Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Cooler heads prevailed...no gas tax (yet)
At Monday's County Commission meeting, cooler (or perhaps reelection-minded) heads prevailed, and no nickel gas tax hike was passed. At the WayneWho Institute, we had been running a side pool, expecting that a one to two cent tax would have been imposed as a compromise measure. Kudos to County Auditor Kathy Wall for telling the board that there are "plenty of methods available to the board" to fund the commuter rail project. Since a funding method was not decided during the vote, we will need to keep our eyes open during the budget process.
A cautionary glance at the County Manager, who proposed the five cent per gallon tax to fund commuter rail and other transit projects. Was the five cent figure an inflated number so that one to two cents would have been more palatable to the commissioners? Or did the manager float the trial balloon so that the commissioners could watch the prevailing political winds?
Note that Volusia County approved their participation today, and (like most of the other participants) seems to know where their funds are coming from, including the use of economic development funds.
Now that commuter rail has been approved, the real work has to begin. There will be three stations in Osceola County: along Osceola Parkway, in downtown Kissimmee, and in Poinciana. While FDOT and the rail folks will have a great deal of input into the configuration of the stations, it's important that the work begins now on access to the stations, parking, and getting bus routes in place so that Lynx buses link up with the train (yep, Kissimmee, that means that you better add that intermodal station to your project plate, and something about a parking deck at the Civic Center?).
We think the publicity for the economic development that rail is supposed to drive should start now as well. Get those signs up, folks..."future commuter rail station." And get the markings on the maps, and get the word out on the Chamber website and the Economic Development Department website.
We're building it, we better make our best effort to make it a success.
A cautionary glance at the County Manager, who proposed the five cent per gallon tax to fund commuter rail and other transit projects. Was the five cent figure an inflated number so that one to two cents would have been more palatable to the commissioners? Or did the manager float the trial balloon so that the commissioners could watch the prevailing political winds?
Note that Volusia County approved their participation today, and (like most of the other participants) seems to know where their funds are coming from, including the use of economic development funds.
Now that commuter rail has been approved, the real work has to begin. There will be three stations in Osceola County: along Osceola Parkway, in downtown Kissimmee, and in Poinciana. While FDOT and the rail folks will have a great deal of input into the configuration of the stations, it's important that the work begins now on access to the stations, parking, and getting bus routes in place so that Lynx buses link up with the train (yep, Kissimmee, that means that you better add that intermodal station to your project plate, and something about a parking deck at the Civic Center?).
We think the publicity for the economic development that rail is supposed to drive should start now as well. Get those signs up, folks..."future commuter rail station." And get the markings on the maps, and get the word out on the Chamber website and the Economic Development Department website.
We're building it, we better make our best effort to make it a success.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sunday Funny - Difference Between Republicans and Democrats
A Republican and a Democrat were walking down the street when they came to a homeless person. The Republican gave the homeless person his business card and told him to come to his business for a job. He then took twenty dollars out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.
The Democrat was very impressed, and when they came to another homeless person, he decided to help. He walked over to the homeless person and gave him directions to the welfare office. He then reached into the Republican's pocket and gave the homeless person fifty dollars.
Now you understand the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
The Democrat was very impressed, and when they came to another homeless person, he decided to help. He walked over to the homeless person and gave him directions to the welfare office. He then reached into the Republican's pocket and gave the homeless person fifty dollars.
Now you understand the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
In Response
Comment on "Where Are We?"Anonymous said...
Does anyone read the papers? Kissimmee has been working on a plan to revitalize Vine Street and make it a place where people can work, live and shop. Just once I would like you to cover something positive. Even when you think you do, you put a slant on it and turn t into a negative. You can cover both good and bad and still keep you edge or whatever you are trying to do.
July 28, 2007 7:15 AM
Does anyone read the papers? Kissimmee has been working on a plan to revitalize Vine Street and make it a place where people can work, live and shop. Just once I would like you to cover something positive. Even when you think you do, you put a slant on it and turn t into a negative. You can cover both good and bad and still keep you edge or whatever you are trying to do.
July 28, 2007 7:15 AM
Our Response:
First we would like to say that we read the local newspapers when we can get our hands on them. It has been two weeks since any of the WayneWho staff has received a paper in our driveways, so we had to go out in search of our favorite reading material. We are not sure what is going on with our local newspapers, given their recent reductions in staff and the increased amount of advertising space in each issue, but it is obvious that their ability to dig into the story behind the story has been hampered. We believe that news is more than printing press releases or parroting governmental talking points.
We share the same positive hope for the Vine Street project as you. But we admit to being a bit pessimistic when the City Commission doesn't seem to be aggressively moving toward the goal, allowing for interim projects like the Sports Authority school project because the new vision of Vine Street hasn't come to fruition yet. We hope that the city will get the zoning changes done for the corridor quickly so those property owners who have been sitting and waiting for the new zoning can move forward with their projects and be the new pioneers for the area. But we also thought that our comments reflected what we have heard in the community...many who live here would love to see the landscaping and wide sidewalks that define the Beautivacation area come East onto Vine St.
Our "sources" for our daily un-news articles are the conversations and background that fill the coffee shops and eateries where our staff members frequent. The perceived negative slant from our satirical stories is flavored from the conversations of the community. When their mood turns positive, we assume ours will as well.
Thankfully we really do not need an edge since we do not have to sell our positions to readers, nor do we have an ax to grind. For now our edge is in allowing debate and offering un-news that may be contrary to what others are publishing.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Build it and they will come?
On Monday, the Osceola County Commission will vote on whether Osceola County will participate in the Central Florida commuter rail project. The largest factor appearing to weigh on this decision at this point is the funding mechanism, which has been restricted to a single option: a gas tax of up to five cents per gallon.
We have had many lively debates at the WayneWho Center for Government Assessment over the value of the commuter rail line to our community. Like the community itself, we have positions that range from total boondoggle to a needed piece of our transportation infrastructure. Some of the comments we've received this week mirror that diverse opinion.
The last-minute funding debate frustrates us. The intent appears to be to force a larger-than-needed gas tax through by using time pressure to prevent analysis on whether the tax amount proposed is the tax amount required.
More frustrating, though, are some of the facts being offered in support of the project. The Chamber of Commerce, which seemlingly had not taken a position on commuter rail until last week, suggests that commuter rail was a major economic driver for Charlotte, North Carolina, after they received a $500 million grant that Central Florida gave up the last time it was offered.
Our problem with that statement is twofold: First, that Charlotte rail line does not become operational until this fall, so we don't yet know it's impact. Second, many of the experts who have worked on these rail projects note that the success of the rail option is directly tied to the development plans around the rail stops. In order to be successful, rail stops must be surrounded by so-called walkable communites, which have a high density of potential riders within walking distance of the rail stop.
The development plan is the part that appears to be missing in this project. It instead appears to depend on a "park and ride" approach, where commuters will exchange a longer highway drive for a shorter drive to a train station parking lot. As far back as July 2006, the Orlando Sentinel noted that Central Florida planners seemed to be taking a "wait and see" approach, rather than proactively planning the stops in areas that held the density, or conversely, planning density around the stop locations.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-railmain1706jul17,0,2499492.story
While that system may have worked when the train was going to be funded using existing sources, the imposition of a new tax is going to create public pressure to show results. Passive "build it and they will come" planning is not acceptable in this scenario, and that is the missing link that may derail this project.
We have had many lively debates at the WayneWho Center for Government Assessment over the value of the commuter rail line to our community. Like the community itself, we have positions that range from total boondoggle to a needed piece of our transportation infrastructure. Some of the comments we've received this week mirror that diverse opinion.
The last-minute funding debate frustrates us. The intent appears to be to force a larger-than-needed gas tax through by using time pressure to prevent analysis on whether the tax amount proposed is the tax amount required.
More frustrating, though, are some of the facts being offered in support of the project. The Chamber of Commerce, which seemlingly had not taken a position on commuter rail until last week, suggests that commuter rail was a major economic driver for Charlotte, North Carolina, after they received a $500 million grant that Central Florida gave up the last time it was offered.
Our problem with that statement is twofold: First, that Charlotte rail line does not become operational until this fall, so we don't yet know it's impact. Second, many of the experts who have worked on these rail projects note that the success of the rail option is directly tied to the development plans around the rail stops. In order to be successful, rail stops must be surrounded by so-called walkable communites, which have a high density of potential riders within walking distance of the rail stop.
The development plan is the part that appears to be missing in this project. It instead appears to depend on a "park and ride" approach, where commuters will exchange a longer highway drive for a shorter drive to a train station parking lot. As far back as July 2006, the Orlando Sentinel noted that Central Florida planners seemed to be taking a "wait and see" approach, rather than proactively planning the stops in areas that held the density, or conversely, planning density around the stop locations.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-railmain1706jul17,0,2499492.story
While that system may have worked when the train was going to be funded using existing sources, the imposition of a new tax is going to create public pressure to show results. Passive "build it and they will come" planning is not acceptable in this scenario, and that is the missing link that may derail this project.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Where are we?
In the Wednesday edition of the Orlando Sentinel appears an article about tourism in Kissimmee. Of course, all of the tourist destinations mentioned are in fact not within the city limits, but in the "Kissimmee area." Our first thought was to write the usual "silly media, not knowing your city boundaries" entry, but then we recalled the story of the university sidewalks. Perhaps you've heard it:As the story goes, a new university campus was built. The designers didn't know where to put in sidewalks that would be used, so for the first year of classes, there was simply grass everywhere. At the end of the first year, the designers went out and looked at where paths were worn in the grass, and paved sidewalks over those worn paths. The university students, with their feet, indicated where they wanted sidewalks to be.
So it is becoming in Osceola County. We think that some of the old municipal boundaries don't meet today's reality. Perhaps it's time for some of the local government bodies to do a boundary exchange.
The Loop, and the surrounding commercial areas, clearly don't see value in being associated with Kissimmee and Osceola County. From Ashley Furniture, advertising their location as "South Orlando" to the eateries in The Loop with "Welcome to Hunter's Creek" signs in their lobby, their target market is elsewhere. The Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber of Commerce recently started a Hunter's Creek chapter. We haven't done anyone any favors with our political boundaries...The Loop is in Osceola County and Loop West is in Kissimmee. We propose giving the whole area over to Orange County, and perhaps in exchange, Orange County can give us a box of whatever magic allows drivers in Orange County to not have to stop at every controlled intersection along John Young Parkway for a red light, like they have to in Kissimmee/Osceola.
As outlined in the Sentinel, the entire 192 tourist strip from Kissimmee west to I-4 is considered Kissimmee, and marketed as such. We say that the brand has been established, so let the boundaries match the marketing. Kissimmee can become the "cheap and cheerful" tourism spot the Sentinel says it is, with the Kissimmee Gateway Airport, the 192 tourist strip, and boundaries right up to the Disney property. Perhaps then Kissimmee could also leverage the 192 Beautivacation district to update the Vine Street corridor.
Osceola County is going to have their hands full with the six Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs) for the next 20+ years. Let them sign over the "urban core" (existing developed area) to Kissimmee, and focus on reinventing county living with the community-center based designs of the new DRIs.
Is it time that boundary perception meets map reality?
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
On your marks, get set…
St. Cloud announces that two old names in local politics are back on the scene and ready to run -or walk given the age factor of the contenders- for vacated City Council Seat 2. The unfortunate predicament we find ourselves in is that every election its old news when we see the same roll call of too familiar faces vying for power and control. With an ex-council member announcing he will run(again), we can’t help but ask ourselves “Don’t these guys get it?” Why not add some energy and vitality to the mix?We feel that the status quo has got us in this mess that we are in today. Both “announcers of their candidacy” are unwavering in their participation and support of taxpayers’ money going into government subsidies and big government. Same faces-new race.
Isn’t it time we let somebody else take hold of the reigns? Let’s hope for the sanctity of what we call home, a fresh face will come along with the ability and determination to end the old regime and bring about much needed change.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
At the 11th hour
At WayneWho headquarters yesterday, we debated whether we would be writing any more commuter rail articles for a while, figuring that the county vote would be taken and rail wouldn't be a news issue again for a while. Apparently we have at least another week to talk about commuter rail. Today we talk not about whether the commuter rail project is good, bad, or indifferent, but the management of the funding process.Last fall and this spring, other communities sometimes objected to the funding mechanism. We recall certain cities in Orange County that threatened to withdraw support because they wanted the county to bear the funding cost, not the cities. Back then, people were saying, "well, it's a little late in the game, but we understand that it's a once-in-a-lifetime negotiation."
Fast forward to the present day. Oddly enough, we aren't hearing anything from the other counties involved about a funding squeeze. Votes are scheduled in all of the counties as to whether they will participate, and whether the project will go forward or die. (And thanks to some Osceola representative on the MetroPlan board, the project only moves forward if all of the counties agree to contribute.) But Osceola County rolls out the last-minute plan to add a five cent per gallon gas tax increase to fund commuter rail and some other transportation projects, and the hand-wringing begins.
Again, we aren't debating whether commuter rail is good or bad today. But interesting discussion questions come forward:
1. When our county leadership was in school, were they the type of students who always waited until the morning the report was due before they did the work?
2. Is the county manager using the gas tax as a negotiating tactic? It seems like one to two cents would take care of rail, but by asking for five, he's hoping for bonus funds and/or easy passage of the amount that is really needed?
3. Will the project go "off the rails" with three other counties still set to vote, now that they can say "well, Osceola is hesitating"?
Stay tuned.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Latest T-shirt Graphic
We would like to thank all of the comments and emails requesting the "So easy even a School Board Member can do it" graphic. All that you have to do is right click it and then click Save Picture As to save it to your computer. If you would like a bigger image, simply click on it to open it in another screen and then do the right click thing.
And again... we hope to see these around town!
And again... we hope to see these around town!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Sunday Funny - Politician Driving
A politician was swerving all over the road and driving very badly, so she got pulled over by a cop. The cop walked up to her window and asked, "Ma'am, why are you driving so recklessly?"
The politician said, "I'm sorry sir, but wherever I go, there's always a tree in front of me and I can't seem to get away from it!"
The cop looked at her and said, "Ma'am, that's your air freshener!"
The politician said, "I'm sorry sir, but wherever I go, there's always a tree in front of me and I can't seem to get away from it!"
The cop looked at her and said, "Ma'am, that's your air freshener!"
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Comment Corner
It has been a busy week for comments and we would like to thank everyone who contributed. In just the past 5 days we have had 51 comments that have added quite a bit to the conversation on our un-news topics. Please remember that, unlike local governments, we actually listen (or read in this case) what you have to say. Also remember that it is ok to tell us when you do not like what we are saying. If you think our un-news is too far off track, let us know. The more comments, the better.
Comments on Funding Commuter Rail:
Anonymous said - The communter rail project needs to be killed. If the only way to keep it going now is to raise our taxes again, then kill the project. I do not live near anywhere near the rail line, and my drive on 15 will not be affected by the slight drop in traffic near the rail line. Yet I will still have to pay for this mess. Kill the project!!!
Respones: This comment really sums up the entire argurment when it comes to adding additional taxes to the residents of Osceola County. How can you tax people for a special project that does not help them in any direct way? And how can you justify a tax for a project that leaves you with a surplus of the people’s money? We believe that killing the project is still up for debate, but we feel that this needs to be debate based on fact, not hype.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Osceola Puppet School Board Theatre - Throw Down:
- My sides hurt from laughing so much! This is the craziest video yet.
- Greer and Wheeler are just so cute in their little outfits. Do you think they will wear their new outfits to the next School Board Meeting?
- I kept thinking "CatFight". Imagine my surprise when I log on to WayneWho today to see these two idiots locked in a dance off.
- Maybe they should just channel all that built-up frustration and tension through a dance off.
Respones: Sorry we could not list them all, but thank you for all of the great comments. Our only real response is, “So you think you can dance?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Tale of Two Cities:
- Why don't they use the $30 million to pay for this stupid light rail instead of raising my taxes again. I have to commute an hour a day because there no jobs in Osceola. So no I am going to be penalized with a gas tax because of their incompetence. Just great.
- I think to get more people out to the budget meeting, they should have the Kissimmee and School Board Puppet Characters there to sign autographs. And I do mean the popsicle stick puppets, not the actual elected puppets.
- i have not heard of any other fire department losing fire positions. funny, tampa is letting go of 219 employees and their mayor in an open letter said no public safety positions (police or fire). That first city will be adding firefighters. you can see tampa's mayors letter at tampa.gov. [The real link is http://www.tampagov.net/]
Respones: When you listen to government officals explain that there are different pots of money that can not be touched for the things that would help residents, and that we have to pay more even when there is $30 million sitting in an account, you have to wonder is this Hogwarts or hogwash? How can money appear and disappear so quickly? All we can say is that we are glad that there are so many of you paying attention to what is going on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There They Go Again:
- But they can dance! Well at least a couple of them can dance. And their favorite dance is the Hustle.
- That picture represents every politician that we have sitting in all of our governments.
- Maybe it should be elected offical subsidized housing. We can just dump them all in once place so we can keep an eye on them.
- I think the fact that the Osceola News Gazette was able to put a real article together is scary. Quick, through in some more advertising.
Respones: By this point in the week, we realized that our readers were in full swing. What was great is that all of the comments had a great mix of humor and facts. We think the title on this article says it all about the school board. As the week went on, they continued to stick to the title.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Un-News Bites:
- Can school board members be recalled?
- … they are going to put the worst teachers with the worst students and then hand them one of their new DVD's that will make things all better.
- I think a recall is exactly what is needed. Just not at the school board but in all of Osceola County's governments.
- Do you think the Ad-zette even realized the quote they put in the bubble was bad?
- If you are truly fed up with local government....Run!!
Respones: We think the last comment that we highlighted is only a partial answer. We understand that not everyone wants to be a politician. We think that you must get involved with local government no matter what. Part of the price of our democracy and the freedoms that we enjoy is that citizens must be involved to make it work. And what makes our country the strongest is the fact that we need and encourage not just the wealthy, but the poorest as well, to participate and discuss ideas together. Run if you can run, but get involved with your local government no matter what!
Comments on Funding Commuter Rail:
Anonymous said - The communter rail project needs to be killed. If the only way to keep it going now is to raise our taxes again, then kill the project. I do not live near anywhere near the rail line, and my drive on 15 will not be affected by the slight drop in traffic near the rail line. Yet I will still have to pay for this mess. Kill the project!!!
Respones: This comment really sums up the entire argurment when it comes to adding additional taxes to the residents of Osceola County. How can you tax people for a special project that does not help them in any direct way? And how can you justify a tax for a project that leaves you with a surplus of the people’s money? We believe that killing the project is still up for debate, but we feel that this needs to be debate based on fact, not hype.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Osceola Puppet School Board Theatre - Throw Down:
- My sides hurt from laughing so much! This is the craziest video yet.
- Greer and Wheeler are just so cute in their little outfits. Do you think they will wear their new outfits to the next School Board Meeting?
- I kept thinking "CatFight". Imagine my surprise when I log on to WayneWho today to see these two idiots locked in a dance off.
- Maybe they should just channel all that built-up frustration and tension through a dance off.
Respones: Sorry we could not list them all, but thank you for all of the great comments. Our only real response is, “So you think you can dance?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Tale of Two Cities:
- Why don't they use the $30 million to pay for this stupid light rail instead of raising my taxes again. I have to commute an hour a day because there no jobs in Osceola. So no I am going to be penalized with a gas tax because of their incompetence. Just great.
- I think to get more people out to the budget meeting, they should have the Kissimmee and School Board Puppet Characters there to sign autographs. And I do mean the popsicle stick puppets, not the actual elected puppets.
- i have not heard of any other fire department losing fire positions. funny, tampa is letting go of 219 employees and their mayor in an open letter said no public safety positions (police or fire). That first city will be adding firefighters. you can see tampa's mayors letter at tampa.gov. [The real link is http://www.tampagov.net/]
Respones: When you listen to government officals explain that there are different pots of money that can not be touched for the things that would help residents, and that we have to pay more even when there is $30 million sitting in an account, you have to wonder is this Hogwarts or hogwash? How can money appear and disappear so quickly? All we can say is that we are glad that there are so many of you paying attention to what is going on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There They Go Again:
- But they can dance! Well at least a couple of them can dance. And their favorite dance is the Hustle.
- That picture represents every politician that we have sitting in all of our governments.
- Maybe it should be elected offical subsidized housing. We can just dump them all in once place so we can keep an eye on them.
- I think the fact that the Osceola News Gazette was able to put a real article together is scary. Quick, through in some more advertising.
Respones: By this point in the week, we realized that our readers were in full swing. What was great is that all of the comments had a great mix of humor and facts. We think the title on this article says it all about the school board. As the week went on, they continued to stick to the title.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Un-News Bites:
- Can school board members be recalled?
- … they are going to put the worst teachers with the worst students and then hand them one of their new DVD's that will make things all better.
- I think a recall is exactly what is needed. Just not at the school board but in all of Osceola County's governments.
- Do you think the Ad-zette even realized the quote they put in the bubble was bad?
- If you are truly fed up with local government....Run!!
Respones: We think the last comment that we highlighted is only a partial answer. We understand that not everyone wants to be a politician. We think that you must get involved with local government no matter what. Part of the price of our democracy and the freedoms that we enjoy is that citizens must be involved to make it work. And what makes our country the strongest is the fact that we need and encourage not just the wealthy, but the poorest as well, to participate and discuss ideas together. Run if you can run, but get involved with your local government no matter what!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Budget Opportunities
The City of Kissimmee will have its budget workshop tomorrow and this meeting is open to the public. This is not a televised meeting so the only way you can watch what is going on with your money is to attend the meeting. The floor is not open to the public, but you are able to hear what the commissioners are thinking which can give us regular folks some idea of why the are going to vote one way or another. This time around, because of the property tax reforms from the state level, the budget process will be difficult and present challenges we have not asked a commission, or staff, to face in a very long time. WayneWho believes that this process is an opportunity for the City of Kissimmee to shine, if egos can be checked at the door.
First: We think that it is important to discuss as much as possible during this workshop, and the regular commission meetings to follow. There is a tendency by the commission to bypass boring topics to speed up meetings, but in this case, we believe that this would create more distrust in the budget process. We would say, drag it out, and say your peace.
Second: It is not the job of the City Commission to teach the people a lesson about what happens when you ask for tax relief. It is the job of the City Commission, to find the best way to work with the budget they have. It is also the job of the City Commission to understand what services are the most important to the residents. Police, Fire, and the construction and maintenance of roads are the services at the top of the list. Cutting of services is going to happen, but what service need to be cut is where the question lies. Removing positions from the police and/or fire departments is questionable at best and should not be a politically motivated maneuver. Keeping the forces at full strength is your primary role as commissioners. Cutting, reducing, not filling, adjusting, or doing anything that will lower the number of police officers or firefighters off of the street should not be an option that is considered. We hope this makes sense to those who read it.
Third: Funding parties, groups who throw parties, trips that inspire parties, or anything else that does not directly relate to the day to day business of government should only be funded after the primary responsibilities of government, and the people, are taken care of. We have elected you to make difficult decisions just like any CEO would have to make when the company they work for is put into a financial crunch. You told us you could make the difficult triage decisions you are now faced with. The public expects nothing less.
Fourth: Intergovernmental meetings and dealings should not mean the public is removed from the process. At the end of the day the different governments in this community work for the citizens and not each other. Taking property off of the tax roles to let the school board build a school on it in the middle of an area the community has designated as an area for redevelopment tells your residents that you have plenty of money to fund more officers with. Government working for government is a problem, not a solution.
We believe that the Kissimmee City Commission can and will do the right thing for the community. We believe that this budget is an opportunity to show true leadership driven by the commission.
First: We think that it is important to discuss as much as possible during this workshop, and the regular commission meetings to follow. There is a tendency by the commission to bypass boring topics to speed up meetings, but in this case, we believe that this would create more distrust in the budget process. We would say, drag it out, and say your peace.
Second: It is not the job of the City Commission to teach the people a lesson about what happens when you ask for tax relief. It is the job of the City Commission, to find the best way to work with the budget they have. It is also the job of the City Commission to understand what services are the most important to the residents. Police, Fire, and the construction and maintenance of roads are the services at the top of the list. Cutting of services is going to happen, but what service need to be cut is where the question lies. Removing positions from the police and/or fire departments is questionable at best and should not be a politically motivated maneuver. Keeping the forces at full strength is your primary role as commissioners. Cutting, reducing, not filling, adjusting, or doing anything that will lower the number of police officers or firefighters off of the street should not be an option that is considered. We hope this makes sense to those who read it.
Third: Funding parties, groups who throw parties, trips that inspire parties, or anything else that does not directly relate to the day to day business of government should only be funded after the primary responsibilities of government, and the people, are taken care of. We have elected you to make difficult decisions just like any CEO would have to make when the company they work for is put into a financial crunch. You told us you could make the difficult triage decisions you are now faced with. The public expects nothing less.
Fourth: Intergovernmental meetings and dealings should not mean the public is removed from the process. At the end of the day the different governments in this community work for the citizens and not each other. Taking property off of the tax roles to let the school board build a school on it in the middle of an area the community has designated as an area for redevelopment tells your residents that you have plenty of money to fund more officers with. Government working for government is a problem, not a solution.
We believe that the Kissimmee City Commission can and will do the right thing for the community. We believe that this budget is an opportunity to show true leadership driven by the commission.
Un-News Bites
WayneWho's Worst Headliner In Osceola County Award:
WayneWho's Worst Headliner in Osceola County Award was very difficult to decide and the WayneWho team ended up eating multiple pizzas during the lengthy debate. In the end we decided to make sure to mention the runner up along with, in our opinion, the winner.
And the runner up is Tami Loechner, a 27 year old mother who coached her young children through the process of stealing a Boston terrier puppy from a pet store in St. Cloud. The quirky caper unfolded over a 45 minute period where the mother can clearly be seen managing the heist. We can only hope that there is some type of process in place to help these children get back on the straight and narrow.
And the Winner of WayneWho's Worst Headliner in Osceola County Award goes to one of our very own School Board Members. Yes, this is somewhat old news, but why let the news cycle die on a story like this? It appears that School Board Member Tom Greer got caught up in his own spin machine last week when he was trying to fast talk reporters from the Osceola Ad-zette circular. In a long string of meaningless cliches from the Board Members and Superintendent Muse, which included 'From day one you have to hit the ground running', 'There should not be any down time', and 'When we conduct walk-throughs we want to see alot of direct instruction' (direct instruction in a school, who would have thought it possible?) slipped a quote into the true insight of the entire school board. "So many times we put our worst teachers with our worst students because we felt like they weren't going to gain anyway," School Board Member Greer said. All we can say is wow. How much of our tax dollars are you people in charge of? Anyway, the WayneWho's Worst Headliner in Osceola County Award goes to School Board Member Tom Greer for a general disregard for what the people elected you to do. (Your dancing talent almost kept you from winning!)
Other Un-News Bites:
The St. Cloud Workshop scheduled for last night the 17th was mysteriously canceled. One of our citizen journalists headed over to the meeting to find that the workshop that was scheduled, and had been scheduled on the City's web site all day long, was canceled. From the last meeting where the Council members decided in favor of the people and made the decision to hold a special election, we were confident that the City Council was going to defend the peoples rights. We hope that nothing has changed.
The columnist Carl Cricket has posted another great article that you should check out. Our folks had told us of an outburst by Mr. Q., but we haven't had the space to cover it yet (hmmm... puppets anyone?). For real Osceola County news please take a look at the site where Carl Cricket lives: http://www.ksib.net/
We will be posting a real article this afternoon on the "Budget Meetings" scheduled for tomorrow in the City of Kissimmee. So check back in a little while. Is that the "General Fund" I hear?
WayneWho's Worst Headliner in Osceola County Award was very difficult to decide and the WayneWho team ended up eating multiple pizzas during the lengthy debate. In the end we decided to make sure to mention the runner up along with, in our opinion, the winner.
And the runner up is Tami Loechner, a 27 year old mother who coached her young children through the process of stealing a Boston terrier puppy from a pet store in St. Cloud. The quirky caper unfolded over a 45 minute period where the mother can clearly be seen managing the heist. We can only hope that there is some type of process in place to help these children get back on the straight and narrow.
And the Winner of WayneWho's Worst Headliner in Osceola County Award goes to one of our very own School Board Members. Yes, this is somewhat old news, but why let the news cycle die on a story like this? It appears that School Board Member Tom Greer got caught up in his own spin machine last week when he was trying to fast talk reporters from the Osceola Ad-zette circular. In a long string of meaningless cliches from the Board Members and Superintendent Muse, which included 'From day one you have to hit the ground running', 'There should not be any down time', and 'When we conduct walk-throughs we want to see alot of direct instruction' (direct instruction in a school, who would have thought it possible?) slipped a quote into the true insight of the entire school board. "So many times we put our worst teachers with our worst students because we felt like they weren't going to gain anyway," School Board Member Greer said. All we can say is wow. How much of our tax dollars are you people in charge of? Anyway, the WayneWho's Worst Headliner in Osceola County Award goes to School Board Member Tom Greer for a general disregard for what the people elected you to do. (Your dancing talent almost kept you from winning!)Other Un-News Bites:
The St. Cloud Workshop scheduled for last night the 17th was mysteriously canceled. One of our citizen journalists headed over to the meeting to find that the workshop that was scheduled, and had been scheduled on the City's web site all day long, was canceled. From the last meeting where the Council members decided in favor of the people and made the decision to hold a special election, we were confident that the City Council was going to defend the peoples rights. We hope that nothing has changed.
The columnist Carl Cricket has posted another great article that you should check out. Our folks had told us of an outburst by Mr. Q., but we haven't had the space to cover it yet (hmmm... puppets anyone?). For real Osceola County news please take a look at the site where Carl Cricket lives: http://www.ksib.net/
We will be posting a real article this afternoon on the "Budget Meetings" scheduled for tomorrow in the City of Kissimmee. So check back in a little while. Is that the "General Fund" I hear?
Thursday, July 19, 2007
There They Go Again
“Officials rack brains-why did grades fail?” reads the headline. What a misleading headline. It probably should have read: “Breaking news - officials have brains!” The Osceola County School Board has spewed the same rhetoric since they all took office. Every time the FCAT scores are released we’re told: “We’ll have to evaluate the data and make improvements and corrections where they are needed.” When school grades come out every year we are told: “We’ll evaluate the data and make improvements and corrections where they are needed.” Well, more than 3/4 of Osceola County’s schools either maintained or fell in letter grades –not an impressive number and not a great indicator of a quality community. A recent Workforce Central Florida survey reported that most employers feel that a better K-12 grade education is needed for a better and stronger workforce.
Based on last week’s school board meeting statements, the parents are to blame. Is it true? But at the same time the school board says that the reason they need the government subsidized housing project in St. Cloud is so they can attract qualified teachers. Well, how did we get the teachers that are teaching here now? Aren’t they qualified enough? There are no government subsidized housing projects now. Is the school board accurate to say that it’s the parents fault and the teacher’s fault that the schools perform so poorly? We don’t think so. The parents in this community are hard-working people that are doing the best they can for their families. Sure there are a few bad apples but what barrel doesn’t have a few bad apples? Our teachers are the best there is, in fact they are so good that the school board gave them a raise this year, making them among the highest paid teachers in Central Florida. So why is the school board blaming everybody else? Because it’s easy. Responsibility is a hard pill to swallow. But we believe that when you're sick, you need to take your medicine if you’re going to get better. Don’t treat the symptoms, treat the cold. The only problem with this analogy is that a cold will usually get better on it's own, and that is not going to happen with this cold known as the Osceola County School Board. How do we know this? Look at the recent history of our schools. Backsliding grades, increasing discipline problems, and more money being spent than ever before to accomplish these falling standards. Any doctor would look at a chart with that kind of data, and declare there is a problem. We also highly doubt that the prescription to make the patient better comes in the form of a government subsidized housing project, or a $185,000 DVD that blames the parents for the lack of educational increases in our community, or spending money on customer service posters detailing how administration personnel and teachers need to improve their customer services skills. Now those are hard pills to swallow.
The buck stops with the Osceola County School Board Members who are responsible for the state of our schools. Perhaps if we built a subsidized housing project to attract qualified school board members our schools and kids would start scoring better, but then again, school board members probably don't want to live in projects either.
Based on last week’s school board meeting statements, the parents are to blame. Is it true? But at the same time the school board says that the reason they need the government subsidized housing project in St. Cloud is so they can attract qualified teachers. Well, how did we get the teachers that are teaching here now? Aren’t they qualified enough? There are no government subsidized housing projects now. Is the school board accurate to say that it’s the parents fault and the teacher’s fault that the schools perform so poorly? We don’t think so. The parents in this community are hard-working people that are doing the best they can for their families. Sure there are a few bad apples but what barrel doesn’t have a few bad apples? Our teachers are the best there is, in fact they are so good that the school board gave them a raise this year, making them among the highest paid teachers in Central Florida. So why is the school board blaming everybody else? Because it’s easy. Responsibility is a hard pill to swallow. But we believe that when you're sick, you need to take your medicine if you’re going to get better. Don’t treat the symptoms, treat the cold. The only problem with this analogy is that a cold will usually get better on it's own, and that is not going to happen with this cold known as the Osceola County School Board. How do we know this? Look at the recent history of our schools. Backsliding grades, increasing discipline problems, and more money being spent than ever before to accomplish these falling standards. Any doctor would look at a chart with that kind of data, and declare there is a problem. We also highly doubt that the prescription to make the patient better comes in the form of a government subsidized housing project, or a $185,000 DVD that blames the parents for the lack of educational increases in our community, or spending money on customer service posters detailing how administration personnel and teachers need to improve their customer services skills. Now those are hard pills to swallow.
The buck stops with the Osceola County School Board Members who are responsible for the state of our schools. Perhaps if we built a subsidized housing project to attract qualified school board members our schools and kids would start scoring better, but then again, school board members probably don't want to live in projects either.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A Tale of Two Cities
Is it the best of times, or the worst of times?This is a tale of two Central Florida communities. Both knew that they would be impacted by property tax reforms and took various reactive measures to minimize the impact.
The property tax reforms came and went, and budget time approached. Elected officials from the first community appeared in the press, saying that they had planned well, and along with expected development and growth, their budget would virtually remain the same. Not only would it remain the same, but this community was going to build large entertainment venues for the residents that lived there.
The second community, in spite of such things as creating a new "revenue neutral" fire fee, an increase in the storm water fee, increased impact fees, a hiring freeze, and discussions of raising the county gas tax to fund various projects, continued to wring their hands. Standards began to slip, and residents became increasingly confused as to why they were paying more for less. Frustration was at hand.
Certainly the messenger can have many intentions when delivering the message. The first community certainly understands that if they deliver a message of doom and gloom, there would be no community support for various entertainment venues the community leaders wish to build. But if a positive message is intended to support further growth and development, what is a negative message intended to do? Good leaders usually understand how to deliver a message to motivate those they lead and we have to ask ourselves which set of leaders is leading, and which is reacting? Only time will tell.
Budget meetings have begun in the second community. They should be interesting to watch. If only there was a potential new stadium to serve as a motivator. Or maybe a.... wait for it... a new "Expo Center" that could be built with the thirty million dollars that is just collecting dust in the Visitor Bureaus coffers and that can not be used for anything else. Just a thought.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Eye On The News
1. Red light camera lawsuit, and a possible solution
Well, we may have a court precedent very soon on whether cameras can be used for automated red-light enforcement in Florida. Several news outlets are reporting that the Florida Civil Rights Association is considering suing Orlando, Apopka, and Orange County over their use of red-light cameras. The group is citing a recent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling overturning red light camera use.
We are glad, in this case, that other cities will be the test cases on this effort, but we also believe their might be a more simple solution to this issue. If we were to go ahead and install the red-light cameras, but with a celebrity proximity detectors on them so the only time a picture would be taken is if a celebrity runs a red light, then we should get past the whole issue of violating privacy rights. It has been well documented that celebrities are afforded no real privacy when it comes to someone taking their picture, so a red-light camera should pose no real issue. The only problem that we see is that this system might have to be tested in court to define who and /or what a celebrity actually is. We will keep you posted.
2. Traffic Crash Fees
Also in the news this week, DeLand is considering joining Maitland and Winter Park in charging a fee for emergency response to traffic crashes. In many cases the fee is charged to each driver's insurance company, regardless of who is at fault. At first glance, you might say "well, that's fine, it doesn't impact me unless I'm in a crash." We say that this bears watching, because if crash fees become popular (and local governments love their fees), we believe that these fees will impact every driver's insurance rates. We have also heard rumors that some type of point of sale system might be installed into emergency vehicles so you will have a choice of Credit, Debit, or let the Crash Fee go on to the insurance companies. Interestingly, DeLand is also considering a Fire Fee in addition to the Crash Fee.
Well, we may have a court precedent very soon on whether cameras can be used for automated red-light enforcement in Florida. Several news outlets are reporting that the Florida Civil Rights Association is considering suing Orlando, Apopka, and Orange County over their use of red-light cameras. The group is citing a recent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling overturning red light camera use.
We are glad, in this case, that other cities will be the test cases on this effort, but we also believe their might be a more simple solution to this issue. If we were to go ahead and install the red-light cameras, but with a celebrity proximity detectors on them so the only time a picture would be taken is if a celebrity runs a red light, then we should get past the whole issue of violating privacy rights. It has been well documented that celebrities are afforded no real privacy when it comes to someone taking their picture, so a red-light camera should pose no real issue. The only problem that we see is that this system might have to be tested in court to define who and /or what a celebrity actually is. We will keep you posted.
2. Traffic Crash Fees
Also in the news this week, DeLand is considering joining Maitland and Winter Park in charging a fee for emergency response to traffic crashes. In many cases the fee is charged to each driver's insurance company, regardless of who is at fault. At first glance, you might say "well, that's fine, it doesn't impact me unless I'm in a crash." We say that this bears watching, because if crash fees become popular (and local governments love their fees), we believe that these fees will impact every driver's insurance rates. We have also heard rumors that some type of point of sale system might be installed into emergency vehicles so you will have a choice of Credit, Debit, or let the Crash Fee go on to the insurance companies. Interestingly, DeLand is also considering a Fire Fee in addition to the Crash Fee.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Osceola Puppet School Board Theatre - Throw Down
We hope you enjoy our newest puppet adventure with a cast of new characters. As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.
There seems to be alot of traffic for this video today. If you have trouble viewing the video on our blog, follow this link to see it on YouTube.com
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TFJ_lCVfYHk
There seems to be alot of traffic for this video today. If you have trouble viewing the video on our blog, follow this link to see it on YouTube.com
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TFJ_lCVfYHk
Funding Commuter Rail
For as long as the property tax debate was going on in Tallahassee, we heard from local elected officials "don't cut property tax revenue or we'll have to kill commuter rail." This past week, Osceola County brought forth the idea of raising the local gas tax by five cents per gallon to fund commuter rail and other transit options.
and so on...
Five cents sounded like a big increase to us, and being so close to the Orange County line, a reason to go to Orange County to buy gas if the increase went into effect. So we did some research. As we understand it, Osceola County's current fuel tax is one cent per gallon, enacted on 1/1/1987 (source: Florida Department of Revenue). In 2006, $1,634,234 in fuel tax was distributed to Osceola County (source: Florida Department of Revenue). We took that number and did some math. According to the Orlando Sentinel, County Manager Michael Freilinger is proposing adding a nickel to the local gas tax to fund transit, bringing the local tax to six cents per gallon. If we multiply the $1,634,234 that the county received at one cent per gallon by six, we get a projected annual gas tax revenue of $9,805,404 (based on 2006 volume).
That's a big pile of money. According to the Sentinel, Osceola County's share of funding for the commuter rail project is $22.2 million in 2011 and then $3 million per year in 2017. ($3.85 million is in the 2008 county budget for engineering and parking, according to the Osceola News-Gazette.)
With all other things being constant, assuming the gas tax change went into effect in 2008, the difference in revenue between the current and proposed gas tax is $8,171,170 per year. So let's look at the income and outlays for the new tax and the commuter rail:
| Year | Addl Income | Rail Payment | Difference |
| 2008 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$8171170 |
| 2009 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$16342340 |
| 2010 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$24513510 |
| 2011 | +$8171170 | -$22,000,000 | +$10684680 |
| 2012 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$18855850 |
| 2013 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$27027020 |
| 2014 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$35198190 |
| 2015 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$43369360 |
| 2016 | +$8171170 | $0 | +$51540530 |
| 2017 | +$8171170 | -$3000000 | +$56711700 |
So, sure, $22 million is a big number in 2011, if the county needs to have all of that cash in their pocket to make the payment right then (bonds anyone?). But with our little math model, there is still $10 million left over that year. And the gas tax revenues far overwhelm the estimated operating payments going forward. Would someone like to show the error in our math? Or is this just another big scary tactic that is almost sure to wipe out support for commuter rail while generating funding for other projects?
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday Funny - Life before the computer
- An application was for employment
- A program was a TV show
- A cursor used profanity
- A keyboard was a piano!
- Memory was something that you lost with age
- A CD was a bank account And if you had a 3 1/2 inch floppy You hoped nobody found out! Compress was something you did to garbage Not something you did to a file And if you unzipped anything in public You'd be in jail for a while!
- Log on was adding wood to a fire
- Hard drive was a long trip on the road
- A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
- And a backup happened to your commode!
- Cut - you did with a pocket knife
- Paste you did with glue
- A web was a spider's home
- And a virus was the flu!
- I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper And the memory in my head
- I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash But when it happens they wish they were dead!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Comment Corner
As you know, we did not do a comment corner last week. Those holiday weeks can really throw you off sometimes. In light of that, we will show some of the comments for The General Fund episode of the Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre in addition to this past week’s comments.
Comments on Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre – The General Fund (There were 33 comments total!!! For time saving reasons we cannot list them all and will have to condense the ones we do use, but we do encourage you to go to that entry and read them all.):
- Worth the wait!!! Brilliant!!
- I could not stop laughing...
- I like your episode better than the last movie the put out with Jessic Simpson and Johnny Knoxville.
- I love how the State Boys get stuck in traffic when they get to Central Florida. Ain't it the truth!!
- Get'em taxes!
- Sad part is Boss Swan and his croneys have increased their "revenue neutral" fees (taxes) so much that the people's tax cut is now "beneficially negative" for us.
- Rollback Taxes!
- I think Channel 9 picked the wrong video to air!
- Wayne Who - 1 :: Local Government - 0
- Thank God for our un-news. Get'em Wayne Who.
- "Oh my God!"
- I give it Five Stars.
- I had to watch this again this morning before I started work. Too funny!
- This was the best puppet theatre yet.
Response: Thank you. We have a feeling that the General might be needed again. And… if you think that this one was funny… you might want to watch on Monday!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment on Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre – Fixing a Problem:
Anonymous said - As I watched the meeting last night, I had to do a double take to make sure I was watching the BoobTube, and not the YouTube commission meeting. At least your episodes get to the point in less than 10 minutes.
Response: When you’re not running for re-election, you don’t have to be as long winded.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments on Breaking un-News in St. Cloud:
Anonymous said - I am a voting resident of St. CLoud. And the council should apppoint no one at all. Hold a special election. Regardless of the cost. This is the American thing to do. See who the people want in there to fill that seat and vote on this housing issue. The residents should make the decision on who represents them not the other council members. God help the council if they do. Them and their re-elections.
Anonymous said - St. Cloud Council, your Kung-Fu is no good.
Response: We are proud of the actions that the St. Cloud council took regarding this issue (read the follow-up story for the details). We hope that other local government bodies will follow in their footsteps.
Comments on Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre – The General Fund (There were 33 comments total!!! For time saving reasons we cannot list them all and will have to condense the ones we do use, but we do encourage you to go to that entry and read them all.):
- Worth the wait!!! Brilliant!!
- I could not stop laughing...
- I like your episode better than the last movie the put out with Jessic Simpson and Johnny Knoxville.
- I love how the State Boys get stuck in traffic when they get to Central Florida. Ain't it the truth!!
- Get'em taxes!
- Sad part is Boss Swan and his croneys have increased their "revenue neutral" fees (taxes) so much that the people's tax cut is now "beneficially negative" for us.
- Rollback Taxes!
- I think Channel 9 picked the wrong video to air!
- Wayne Who - 1 :: Local Government - 0
- Thank God for our un-news. Get'em Wayne Who.
- "Oh my God!"
- I give it Five Stars.
- I had to watch this again this morning before I started work. Too funny!
- This was the best puppet theatre yet.
Response: Thank you. We have a feeling that the General might be needed again. And… if you think that this one was funny… you might want to watch on Monday!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment on Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre – Fixing a Problem:
Anonymous said - As I watched the meeting last night, I had to do a double take to make sure I was watching the BoobTube, and not the YouTube commission meeting. At least your episodes get to the point in less than 10 minutes.
Response: When you’re not running for re-election, you don’t have to be as long winded.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments on Breaking un-News in St. Cloud:
Anonymous said - I am a voting resident of St. CLoud. And the council should apppoint no one at all. Hold a special election. Regardless of the cost. This is the American thing to do. See who the people want in there to fill that seat and vote on this housing issue. The residents should make the decision on who represents them not the other council members. God help the council if they do. Them and their re-elections.
Anonymous said - St. Cloud Council, your Kung-Fu is no good.
Response: We are proud of the actions that the St. Cloud council took regarding this issue (read the follow-up story for the details). We hope that other local government bodies will follow in their footsteps.
Champions of the People
We would like to thank those of you that sent in the email requesting us to place a larger image of "Champions of the People" on the blog for download purposes. We had already starting using the image for our computer desktop, but wouldn't have thought of making a t-shirt with it. We think that the t-shirts will indeed look great and hope to see them being worn around town.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Breaking un-News Follow-Up
In one of those moments that makes you proud to be an American, the St. Cloud city council unanimously agreed to defend and uphold the people’s right to vote for their representatives. After a lengthy conversation between the council members and the city attorney concerning all of the council’s options to fill Mike Wetzel’s vacated seat, and after several public comments that were warmly wrapped in patriotism, honor and all that is red, white, and blue, St. Cloud can hold its head high and know that it’s city council put aside their legal ability to appoint a replacement and instead took the high road. In true, American WayneWho fashion, this city may not have a plaque that carries the title but we tip our hats to Osceola County’s true All-America city. St. Cloud city council, thank you for being true Americans and defending the people’s right to vote. Regardless of the outcome of this special election, the people will have chosen their representative.
Breaking un-News in St. Cloud
St. Cloud field reporters for WayneWho have been told by their sources (who have requested to stay anonymous) that the city council of St. Cloud has already decided that a special election is not going to be held to fill Mike Wetzel’s vacated seat.
Instead, an appointment will be made by the council. In addition, there is possibility that the appointment has already been decided to be given to an ex-council member that was un-seated by a majority vote of the residents of St. Cloud in the not-so-distant past.
In light of the apparent tie that the four council members have regarding the government subsidized housing project, we can’t help but question the sitting council’s motivation in skirting a vote by the people and instead choosing a recently un-seated politician. Will this stay in line with the campaign promises made to the people during the campaign season?
Stay tuned…
Instead, an appointment will be made by the council. In addition, there is possibility that the appointment has already been decided to be given to an ex-council member that was un-seated by a majority vote of the residents of St. Cloud in the not-so-distant past.
In light of the apparent tie that the four council members have regarding the government subsidized housing project, we can’t help but question the sitting council’s motivation in skirting a vote by the people and instead choosing a recently un-seated politician. Will this stay in line with the campaign promises made to the people during the campaign season?
Stay tuned…
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Community Policing Through Technology
The Boston Police Department received a fair amount of national press this week as the latest law enforcement organization to accept crime tips via text message. Boston's system generates automated messages asking questions about crime categories, descriptions of suspects, weapon types, and other details.Boston and other cities also send out different levels of text messages regarding recent crimes. Some cities, for example, send out AMBER alerts, or descriptions of recently-stolen vehicles, or suspects wanted in violent crimes. Amsterdam police tried a program where they sent "this is a stolen cell phone" messages to stolen phones so frequently that the phones were virtually unusable.
Cell phone text messages usually cost the receiver money. Some (but not many) carriers have special programs allowing for no-cost text messages from government agencies. (Note: the City of Kissimmee plans a pilot program to test emergency alerts to local residents who opt-in.)
For discussion:
1. Would you like some way to send a written (non-emergency) report to the local police? (For example, text message or e-mail.)
1. Would you like some way to send a written (non-emergency) report to the local police? (For example, text message or e-mail.)
2. Would you sign up to receive crime alerts from your local law enforcement agency? Would you be willing to pay text message fees for those messages?
WFTV also reported on Tuesday about a pilot program used by the Orange County Sheriff's Department to remotely monitor security cameras at locations targeted by their nuisance abatement unit. Deputies have the ability to remotely monitor the cameras over the Internet. The cameras are purchased by the business owners, not the county.
3. (Bonus question)...if your home or business has security cameras, would you be willing to let local law enforcement remotely access your cameras?
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Tidbits of Info
1. Kissimmee curbside recycling:On the commission agenda tonight is a proposal by city staff to obtain a grant to start a pilot project for curbside recycling within the city. We think it's a great idea, as we wrote in an entry back on June 12th. Maybe we could reduce enough waste that way that the $1/month waste collection increase that the commission is considering tonight wouldn't be necessary. (Side request to the commission: maybe you could do all of the new fees/fee increases at once, rather than rolling out one a month.)
2. All-America City, Round II:
The Kissimmee commission is also going to talk about their plans to enter the All-America City competition again in 2008 at tonight's meeting. Let's hope they think about the following: 1) There's plenty of lead time to solicit donations/sponsorships for this effort, so that it isn't entirely funded by various government agencies. 2) A mixture of new/different community programs would need to be added to any new entry...we don't think there is any way to win with the same group of programs that have already been entered once. 3) Hopefully the inevitable "advisory committee" will include some fresh faces.
3. St. Cloud and The Preserve:
Well, whoever (School District, Education Foundation, or private developer) had The Preserve zoning on the St. Cloud agenda for this week asked that it be delayed. Guess the odds among the 4 remaining sitting commissioners wasn't good. Does this mean that they felt that Mike Wetzel was going to be the decisive "yes" vote in a 3-2 split? If that's the case, the special election could truly come down to a single-issue campaign. Stay tuned.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Sunday Funny - Paying the Bill
Walking up to a department store's fabric counter, the pretty girl said, "I would like to buy this material for a new dress. How much does it cost?" "Only one kiss per yard," replied the male clerk with a smirk. "That's fine," said the girl. "I'll take ten yards." With expectation and anticipation written all over his face, the clerk quickly measured out the cloth, wrapped it up, then teasingly held it out.
The girl snapped up the package, pointed to the old geezer standing beside her, and smiled, "Grandpa will pay the bill."
The girl snapped up the package, pointed to the old geezer standing beside her, and smiled, "Grandpa will pay the bill."
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Affordable housing revisited
Back on May 3rd, we wrote about an article we had read from an affordable housing developer, outlining how he builds his projects (with 20 years of experience). It basically came down to 1) cheap, less desirable land; 2) high density; and 3) effective building plans.
We read Tom Greer's letter to the editor in the Thursday 7/5 News-Gazette. He outlines the combination of forces that came together to make him sure that The Preserve project is going to work:
1) $5 million in state grant funds
2) $1 million in grant funds from Osceola County
3) School impact fee waivers
4) Reduced land costs
5) Loans from local financial institutions
With all of that, we have to ask...is there any builder in this area that wouldn't sign on to a project where there is a basket of money, discounted land prices, and fee waivers? Sounds like a sweetheart of a deal to us. In fact, we would guess that a lot more housing would become affordable if the local governments just waived their impact fees, never mind the free (tax-generated) grants.
As long as we're thinking about it, has anyone been past the old Reedy Creek Inn that was going to be developed into moderate-income condos? (See our blog entry, 3/26/07.) If that actually gets done on time (they quoted August at that time), it would really bring into question whether local governments can compete on building projects with the private sector.
We read Tom Greer's letter to the editor in the Thursday 7/5 News-Gazette. He outlines the combination of forces that came together to make him sure that The Preserve project is going to work:
1) $5 million in state grant funds
2) $1 million in grant funds from Osceola County
3) School impact fee waivers
4) Reduced land costs
5) Loans from local financial institutions
With all of that, we have to ask...is there any builder in this area that wouldn't sign on to a project where there is a basket of money, discounted land prices, and fee waivers? Sounds like a sweetheart of a deal to us. In fact, we would guess that a lot more housing would become affordable if the local governments just waived their impact fees, never mind the free (tax-generated) grants.
As long as we're thinking about it, has anyone been past the old Reedy Creek Inn that was going to be developed into moderate-income condos? (See our blog entry, 3/26/07.) If that actually gets done on time (they quoted August at that time), it would really bring into question whether local governments can compete on building projects with the private sector.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Lightning strikes twice in St. Cloud
Here we go again. Deputy Mayor of St. Cloud, Mike Wetzel was arrested Wednesday evening after driving through a police barricade at the intersection of Cypress and New York Ave. After the officer smelled the alcohol on Wetzel's breath, a field sobriety test was conducted, which he failed. He was then taken to the county jail. This is the second time in less than two years Mr. Wetzel has been arrested for DUI. In March of 2006, Mr. Wetzel was pulled over for speeding and charged with marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI on the night of his re-election. The marijuana and paraphernalia possession charges were later dropped. Mr. Wetzel pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a one year-long probation which included DUI school. He appealed for and won an early termination of that probation in December of 2006.
St. Cloud's charter states that any council member should step down from office if he is 'convicted of any crime involving moral turpitudes or if a plea of guilty is entered.' The council could have Wetzel removed from office after a public meeting is held and a vote. The issue is being placed on the July 12 council agenda.
Mr. Wetzel has an obvious personal problem. What a person does in their home is a private matter. However, as an elected official, Mr. Wetzel has a responsibility to his constituents to take the high road at all times. He has, in fact, chosen the path of a public life. Mr. Wetzel, this means that you are always under the microscope. It just comes with the territory. We believe that people do in fact make mistakes; it's in our human nature. However, the practice that we teach our children is to learn from those mistakes so that they will not repeat them. The irresponsibility and negligent actions of Mr. Wetzel have not only demonstrated that he has not learned from past mistakes, but those same mistakes have also placed the lives of his constituents and the lives of children at great risk. We are thankful that it was a police barricade that was run over and not an Independence Day celebrator. We believe that it is in the best interest of the city of St. Cloud, its residents and even Mr. Wetzel to have him removed from his city council seat as soon as possible. There is an old saying that states 'If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.'
St. Cloud's charter states that any council member should step down from office if he is 'convicted of any crime involving moral turpitudes or if a plea of guilty is entered.' The council could have Wetzel removed from office after a public meeting is held and a vote. The issue is being placed on the July 12 council agenda.
Mr. Wetzel has an obvious personal problem. What a person does in their home is a private matter. However, as an elected official, Mr. Wetzel has a responsibility to his constituents to take the high road at all times. He has, in fact, chosen the path of a public life. Mr. Wetzel, this means that you are always under the microscope. It just comes with the territory. We believe that people do in fact make mistakes; it's in our human nature. However, the practice that we teach our children is to learn from those mistakes so that they will not repeat them. The irresponsibility and negligent actions of Mr. Wetzel have not only demonstrated that he has not learned from past mistakes, but those same mistakes have also placed the lives of his constituents and the lives of children at great risk. We are thankful that it was a police barricade that was run over and not an Independence Day celebrator. We believe that it is in the best interest of the city of St. Cloud, its residents and even Mr. Wetzel to have him removed from his city council seat as soon as possible. There is an old saying that states 'If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.'
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Bob Makinson, you will be missed
On a day of celebration, a truly sad event took place. We lost a man who was always dedicated to serving his community. If not for Bob's vision and action, many good things in our city might not have happened. He will be missed.
Much has been made this morning about a city commissioner's request to the city manager that the US flag be flown at half-staff in Mr. Makinson's memory. We've never been above calling out the city on issues, so we wanted to review some flag policy to see if the statement that the city manager could not make that order was accurate. We went to this flag flying site: http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html#q09
And it appears that only the state governor can order the US flag at a government building to be flown at half-staff. So perhaps a quick call to Governor Crist's office is in order. We did note the question about "Can my company fly the US flag at half-mast for a former employee?" and the answer that a company flag can be flown at half-staff. Perhaps a compromise is in order, and the city's flag could be flown at half-staff in Mr. Makinson's honor.
Much has been made this morning about a city commissioner's request to the city manager that the US flag be flown at half-staff in Mr. Makinson's memory. We've never been above calling out the city on issues, so we wanted to review some flag policy to see if the statement that the city manager could not make that order was accurate. We went to this flag flying site: http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html#q09
And it appears that only the state governor can order the US flag at a government building to be flown at half-staff. So perhaps a quick call to Governor Crist's office is in order. We did note the question about "Can my company fly the US flag at half-mast for a former employee?" and the answer that a company flag can be flown at half-staff. Perhaps a compromise is in order, and the city's flag could be flown at half-staff in Mr. Makinson's honor.
Election reform revisited
Remember back before the Charter Review Committee was formed, when the City Commission decided to propose five changes to the city charter regarding election reform? One of the proposed changes is to implement a lottery system to determine the order in which candidates' names will be placed on the ballot. The argument is that being first on the ballot can give a candidate a 5-10% bump in votes.
Men's Health magazine recently wrote of another candidate group that gets a vote bump:
"Uninformed voters may be more dangerous to democracy than low voter turnout. According to research by Princeton University professor Larry Bartels, Ph.D., incumbents receive a 5 to 10 percent boost from politically ignorant voters who cast ballots based on name recognition alone. Check Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan, nonprofit research organization, before you hit the polls. vote-smart.org"
So how do we solve this one?
Men's Health magazine recently wrote of another candidate group that gets a vote bump:
"Uninformed voters may be more dangerous to democracy than low voter turnout. According to research by Princeton University professor Larry Bartels, Ph.D., incumbents receive a 5 to 10 percent boost from politically ignorant voters who cast ballots based on name recognition alone. Check Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan, nonprofit research organization, before you hit the polls. vote-smart.org"
So how do we solve this one?
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Independence Day
WayneWho hopes you are enjoying your 4th of July, Independence Day, safely with your loved ones and/or friends. We hope that you take time to remember not only those who have fought, but also those who may still be fighting in our name, and in our honor. We owe them much for the sacrafices they have made on our behalf. And while we ask you to remember them, we also ask you to remember what this day, Independence Day, represents.Independence Day is the day that on July 4, 1776 delegates from 13 colonies declared their independence from the rule of King George III. They did this with a document called the Declaration of Independence, which even on this 231st Birthday of our country establishes the idea of a government that has yet to be duplicated. This document was a powerful rebuttal against a tyranny that had lasted too long. This was the day that would set the tone, and the mindset of a nation. Our Independence had been declared.
Be safe, be smart, and have fun.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Economic Development
We recently stumbled across this job posting from the City of Winter Park* for an Economic Development Director. We scratched our heads as if to say "hmmm...how big is Winter Park relative to Kissimmee," but our question was answered in the first sentence, where we see that Winter Park's population is 32,000...about half of Kissimmee's. Which reminds us that St. Cloud, also smaller than Kissimmee, has an economic development consultant as well. What kind of responsibilities would such a position have? Read on:Winter Garden Florida, (Pop. 32,000) the fastest growing city in Orange County is seeking an experienced ED Director to lead the community's economic and business development goals. This includes new business attraction, business retention and expansion, entrepreneurial initiatives and implementation of redevelopment plans. Experience in negotiating sale of City owned property, implementation of business assistance and attraction programs required. Considerable knowledge of business development; considerable knowledge of economic development; working knowledge of municipal zoning and infrastructure; working knowledge of planning programs and processes. Ability to analyze and communicate effectively orally and in writing with industrialists, architects, contractors, developers, owners, supervisors, employees, and the general public; Ability to establish effective working relationships. Bachelor's degree in urban planning, business or public administration, marketing or a related field. Equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered. Competitive Salary and outstanding benefits package. Apply: e-mail jobs@cwgdn.com, or fax 407.877.2795 or mail HR Department, 251 W. Plant Street, Winter Garden,
FL 34787 EOE
Now that the economic director whom we've been relying on all this time has double duty, isn't it time to re-think how we handle our own economic development? The money spent on the All America City competion, which was done to "help bring in economic development" along with what we currently pay the county for part-time help could be combined and realocated in next year's budget to make for a decent starting salary. Come on Kissimmee... isn't it time?
*Correction - this was actually Winter Garden. Thanks to Osceola Observer for keeping us straight.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Sunday Funny - Heckling The Mayor
A old man was sitting in the front row at a town meeting, heckling the mayor as he delivered a long speech. Finally the mayor could stand it no longer, so he pointed to the heckler and said, "will that gentleman please stand up and tell the audience what he has ever done for the good of the city." "Well Mr. Mayor," the man said in a firm voice. "I voted against you in the last election."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)