I have received word that some of you believe I want to shut down certain recreational venues.  As I stated at the candidate forum, I use almost all of them.  I do want them to be sustainable so that my granddaughters (ages 3 and 10 months) will be able to enjoy them for years to come.

But first and foremost, I believe in financial transparency.  IVGID has done away with enterprise funds (used for business type operations) in an attempt to convince us that its venues are profitable. Instead it uses governmental fund accounting that doesn’t even include depreciation and separately reports capital expenses and debt service.   The community needs to understand the current financial performance of our venues so they can evaluate each operation’s strengths and weaknesses.  This should have happened during our strategic planning process, but because our financials are so convoluted, it would have been a futile exercise. Others, including several CPA’s, are concerned about the serious inconsistencies in IVGID financial reporting.  Look at this excerpt from the October 26, 2016 IVGID Board packet.  We need to return to enterprise funds.

Then we, as a community, can decide if we still should offer the same services we currently provide, or perhaps new/different services.  We can look at those that perhaps might be provided  better by the private sector.   When I worked for the City of San Jose, members of the community rightfully questioned the cost of delivering certain services (including IT).  City departments had to demonstrate that the cost to provide those services at their current level was competitive with services  outsourced to a private company.   IT was kept in-house while custodial and a number of other services were outsourced.  Performance measures were written into contracts so there were protections against  decline in the quality of service.

The other cornerstone of my platform is my belief that the community be allowed to participate more fully in major decisions.   I advocate the use of citizens advisory committees appointed by the Board (public bodies with agendas, minutes and public comment) to help with major decisions like master plans, financial reporting, etc.  We have so many talented individuals in this community who are willing to participate.  Additionally, in this day and age, there is no reason why we can’t have honest surveys of the residents and property owners with results that are available to the public (unlike the beach survey where IVGID claims the records have been destroyed).  Once we have clear and accurate financial reporting, the community, not staff or a short term Board, should make the decisions (see my list of “Key Objectives”)

I welcome the opportunity to respond to your questions on these important issues.