The Semi-Annual Report Card: How Does Kennesaw Rank?

It’s been a little over six months since we rated Kennesaw on a transparency scale.  See Defining & Ranking Transparency.  We, and others, have brought many deficiencies to the attention of the city of Kennesaw administration regarding the requirements of Georgia’s Open Records Laws.  Repeatedly, Mayor Mark Mathews and other members of the council have openly stated that Kennesaw is “very transparent” in a number of public venues.  Other sources providing comments related to transparency.   Most often these comments have been statements made defending low employee morale,  open records violations,  or other types of issues brought into the open by citizens or current employees.

The city of Kennesaw was trained on the new Open Records Act and the changes that were made.  They were encouraged to have a dedicated person to respond to open record requests.  They were trained to put up agendas and minutes within specified time frames for each board and committee.  At the time of our previous report, Kennesaw had achieved a mediocre rating at best.  Let’s see if they have improved.

“A transparency checklist is a list of website transparency features that citizens in any part of the United States should be able to find when they visit the websites of counties, cities, school districts, and state agencies.”  http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Transparency_Checklist

Here are the things that should be prominently displayed on the Kennesaw website in order to score highly on the transparency checklist:

Budget

The city website should include detailed budget information including

• The budget for the current fiscal year should be posted online.
• Budgets for previous years should be posted online.
• It should be very easy for people to find this information when they visit the website. This means that prominent navigational features enabling someone to locate the budget should be included on the homepage of the website.
• The city’s checkbook register should be posted online. This information provided should include:

1. The amount of each payment
2. Date
3. Check number
4. To whom the payment was made (including the address)
5. Scan of Invoice or Purchase Order or Check Request (this often provides significant drilldown detail including who approved it)
6. What it was for
7. Budgetary authority for the expenditure
8. Functional expenditure category
9. Sources of funds
10. Links to the relevant contracts under which the payment was made

Rationale: Budgets show the big picture of what goals and priorities the government established for the year.  Budgets details also serve as a way for taxpayers to determine how the government performed in relation to past years.  This is all taxpayer money.  It’s essential that taxpayers see how the government is spending in relation to the overall budget.

While the city does have the checkbook register posted, there is no detailed information listed, including purchase orders or check requests.  There were past budgets found and they were easy to read.  They were a bit hard to locate.  They were not located on the home page and the Search tool on the Home page did not locate them either.  It took 7 minutes to locate them as they were in another department.

City government meetings/agendas

The city’s website should disclose all city government meetings and agendas.

• Time of meeting.
• Place of meeting.
• Agendas for all meetings that fall under rules about open meetings (which should be 99% of any government meetings);
• Whether the meeting is open or closed.
• Whether public input is allowed at the meeting and, if so, what the rules are that govern public input.
• Minutes of meetings should be recorded and posted online.
• Text of Real-Time-Captioning if created as part of the video or audio stream

Rationale: Meetings are one of the few ways the public can engage in true dialogue with council. Given the reality of busy schedules, governments should offer an alternative to meeting attendance by posting meetings, agendas, locations and minutes on their website.  Given the invent of technology, governments should also consider online meetings or other unique ways to connect with their constituents.

Complete

There was a public meeting schedule posted and easy to locate.  There was a calendar right off the front of the website with meetings listed.  On a Boards and Commissions page, there were Minutes listed for the last meeting held.

Elected officials and elections

The city’s website should disclose key information about the city’s elected officials.

• Their names.
• Contact information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
• Terms of office and date of next election.
• Any financial disclosures and conflict-of-interest statements that the city requires of its elected officials should be posted online.
• Their Committee appointments.

Incomplete

No mention of any financial disclosures or conflict of interest statements were listed.  There were no committee appointments that we found.  In light of recent ethics charges being filed against at least one of the officials, there should have been some notice on this site about that information.  This is key to transparency.  We wrote about this with Mayor Mathews and with Councilwoman Welsh both of whom had statements made.  One who waited until it was out in the public to come clean and the other who attempted to appear pro-active to head off her own ethics violation charges.  Any elected official should have this type of information listed on their page on the website.

Administrative officials

The city’s website should disclose key information about the city’s appointed administrators:

• Their names and titles.
• Contact information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

Complete

All contact information was easy to locate.

Audits (Financial/Performance)

City conducts financial and management audits to ensure that it is operating in accordance with the highest standards of financial and management competence and integrity:

• Copies of performance and financial audits should be posted on the city’s website.
• Routine financial audits should be posted online.
• Evaluations of the performance of any specific agencies or commissions should be posted online.

Incomplete

We could find no audits listed online.

Contracts

The city’s website should provide comprehensive information about the contracts it enters into with vendors.

• The rules the city must abide by when it enters into contracts with outside vendors should be posted on the city’s website.
• When the city enters into a bidding process for larger contracts, the request for bids should be posted on the city’s website.
• Publicly available information about the bids the city receives should be posted online, keyed to the request for bids the city has previously published.
• Specific contracts the city enters into with outside vendors for any amount over $10,000 should be posted online.
• If elected officials of the city have received campaign contributions from any vendors who sell services to the city, this information should be posted on the city’s website.

Incomplete

We found no language at all about bids or contracts.

Lobbying/advocacy

• If the city enters into a contract with a lobbyist or lobbying firm, full details of this arrangement must be posted on the city’s website, including the name of the lobbyist or lobbying firm, the amount paid to the lobbyist or firm, and the legislation that the lobbyist is advocating for on the taxpayer’s dime.
• If the city pays dues to belong to any lobbying associations, full details of these arrangements should be included on the city’s website, including the name of the association, the amount paid in dues, and an identification of what positions that lobbying association is taking with the money it has received from the city’s taxpayers via the dues paid to it by the city.
• If the city gives grants to non-profit organizations, these grants should be disclosed on the city’s website with a reason for the grant and information about who in the non-profit organization is responsible for oversight and administration of the funds it has received from the city’s taxpayers via a grant from the city.

Incomplete – We are unable to locate anything about this.

Online Applications

Building permits and zoning: At the very least applications should be available to be downloaded online. In addition, constituents should be able to submit applications and track the process online.

Rationale: Almost all government application processes are already digitalized. By facilitating the process online government should cut down on cost and time barriers as well as improving communication and service to their constituents.

How To Access to government records and public documents

The city website should include comprehensive information about how citizens can obtain access to  public records in the custody of the city.

• When a citizen wants to file an open records request, which employee of the city handles those requests?
• What is that employee’s contact information?
• The city website should provide this information in a very easy-to-locate position on their website.
• The city website should lay out the procedure for a citizen to follow who wants access to public records.
• The information should be user-friendly.

Complete

We found this information readily available and easy to use.  The website even contained a helpful Open Records Request Form, and it has been updated to contain the latest changes in the law.

Summary

The transparency level for the Kennesaw website is an Incomplete, however it has improved.  The improvement was also in a key area.  Some of the items on the list are less important than others but those under the heading of City Government Meetings and Agendas are mandatory by law and must be posted to be in compliance with Open Records & Open Meetings Laws.  Because of this compliance, we would rate them about a B-.  

What would it take for them to earn and A? Let’s look at an A site from our area.  Cobb County earned an award for their transparency using the same checklist.  As you can see, they provided much of the same information but in a more detailed manner.

We are making some progress, Kennesaw!  Stay involved!  You CAN make a difference!

City government is very different than the corporate world.  The things that go on in the public arena, wouldn’t usually take place on such a large scale because corporate leaders are all about profit and loss.  Revenue is “king” and when the quarterly budgets are not met, situations change drastically, starting from the top.  That’s not to say that there are no problems in corporate America.  We have seen Enron, and numerous others catch the attention of the American public. That being said, however, government leaders still tend to be very different than their counterparts in the mainstream corporate world.  Corporate America is all about the dollar while the public sector tends to be more about personal agendas and ego.

In the corporate world, especially where large funds are involved, senior management provides mentoring and training programs for new and existing employees.  This is because corporations equate everything, including new hires to financial considerations.  Corporations understand that employee morale and turnover is of a financial detriment to a business.  In contrast, government employees typically receive little to no training, sometimes being thrown into their job with high expectations that are not included,  or explained, in their job duties.  In government, training and communication are much lower on the priority list, although they may be deemed critical by employees themselves.  Governments fail to realize that high turnover is costly for an organization and usually indicates an underlying issue from top management.

Of course, to repair a problem means someone has to admit there is a problem.  At the corporate level, there are generally more eyes looking over the numbers who have some authority to make suggestions that will be heard.  In corporate, if lawsuits abound and enough profits are lost, the top person is held accountable and changes are made.  In corporate world, a CEO will take the fall if enough bad decisions are made on his watch.

Contrast that with government, where alliances are built, promises are made and regardless of the failure rate, top leadership continues to be promised a position.  In the public sector, only the taxpayers have a say and they must say that with a vote.  Because they are only able to vote for those who are elected, the real leaders in the government are “untouchable” and can exist for years and years, utterly destroying a community, in spite of unhappy voters.  Community development can become stagnant, communication can falter and trust can be broken completely.

While writing this, we looked back at our previous articles, emails and conversations and came up with a list of the ways that our taxpayers would like to see our city leaders conduct themselves.  This list is by no means complete.  It also does not apply to everyone in government at the city of Kennesaw.  We want to note that there are some good leaders at the department level.  However, over the last few years, some of the elected officials and city managers have done a few things that have called attention to themselves that make Kennesaw look like we do not abide by any of our own ordinances.  Here are a few of the items that should be followed:

• City leaders should pay attention during public meetings rather than playing with their phones and electronic devices.  This includes texting one another during council meetings, especially if one has recused themselves from the discussion.  Regardless of who they are texting, it raises questions among other council members and the public as to who they are communicating with during the time out of the discussions.
• City leaders should be on time to ALL of their city meetings.  They should remember that this is a job and we, the taxpayers, are paying them for their attendance.
• Speaking of attendance, elected officials, should not spend all of their time around city hall.  The employees who have been hired to work in the official city buildings have a lot of work to conduct.  They do not have time to be distracted.  Each council person should visit when he/she has a meeting appointment and should not make employees feel obligated to entertain them while they are unemployed.
• While it is understandable that leaders will not always agree and may even dislike one another, public squabbles and asking citizens or businesses to post public comments against another official is unacceptable.  It is also unacceptable to ask or encourage others to file ethics charges against another official.  If there are ethics issues, the council member can certainly make a citizen aware of the ethics procedure but to stay involved and continue to “stoke the fire” is unprofessional.
• Elected officials should stand behind their words.  When elected officials speak to taxpayers at functions about how unhappy they are with city leadership, they should be willing to state that “on the record” at a public meeting, rather than playing political games.  By doing this, they expose the details of the city’s problems to those who should not be privy.  They also show that they are willing to talk about the problems but not willing to actually do anything about a change.  This leaves the leadership problems in place for others to have to deal with later and exposes the city and the employees to more problems. They should stop worrying about their own agendas and do what is right for the city.
• When elected officials or city leadership are aware that procedures or ordinances or code is being violated, they are obligated to step up and bring that out.  If a bid process was done incorrectly, and city leadership becomes aware of the situation, they should have the integrity and honesty to correct the issue.  Bids involve city taxpayer dollars and should be looked at very carefully if there are problems.
• City leaders, all city leaders, should adhere to the city policies they set and lead by example.  Leaders will have no respect from their staff if they set policies that they are not willing to follow themselves.  To create city contracts for specific personnel so that they no longer are bound by the city personnel policies simply looks to taxpayers like some individuals consider themselves to be above the city ordinances.
• In conjunction with the city policy, city leaders should NOT use their positions for personal gain.  Being a council member or city manager does NOT entitle a person to free meals, golf outings,  or trips.  Asking for or expecting these types of benefits places an undue hardship on these businesses in a difficult economy.  Not only does this affect the business, this type of behavior is unbecoming for a leader.  If it would not be tolerated by city employees, it should not be allowed by anyone else.
• City leaders need their employees to run the day to day operations.  Rather than walking by them in the hallways and not speaking to them, they should treat them with respect.  Each employee is worthy of a smile, and a greeting.
• City leaders spend a lot of time in and out of city establishments.  When speaking to businesses, leaders should speak with only truthful statements and should mean what they say and back it up.  Rather than making superfluous statements that they think sound like what someone wants to hear, they should seek the truth and force some changes if it’s time for that.  This will bring about a true openness and transparency with employees, taxpayers, businesses, residents, and anyone else they come into contact with, rather than providing idle talk.

We have a lot of wonderful things in this city.  The leaders have asked for years for the taxpayers to get involved.  Taxpayers are more in tune than ever to what’s going on in Kennesaw.    It’s time for leadership to embrace this new involvement with honesty, true communication and leadership.

Stay Involved, Kennesaw – The Difference is Yours!

- by Beverly England

The Central Business District (CBD) in the city of Kennesaw is an area defined by specified boundaries as depicted on the city map below. 

Central Business District Map
zoning_cbd_ap.pdf

Author:	City of Kennesaw
Category:	Kennesaw Files
Date:	September 2, 2012

232.7 KiB
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Section 4.02.03 – Site Design Standards for the Central Business District of the City of Kennesaw Ordinance states:

The Central Business District (CBD) is established in order to preserve and protect the cultural and historic aspects of downtown Kennesaw and simultaneously provide for the stimulation and enhancement of the vitality and economic growth of this special area.

The classification is primarily intended for a focal point for upscale retail trade, tourism, and financial and public uses. The intent of the Central Business District (CBD) is to develop a compact core to encourage and facilitate pedestrian movement and provide convenient access to the amenities of Historic Downtown Kennesaw.

Businesses located within the confines of the Central Business District (CBD) are limited to specific types of uses per the city’s ordinance.  Any exceptions to those types of businesses are considered Special Exceptions and must be approved as laid out in Section 4.04.01.

4.04.01 – Special Exception Uses

A. Those uses which, with the proper scrutiny and conditions, may be appropriately located within certain specified zoning districts.

B. Authorization. The Zoning Administrator or his designee shall issue a certificate of special exception to an applicant when the conditions relating to the special exception uses listed herein are met.

Some types of businesses are allowed in other zoning areas but restricted in the CBD.  Funeral homes are one such type of business.

Funeral homes are allowed in a number of areas within the city, however, they are not allowed within the CBD.  So, why are city officials reviewing and considering an idea to allow “Georgia Funeral Care and Cremation” into not only the CBD but the Historic area of Kennesaw as well?

The plan calls for an “Affordable style funeral home providing lower cost funerals and cremation with services in the Church or Graveside”.  The home is to be located at 2721 Summers Street, right in the heart of downtown, immediately across from Brothers Pizza.  Their plan states the following:

Georgia Funeral Care and Cremation is an affordable cremation and funeral service provider that we hope to locate in the CBD of Kennesaw.  Georgia Funeral Care is not a typical funeral home, but a provider of death-care services at a lower cost to the community.  Most of our services will be conducted at a family’s church or local cemetery, alleviating the need for a large chapel.  In fact, our plan is to rarely conduct services at our facility, or at least regulate them to a small gathering.  (20 people or less).

Georgia law requires that any funeral providers must provide a room with at least 30 chairs to act as a chapel, whether they use it or not.

Georgia Funeral Care and Cremation will offer services in the $4500 range and will include the following:  professional service charge, transportation of deceased, embalming, etc., casket, funeral or graveside service with up to 2 hours of viewing or visitation all conducted, in most cases, at the family’s church or graveside.  They will also offer low cost cremation services starting at $795.

Should the city provide an exception for this type of business to move into the CBD and Historic area in downtown Kennesaw?