(with apologies to Ken Kesey)
This document was distributed by Barry Cassidy at the August 14, 2007 Phoenixville Borough Council Meeting. It has never been discussed by Council at a public meeting. It has never been voted on by Council. Ask your Council Member who wrote this and if it’s real. Ask a member of the CDC Board whether it’s real.
Is this what the public pays $111,000 a year to get? Is this the CDC's idea of a public-private partnership?
Or is it just another piece of back room sleaze that has finally made it into the light?
Memorandum of Understanding
This letter of understanding between the Borough of Phoenixville and the Main Street Community Development Corporation will define the parameters by which each entity shall operate and conduct business. This document will define how each entity will interrelate. SO that the inherent nature of each entity can work in harmony and accomplish their individual and common goals.
Conditions:
1. The Borough council will appoint a Rich or Henry as liaison to the Main Street CDC.
2. The liaison will in effect deliver to the borough council and staff all appropriate information and material necessary to complete the mandates of council.
3. The liaison will likewise be the conduit between the Borough Manager and Barry Cassidy.
4. The Borough Manager will at no time contact Barry Cassidy either by mail or phone.
5. The Borough Manager will limit his responsibilities to the administration of the Borough outside the down town Business district.
6. Barry Cassidy will have separate contact with the Borough Solicitor, engineer, planner and any consultants, on any matter pertaining to the Downtown Business District. Or mission that pertain to the work of the CDC.
7. The Borough Manager at no time will lobby, interfere, and impede the work and mandates of the CDC as given by council.
8. Barry Cassidy will be the contact for all public finance.
9. Signing authority will be the responsibility of the liaison and the responsibility of the Borough Council President.
10. It is the responsibility of Barry Cassidy to promote , retain, and expand the mission of the CDC and the Downtown Business District.
11. The Downtown Business District for purposes of this Letter will include but not be limited to the areas south of the bluffs to Hall Street and from the Mont Clare Bridge at route 29 to the intersection of East Bridge Street and route 23, including both north and south side elm streets. Including the area of the former Steel property. And may be expanded by Borough Council.
12. Effective immediately, Barry with the liaison will create a program for parking.
13. In the event that the Borough Manager supersedes his responsibilities he will then be asked to resign or be removed. Let this serve as his notice.
14. A council representative will meet with Barry Cassidy to confirm this letter represents the feelings of a majority of council.
15. A council representative will meet with the Borough Manager to confirm that is letter represents the feeling of the majority of council.
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3 comments:
Items 8,9 are of interest as they pertain to what really counts here - and that is the publics' money. The last item is of interest because because more than one council person has stated or inferred that they were not privy to these agreements.
Once again it is the work of the representative from the north side and current council president whose fingerprints are all over this.
The personality at the CDC seems to have - or at least he would have you believe he has - the support of the primary commercial strip merchants. Three people need to go. The borough manager first, foremost and immediately. Next, the borough council president should resign. The third person is the CDC director. This third party should be given the option to stay by his board, but council should cut funding in half immediately. If the merchants and CDC board believe so much in the indiviidual, and that individual requires more money, than the onus should be on the CDC board and merchants to come up with those funds. We the people can only effect one third of these actiions necessary for the forward movement of our community and the taking back of our local government, and that is the option to "vote the bum out", as the north side representative will not go otherwise.
Thanks for publishing this document.
I'm convinced that whoever wrote that document has pictures of other people with goats -- I can't imagine why anyone otherwise would even agree to put such a document "in their back pocket" let alone believe that it was an acceptable working arrangement between an EMPLOYEE and a Chief of Staff.
Agree with August 16, 2007 2:30 PM and the way RB has framed this little snippet. You could say council needs to seek professional help. Or you could say we need to bring some professionalism to our handling of contracts and monitoring of services provided. You can banter about all kinds of words such as naivety, stupidity, laziness. The fact is that during this time when Messina and Digirolomo have been in charge, negotiations and agreements - such as have apparently occurred with our loss of a reasonable price on trash hauling and this CDC debacle - these things have not gone in favor of borough taxpayers and do not reflect well on the borough as a governmental and economic entity. Part of the problem might be that professionals generally get paid. Perhaps if the council members got some small reparation on a monthly basis it would serve as a regular reminder that that they are to guarantee that a professional job gets done. A big part of that involves foresight, professional contracts and regular follow up. Each council member has a professional contract with those who elected them. They need to remember this. And seek professional help when needed.
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