Summary: Supreme Court Case

Once everyone who wished to speak had a say, it was time to talk go through the consent calendar. A few of the consents were easily passed with unanimous consent, but one council member, Christopher Armenta, and the vice mayor, Gary Silbiger, had issues with C-5. On the calendar, this agenda item reads as the following, “Approval of Professional Services Agreements with Associated Soils Engineering, Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., and Zeiser-Kling Consultants for Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Services.” Councilman Armenta was worried that the council would not have any oversight over the process of awarding geotechnical service agreements to particular firms, and that the amounts given to a particular firm could wind up being an exorbitant amount of money. Vice mayor Silbiger had similar fears.

Bell, a city of 35,000 people, has remained to be the greatest scandal in California. For a long time, the manager of Bell City Robert Rizzo and the people he was working with exploited the governance systems and the finances of the city (McGrath 122). They used vast sums of money to pay their salaries. They also transformed the development agency of the town into a piggy bank, from where they borrowed funds in an improper way, deposited money in retirement accounts that was illegal, purchased property without accounting in and documents, approved fees and taxes that were illegal and found out a way of exempting themselves from state law. Court documents provide evidence to show that indeed, those people committed the crime of corruption.

In 2003 at a private retirement party in Oklahoma City, OK, a state senator approached the homeowner with the intention of purchasing her property. With a modest salary of less then $50,000, this state senator was in a limited position to purchase a $475,000 home situated on prime political real estate given its proximity to the state’s capitol. Fortunately for this senator, he did not have to come up with the funds for the home on his own. Public records indicated that the home was registered to a company run by the senator’s former business partner, Kenneth Wagner, and financed by a bank managed by a former associate of his, Albert Kelly (Eder 2018). This ex-state senator is named Scott Pruitt and his generous friends Wagner and Kelly now hold top aide positions under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Understanding the connections between Pruitt’s past and present such as this will help explain his arguably questionable actions as head of the EPA.

Every Houston city worker who works hard and play by the standards deserves a impartial and protected retirement. Yet the city administration has mess-up Houston’s pension systems for years, leaving them underfunded and on unstable ground. Political leaders have cut corners on pension payments, used dicey investment return assumptions, and disregard the warning signs

Transparency in leadership practices is important due to the increase in corruption amongst governmental official. An incident in which recently took place with Mayor Bowser includes her new plans to shut down a previous homeless shelter at DC General within a certain timeline. Individuals would then transfer to new housing in which Mayor Bowser found private property in which the city would pay for this transitional housing from its budget. Council members became suspicious when Mayor Bowser would not discuss how the property and zoning permits were acquired, but the private owners of the property were known as large contributors to her campaign. These types of practices cause suspicion and speculation of leaders, especially in a city which deems such a corrupt history from Mayor Barry and Mayor Fenty. According to Arzumanyan, leadership requires “publicity and openness of the leader and his or her team” (Arzumanyan, 2016). Within transparency and openness of the political agenda of members of the DC Counsel, there will be a regained sense of trust amongst citizens and officials.

I sincerely doubt if he has ever submitted a “Request for Proposal” in contract bidding and the mandated requirements for personnel services contracts. This mandated increase in minimum wages was entirely for show and in effect impacted only those HUB Zone and other minority businesses who sought out government contracts while employing low skill level (custodial, cashiers, etc.…) contracts. It is required by law to provide a variety of health, leave (annual and sick) under law (Reg. 29 CFR 4.173) often referred to as “fringe

Quite easily the city council could have let the citizens in the community vote on this topic of decision. The council also could have had a backup plan just in case this disaster would occur, which it actually did. There are so many ways this situation could have been handled, yet no precautions took place. The Flint water crisis was a tragedy felt by hundreds of thousands and will affect some for the rest of their lives. A simple plan to conserve money, has now caused an economic crisis. Ten citizens have lost their lives due to a disease linked to the toxic water. Other citizens are left stranded without water, some now infected with lead poisoning. The time of the government rebuilding trust and a relationship with their citizens is unforeseeable in the near

As a public administrator, I learned the importance of showing people that you are serving that you care. For example, when the Vice Mayor took his time greet everyone that came for the meeting, it showed me that he was a career leader. Other commissioners were already at their seats. Also, I learned that it is important to do what you think it is important for the people that you are serving. For example, Commissioner Landman did not vote “yes” because she did not have enough time to review the proposal presented. I really admired this decision. I believe it is important to fully know the pros/cons of a proposal because voting on it, especially when you are a public servant. This goes along with what author Jered B. Carr (2015) mention about the responsibility of a public official, “Responsibility to the entire council is an essential characteristic of the council-manager form and helps to ensure both transparency and a focus on the public interest rather than the political interests of a single elected official,” (p. 674). Furthermore, I learned that it is important to recognize employees who are committed to their work. By giving awarding the employees during the meeting, I believe that their PSM will

Within this department, one of the barriers that currently exist is “the enemy is out there” (Senge, 2006). When a customer brings a design plan to the office, it takes several weeks for the City to review it. Often the blame is placed on the receiving employee because of the length of time it takes to review and approve the design. What is not considered is the time it takes to review local code and other ordnance. The planning director has given strict timelines to adhere to in an effort to expedite all plan reviews. The director places the blame on the employee when he or she does not meet the timeframe. The employee in turn put it back on the director. No one takes

The ethical issues that were identified in the case study of Guerrilla Government in EPA’s Seattle Regional Office were cumbersome. The first of many to create unethical situations was the administrator of EPA’s Seattle regional office in 1981, John Spencer. His staff remembers his tenure for all the unethical actions he took such as using tax payer’s money to buy a membership for the EPA in the Chamber of Commerce (O’Leary, 2014 p. 48). His actions continued even after numerous attempts to advise him that his actions were against federal guidelines and caused serious conflict of interest questions. He also allegedly took several personal trips to Alaska to handle

I asked Mr. Gary how often the City Council overrules his proposals. Ashworth (2001: 91) states that his board overrules him at least four times a year and sometimes more. Furthermore, Ashworth (2001: 92) points out that at meetings he has influence, but sometimes he is overruled, instructed, given assignments, and his ideas get modified. I based my question on Ashworth’s statement where he stated that we should maintain relations with the governing board. My question was also based on Mr. Gary’s discussion on his relationship with the City Council. Based on his relations with the City Council, I wanted to know whether his proposals were ever overruled by his City Council as

Frasier Meadows did not follow Federal procurement standards in awarding $10.1 million for ten contracts—$8.1 million for non-exigent work and $2.0 million for exigent work. As a result, (1) open and free competition did not occur and FEMA has no assurance that costs claimed were reasonable; (2) small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women’s enterprises did not receive sufficient opportunity to compete for federally-funded work; (3) the risk of misinterpretations or errors in pricing relative to scopes of work and contract disputes increased; and (4) the government was not protected from doing business with individuals or companies who may pose a risk.

light pollution laws, U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977, and the bidding process for large projects (such as public arenas or civic centers) are heavily influenced politically.

Everybody knows what’s going on here and the local consultant is using most of the money to bribe public officials so your firm can get the work. Your firm doesn’t bribe anybody. Well sort of…

Sometimes the very qualities that make a leader successful in one situation can impede his ability to rationally handle other situations. Understanding the reasoning behind why certain people make certain decisions in certain situations will never be “cut and dry” because when viewed through a psychological viewpoint, knowing the humanistic characteristics affecting decision making is important in getting a clearer picture. Personally, I would have asked for counsel from the closest of my working city officials and even someone higher up whom I knew and trusted. I am not expected, as a human being, to have all the answers but I can make rational choices given the possible outcomes.