Post Friday Entry...

We wish to apologize for not updating the blog on Friday. No, we have not retired, nor have we (as one commenter put it) taken on the Osceola News Gazette schedule. You see, it is quite simple, one of us (me), the writer that was supposed to post to the blog decided to go to the grand opening of the new Best Buy and wait in line (forever) for a new I-Phone. The rest of the gang would have filled in, but... they were too busy putting the finishing touches on the upcoming KPCT property tax episode. Make sure to watch it on Monday. It will be great!

A special message to Evergreen Consultants

You're under the bus now, and the back wheels are approaching rapidly. Whether you got there on your own, or were thrown there isn't going to be relevant much longer. So you know what to do. The most senior person possible needs to deliver a detailed report with significant "thud factor"* to the city post-haste (we would say by Monday at the latest). Because you know what's coming in the next sentence...

We just have to ask the city: a contract project was allowed to go five months overdue? And that project's delivery is a key factor when negotiating with a public safety employee union? How much of a discount did you negotiate into the contract for late delivery?

* "Thud factor" refers to the weight/size of the project report...how big of a "thud" it makes when it hits the client's desk or conference table.

Comment Corner

We have received so many great comments over the past week and a half. For the sake of time, we are only going to list a few, but encourage you to read all of them on the blog.

Let's focus on the comments about "Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre – School Board Strikes Back" (we've edited the comments for length, feel free to read all of the comments directly under the "Theatre" entry)....

- It is all Empire building. And the taxpayers pay for it all.
- I would say the school board is the "Dark Side".
- Lord Chalifoux couldn't have been a better match.
- The School Board is now saying that Osceola County is filled with crime and that is why they need a special place for their teachers to live.

Response: We are in total agreement. We have been receiving emails regarding the “Projects” in St. Cloud and will post more about it as we dig up the facts.

- Rumor in the downtown is that WFTV is asking questions about the newest puppet video.
- YOU MADE THE NEWS! PUPPETS MADE THE NEWS!
- Channel 9!!! You made it on Channel 9!!! Awesome....
- How about a puppet show about our friends in Tallahassee and the "big" tax cut?

Response: Imagine our surprise when the grandkids came running in to tell us their puppets were on TV. We hurried out to see what they were talking about when we caught Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre on Eyewitness News. To say the least, we were a little shocked by the coverage, and by the excellent report that they did. All we can say is that the best of the Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre is still to come, so don't miss out on Monday's property tax episode. And yes, we are making sure the grandkids are brushing those teeth after every popsicle stick parody puppet is created.

For those of you that missed it:

No tax-free lunch

Well. After all of the posturing and fear-mongering, the first round of tax changes are in place. Anyone feel that a weight has been lifted?

One local business owner noted:
"I own a non-homestead property in Kissimmee. According to my 2006 tax statement from the county tax collector's office, I paid the City of Kissimmee $1,333.64 in property tax. If I read the news correctly, this is what will happen to the Kissimmee portion of my taxes this year...the amount of tax is being reduced by 9%, which would reduce my city real estate taxes to $1213.61. But there is a new 3/month storm water fee, which increases the tax to $1249.61. And then there is the new fire fee, which starts at $13/month for commercial buildings (and I don't know my exact amount yet), so the tax goes to at least $1405.61. So, before tax reform, my city tax liability was $1,333.64, and after tax reform with the city's new fees, my city tax liability is at least $1405.61, and that's before any adjustments are made to the value of my property."

At the same time, we hear various elected officials continue their shrill message of "don't vote for the tax cuts, or we will have to cut everything" with everything ranging from emergency services to social services to commuter rail. It seems that at least some of the Orange County elected officials are on record saying that they can live with the tax reductions that were approved. Locally, it seems that only County Appraiser Atlee Mercer has been willing to step up and say that the cuts will be offset by increases in property values.

It seems like everyone wins in this one, except the taxpayers. The state officials can say "hey, we promised to make tax cuts and we did." The local officials can say "those state guys messed us up, but we made the hard decisions to protect our communities." But for those planning to solicit campaign donations for 2008, you might come up a little short. The taxpayers have new fees to pay.

Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre - School Board Strikes Back

Haven't we read this somewhere before?

Saturday's News-Gazette reports that the Kissimmee CRA has delayed their appeal of Osceola County's zoning denial for the proposed relocation site ofthe Rinker cement plant. The reason for the delay? Since Cemex purchased Rinker, a part of the deal was that Cemex has to sell off some of the Rinker plants to allow for competition in certain markets, including Central Florida.

How do we know this? Well, we wrote about the Cemex deal and the announcement that plants would be sold once the deal would be complete, back on April 13th, based on news reports at that time.

So, we think this is a good thing...one less case of government agencies suing each other (even though it wasn't a negotiation that solved the issue). But we have to ask: if Cemex decides to sell the property, and not as a cement plant, but just as a land parcel, does the CRA need to be involved? We would support the free market resolving the issue at that point, leaving just the land already purchased for the unapproved plant relocation to be dealt with.

Sunday Funny - KFC: Our Daily Chicken

A salesman from KFC walked up to the Pope and offers him a million dollars if he would change "The Lord's Prayer" from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken." The Pope refused his offer.

Two weeks later, the man offered the pope 10 million dollars to change it from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken" and again the Pope refused the man's generous offer. Another week later, the man offered the Pope 20 million dollars and finally the Pope accepted. The following day, the Pope said to all his officials, "I have some good news and some bad news. 'The good news is, that we have just received a check for 20 million dollars. The bad news is, we lost the Wonder Bread account!'''

Here's your slogan

Some well-known names are already talking about plans to enter the All-America City competition again in 2008. As the story goes, entering in 2008 is a natural, because there is so much fresh experience from the 2007 competition, and the 2008 competition is in Tampa, reducing travel costs.

Word on the street says that a competition planning committee will be formed in the coming weeks to begin identifying the community programs that could be featured in the 2008 competition. Of course, we hope that any such committee will include some fresh faces from the community at large.

With this much lead time, and apparent enthusiasm, we would suggest that this is also the time to begin obtaining funding pledges from various local companies and community groups. Obviously the money would not need to be collected and spent unless Kissimmee actually reached the finalist group. If we get there, wouldn't an appropriate slogan be: "Our entry was funded by our community, not local government."

Your Kung Fu (Explained)

Sometimes there is no meaning to what we do. And sometimes the things that mean nothing, mean the most. To define the lesson even more would be to say that you can learn a lesson from something that does not seem like a lesson. That is the first and most important lesson that is taught by Kung Fu masters.

There is an ancient story about man who goes to a Shaolin temple to learn Kung Fu. The master of the temple agrees to teach him and calls for a large trough of water to be brought out. The master then tells the new student to hit the surface of the water with all of his strength. The student decides that this is a simple task so he begins to hit the water with every ounce of strength he has.

This exercise continued into the next day. The student swatting the water time after time, hour after hour, day after day. Weeks stretched into months, and the student slapped the water furiously while he began to have his doubts about his training. Each day he would release his anger and frustration in the only activity he could, slapping water.

Finally, after two long years of hitting a trough full of water, his anger overcame him. While sitting at a table for dinner, the student stood up and shouted at the master, "I have been hitting that trough of water for two years, and I have learned nothing about Kung Fu!" In his anger the student pounded his fist on the table and to his complete surprise, the sturdy wooden table broke into several pieces from the force of his blow. His anger forgotten, the student turned to the master. The master still in his chair, and not surprised by what just happened, said, "Now my pupil you have learned your first lesson."

Kung Fu loosely translates from Chinese as skill or work. To knock someones Kung Fu, or to praise it, is to knock their work performance, or skill level. Kung Fu requires both work and skill, and is something that must be studied and practiced for a lifetime. Kung Fu is a way of life and is not something that can be rehearsed in just a few days by people who have no interest in understanding what Kung Fu is really about.

This really follows the idea, and the problem, with the attempt at All-America City. It should be something we do on a daily basis. It is about more than just trying to figure out how to win a competition.

The real truth is that the Kung Fu line was put in because one of our writers thought it was funny. An avid watcher of Martial Art movies, the line, to the writer, seemed to fit. In retrospect, we think that this line, which really meant nothing, ended up meaning everything.

"The View" In Kissimmee

In an abrupt resignation released by a local activist yesterday, the saga of the on-again, off-again blog personality changed direction once again. The often controversial activist who is best know for his effort to convert Osceola county into a suburb of California and usher in new breed of liberal politicians seems to have called it quits once again. This "The View" type drama has played out to the dismay (or disinterest) of a blog readership that numbers in the hundreds (well, not in a single day). We are disappointed by the loss of a stirring liberal guidepost with his finger on the pulse of political happenings in San Francisco.

As for the possible news that another local voice my no longer be in circulation, we are deeply saddened. The articles from Carl Cricket at a website called KSIB.NET have been an inspiration to those at WayneWho for some time. The articles filled with rumor that more often than not contain more truth than all of our local media combined will be missed. We can only hope that somehow this voice will continue. We also hope that the rumors of health issues can and will be overcome.

Those of us at WayneWho will continue our unique brand of satire in hopes of mobilizing other voices to step forward. Democracy is not about quitting or being silent. Be heard and make your community better.

Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre (Tribute to Sopranos)

Emergency Spanish

We were disappointed by some of the negative comments we've seen posted on other message boards about the recent Orlando Sentinel article on the Kissimmee Fire Department's Spanish cheat-sheets.

It's important to recognize that the cheat-sheets and the basic training just provide more tools to our firefighters and EMS personnel. As noted in the article, being able to use some key phrases means that there is less need to spend time waiting for a translator. This means that the patient can be treated more quickly, and the KFD staff are freed up that much faster to respond to the next call. Even if our local population were 100% English-speaking, we are still a tourist-driven economy, and we are going to have non-English speaking visitors.

If you can't communicate with the staff at one store, you move on to another one. If the fire department can't communicate with you during an emergency, you have a real problem. We commend the fire department, and the police department, for their efforts to keep our community safe.

We’ve heard that in addition to the rumored redesign of the City of Kissimmee logo, some city officials are considering adding the tagline “All-America City Finalist” to the city’s printed materials. One commissioner was quoted as saying “it’s really going to be nice to put All-America City Finalist on all our stuff.”

In lieu of this, we have come up with some alternate slogans for consideration:

• Close but no cigar


• Couldn’t quite cut it


• Always a bridesmaid


• Maybe next year


• And the runner up is


• Your kung-fu is good


• Central Florida: It’s more than Orange and Polk County


• Sorry for wasting your tax dollars

In these times of budget reductions, we think the smart money is on not redesigning things that don’t need to be redesigned. We question the added marketing value of saying that we came close. And will we discard and reprint items next year if we enter the competition again and win?

If you have some alternative slogan ideas that you would like to submit for consideration, you can do so anonymously by clicking on the Comments button. We welcome your input.

Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre (Term Limits)

If the puppet theatre does not automatically come up, click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Iex-EXtOQ

Sunday Funny - Morning at the White House

White House staffers were perplexed one morning to see Bill Clinton walk into the Oval Office with a pair of woman's panties pinned to his arm. Somewhat used to the president's tendencies, they let it go and went about their daily tasks.

As the day wore on, several VIPs were ushered in and out of the Oval Office for meetings with Clinton about important affairs of the state. Each one left with a puzzled expression on his face, but no one dared ask the President's personal business.

Finally, Betty Currie, Clinton's loyal secretary walked into the office between appointments and gently closed the door behind her. "Mr. President," she said. "We've come to expect many unusual things from you but we're all quite concerned that you seem to be wearing a pair of woman's panties on your arm. Please tell me this doesn't mean more 'trouble'."

"Oh no," the President grinned, "it's the patch. I'm trying to quit."

Follow-ups and amplifications

Every so often, we like to take a stroll down short-term memory lane and update issues we've written about in the past.
Way back on April 4th, when we were just a baby blog, we talked about the current asthetic state of the Embarq building at the entry to downtown Kissimmee. We're encouraged to see that the building is now surrounded by temporary construction fence, suggesting that some long-needed facade work is imminent.

On May 17th, we discussed the commission appointments to the Kissimmee Charter Review Board, and expressed disappointment that the majority were former city commissioners. We learned this week that former commissioner Steve Burke would not be serving, and he will be replaced by former commissioner Scott Brooks. Anyone want to start a pool on which former commissioner is warming up in the bullpen in the event of another vacancy?

Throughout May, we had discussions over the School District's proposed use of the old Sports Authority building on 192 as a special use educational facility. We learned this week that (at least some of the members of the) School Board are amazed that they would need to pay rezoning application fees to the city.
Hmmm...wonder what will happen when they demand their free building permit? Oh, and School Board, just so you know now, the city will have a Fire Fee shortly for properties in the city.

Coming soon...the automatic public toilet

Various news outlets this week covered Fort Lauderdale's decision to install an automatic public toilet on a beach strip currently lacking public restrooms.

The punch-lines almost wrote themselves! The toilet, as envisioned, will:

- Ration toilet paper

- Clean itself after every use

- Blast a siren and automatically open the door if someone overstays their allotted time.

It also plays soothing music, and locks itself automatically every evening.

We can imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of households across the country with teenagers who would gladly line up to purchase the auto-cleaning and timer functions for their home bathrooms.

The serious part of the conversation is this: Fort Lauderdale, and other cities that have installed these types of toilets, are betting on the future. They're betting that the higher up-front purchase cost of these items will be recovered through reductions in the long-term operating costs. The same is true of the green buildings that are beginning to pop up throughout the country. With our rising energy costs and upcoming reduction in tax revenue, wouldn't we be foolish not to consider the same issues?

Comment Corner

Comment: "Looks like your arch nemesis has disappeared again. I guess with out KSIB.net posting anything this week your buddy has no new material."

Response: And of course, the standard caution that elected officials who don't want to end up being quoted in a blog probably shouldn't voluntarily keep showing up at the blog writer's house. We don't have elected officials stopping by our place, but then again, we're anonymous.

Comment: "Can we send donations to keep your videos going."

Response: We haven't figured out a way to stay anonymous and make that work that wouldn't be a distraction to the local authorities, so we won't tell you to tape an envelope of bills underneath the cover of the third trash can at The Loop.

Comment: "You might want to expand the range to other local governments just for an episode or two."

Response: The staff is looking closely at this one, but we're not sure the grandkids' teeth can withstand that many popsicles (we need to get dentist approval first).

Economic Development reading

The Wall Street Journal published a section this week called "Economic Roundup." Lots of interesting articles, allow us to excerpt from two:

1. Title: The Little Engine That Could: In many cities, the hottest development is taking place along the train lines

...Most successful transit-oriented developments are public-private partnerships. Local governments build or refurbish rail lines and surrounding infrastructure like roads and parking facilities. Private developers then build in the surrounding areas. "There's a lot of research that shows that if the public sector puts money into a transit system, they can expect three to five times that amount in private money" for adjacent development, says Marilee Utter, president of Citiventure Associates LLC, a Denver firm that has worked with a number of cities on development around light-rail systems.

These developments can pay off for cities in several ways. Research shows that the value of commercial and residential properties close to transit stations often rises - and that translates into higher real-estate tax revenues in that area. Economists from the University of North Texas, for instance, found that between 1997 and 2001, office properties near suburban Dallas Area Rapid Transit stations increased in value 53% more than comparable properties not served by rail. Values of residential properties rose 39% more than a control group not served by rail.

2. Title: Safety First: For cities in search of growth, getting rid of crime definitely pays

...It may sound so simple, but city after city has found that getting crime under control is the crucial foundation to stimulating economic development. Indeed, the trend toward placing police sub-stations in apartment buildings and shopping centers took off after cities found that establishing a stronger law-enforcement presence in an area that was once written off established a beachhead for economic growth... Research published in the February issue of Economic Development Quarterly by David Bowes, an economics professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, found that retail developers will to some extent tolerate property crime. (In fact, he founjd that retail developments increase property crimes by acting as a lure to thieves.) However, he also found that retail developers were repelled by violent crime.

"What may be discouraging retail development is not higher costs associated with loss from theft or increased insurance rates but loss of potential customers who are reluctant to to into [violent] areas," writes Dr. Bowes.

Comment: With consultants from Denver, rail systems in Texas, and economists from Louisiana, this isn't just "big-city East Coast" information and thinking. For a whole section on municipal economic issues, including enforcing economic incentives, retaining college graduates, influence of casinos on state economics, and development vital signs, To read the whole section, get to your local library and check out Section R of the Monday 6/11/07 Wall Street Journal.

Recycling Envy

For years, whenever we've heard a recycling question asked of local officials, the response heard has been some variation of "it's just not cost effective." So when we started reading the Orlando Sentinel article on recycling in Central Florida, we expected more of the same...officials from all over the area saying that they'd like to, but it just isn't cost effective. Imagine our surprise as we read down the list of counties, outlining all of the items that they not only accept for recycling, but pick up curbsite at residents' homes. Then we got to Osceola County, the only county in Central Florida with the note "There is no curbside pickup for recyclable materials."

Then we started digging into the statistics. For the counties with curbside recycling, the average percentage of household waste (from single-family residences) that was recycled, rather than going to the landfill, was between 22% (Brevard) and 59% (Volusia), based on 2004 numbers. The percentage that went to recycling in Osceola? 7%.

We note that in Kissimmee, when the commission recently discussed increasing the sanitation service fee, one of the reasons that costs had increased was the increased dumping cost at the landfill. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate whether curbside recycling should be offered in Osceola County.

What's in a Title?

We would like to acknowledge all of those individuals who gave of their time and effort into the All-America City presentation. Your dedication and community spirit are appreciated and welcomed.

Our feelings on this award, both leading up to the presentation and after, have been mixed at best. Our pride in our community is very strong and although it would be nice to have a title like "All-America City" to brandish, would it really make our community a better place?

Being an All-America City is more than a title, it is a way of life. Do we have less civic pride today now that we have lost this competition? Do we have fewer opportunities for economic development? Should we cheer less for our community and for what she has to offer?

We think not. Not being named a winner should not be considered an obstacle, but instead should highlight the attitude that we need to have from government on down to our citizens.

We offer this note to the City of Kissimmee for when budget time rolls around later this year. The city invested $27,000 in this competition, and we understand that that specific $27,000 was under a Commission Discretionary fund and could not be spent in other areas. But when you look at the budget for 2008, wouldn't it be wise to allocate at least that much to economic development, or an economic development person, instead of trying to spend it on a title that we already own?

Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre (All America City)

If the puppet theatre does not automatically come up, click on the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U77Qq8yy8WU

Sunday Funny - Politically Speaking

"My uncle ran for political office last year."
"Really? What does he do now?"
"Nothing. He got elected."

The Courts… Our New Elected Officials

Here we go again... The School District and St. Cloud are on the verge of another court battle, this time over who should build road access to a new school. How many lawsuits do we currently have underway between various governmental agencies in Osceola County? Does this indicate poor communication between the various agencies, or a deeper issue of differing goals and directions among the agencies?

In the meantime, it seems that many of the big issues affecting the county lately have been made by the courts... perhaps it is time to skip the middleman and just outsource some of our governing directly to various judges?

True Citizen Charter Review

Article II, Chapters 3-6 have been posted to the True Citizen Charter Review. Now that you have watched the puppet theatre of the Charter Review discussion item, go to the site, take a few hours, read what is posted and leave your comments.

KPCT - Episode 2 (Charter Review)

If the puppet theatre does not automatically show up, click on the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a7vR1J9FoME

Comment Corner

Let's start out with the comments about "Puppet Commission Theatre" (we've edited the comments for length, feel free to read all of the comments directly under the "Theatre" entry)....

-"This is funny, but at the same time this is actually what the commission meetings look like most of the time."
-"I want more Puppet Commission Theater!"
-"I guess Access Osceola just ended up in a bigger ratings battle. My vote goes to Kissimmee Konnection."
-"Well, it's not Shrek III or Pirates III, but it sure is worth watching. I hope that there is a sequel in the works."

Response: Thanks for all the kind words, and there are more episodes in the works. We might even introduce some more characters, as soon as the grandkids give us some more popsicle sticks. Seriously, though, we hope that if nothing else we've proven how easy it is to make your videos available to a worldwide audience.
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In response to our Top 10 list on reasons to be an All-America City (don't forget, the award is announced on Friday night in California), an anonymous comment read...

"They are going to be upset with you Wayne Who...They don't like naysayers. Spending this money is about pride and economic developement and you know we just don't have enough payday loan places. Maybe we should be known as the All Amscot City. Kissimmee, Your OK With Us!"

Response: Well, the third Amscot location along Vine looks like it is about ready to open (conveniently located across the parking lot from Starbucks), so we guess that it's officially time to welcome Amscot to the city as a significant business presence...they're starting to give several drug stores, banks, and fast food chains a challenge in terms of number of locations within the city limits. And amazingly, they keep building here seemingly without any government/economic development encouragement at all.

Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre

Wayne Who's Top 10 Reasons to Become an All America City

#10) Opportunity to change the way the city letterhead looks.

#9) All America City Logo will look good on the re-election mailers.

#8) Might finally be able to attract a Bubba Gump restaurant.

#7) Metroplan Orlando might finally remember our name.

#6) That silly Osceola County School Board might finally stop making fun of us.

#5) Make Steve Burke (Crackers) and Scott Brooks look stupid.

#4) It sounds more American when an All America City raises your taxes.

#3) Residents with civic pride don't complain about sitting in traffic.

#2) What else would we spend $109,000 on?

And the #1 reason to become an All America City is... those damn bloggers might leave as alone for awhile.

Property Taxes, Part ?????

Next week, the legislature heads back into special session to readdress the property tax issue. Let's look at what's being written lately.

'...Overall, though, the property-tax revenue of Florida's city and county governments has been rising at a rate much faster than the state's population, a trend that critics see as a sign of a bloated bureaucracy. In 2006, the state collected $30.5 billion in property taxes, almost double the level of 2000. Over the same period, the state's population grew by about 13%'
- The Wall Street Journal, 5/29/2007

'The value of homes and business property in Central Florida continuesto increase by double-digit percentages, county officials are reporting, adding further fuel to legislative efforts to dramatically slash property taxes..
...At current tax rates, Orange and Lake counties could see roughly 17 percent spikes in revenues, based largely on a sharp increase in new housing, condo and business construction. In Osceola County, the spike was almost 20 percent, and about 11.5 percent in Seminole. Property values in the city of St. Cloud shot up 31 percent. Even local government officials, who have protested for months that proposed legislative reforms would slash money needed for police, fire and other necessary services, acknowledged that the increases underscored the need to cut taxes, at least somewhat. "I've said we need to do some tax reform at the county level," Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty said. At this year's millage rate, Orange County next year would collect an additional $79 million in discretionary revenue alone.'
_ Orlando Sentinel, 6/1/2007

'[Sen. Mike Haridopolos] predicted industries relying on city and county spending would follow the money to a private sector that he said is certain to surge after tax cuts are OK'd. "These professions have been doing a lot of work with local governments because that's where the money is the last few years," he said.'
-Orlando Sentinel, 6/4/2007

Stay tuned, folks. This is sure to be a lively debate, if we can get the local media to stop devoting the front page and first 5 minutes of each broadcast to "who will be the next Orlando Magic coach."

As always, your comments are welcome!

Did they just say that?

We had the opportunity to watch the recording of last week's Kissimmee City Commission meeting. Our notepad quickly was overflowing with notes, but here are some of the things that made us say "hmmmm...."

1. When speaking about a new workforce housing project, the CRA Director spoke of giving extra points to firefighters, police, teachers, and others in order that they might receive preference for the housing units. The City Attorney moved very quickly to ask that those remarks be clarified, and the discussion of extra points was hastily withdrawn.

2. During commission discussion of the 192/Vine planning report, one commissioner appeared to be a naysayer because the city didn't own any of the land, and another commissioner expressed concern because the future illustrations of the intersection of Vine and Main did not show any gas stations.

3. Also during the 192/Vine report, a well-known property owner addressed the commission and threatened to sell his company's property holdings along 192/Vine if the commission adopted the plan presented.

4. During the discussion of the potential school district use of the Sports Authority building, representatives from the school district and the city noted that the Sports Authority site would need an additional 10 acres of land to accommodate a typical elementary school.

Much like a sports event, you really have to watch to see how the game is played. In order to increase interest in watching the meetings, Wayne Who is attempting to find some recurring themes that could be developed into the commission meeting bingo game or the commission meeting drinking game. Stay tuned.

Sunday Funny - World War III

Bush and Powell were sitting in a bar. A guy walked in and asked the barman, "Isn't that Bush and Powell?" The barman said, "Yep, that's them."

So the guy walked over and said, "Hello. What are you guys doing?" Bush said, "We're planning World War III." The guy asked, "Really? What's going to happen?" Bush said, "Well, we're going to kill 10 million Afghans and one bicycle repairman."

The guy exclaimed, "Why are you gonna kill a bicycle repairman?!" Bush turned to Powell and said, "See, I told you no one would worry about the 10 million Afghans!"

KFD launches a new community outreach program

Building on the recent notoriety of KPD's Operation Citizen Watch, we have heard a rumor that owners of certain long-vacant commercial buildings are lobbying Kissimmee Fire Department to test a similar program, where the building would be burnt down to see if anyone notices.

Dominoes Dealt

This Saturday the Hispanic Business Council of the Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber of Commerce is putting on a Dominoes Tournament that promises to be a fun event to attempt to drag a weary business community out to the old Hyatt Orlando hotel that is now called the Orlando Sun Resort by Lexington. The renovated resort has gone through a $5 million dollar face-lift and is in the process of reopening.

Wayne Who believes that the selection of a gambling event is the perfect venue in which to bring more hotel rooms into our inventory in Osceola County. With a CVB racked with scandal, and a County Commission confused on the benefits of tourism, gambling could be considered a mild term. It seems the only thing in the county that is not gambling is being a residential home developer. Want to build a new hotel in a tourist corridor on land that is zoned accordingly? The answer is no. Want to destroy wetlands and the last shred of environmentally sensitive lands we have in the county to build a toll road (or should we rename these to tax roads?) that will open up a large pool of land for developers to destroy? Go right ahead, the circle of sprawl is almost complete.

Dominoes could be the most appropriate word ever used for the policies and practices of local governments. We just have to wonder if the residents are ready to clean it all up after the dominoes start to fall?

True Citizen Charter Review

We have just posted Article II (chapters 1 & 2) to the Wayne Who "True Citizen Charter Review". Although much of it is boring and quite the long read, we encourage you to skim through it and post your comments regarding your views on its effectiveness and what changes are needed if any. All that you have to do is click on the comments link at the bottom of the Article II post and follow the instructions from there.

http://kissimmeecharter.blogspot.com/