John Musolf responds to blogger (OVMom) query about "morale building" parties.
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Art
I think OV Mom raises a valid question in her comment responding to my original posting on Thursday, August 19, 2010, “John Musolf Questions Oro Valley’s Balanced Budget”:
OV MOM
I'd like to thank Mr. Musolf for his service in analyzing the budget.
One thing that hasn't been addressed: OVDad stated that "The fact is, [a party] costs little to nothing, especially comparing it to other items of the budget, while it builds morale, that a few years or months ago was almost nonexistent."
It seems to me that these parties have indeed been held over the past few years and months. So if the parties have been held, and morale has been "nonexistent," then how do parties build morale?
Also, does anyone know which of these line items paid for the parties for the former mayor who was voted out in the primary?
August 24, 2010 1:15 PM
My answer to OV Mom (and other people who have commented on this subject) shows just how difficult it is to obtain information on how our tax dollars are being spent by the town. I did try to obtain information on the Town Picnic and Town Dinner.
This is the Request for Information that I sent to the Town Clerk prior to the May 21, 2010 Picnic:
REQUEST FOR RECORDS TOWN OF ORO VALLEY, ARIZONA
Phone (520) 229-4700 Fax (520) 297-0428
Name: John Musolf Date: May 7, 2010
Item(s) requested:Information for Picnic to be held on May 21, 2010:
1) Department Personnel & Planning Time Spent on Picnic 2) Estimated amount of email invitations sent to Town Personnel (include sample of email invitation) 3) Estimated Materials & Cost for Picnic- Food, Refreshments, Utensils, etc. 4) Estimated Facility Cost – Rental, Set-up, Clean-up at Riverfront Park 5) Estimated Entertainment Cost 6) Estimated Attendance and hours of picnic 6) Estimated Total Cost and Source of Funding.
Who authorized the Town Picnic and did the Mayor and Council approve it? (added this question to revised Request for Information after May 7, 2010)
Date(s), if known: May 21, 2010
This is the Request for Information Response I got from the Town Clerk:
Dear Mr. Musolf,
Please find attached a copy of the invoice in the amount of $3,121.39 showing the food cost for the employee farewell picnic held for former Mayor Loomis and Councilmember Carter. The food cost of the picnic was within the scope of approval by the Town Manager and was not required to be approved by the Mayor and Council.
Kathryn E. Cuvelier, CMC
Town Clerk
Town of Oro Valley
11000 N. La Canada Drive
Oro Valley, AZ 85737
(520)229-4740
KCuvelier@orovalleyaz.gov
I have attached a copy of the picnic invoice to this email.
The response from the town clerk to my Request for Information certainly doesn’t clarify much except to list the invoice for the tax dollars spent. There is no line item listed showing what account or which department the tax dollars were charged to.
Also, one extra fact I never requested from the town clerk about the picnic: All town employees (300+) were allowed an extended lunch hour (2-3 hours) if they desired to attend the picnic (probably another planned morale booster).
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Note from Art--- John included the invoice for the party. Suffice to say, it was from a Tucson caterer (that's Tucson, not Oro Valley) in the amount of $3,121.39 as noted by the Town Clerk.
One may question if there was no Oro Valley entity that could have supplied equally as good food at a competitive price for this gala event? At least that would have kept taxpayers money in Oro Valley and met the program requirements promoted by the town---"Shop Oro Valley."
As to the "other party," Loomis' "Farewell Dinner," that was also addressed. Although it was less costly, John writes: "The response from the town clerk to my Request for Information certainly doesn’t clarify much except to list the invoices for the tax dollars spent. There is no line item listed showing what account or which department the tax dollars were charged to."
Oh well! Some may say that's a small price to pay to keep the morale up in Town Hall!
It might be time to have a party for the citizens. The more we know, the more we could use a morale boost!
