No.
Should we spend money on the water system? Who knows. We do know that it will be paid for by utility bills.
So, maybe we need to expect less, get less, and work to live on what we have. We have to stop being grandious when it comes to projects and buildings. The bigger they are the more they cost to maintain. Maybe we need the KISS principle returned to Ocean Shores. Keep it simple stupid.
I think I can sum it up from my perspective at least. Honesty and accountability. Both of which were lacking. If you don’t have those then you have no trust in your government. I dislike deceitful behavior. I want someone who will be honest with the citizens, not do things behind their back. I want someone who will be honest about the state of affairs without finger pointing, and I want someone who will admit it when they have made a mistake.
I look to these posts for ideas and solutions, or at least clues, but I haven’t followed long enough to know what has been said in the past. I’m sure you all have stated your reasons before, but would one or all of you (except Nicky) please reiterate (briefly) your case (without getting personal) or point me to the posts where you have stated your reasons for the opposition you have expressed? What would you have done? Really, I want to know—I am without my usual sarcasm here.
It seems that everyone is looking for a savior, but how will they know when they’ve got one? Also, considering the state of the U.S. and state economies, how do you think this savior can affect our economy?
a lot of “too blind to see” folks here. wake up and save your town. quit yer bitchin and act now. the iron is hot. don’t spoil the chance. or lose again.
Don’t let the door hit you in the roundabout on the way out….
I’m sure everyone all had high hopes with the beginning of a new era, where you could all place blame on the previous administration for the problems that we all face today. It’s easy to put blame on those who are not around. But try not to be blind to the realities as they actually are, not just a perception of what you want to believe! The now-former mayor did what he wanted to do to solve certain problems, but did it in a way that brought forth a total lack of trust by the whole of the city. Ask anyone who works for the city what they think about how things were done, and they were the ones who actually saw it first hand! And if anyone even thinks for a minute that there was a lack of cooperation, than you are as misguided as those who are now stepping out of the picture.
The city is in a downward spiral, and it is not the blame of a prior administration. It is the one that currently exists, and those blind enough to support it as it has been used…
It is indeed the end of an era, which started with such high hopes. Dean took on a horrible job, did everything he could to get our city out of the mess, untill the stress and non cooperation took its toll on him. Lets all thank him for giving his best and try very hard to find a replacement that will get us out of the economic hole. Please don/ trush to make that decision and compound the issue