Duchane gave approval to RJ&J to complete major work and did NOT get approval from M/C.

Councilman Disanto pointed out that we have worked with RJ&J for two years.

Councilwoman Brady states that this is not the policy that M/C has put into place and that contract approvals need to be approved by M/C and not by Duchane (I am paraphrasing).

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"Sometimes we must serve in order to lead"
by Unknown

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This was a recently awarded contract. It has not been two years. It has only been approx 6 months. The intention of having a contractual company awarded the contract. This would save time & money regarding sewer repairs. This way we would not have to go out for bids each & every time.

This was purposed by Robert Torck and Rob Rochon from Hennessey. This was a wonderful concept and one I have been very pleased with.

My concern is that the work should still be authorized by council, by resolution, with the appropriate account information and verification of funding levels. Prior to commencement of work, not after the fact. What if the funding was not available, yet the work is done ? Then we are assuming the funds are available in the General Fund. Typically 10% is held back until final restoration ( such as concrete, sod) is complete. This was not done either.


The work need to be done, but procedures need to be followed. Guidelines are set in place for a reason.

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Shouldn't the City Manager know if funding is available?

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I was happy to hear the flooded basements for the people an Aplewood and Pingree are finally going to be resolved . The DPS is doing their job . a street that could have had a total collapse has been averted and the problem solved. Let the full-time professionals do their jobs. They thought there was a problem and found two .

I just wish these people were around when I had basement flooding . First it was an act of God,and when they found out it was sewers they had to find the money to fix it. Many homes suffered thousands of dollars in damages waiting on an elected officials to decide . The people in office are gone and now we have a management team on -board to look out for the people,and provide the sevice this city never provided in the past. Thank you Mr disanto and Mr.Rose for holding the contractor to their agreed price and saving the taxpayer money.

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If pro is the opposite of con? would CONgress be the oppositeof PROgress?

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RA, I agree, he should know. In fact, he proved he knew (assuming the figure was right) how much the retirement costs were when the Mayor claimed (adamently for weeks) that they weren't ready.

One thing I will say about Duchane is he would know numbers. It goes with the territory. If something is an emergency like this seems it was, and he knows the state of the books (he created the guidelines) he would have a general if not great working knowlege of the sitch.

My concern is that in the past he let this "carte Blanche" get the best of him (and the city of Sterling Heights most of all)

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"With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind"

-pixies

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Just as a FYI, I do think the people who authorize projects of any kind should know if the funding is available.

Additionally, we have done emergency repairs in the past and being that we as a council do meet weekly, the approval of these repairs has never been the delay. It has always been the bid procedure and awarding that has taken significant amounts of time.

This situation was brought to light in the end of January. Plenty of time to put it in front of Council. Instead it was after the fact.

I am certain council would have approved the repairs anyhow. It was unaviodable and had to be done. It's not that big of an issue, just a procedure that requires a little tweaking.

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I did not know it was known in January.

How does someone get something "put in front of council" anywayz? Do they just need to turn it in to a councilperson and see who picks it up? Or are certain things just told to be done and it is put on the agenda automatically? Doesn't councilmembers create thier own agenda items too?

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I think that a chain of command must be put into place. As Val said, Mayor and Council need to establish if the funds are available. Luckily this time it was, but to avoid any snafus further down the line, we need to have a set plan. I'm uneasy that Duchane took this upon himself after all the problems he had had in the past. Not good judgement on his part, and the Mayor should say something to him about it.

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"I'm sick and tired of hearing things from uptight, short sighted, narrow minded hypocrites. All I want is the truth, Just gimme some truth"

- John Lennon

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IHEART Department heads or Superintendents write and submit 98% of the resolutions presented to the M/C for an agenda . The City Clerk handles resolutions for an agenda. The Mayor and Clerk finalize it. Any one can submit a resolution for a presentation or request for fund raising and have the clerk ,Duchane,or a councilmember present it to the Clerk and Mayor. The council loves to be Liason to Police Fire or DPS .They have used it to play politics for years. It's a power deal that has been diminished with the hiring of a CM .Any councilmember can offer a miscellaneous resolution at a meeting and are either an emergency that needs immediate attention or just a member playing politics. for votes.

The M/C voted on a 2 year contract to handle problems like this . The M/C budget the funds for emergency repairs. The CM and DPS monitor funds available budgeted for emergencies . It's what the taxpayers pay them to do That is their job. Why can't people get the fact rhings have changed . The #1 priority of our Departments and the City Manager is Service.

A problem happens on my street on Tue.or Wed . We have to wait for M/C to check it out the following Monday. I'm supposed to watch my street cave in ,and my car falls in a hole . WE are supposed to wait until some political pinhead makes sure the money is there. I'd be on the phone to a lawyer to sue the city and any councilmember involved.

There are two things we know for sure 1 ) they want to only follow chain of command when it suits their political purpose.
2) They don't know or understand what they are voting on.

Disanto was the only one that had the common sense to check if the contractor was following the contract in the past . Because he did not have time to check out this one he asked Mr. Rose if he checked out the specs and pricing before the bill was submitted. Mr Rose explained he did and made sure there were no rate changes per the original contract.

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The reason I was asking is because if the issue was known since January, then couldn't any of the city council members have placed the issue on the agenda for a resolution? You may call it "playing politics", But if a dept head or anyone else isn't bringing the issue to light so that finallly the CM has to just "Do It" without the M&C, then I think theres a problem there. I expect my elected officials to bring resolutions to the table when there is an issue that needs addressed, whether they have the votes or not, and despite the fact that they'll be blamed for "politicing for votes".
At least I have some power with my vote who gets elected and who doesn't. I can't do squat about the DPS, Fire, Police, etc. If those leaders aren't bringing resolutions to the table, who else will but our M&C? I guess us taxpayers have to do that too then.

And, just to clarify, I don't have an issue with Duchane just making the move on this.... but it does make me edgy..nervous due to his past record. It is something that should happen far and few between because others are doing thier jobs. If dept heads are asleep at the switch, your dang skippy I want a liason to bring it up at a meeting.

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