Vallejo Independent Bulletin http://ibvallejo.com 2013-05-24T06:53:08+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/images/M_images/rss091.gif text/html 2013-05-24T01:57:08+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1687 Garden tour 2013 with Angelo Angelo loves those posies and to stop and smell the rosies...far nicer than what's in between his toesies! Here are some highlights from this past weekend's Garden Tour!! text/html 2013-05-21T19:37:49+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1686 PB Vote Results Are In! 5/21/13 By PB Vallejo Congratulations Vallejo on drawing the largest voter turnout in a participatory budgeting vote in the U.S. to date! There were so many voters that it’s taken extra time to enter all the email addresses in order to send out this message, so apologies for the delay! In all, 3,917 Vallejo residents turned out to vote for their top projects May 11-18. Below are the vote results. The top 12 projects can be funded with the estimated $3.2 million allocated to PB by City Council. Additional projects may also be funded, pending available public or private resources. The PB Vallejo Steering Committee will submit the public's priorities to City Council for approval at the Council meeting on Tuesday, May 28th, at 7pm. text/html 2013-05-20T15:24:13+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1685 Bennies from Heaven Angelic Perks and Golden Fringies for City Employees By Robert Schussel, Ph.D 5/20/13 Purpose To analyze the cost to Vallejo of the benefits (health insurance, employee assistance program etc) that employees receive. Most of these benefits are available at no cost to City employees. Caveats 1) The cost of benefits are for calendar year 2012. 2) As the number of employees receiving cafeteria plan monies was not provided an estimate of 410 employees was used. 3) The cost of holidays, vacations, and sick leave were not included in these analyses. 4) The General Fund budget was estimated to be approximately $82,000,000. It was based on the average of fiscal years 2011/12 and 2012/13. text/html 2013-05-15T18:49:07+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1684 City of Vallejo National Public Works Week events this weekend: 5/18 -- Volunteer Downtown Cleanup event 9 AM -11 AM corner Sonoma York 5/19 -- Public Works Open House -- 11 AM - 4 PM -- at Corporation Yard 111 Amador St. Water Treatment Plan 202 Fleming Road -- TOURS, FOOD, ACTIVITIES, INFORMATION MORE INFO HERE (docs/public_works_wk_2013.pdf) Participatory Budgeting Vote Concludes Saturday 5/17/13 - Voting Ends Saturday for Vallejo Residents on How to Spend $3 Million in Tax Dollars on Neighborhood Projects; Results Made Public Sunday VALLEJO, Ca. – Voting by residents of Vallejo – 16 years of age and older – on how to spend approximately $3.2 million in tax money on neighborhood projects developed entirely by the Vallejo community concludes Saturday, May 18 at Vallejo Adult school, 2833 Tennessee Street. Residents will have all Saturday – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – to cast their votes. Thousands of people have voted in a week of voting throughout the city. Results will be released at an election night party Sunday, May 19 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Power Company, 415 Virginia Street, Vallejo. 5/15/13 -- Here is a video synopsis of one more PB project: Vallejo Proud will focus on civic education and Vallejo's history. A series of lectures on the history of Vallejo will raise awareness of our many assets for both residents and the rest of the Bay Area. Voting is under way. More info: http://www.pbvallejo.org/ text/html 2013-05-15T16:57:20+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1683 Grand Jury Finds Safety at Vallejo High is a Joke But absolutely NOBODY is LAUGHING 5/15/13 -- 1:50 PM -- A scathing report just released by the Solano County Grand Jury is highly critical of safety practices and the Vallejo High School administration. The final comment at the end of the report summarizes succinctly: The Grand Jury is aware there are socio/economic issues within the City of Vallejo which impact the District's ability to provide a safe environment within its schools. However, the actions of the Vallejo City School Board, Vallejo City Unified School District and Vallejo High School Administration have exacerbated the challenges in effectively managing teacher and student safety within Vallejo High School. Read the full report HERE text/html 2013-05-14T20:44:21+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1682 11:21 PM -- SOLANO 360 SPECIFIC PLAN APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY 5/14/13 -- 11:11 PM -- SOLANO 360 FAIRGROUNDS LOOKS LIKE IT'S HEADED FOR RESOUNDING APPROVAL. Ten Frequently Asked Questions on Solano 360 from City Manager Dan Keen CLICK HERE Solano 360 Plan on tonight's 5/14 council agenda! text/html 2013-05-14T20:12:21+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1681 City Consultant Responds to Solano 360 Gadfly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_gadfly) Levin Vallejo City consultant group Goodwin Consulting has issued a point by point response to comments and analysis of the Solano 360 plan by Dan Levin. READ THE DOCUMENT HERE (/docs/levin_response_5_14_13.pdf) text/html 2013-05-14T14:52:53+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1680 5/14/13 -- The following video regarding the Solano 360 Plan for the Vallejo fairgrounds was submitted by Vallejo resident Dan Levin. The Solano 360 Plan will be before the City Council for a vote at this evenings meeting. Note: All opinions expressed in the Primal Scream column are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Vallejo Independent Bulletin text/html 2013-05-11T02:22:33+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1678 Participatory Budgeting Expo Fifth Installment 5/10/13 -- Here are two more. VOTING STARTS SATURDAY, May 11 Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum Community Outreach and Education Program Latino Portal Project -- Cultural events and festivals plus latino radio programming to help the Spanish speaking community and build bridges with other members of the community Check the PB website for more complete info: http://www.pbvallejo.org/ text/html 2013-05-11T02:02:24+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1677 Norberg Speaks on Solano 360 Plan City doesn't need potential cash drain By Paul Norberg, retired CFO 5/10/13 Letter originally to Vallejo City Council I attended the Planning Commission meeting on 4/29/13 and spoke to the Commission about a number of my concerns with the Solano 360 Plan. As none of my concerns or the concerns brought forward by other members of the public were addressed at the meeting, I am now bringing those concerns to the City Council. Please make this letter a part of the official record of the deliberations on the Solano 360 Plan. I am in favor of an entertainment use for the fairgrounds, but I am very worried about the financial impact on the City of Vallejo. The preliminary city budget for FY 13/14 shows a deficit of $5.5 million before any savings from employee contract negotiations. The Solano 360 plan requires the City of Vallejo to provide police and fire services, street maintenance, landscape maintenance, traffic signal maintenance and bridge maintenance. The just released revenue sharing agreement with the County requires the City to give the County 63% of its revenue for the first 3 years, then 97% in years 4-9, 55% in years 10-30 and then at the end of the project the City will receive 76% of the revenue. The County consultant stated that the revenue is only shared if there is additional revenue, but regardless of the amount of additional revenue the City is responsible for all the services listed above.