A Decision is Made...Part II

Piqua City Commission reverses a decision made last week. Again, by a 3-2 vote.

Watching last night’s Piqua City Commission meeting, I coudn’t help of remember an episode of the long running sit-com, The Office. In one of the more darker episodes of the series, Michael Scott gets in to a heated disagreement with his girl-friend Jan, as they are hosting a dinner party at his all-to-small condominimum.

In the disagreement, Michael relayed to Jan how he had a delicate procedure done, only to have the procedure reveresed, only to have the procedure done again — snip, snap, snip, snap, snip, snap.

Back to reality. Last week, the Piqua City Commission, after months of study and work, voted down a resolution that would have outsources the city’s santiation service to an outside vendor by a close 3-2 vote. Last night, the Piqua City Commission reversed the decision by another close 3-2 vote.

Honestly, having the decision come back is suspect. Decisions made by the governing board are decisions that need to be respected and all legitimate efforts needs to be made to work within the decisions made by the Commission. Simply creating a “crisis plan” and working to undermine the Commission’s decision is not the hallmark of good governance. This move simply opens up more opportunities to have items that were voted down by the commission one week, to be brought up again for reconsideration.

And who exactly gets to decide what future matters are reconsidered or not? Can it be an individual member of the Commission? Is it strictly with the City Manager? That part of this novel process needs to be fully explained to residents. Are things only up for reconsideration if a “crisis plan” is created? Residents deserve answers.

While the financial implications of the decision, make the most sense from a fiscal point of view, the decision-making process regarding sanitation services raises serious concerns about the administration's commitment to transparency, civic engagement, and their fiduciary duties to the citizens they serve. The hasty reversal of the initial decision to reject the Rumpke contract, coupled with the sudden emergence of a "crisis plan," suggests a troubling lack of foresight and potentially manipulative tactics by city staff.

The administration's exploration of alternatives to in-house sanitation services since 2021 appears to have been conducted with insufficient public input and transparency. While the city cited challenges such as staffing difficulties and rising costs, there is little evidence of proactive measures taken to address these issues before proposing outsourcing. This failure to act earlier demonstrates a potential breach of the duty of care, as city officials should have been diligently working to resolve these problems in real-time, rather than allowing them to escalate to a crisis point.

Perhaps most fascinating was the creation of a "crisis plan" after the initial rejection of the Rumpke contract; it is a move that is particularly alarming. In effect, the city admnistration is telling the community, “When the Commission votes in a manner that is inconsistent with our wishes, it is a crisis.”

This plan, which proposes drastic measures such as reduced service frequency and cessation of cart replacements, seems designed to paint a dire picture of in-house services rather than offering genuine solutions. This approach raises questions about the administration's duty of loyalty to the citizens of Piqua, as it appears to prioritize pushing through the outsourcing decision over exploring all viable options for maintaining and improving city-run services.

One needs no more evidence to this point than last night’s meeting. On the agenda were three pieces of legislation, a rate increase, the out-sourcing contract and the exploration of an “open vendor” system where homeowners would be responsible for their own trash hauling. The rate increase was given a first reading, as with most ordinances. But once the out-sourcing contract was approved, the “open vendor” resolution was immediately withdrawn by the city administration. In other words, what on paper looked like three options, was really only one, once the contract was approved.

Furthermore, there appeared to be a revelation that the city had been holding vacancies in other departments in anticipation of outsourcing to allow those santiation employees, covered by union contracts, to retain employment. This practice not only potentially compromised other city services but also demonstrates a lack of good faith in following proper governance procedures.

The rapid turnaround from rejecting the Rumpke contract to accepting it, with the crisis plan as an intermediary step, suggests a concerning level of manipulation in the decision-making process. This approach undermines the principles of transparent governance and civic engagement, leaving citizens rightfully questioning whether their interests were truly considered in this process.

The citizens of Piqua deserve a local government that operates with utmost transparency, actively seeks public input, while upholding its fiduciary duties. Only through these measures can the city administration begin to rebuild trust and ensure that future decisions truly reflect the best interests of the community.

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