Money, money, money, money, money
New City Councilman Jerry Bean based on his campaign on the idea that he could bring a businessman's perspective to City Hall and it seemed if he was fitting into that role during Tuesday's City Council meeting.
Bean, a newspaper executive with Century Group Newspapers, won approval for his idea to have financial data reported to the council quarterly instead of two times each year. City staffers have six weeks to figure out how to do that.
During that discussion, City Manager N. Enrique Martinez reported that Redlands' sales tax revenues for the current fiscal year are about $350,000 lower than expected, but Martinez was emphatic that the city would close the budget year ending June 30 with a budget gap. He noted that gas franchise revenues accrued from fuel sent to the Mountainview Power Plant through Redlands pipelines are about $400,000 higher than prevously anticipated.
Later, Bean criticized a plan to spend about $414,000 on a new bulldozer. Bean didn't object to the purchase itself but the fact that the city only received two bids and that Redlands staffers specified that they wanted a Caterpillar dozer, thus shutting out other manufacturers' machines from the process.
Quality of Life director Gary Van Dorst explained that Caterpillar dozers are the brand of choice for landfills and that it would be easier to get parts and service for that brand.
Bean reluctantly voted with the rest of the council to approve the purchase.Riverside-based Johnson Machinery Co. was the winning bidder.
Martinez and Finance Director Tina Kundig said city staffers are working on a new purchasing policy that will require the city to get at least three bids for equipment or services before new purchases can be approved.