City manager right to question operations
To the editor:
The following letter has been submitted to Cape Coral City Council members:
I watched Pavlos tonight and could not believe what I heard. He talked about how on top of everything he and the others were.
Take a minute and go look at the minutes from the june 7, 2010 , item 1f on consent agenda. They wanted to replace a wheel loader used on the pepper tree project. Steve Neff talked about what HEAVY USE this equipment experienced. It had 5000 hours on it in 10 years. That’s 10 hours a week. I’m sure the construction expert on council, Mr. McClain, knows that 10 hours a week is not heavy use. And he knows that a diesel engine is barely broken in at 5000 hours. It seems that he is more interested in giving the city manager a hard time than he is in analyzing what is really going on in Public Works. This same machine was supposed to have had huge amounts spent on maintenance but when I went to fleet to get the paper work, I discovered that they were charging fuel and tires, that were used doing its job, as maintenance. It did not take me long to discover this but it seems as if Neff and Pavlos did not know it or did nothing.
Same problem a couple years back when Pavlos declared a dump truck as worn out and needed to be replaced. This truck was also 10 years old. The big problem was it only had 40,000 miles on it. 4000 per year!!!! Now does this sound like a man that is in charge of his shop?
Look at the job his sidewalk crews do. They lay only 80 feet per day. They usually have 2 bobcats and 3 front loaders on site. They mostly sit and do nothing. I have sent council pictures of this equipment sitting idle. I have asked Pavlos about the 80 ft per day and he says that’s all one truck will do. I did not get an answer when I asked if the concrete supplier would not sell him more than one load a day.
I have not seen Martin’s report and don’t care to. I have seen enough on my own to have fired Pavlos several years ago and Neff along with him. Just look at the road projects on Del Prado and Santa Barbara. Seven or eight years for 2 miles. There was 30 miles of I 75 widened in 2 years. I don’t know how much they have cost but look at the inconvenience to the residents.
I have moved to Punta Gorda but still pays taxes in the cape and I think the new city manager and most of council are doing a good job. If the others would get the chip off their shoulders and pay attention things could get better.
Jim Nix
Punta Gorda