by Matt Marquardt –
MASON CITY – According to a City Hall memo, The Mason City Blue Zones Initiative is 76.92% over budget at this time.
In a department budget analysis from the Finance Department at City Hall, the Revised Expenditure Budget for the Blue Zones Initiative is shown only as a dash. Year to date expenditures from the city for the Blue Zones Initiative have been $9,741.71 and is shown as 76.92% over budget.
NIT is seeking more information and details from City Hall on its Blue Zone budget.
City Administrator Brent Trout has said previously that the city would provide start-up costs for the project and then the “business community” would take over. He has also indicated previously that donations and grants would be secured to cover the costs of the program.
Mason City was selected as a Blue Zones demonstration site in May 9th, 2012. The Blue Zones Project, a collaboration between Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Healthways, is a community-by-community, business-by-business movement to help Iowans change their built environments.
There are five people working on Mason City’s Blue Zones Initiative. Three of the five workers’ salaries are funded by the Blue Zones Project. The city is covering all or part of the time or salary of the other two.
In the City Hall memo, it is stated that the current deficit would need to be made up from “anticipated donations” or general fund reserves.
Trout did not respond yet to an email sent last week requesting a full list/report of all the expenditures from the city towards the Blue Zones Initiative.
NIT will report once the city releases that information.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Blue Zones is nothing more than common sense living.
For example, the ours around town to examine the needs of bike routes and walkways. Five years ago I could have told you the conditions, did not need any consultant nor fancy program with space age names (Power 9, ad nauseum).
Someone raised the point about eating habits. Very observant. Anyone who has been on a low sodium, or low Sat. fat diet knows those foods (healthy) cost a lot more, and are harder to find (for any product, it costs more to leave salt out of foods). For folks on fixed incomes, you compromise, instead of paying $2.39 for that dietary peanut butter, the 99 cent store brand will have to suffice.
Many companies now a days do health assessments free for their employees. They see it as saving money on healthcare costs over time, by teaching healthy living. For some folks, it works if done right.
Lastly, role models. Those pushing the effort, should look as if they follow the regimen. Facta non Verba.
Lets waste more money we need good jobs
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Did any one notice the Blue Zone sign is no longer in his window…what it not important anymore.
Healthy living is good , but what the heck is a blue zone.?
It seems like a way to waste money with more BS.
I wish Mason City was a “green” zone with a thriving economy.
Low incomes lead to poor eating habits and unhealthy life styles.
Many of our city council and the mayor say they want city government to run like a bus. so hopefully they will pull the plug on this blue zone crap before it ends up costing us all more. Another failure for our mayor and city administrator lets see how they try to cover this one up.
ANTICIPATED DONATIONS…are you kidding me!?? Mr Al Winters I am one that will be waiting to hear about the outcome of your visit to Mr. Trout.
Anonymous from Oct 13th you are so right, MSCY needs to clean up the little “MESSES” that are hear now before jumping to the next. I believe that Trout took a chance on BLUE ZONE get the award that was given; sorry I can’t remember the prestigious name of; cause he knows his time here is cut short. Needs a fill in for resume’.
It WAS soon after KIMT reported that Austin was doing the Blue Zone that a bit later Mason City jumped on that bandwagon. All of MSCY council needs to wake up or be replaced.
Seems to me like the remodel project needs to be put on hold until this mess is cleared up, COME ON IN ATTORNEY GENERAL!
I never have or will I support the Blue Zone. I do support healthy living!! I never understood where all the money was coming from to support it. Why do we have city workers being a part of it? If it sounds to good to be true it usually is to good to be true. Until someone can tell me how all this Blue Zone is going to be supported and how the tax payers are not going to be struck with the bill I will continue not support it.
I just found this in another NIT article about Blue Zone communities. It still sounds like PR stuff that tells you nothing of substance about how this is to be accomplished. Has anyone on here had his daily health assessment yet?????
“The Blue Zones Project is based on Blue Zones principles developed by Dan Buettner and is the centerpiece of the Healthiest State Initiative to make Iowa the healthiest state by 2016 as measured by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents’ health and well-being. Blue Zones Project employs evidence-based ways to help people live longer, better lives by taking a systematic, environmental approach to well-being, which focuses on optimizing policy, social networks, and the built environments where we spend our time.
The progress of the demonstration site communities will also be measured using the Well-Being Index.”
I would guess that 9 k is Bookmeyers food bill for the month.
After reading Matt’s story I have gone through all the council agendas since May when Mason City was selected as a Blue Zone community and I don’t see one mention of “Blue Zones” or how much money we have to spend on this. Why is the council going along with this concept and NOT telling the public how much they are spending on the start up costs and the wages / time for their employees? Furthermore how much of a buyout did A. Determan get to take this Blue one job? What was all included here when she left her job with the city? The smoke and mirrors in city hall are not fooling all of us, there really isnt as much transparency there as the mayor is pretending.
Connie, This is from the City’s website. Scroll down to page 16.
More government spending for business. How come no one crys socialism when they can’t blame Obama?
Just more government control and waste of taxpayers money !
What has come out of this bluezone thing?
The city coucil meetings are open to the public, take time to attend and ask the same question there. None the less, you make a good point!
They don’t know how to answer that question. Plus they don’t like to be question by the people who elected them, you will just get the run a round by these jokers!
this is why the checkbooks for government should be online and be able to viewed in real time.
I’d like to know exactly what benefit our community has seen from this program and the expense it has incurred. So the City of Mason City gets its name in the newspapers for being picked as a Blue Zone Community. Is that it? Publicity? I just don’t see the point of this program. Who is benefitting?
These are the kind of questions no one has asked yet. You could be labeled a “naysayer” with that kind of attitude.
I don’t know that I’m a naysayer, but there was this huge push to become a Blue Zone City like it was winning a contest of some sort. Now I see nothing. I just want to know what it was all about, why it is costing money, how long it is going to keep costing money, and why. I just wonder why it was such a big deal in the first place and what these 5 people do.
Sounds like we need to get the mayor out
I know where there is about $40,000 worth of statues we could sell to help cover that 76% deficit. By the way, good luck with Trout getting back to you in a timely manner. Wasn’t it about eight months for him to figure out the whole sanitation issue and when he was asked by the council how much longer he said eight hours would be enough time to get the figures they needed. He doesn’t seem to be too efficient, when is the council going to do a cost study on him?
Who are the five people on the Blue Zones Init.?Which three are getting paid by the project?
What is the salary of the five, amount by name?
What are the duties of each of the five individuals?
Who do they report to, or who is in charge of them?
Thank you.
I know where the five salaries are comming from. It’s the current five job openings that are not going to get filled. Three from the street department and two from Water Reclamation. Remember the Sanitation Jobs?? This council isn’t going to be happy until they get those jobs! Services are going to start to suffer. That’s a fact!! But remember GO BLUE ZONE!!! (call someone from the Blue Zone when you need your street plowed this winter or your ally)Good Luck to the people of Mason City, you’r going to need it.
This is more true than people know!!! The big boys don’t like looking like fools because the way the whole sanitation thing played out, so NOW every single citizen will pay for their over inflated egos!! Five jobs gone people!!! Call your council person and have them tell you that IS NOT TRUE!!
Isn’t Colleen Young an employee of the Blue Zone? And didn’t she used to work for the chamber?
I think there’s a person on the blue zone that’s getting paid a salary and she used to work for the chamber. Makes me wonder if the chamber is behind this too.
Yes, the one full time city employee dedicated to Blue Zones used to work for the Chamber but she quit before the City was named a Blue Zone community. You can only handle Robin Anderson for so long.
It’s the Blue Zone Bull Shit.
The city of Mason City has no business getting into these kinds of programs.
PERIOD!
I have been part of the “business community” for many years and can tell you that it gets really old being expected to fund everything out there, especially when the city should be responsible. Unless it is Walmart or some other huge company that is super wealthy saying they will pay , cities should not spend it and the expect someone else to cover them.
I think you are absolutly correct lucy. Small business should not be expected to pay for the city councils pet projects.
I submitted a written request for financial doc’s over 6 weeks ago and received no repsonse. Finally called in and got the runaround from the Administrator three weeks ago. I still have not received the info I asked for. I will be visiting Mr. Trout Monday morning.
Don’t waste your time. Call theAttorney General instead. Trout has 20 days to hand theinformation over. If he doesn’t he has violated the law and can be subjected to a fine or jail time. This kind of bullshit move needs to stop. It is public information and you have. Right to know.
In the City Hall memo, it is stated that the current deficit would need to be made up from “anticipated donations” or general fund reserves.
Now, if you had to guess….which fund do really think the money will come from to cover these costs? The General Fund (where the money is) or “ANTICIPATED DONATIONS” (which means there might not be any funds at all) Gee…I wonder????
How many times have we heard “Anticipated Donations.” I think that slogan is on the business cards of that one outfit in North Iowa that suckers governments into public/private partnerships and leave the taxpayer holding the bag on Wellness Centers, Courthouse remodelings and other such projects. tsk tsk.