"it bothers me when Randy's lung cancer is mentioned to drive home a point. It is an unfortunate circumstance that has nothing to do with policy or administration. The same, if you had a medical affliction, I would look down upon anyone calling it to attention. Just my opinion".
My response is that having watched my Mother suffer for thirteen (13), years from Cervical Cancer caused by smoking and than even after having been in remission for five years and supposedly cured to die from Cancer in her Lymph Nodes in 1974.; plus my Step Father die of Pancreatic Cancer in 1962 just a few months after Mom was diagnosed; followed by both of my Daughters having double Mastectomies and one a Hysterectomy just a very few short years ago, I have some experience with this terrible disease in several of its forms..
A recent comment on Mr. Rapp and by him his breathing difficulties last prompted me to ask if he had a small Oxygen Machine and is so close by? With my Environmental Allergies, I can certainly understand problems with air pollution from many sources. That is for Sympathy, Empathy, Caring on what is my way of being concerned on what could be a personal basis which I normally try very hard not to ever do. Showing a "soft side" for someone is not an attack but an understanding of the issue even if on a more moderate scale..
And it is not meant as a policy/ administrative issue. However, there is/ are Political/ Administrative points in the issue going back to 2013 that will soon surface again.
Yesterday, I noted the City moving the Planning Commission Meeting to 1 November at 7:00 P.M. Well, lo and behold it got moved again to 30 October at 5:00 P.M. Remember the City can and will move meetings to meet its agenda.
Going back to the City/ VUB and its processes. May I ask again why at almost every meeting of the VUB, there is a representative from Burgess and Nipple? Can only remember one in the past year where no one was present? Because the VUB does not have an Engineer as the Department Head are they filling in? And when Burgess and Nipple representative suggest projects to the VUB to do, is there a potential Conflict of Interest? That might well be the question since it is Burgess and Nipple who are awarded the contracts for the projects with no bidding as per State Law?
Let us than go to what is another iffy situation? When the City goes out to finance its new Vehicles and other large equipment type purchases, does anyone ever notice that is very, very common for United Bank to get the bid? Going back a bit in my documents it showed where United Bank is where the City puts its Millions of dollars in accounts, at least at that time? Since then, the reference to United has disappeared and who is supposedly holding the funds in not readily showing? Where does this take us again in a potential Conflict of Interest? Well, if you deposit $5 Million in a bank where it can use that money to make loans at 4, 6, 8 and even 10- 12% or more if credit cards than it can return the favor by giving ultra low quotes on financing?
I finish the current what ifs with this. The City has for at least eighteen (18), years bought its Health Insurance from Highmark/ Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. Most of those years, it did not even make an effort to bid the Contract out; just an automatic renewal. In 2013, when I began to question this policy, Mr. Thornton made the comment that the City was going to go to a third party to negotiate as it seemed he had not been doing a good job? At the same time, Mr. Rapp became Mayor, and Mrs. Rapp had been hired by Highmark in 2012.
So where has this gone South? City went with Schwendeman as the Insurance Broker. They would go out and get the needed bids from the Insurance Companies such as United, Coventry, Highmark and others. But when the bids came back in, they would begin to "negotiate" with Highmark to get their bid down. In a FOIA, I asked if other Companies were allowed to renegotiate? Answer- NO, just Highmark until it got its bid beneath whomever had been low bidder till than? This has allowed Highmark to land some very, very lucrative contracts with the City during these bidding processes. To me and I admit, that I an not very smart, if it looks like a Duck (sweetheart deal), walks like a Duck (sweetheart deal) and sounds like a Duck (sweetheart deal), than it must be a DUCK?
Now inadvertently, the City gave me the information that I had been trying to get out of them for years. It is wrapped up in the latest Law Suit where the City just dumped about 2 1/2 inches of paper on me in a pile that was supposed to be 2012- 2013, 2013- 2014, 2014- 2015, 2015- 2016 and 2016- 2017 Health Insurance Information? I don't know what I got and have not tried to dig into the pile as I am unsure of what is where? If papers are not dated, it is possible, very possible to get the in the wrong year/ vendor, which would of course affect the other years? City really did some dirty things to me on that FOIA that I will not go into now because of the Law Suit. By the way, I am going to lose that suit as I have the earlier three. Just a bit of a heads up so no one gets surprised. Again, will not go into that any farther as it is still in some sort of progress?
So, I have tried to clear up a concern and probably a legitimate one by a reader. Pointed out some vagaries on how the City/ VUB seems to be doing business with various firms? Now I am not saying or implying that these Companies are not Pillars of the Community/ MOV. I am only questioning how Vienna/ VUB does business with them? 'nuff said'.