There has been a recent dust-up regarding who should appoint the town treasurer.
Author Archives: Greg Raven
Good governance requires transparency (Valles)
Another columnist [Pat Orr] in the Review made the following argument in a recent column: A Town Council sets policy. Period, end of statement. They do not report to the public on financial matters.
What does the Town Council do?
If Pat Orr’s position as the conductor of the Apple Valley Town Council’s amen choir wasn’t secure before, it certainly should be now in light of his attempt to absolve the Town Council of any and all responsibility for the governance of the Town (What does the Town Council Do?,
Daily Press, January 30, 2018).
If Orr is to be believed, the Town Council’s one and only responsibility is to hire a Town Manager. From that point on, they are more or less useless.
Strange that Orr missed the fact that we the electorate don’t vote for the Town Manager. We vote for the members of the Town Council and expect them to represent us in matters affecting the town. When citizens don’t like the way things are being done, we direct our comments and concerns to our elected officials, not unelected bureaucrats over whom we have no control.
Has Orr forgotten the organization chart the Town used to publish in each year’s budget, showing that Town commissions, the Town Manager, and the Town attorney report to the Town Council, with the Town Council reporting to the citizens?
Has Orr forgotten how council members tried to deflect criticism of the defective work product of former Assistant Town Manager Marc Puckett by saying that Puckett was just doing what they told him to do? Or Barb Stanton’s claim that transparency is job one
?
If Orr’s vision is correct, council members would be powerless to object if the Town Manager decided to allow council members to pad their expense reports with charges for personal meals out with friends, or gave everyone at Town Hall a raise.
Balderdash.
If the Town Council isn’t representing the citizens of Apple Valley as Orr implies, it’s time for them to go.
Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA
Inessential vs. essential
Let’s look at recent projects undertaken by the Town of Apple Valley: The Yucca Loma Bridge, purchase of the Hilltop House, running a mile or so of unusable purple water line, extending the otherwise neglected Bear Valley bike path by a few feet, paving the Mojave River walking path, micro-surfacing select roadways to make them look better for a few weeks, and retrofitting town parks with rubber pellets that even the Town claims create health and environmental hazards
and are a fire hazard […] contaminating the surface and groundwater.
Puckett’s dismissal just what the town needed (Valles)
Tin cup men (Valles)
By Angela Valles
Isn’t it funny how many so-called businessmen who run for office claiming to be fiscal conservatives turn into tin cup jangling paupers begging the taxpayers for higher taxes?
Town Hall position not a factor in Puckett’s custody status, attorney says
RANCHO CUCAMONGA — The attorney for Marc Puckett, while fielding questions related to a court ruling that kept the Apple Valley finance director out of custody, said his client’s standing in Town Hall did not provide the defense a leg up
in successfully motioning for the decision.
I-15 crash victim seeks $2M in damages from Apple Valley
APPLE VALLEY — The victim of a July crash on Interstate 15 that was first reported by the Daily Press and resulted in a felony hit-and-run charge against Apple Valley’s finance director is seeking millions in damages from the town, according to a claim filed by her attorney.
Apple Valley Finance Director Marc Puckett pleads not guilty to felony hit-and-run charge
RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Marc Puckett, the Apple Valley finance director who has been on paid administrative leave from his Town Hall position since Dec. 7, has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge filed against him earlier this month, San Bernardino County court records show.
Apple Valley mayor responds to Puckett controversy
APPLE VALLEY — In response to a Daily Press inquiry sent Friday morning, the town and its mayor responded to the felony charge filed earlier this week against Assistant Town Manager Marc Puckett, as well as to public concern over his requested leave from work with pay.
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