This should have happened three years ago. If it had, we would not have been in the financial and legal mess we are today. At least there should now be a reduction of over 65,000 to the water department.
At the Oct. Board meeting, Bill Neal threw Gil Gonzalez and the General Manager under the bus by remarking as to the qualifications they have for their present positions as well as replacing him.
The Board should have seen this coming and had a plan in place for a transition. In it's usual mode, this Board continually just fights fires. They now find themselves between a rock and a hard place.
And who pays for this mess? You got it, you and I.
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| Bill Neal |
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26 comments:
So where is the savings? The water department budget is up, a lot?
This means Bill Neal is gone, right?
Heads need to roll. His is a good one to roll. Bye bye Bill Neal.
The Water Dept. Budget is increasing by about 3.5 % - so not much . What is obvious is, there is no money budgeted for the Carbon Filter Plant, which requires carbon replacement for both vessels about every 6 to 8 months at an annual cost of about $68,000.
I don't think Mr. Reber has a clue what Bill Neal does, and isn't able to cope with managing the Office. Hiring employees is not a simple process, but specific skills need to be delivered in the operation of a large community with numerous public facilities to maintain and staff. Those who do not have the proper skills need to be replaced.
We have no particular reason to be allied with North Beach.
Neal made some major blunders on the asbestos issue, but is very knowledgeable on running the Water Dept. facilities. April is probably the most qualified person to manage the Dept.
Neal said that April is not qualified. He said that Gil was not qualified to hold the position he has. He said that Gil was replacing pipe on the wrong side of a street until he stopped him.
They should ban Neal from any Surfside property now and deny him access to any Surfside information on the computer system. Write him his final check and make it clear he is not welcome.
This is one time when they should be consulting an attorney. From his remarks at the board meeting, he has turned against the water works department and it's employees. He is not an honest person and never was. BEWARE of him.
If Neal is not an honest person, how much merit does his opinion of April and Gil have ? We don't know if he is getting fired from N. Beach, but we can assume that his screw-ups w/ asbestos handling will not work in his favor when looking for new employment, when the time comes. I don't see dishonesty being his M.O.. At any rate, the BOT doesn't seem to have a handle on staffing at this point.
If we knew who you are, we would have some clue as to the accuracy of your comments.
I fully agree 10/21 1:52 AM.
It's too bad some people think just because of who someone is they can't be accurate.
You never said anything about an M.O.
So Mr. Reber.
What is your recommendation?
What is your action/motion?
What date will the contract be terminated?
Why do you bang on Mr. Reber when we all know where the real problem is - the Board. Nothing useful is going to happen until this dysfunctional self-interested band is abolished.
Well 9:09, if you would have attended the meeting as I you would have known that what 1:52 said was accurate. Neal did throw Gil and April under the bus, which I found to be quite rude considering Gil was not in attendance. It would have been better if he would have shared his views with the board only via closed session or email. I also agree it was time for him to go. In the past I have caught him talking out of both sides of his mouth on more than one occasion.
One good thing though about him being at the meeting. he called out Reber when he was talking about how he could take over and will be getting certified, which he isn't. It was pretty obvious to the board those in attendance that he is in over his head.
Of course Uncle Tom can't answer that, he only reports to his BOT masters.
10:50 - No one mentioned that Neal was AT the meeting. My point is, if Neal is being maligned by N. Beach, and maybe dismissed, he like anyone else, may be feeling defensive and angry. I think people overlook what a smart person April is. I would tend to think she would be very capable if she wanted the job. If she needs further credentials, we could help that happen. Reber is not the man for the job.
I don't know Gil at all, though he hasn't been very communicative when he has come to our home on G St. We had a phantom leak that was hard to verify and locate. There was a huge amount of water being wasted, and no evidence of it except at the meter. April helped us narrow it down. She has been very helpful on a couple of occasions.
Oh, so sorry 1:25.
I mistakenly thought you had read ALL of 1:52's comment before responding and before questioning his/her accuracy. Specifically the following, "From his remarks at the board meeting".
You also must have overlooked the topic headed from George as well. Specifically the following, "At the Oct. Board meeting, Bill Neal threw Gil Gonzalez and the General Manager under the bus".
Maybe you should work on your attention to detail BEFORE questions other peoples accuracy.
Great to see change happening, although it brings some anxiety about the devil you know versus the devil you don't know - yet.
Neal would be motivated to throw folks under the bus and present himself as the next manager employee of Surfside- having been dismissed at NBWD - dream on.
All of this sounds as if none of you were at the meeting. Was anyone actually at the meeting where all of this conversation took place?
Yes, very true 10/21 2:51 PM.
There is no reason to go to the meetings. They will rip the microphone or floor from you once you start speaking truth or challenging the incompetence of the board.
10:50 - You're right, I did overlook those remarks, and Bill attended the meeting. My comments do not question what occurred, but that Bill is in a difficult spot, and most people react the same way he has in this situation. While not very nice, his comments about April and Gil may reflect his honest opinion. I definitely agree with his remarks about Reber, who was hired as both an Office Manager AND a Water Manager. I'm not sure he can manage the Office, let alone the Water Dept.. But my opinion and others expressed here are just opinions.
Bill has been good about attending both Water Dept. Comm. meetings and BOT Meetings, always open to answer member questions. I don't know of anything he has lied about. He corrected Clancy at the Annual Meeting, pointing out that the permitting had been rejected by the County shortly after Clancy's last term ended. Then the meeting was abruptly ended.
I was not at the board meeting and I did not hear what Bill Neil said about Gil or April but I will say this about Bill Neil, he is an honest man. I do not know what he said about Gil or April at the last board meeting but I have heard him speak highly of Gil and April and the entire crew many times. I know the wages we pay our crew are much higher due to his efforts and if he had his way they would be higher still. He may have made mistakes that cost Surfside some money but he also did a lot of good things that benefited Surfside financially as well. His time managing our water system is done. There is probably no one happier about that than Bill. I don’t know Tom very well but he should have an opportunity to succeed or fail before we through him on the trash heap.
Do we know Bill is being dismissed or fired from North Beach? I heard he was retiring. Does somebody know what is really happening?
I have a feeling we are in for some lost times with the water department now that Bill is gone.
I just sent an email to one of the NBWD commissioners asking if he has been fired.
It sounds like Mr. Reber does not have the proper credentials to take over as Water manager, so if she feels she can handle it, ask April to serve as the interim manager.
Why have interim manager when certain bot members have always had ultimate control, april n gil have seen that enough to take a pass on that. Bot says they hired a competent manager, let him prove it, n cost us more money. Seems the trend.
Anybody see a pattern here?
We are circling the drain faster and faster. The only thing this Board will bring is more autocracy and prejudice, in addition to the legal bills.
Voluntary Dissolution
What is a voluntary dissolution?
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