Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Invitation to the Town's National Night Out (forwarded from town's webmail service)
[Note: this is a copy of the town's website. To get more information, please go to the town's web page directly by clicking here.]
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Update and request re: Surf Air/Aircraft Noise Issue
Dear Athertonians:
Several months ago I was appointed by the City Council to be one of its representatives on an Ad Hoc Council Committee to study and work to alleviate aircraft noise that mainly results from the advent of Surf Air flying into San Carlos Airport, beginning in June 2013. This committee was originally composed of myself and prior Councilmember Dobbie and now consists of myself and Councilmember Lewis. We have had many meetings with officials at San Carlos Airport, representatives of Surf Air and representatives of the Atherton, Menlo Park and North Fair Oaks communities. This group became an official Working Group with a common focus of reducing noise along the GPS flight path into San Carlos. Among other things, we organized the well attended (110+) community meeting last December at the Pavilon in Holbrook-Palmer Park where Surf Air made a public commitment to vary its flight path by making visual approaches into San Carlos, so that those who live along the GPS flight path would be less subject to the aircraft noise caused by their planes. Planes are required to use the GPS approach with the weather is such that a pilot cannot see the airport and are able to request a visual, alternate approach whenever the weather is good and they can see the airport.
Attached to this message is a diagram of the current GPS flight path, with a red highlighted area where the airport believes aircraft noise is the biggest problem.
As you may know, at the its last meeting the Working Group decided to support the San Carlos Airport's effort to seek approval from the FAA for a new GPS approach into the San Carlos Airport. This new approach would be along the same glide path that is in the attached diagram, but it would be elevated by 500 feet, resulting in a glide path with a 3.77 degree slope, rather than the current 3 degree slope. All of the Working Group participants believed this new approach is worth examining because it might result in reduced noise over the Menlo Park, Atherton and North Fair Oaks neighborhoods. We have been asked to reach out to any and all affected residents to seek supportive letters to the FAA for this elevated GPS approach. Accordingly, attached to this email is a proposed form of letter for you to consider signing to indicate support of this request. Of course, you are welcome to alter this letter in any way that you may prefer.
Please note that the contemplated new approach is one of several efforts to achieve a material reduction in the aircraft noise that you are experiencing. The other potential solutions include the visual approach solution whenever the weather allows and modifications to the Surf Air standard operating procedures by not putting down landing gear until much closer to the airport (and therefore using less power, thereby reducing aircraft noise).
We would appreciate it if you could prepare this letter and send it to the FAA sometime over the next week. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help, Rick DeGolia
Rick DeGolia
Atherton, CA 94027
650.793.2800
www.rickdegolia.com
Several months ago I was appointed by the City Council to be one of its representatives on an Ad Hoc Council Committee to study and work to alleviate aircraft noise that mainly results from the advent of Surf Air flying into San Carlos Airport, beginning in June 2013. This committee was originally composed of myself and prior Councilmember Dobbie and now consists of myself and Councilmember Lewis. We have had many meetings with officials at San Carlos Airport, representatives of Surf Air and representatives of the Atherton, Menlo Park and North Fair Oaks communities. This group became an official Working Group with a common focus of reducing noise along the GPS flight path into San Carlos. Among other things, we organized the well attended (110+) community meeting last December at the Pavilon in Holbrook-Palmer Park where Surf Air made a public commitment to vary its flight path by making visual approaches into San Carlos, so that those who live along the GPS flight path would be less subject to the aircraft noise caused by their planes. Planes are required to use the GPS approach with the weather is such that a pilot cannot see the airport and are able to request a visual, alternate approach whenever the weather is good and they can see the airport.
Attached to this message is a diagram of the current GPS flight path, with a red highlighted area where the airport believes aircraft noise is the biggest problem.
As you may know, at the its last meeting the Working Group decided to support the San Carlos Airport's effort to seek approval from the FAA for a new GPS approach into the San Carlos Airport. This new approach would be along the same glide path that is in the attached diagram, but it would be elevated by 500 feet, resulting in a glide path with a 3.77 degree slope, rather than the current 3 degree slope. All of the Working Group participants believed this new approach is worth examining because it might result in reduced noise over the Menlo Park, Atherton and North Fair Oaks neighborhoods. We have been asked to reach out to any and all affected residents to seek supportive letters to the FAA for this elevated GPS approach. Accordingly, attached to this email is a proposed form of letter for you to consider signing to indicate support of this request. Of course, you are welcome to alter this letter in any way that you may prefer.
Please note that the contemplated new approach is one of several efforts to achieve a material reduction in the aircraft noise that you are experiencing. The other potential solutions include the visual approach solution whenever the weather allows and modifications to the Surf Air standard operating procedures by not putting down landing gear until much closer to the airport (and therefore using less power, thereby reducing aircraft noise).
We would appreciate it if you could prepare this letter and send it to the FAA sometime over the next week. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help, Rick DeGolia
Rick DeGolia
Vice Mayor
Town of Atherton
84 Clay DriveAtherton, CA 94027
650.793.2800
www.rickdegolia.com
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Study Session on Park Master Plan and Bike/Ped Master Plan Weds. April 2
Residents,
There are currently four master planning efforts underway in the town: 1. Town Center, 2. Drainage Plan, 3. Park Use Plan and 4. Bike Pedestrian Plan. Currently two of these, the Park Use Master Plan and the Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan are being presented to the City Council in a Study Session tomorrow, April 2, at 4:00 pm in the council chambers.
If you are interested in hearing one or both of these presentations to learn what is being recommended to the council, you should attend the Study session. You can also review the two presentations or the meeting agenda prior to the meeting by downloading the drafts from the above links.
—The Moderator
There are currently four master planning efforts underway in the town: 1. Town Center, 2. Drainage Plan, 3. Park Use Plan and 4. Bike Pedestrian Plan. Currently two of these, the Park Use Master Plan and the Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan are being presented to the City Council in a Study Session tomorrow, April 2, at 4:00 pm in the council chambers.
If you are interested in hearing one or both of these presentations to learn what is being recommended to the council, you should attend the Study session. You can also review the two presentations or the meeting agenda prior to the meeting by downloading the drafts from the above links.
—The Moderator
Atherton Launches Advanced Budget Transparency Platform
In
case you missed the Finance Department's midnight announcement about the launch of
Atherton's new "Budget Transparency Platform," this is not an April
Fools Day trick. This platform may really open up broader understanding
of town finances.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Help Wanted/Help Offered Open Post
Anyone can post a "Help Wanted" or "Help Offered" message on this open post by clicking the "Comment" Link below.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Of Shelters and Salaries . . .
From the Moderator: A very informative message from City Manager George Rodericks addressing misstatements by the Daily Post. It is very reassuring to see the professionalism of his approach. If you don't get messages from the Town, you may want to sign up for them on the town website. George also provides a great list of links to access information on the town website at the end of his message.
In the Friday, February 14 Daily Post there were two articles dealing with Town issues I wanted to take a moment to comment upon. The first dealt with Animal Shelter Services and addressed an upcoming item on the City Council agenda for February 19. The second dealt with the Post's regular reporting of agency salaries and benefits. Both reports included some inaccuracies to which I responded directly to the reporters. I wanted, however, to provide the public with that same corrective information and some additional resources for their use.
Animal Shelter Services
The article notes that at the February 19 City Council meeting, the City Council will be deciding whether they want to keep the Peninsula Humane Society for animal care services. On Wednesday, the City Council is not going to decide if the Town still wants the Peninsula Humane Society to provide animal services. That’s not the issue before the City Council. The Council is approving an agreement to assist the County with building a new shelter not a decision on whether animal services should be continued.
Additionally, Atherton is not being asked to pay $50,000 toward the new shelter, plus an additional $4,297 to $5,749 annually. The Town presently pays approximately $52,000 per year for basic animal control services through the County’s contract with the Peninsula Humane Society. That remains unchanged. The Town is only being asked to pay an additional $4,297 to $5,749 (depending on the cost of the new shelter) annually as part of a 30-year amortized zero-interest contribution toward the cost of building the new shelter.
For the complete report, take a look through the staff report available on the Town's website.
Salaries and Benefits
Next, the Daily Post printed an article as part of their series on public employee salaries and benefits - an excellent opportunity for public awareness. However, the article contained several inaccuracies related to the information presented. I took the opportunity to respond directly to the reporter, but wanted the public to be aware of the same information as well as other resources on the Town's website.
The article noted that the Town has 47 employees. The Town does not have 47 employees. The 2013/2014 Budget reflects a total of 34 authorized positions. This is the same as the 2012/2013 budget. The Town has not had 47 employees since 2011.
The Post requested salary data via for the period of January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013. Over the years employees come and go within specific positions. Sometimes simply totaling up salary data for a period of time will result in an overlap - for example, an employee may have left employment in March 2013 and the Town filled the position in June 2013. That does not count as 2 employees thus raising the number count for employees. That’s only one position. When this occurs with several positions over a year it can be over-counted if you count people not positions.
The article also addressed the housing/transportation allowance that I received as City Manager in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. The housing allowance/transportation allowance for my position was negotiated for one fiscal year only - 2012/2013, not two as stated in the article. The article states that it was negotiated because I declined to live in the Watkins House. It was not negotiated because I declined to live in the Watkins House. As I mentioned during my telephone conversation with the reporter, during hire negotiations the Town and I “split the difference - $30k of 60k” as a housing/transportation allowance because at the time I was still determining when I could move into the house and was commuting in the interim. It expired in June 2013. Unfortunately, I had to advise the Council that due to a personal situation I could not relocate and we negotiated a base salary going forward. My salary as of July 1, 2013 is $196,650 - flat. No allowance for auto, transportation, phone, or housing. This was discussed over the course of several City Council meetings.
Next, the article spoke to the number of employees in the police department (and Town) and their earnings level - to include any overtime - particularly for police department personnel.
While the Police Department is authorized 25 sworn positions there have been vacancies over the last couple of years that have been hard to fill. As a result, in order to maintain a minimum level of deployment, existing officers must often work overtime. When you report salaries of officers and their use of overtime I think it is important to mention that during periods of recruitment due to vacancies (for whatever reason) there will be overtime. A more accurate and informative statement might have been, the base salary at the top step for a police officer is $101,633.52 per year. The entry level step is $87,794.88 per year. The Department cannot “over hire” to fill non-existent vacancies - that's a waste of public money. In order to begin a recruitment process there must be an actual vacancy. Because of background investigations and the required testing and evaluation, it often takes 4 to 6 months to hire a new police officer. During that time, some officers will end up working overtime to ensure a minimum level of deployment in the community. In particularly challenging years (injuries, retirements, etc.), overtime will be higher. Some of these events are predictable. Some are not.
A complete list of salaries and salary ranges is included in the Town’s Budget document available online. Of the Town’s 9 non-police staff, there are 5 that, at their top step, will make more than $100,000. These are: City Manager, Finance Director, City Clerk, Civil Engineer, and Public Works Superintendent. Of the Town’s police staff (sworn and non-sworn), All sworn staff (officers, sergeants, lieutenant, and chief) can top out at more than $100,000. Non-sworn staff (dispatchers, community service officers, trainees, and executive assistant - 6 positions) do not.
In short, I think the efforts of the Daily Post and other news outlets to print salaries and benefits of public employees is worthwhile to shine the light where some folks simply don’t bother looking. It’s public money after all. However, I think in printing the information, news agencies have a duty to print accurate and timely information that is not misleading to the public. Simply stating that overtime is higher one year over the last doesn’t address the root issues of why. Calling attention to numbers of employees is great so long as there is a balanced look at service needs, levels, and demands in that particular community. From that information, the public can do a better assessment in answering and asking the right questions about their local government and the services provided. Transparency is important not only to you but to us as well.
The Town's website has a host of information accessible to the public to make informed decisions about their local government and the services provided. Here's a few links to some of that data:
Regards,
George
George Rodericks
City Manager
Town of Atherton
91 Ashfield Road
Atherton, CA 94027
(650) 752-0504 - Office
grodericks@ci.atherton.ca.us
In the Friday, February 14 Daily Post there were two articles dealing with Town issues I wanted to take a moment to comment upon. The first dealt with Animal Shelter Services and addressed an upcoming item on the City Council agenda for February 19. The second dealt with the Post's regular reporting of agency salaries and benefits. Both reports included some inaccuracies to which I responded directly to the reporters. I wanted, however, to provide the public with that same corrective information and some additional resources for their use.
Animal Shelter Services
The article notes that at the February 19 City Council meeting, the City Council will be deciding whether they want to keep the Peninsula Humane Society for animal care services. On Wednesday, the City Council is not going to decide if the Town still wants the Peninsula Humane Society to provide animal services. That’s not the issue before the City Council. The Council is approving an agreement to assist the County with building a new shelter not a decision on whether animal services should be continued.
Additionally, Atherton is not being asked to pay $50,000 toward the new shelter, plus an additional $4,297 to $5,749 annually. The Town presently pays approximately $52,000 per year for basic animal control services through the County’s contract with the Peninsula Humane Society. That remains unchanged. The Town is only being asked to pay an additional $4,297 to $5,749 (depending on the cost of the new shelter) annually as part of a 30-year amortized zero-interest contribution toward the cost of building the new shelter.
For the complete report, take a look through the staff report available on the Town's website.
Salaries and Benefits
Next, the Daily Post printed an article as part of their series on public employee salaries and benefits - an excellent opportunity for public awareness. However, the article contained several inaccuracies related to the information presented. I took the opportunity to respond directly to the reporter, but wanted the public to be aware of the same information as well as other resources on the Town's website.
The article noted that the Town has 47 employees. The Town does not have 47 employees. The 2013/2014 Budget reflects a total of 34 authorized positions. This is the same as the 2012/2013 budget. The Town has not had 47 employees since 2011.
The Post requested salary data via for the period of January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013. Over the years employees come and go within specific positions. Sometimes simply totaling up salary data for a period of time will result in an overlap - for example, an employee may have left employment in March 2013 and the Town filled the position in June 2013. That does not count as 2 employees thus raising the number count for employees. That’s only one position. When this occurs with several positions over a year it can be over-counted if you count people not positions.
The article also addressed the housing/transportation allowance that I received as City Manager in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. The housing allowance/transportation allowance for my position was negotiated for one fiscal year only - 2012/2013, not two as stated in the article. The article states that it was negotiated because I declined to live in the Watkins House. It was not negotiated because I declined to live in the Watkins House. As I mentioned during my telephone conversation with the reporter, during hire negotiations the Town and I “split the difference - $30k of 60k” as a housing/transportation allowance because at the time I was still determining when I could move into the house and was commuting in the interim. It expired in June 2013. Unfortunately, I had to advise the Council that due to a personal situation I could not relocate and we negotiated a base salary going forward. My salary as of July 1, 2013 is $196,650 - flat. No allowance for auto, transportation, phone, or housing. This was discussed over the course of several City Council meetings.
Next, the article spoke to the number of employees in the police department (and Town) and their earnings level - to include any overtime - particularly for police department personnel.
While the Police Department is authorized 25 sworn positions there have been vacancies over the last couple of years that have been hard to fill. As a result, in order to maintain a minimum level of deployment, existing officers must often work overtime. When you report salaries of officers and their use of overtime I think it is important to mention that during periods of recruitment due to vacancies (for whatever reason) there will be overtime. A more accurate and informative statement might have been, the base salary at the top step for a police officer is $101,633.52 per year. The entry level step is $87,794.88 per year. The Department cannot “over hire” to fill non-existent vacancies - that's a waste of public money. In order to begin a recruitment process there must be an actual vacancy. Because of background investigations and the required testing and evaluation, it often takes 4 to 6 months to hire a new police officer. During that time, some officers will end up working overtime to ensure a minimum level of deployment in the community. In particularly challenging years (injuries, retirements, etc.), overtime will be higher. Some of these events are predictable. Some are not.
A complete list of salaries and salary ranges is included in the Town’s Budget document available online. Of the Town’s 9 non-police staff, there are 5 that, at their top step, will make more than $100,000. These are: City Manager, Finance Director, City Clerk, Civil Engineer, and Public Works Superintendent. Of the Town’s police staff (sworn and non-sworn), All sworn staff (officers, sergeants, lieutenant, and chief) can top out at more than $100,000. Non-sworn staff (dispatchers, community service officers, trainees, and executive assistant - 6 positions) do not.
In short, I think the efforts of the Daily Post and other news outlets to print salaries and benefits of public employees is worthwhile to shine the light where some folks simply don’t bother looking. It’s public money after all. However, I think in printing the information, news agencies have a duty to print accurate and timely information that is not misleading to the public. Simply stating that overtime is higher one year over the last doesn’t address the root issues of why. Calling attention to numbers of employees is great so long as there is a balanced look at service needs, levels, and demands in that particular community. From that information, the public can do a better assessment in answering and asking the right questions about their local government and the services provided. Transparency is important not only to you but to us as well.
The Town's website has a host of information accessible to the public to make informed decisions about their local government and the services provided. Here's a few links to some of that data:
- Campaign Disclosure Forms
- Conflicts of Interest Forms
- Town Budgets
- Town Audits
- Salary and Benefit Information
- Employment Contracts
- CalPERS Pension and Other Actuarials
- Town Committees
- Current Projects
- Current News and Events
- Town Calendar
- Public Safety and Crime Data
- Police Information
- Online Reporting of Concerns
- Minutes and Agendas
- Meeting Videos
Regards,
George
George Rodericks
City Manager
Town of Atherton
91 Ashfield Road
Atherton, CA 94027
(650) 752-0504 - Office
grodericks@ci.atherton.ca.us
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