Remarks by Ted Gambogi
36 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 2
How many years have we been losing money at this?
I can't read the screen, so you'll have to tell me.
Last year? Yes. You said 2025? Yeah, fiscal year 2025. And how much did we lose?
Deficit of 1.3 roughly? Yes, 1.283. I don't want to leave the impression that with the new rates that we're making money, we've already lost 1.3 million at this. So this, to me, is getting to the point where we break even. And I think it's important for... I want you people online and in the audience to know that what you're seeing is a lot of micromanaging. These people know how to collect trash. So our job is to help them do a better job, not to tell them how to do their job.
Madam Mayor, I move to approve ordinance number 2026-1959 and resolution 2026-2000. Second. Please vote.
I just want to present a caution. Cardinal LaBarge has talked to this. Ken Fittick's talked to this. We seem to have this crutch where instead of solving the problem with common sense, we go out and hire a consultant. And our track record is not very good. The consultant we hired on workforce housing, in my humble opinion, was an abysmal failure. Same goes with the guy that we hired for the general plan. I think this is a simple matter of breaking even. every year and adjust the rates accordingly. Given the rates you've shown me from the communities down south, even when we raise the rates,…
Madam Mayor, I move to not approve city contract 2027-052. No second. Motion fails.
I move to approve city contract number 2024-204A2. Second. Second.
I now have a comment because you brought up a point that I think we need to understand. They're not going into construction. They're just doing design. Right. So your contention is, if I understand it correctly, if they give us a bad design and we don't fix the pipes, then they only have $3 million insurance. Now my question to our city attorney is, during the construction phase, There's, because of design, there's a failure. Do they apply the insurance for the design section or do they apply the insurance for the construction section?
So I would caution against postponing this vote today.
For my good friend Carter Labarge. The Phoenix contractor put those affluent lines in, Fann didn't. And I've got to confess, I can't convince this council not to try to design a horse and make it look like a camel. You're micromanaging again, so I'm good with delaying it till you're happy. So let's finish this up.