Kid Nation: Settling In

In this week's episode of Kid Nation, the newness has worn off and the kids don't face as many surprises about their environment. What did we learn?

The Town Council receives a weekly playbook with clues on how to survive (perhaps a frontier version of a blog?)

When the kids had to do something distasteful (slaughter chickens), even those that protested had to come watch out of curiosity.

When the teams do not complete their assigned tasks within the challenge time limit, they are denied both the infrastructure improvements (better water pumps) as well as the water slide for the center of town.

Those who wanted to succeed press on past leaders who aren't willing to put forth effort.

One Council member states: "Every Town Council meeting has a lot of cheering or a lot of yelling."

The town citizens disapprove when a Council member uses a recurring excuse for why her team cannot perform their assigned jobs.

Finally, we learned that when we forget to set our VCRs, we can watch the show on the Internet, but it's not quite the same viewing experience.

Next week: the gloves come off as one town member tries to win the coveted $20,000 gold star.

St. Cloud Offers Tax Relief

St. Cloud joins the ranks of cities offering its citizens tax relief. This time, it’s real tax relief. In an amazing turn of events, the St. Cloud city council voted to rollback their mileage rate to the requested amount by the state and the city’s residents. On top of this, the city instructed the city manager to cut the budget. The city manager listed among the items that would more than likely be cut were Chamber of Commerce dues, Main Street funds as well as Cyberspot. And believe it or not, not one council or staff member talked about creating “revenue neutral” fees or fee increases to make up the loss of revenue.

We applaud City Manager Tom Hurt for his dedication to his employees. He negotiated to keep the employees raises to 1.5% and their cost-of-living adjustments to 1.5% as well. Although this wasn’t the 2% they were originally going to get, he and the council stood firm on taking care of their people. Good job!

We hope that by the time the final budget comes back, these cuts as listed are implemented and the services and employees are maintained. Congratulations St. Cloud on leading the way in our county to demonstrate effective government in the eyes of the people. We thank you!

Public Toilet Tourism

Once again, we came across an article on a unique public restroom situation.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Charmin is, for the second holiday season, sponsoring free public restrooms in Times Square. Starting Nov 19th, the 20 restrooms will be open from 10am - 11 pm, seven days a week. Attendants will be in place to service the restroom between each use. Charmin reports that 420,000 people used the public restrooms during last year's holiday season.

That's a situation most cities in the world can only envy. Not only the number of people passing through Times Square, but that a company would sponsor a usually invisible public service as a marketing stunt.

Complaint letter

Charlie Crist, Governor
Ken Pruitt, Senate President
Marco Rubio, Speaker of the House

Dear Charlie, Ken, and Marco:

My local elected officials asked me to write to you. They tell me that you are responsible for all of the bad things going on in Florida, and that you are preventing them from fixing the bad things, and ask that you stop that. Apparently everything would be fine if you would stop exercising total control and let the local officials do what they want to do, but because you act like a "big brother," our local officials are paralyzed with fear.

To help our local officials regain some of their lost self-esteem, I would also ask that you:
1. Stop writing "State government rules" in the bathrooms in Tallahassee.
2. Stop using mind meld techniques at local meet-and-greets to make local officials conform to your will and cluck like chickens on command.
3. Speak in soothing, positive tones when you suggest that government budgets need to be cut.

With your cooperation, I just know that our local elected officials will regain their composure and roll out their top-secret plan they have to solve all of our area's problems.

Thank you for your time,

A concerned citizen


PS. I have been asked to let you know that if you won't comply, I will have to resort to calling your mother a poopy-head.

Check your calendars

On the public meeting calendar for this week:

Tonight (Tuesday 9/25), the City of Kissimmee considers the implementation of a Fire Rescue Special Assessment (aka "the fire fee"). The meeting begins this evening at 6 PM in the commission chambers. When we looked at the agenda today for the meeting on the city web site, it is listed as a commission workshop, which leads us to wonder whether the meeting will be carried on Access Osceola. Plan your viewing habits accordingly.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 9/26), the School Board will take public comment on the current at-large voting system beginning at 5 PM at the Osceola County School for the Arts Auditorium.

Osceola Puppet Commission Theatre - The Plan

Greener in Orlando

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Orlando's Station 15, in Lake Nona, will open this week as the first LEED-certified green firehouse in the State of Florida. Orlando plans to open two other certified firehouses in the next few months, and Sarasota plans several as well. According to the city, the SAVINGS in electricity and water costs will pay for the additional green features of the building in approximately 11 years.

So, city commissioners, Orlando gets the marketing credit for "first LEED certified firehouse"...now it's just going to be expected of government buildings going forward. We can't afford it anyway, otherwise maybe we could try for "first LEED certified fountain."

There's a warm wind blowing

...and it's not coming from the tropics. On the issue of the Kissimmee Fire Rescue Special Assessment, it appears that the discussion activity has hit a fever pitch this week. We've seen flyers downtown, read newspaper articles,and had many of word of mouth conversations. One theme we've heard several times is that people have discovered that "revenue neutral" and "costs the same" are not interchangeable phrases.

We read a quote this morning that appears to be misquoted or misguided. The quote suggested that the fire assessment might be a good thing because it allows city residents to see the cost of individual city services and decide if they felt those services were important. We're talking fire rescue services here, which are a core and necessary function of government. If someone finds the cost of this fee too high, what are their options? Were fees to be used to allow citizens to select services, we'd suggest that the city start with services that are not lifesaving in nature. Perhaps the city could start small, for instance, allowing residents to decide that they would like to opt for a single trash collection day per week, rather than two, if they wanted to reduce costs.

We've heard plenty of predictions as to how packed the commission chamber will be when this issue is discussed next Tuesday, September 25th. Perhaps if the city is looking for some quick money, they'll consider making the cablecast of the live meeting a pay-per-view event.

Kid Nation Lessons

What did we learn this week on Kid Nation?

• The game organizers feel that the town must have 4 different districts, each with its own member on the Town Council, to be successful.
  
  
• The town members respect the actions of the individual, not the title. Thus, those who had a title conferred upon them do not immediately gain respect, and those who put forth effort for the common good become impromptu leaders without titles.
  
  
• Individual teams only work for the common good when there is a common benefit.
  
  
• Infastructure (Port-A-Potties) is more important than idle entertainment venues (television set or a fountain in our case).
  

Next week, perhaps we will learn how to campaign, kid style, when it becomes possible to change out the members of the Town Council. Rumor has it that we will learn how to properly establish a method of taxation.

Top Ten ways you know it is election day in St. Cloud

10) Walmart running an ignore-the-vote special on beef jerky.

9) CNN has already declared Dennis Kucinich the winner.

8) Armando Ramirez has already filed a lawsuit contesting the election.

7) Elections office has "Gone Fishing" sign on the door.

6) Cows mysteriously appear painted Red, White, and Blue.

5) Developers being required to carry drool cups.

4) The telemarketers can finally get a call through.

3) Run on apple fritters at Dunkin Donuts.

2) Just three words: bomb sniffing gators.

1) Experienced candidates having trouble maintaining an election.

Osceola Puppet Commission Theatre - In the doghouse

This week's t-shirt graphic

All that you have to do to download this week's t-shirt (or desktop) graphic is click on it once to have it open up to full size, and then right click on it to open up the box where you can click 'Save Picture As' and then save it to a file location of your choice. We really hope to see these around town! Speaking of the dancers, don't forget that they will be having a Board Workshop For Community Input On Issue Of Single-Member Districts: September 26 at 5:00 PM -- Osceola County School for the Arts Auditorium. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, make sure to go and give your input.

Sunday Funny - Things that make you go hmm...

1. Why......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance?

2. Why......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink?

3. Why......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front?

4. Why......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet Coke?

5. Why......do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain the pens to the counters?

6. Why......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage?

7. Why......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place?

8. Why......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight?

9. Why......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

10. We use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'?

Chinese economic development

We recently read that there is some amount of competition between cities in China who are trying to attract technology companies like Intel. While international companies have long located facilities in well-known Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, rising labor costs and congestion are causing those companies to look at so-called second-tier cities.

While the Chinese central government plans their economic incentives, these second-tier cities compete against each other to attract technology employers, having historically been the location of high polluting manufacturing facilities. What are the ways that these cities distinguish themselves? Local educational facilities, to turn out the knowledge workers the information technology industry needs. Expansion and upgrades to transportation infrastructure, to overcome the congestion problems common to the larger cities. Upgrades to the electrical grid to avoid brownouts. Investments in public art, the environment, and other services that would be attractive to the foreign, English-speaking company representatives who would be coming in to set up facilities.

As the mayor of Dalian, China was quoted: "We have to keep moving forward. China has so many cities." Yes, Mr. Mayor, Florida has many cities as well.

No Soup For You

The WayneWho team finally had a chance to sit down to a roaring heck of a good time by watching the St. Cloud Candidates debate for Council Seat 2. We have heard from several sources that the Debate that was put on by the Landlords Association was full of action and brought the skills of each candidate as a speaker to the front. This was not the case with the St. Cloud debate. However, we all agreed that the questions thrown at all of the candidates were very difficult. It was just the format that was stale and offered no opportunity for rebuttals. We were glad to see difficult questions, because we believe that true differences between the candidates can be seen. The only tough question that was not asked during the evening was "Which school board member threatened you Mr. Griffin?" There were also no questions asked about campaign contributions, which we believe will be made apparent as the mailers start to arrive in mail boxes of St. Cloud voters. All in all, the WayneWho team agreed that the overall questions were tough and fair.

Throughout the night the candidates tried their sets of one-liners to strike a chord with the home audience, and one had us laughing for hours. Candidate Wade Davis, an ex-councilman who lost his last election bid, made a comment about annexation and growth of the City of St. Cloud. Even though Mr. Davis was one of the early architects of much of the annexation policies, which he now admits was a mistake, he now says that the size of St. Cloud is fine, unless it needs to grow some more. He then compared St. Cloud to a cup of Grandma's Soup. We all love Grandma's Soup so much that the only thing that could make it better is a bigger bowl and more soup. While we would tend to agree that we love Grandma's soup, we would disagree with the one-liner. The argument comes down to greed and gluttony which are the growth policies that have prevailed all through Osceola County. More is not always better, and in this case more is also unaffordable. It is one thing to say smart growth, it is another thing to practice it strictly. Smart growth is not a set of rules to be broken. It is a set of rules to protect the interests of the citizens. We hope that if you are elected Mr. Davis, that you will reconsider your growth policies of the past.

St. Cloud Voters - Vote on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007.

No refund for you

In April, the Minnesota Supreme Court found that the red-light cameras operated by the City of Minneapolis were illegal, as they fined vehicle owners rather than vehicle operators, in violation of state law.

In response to the ruling, Minneapolis dismissed any pending cases against red-light runners. But for those who already paid the fine (estimated at up to 20,000 tickets), the city has offered to expunge their record, but does not plan to return the $142 fine amount, saying the refund was a matter for the courts.

Here in Central Florida, many cities have been holding their breath (and policy) on red-light cameras, waiting for a court resolution or a clear state statute. If this type of policy holds, will the floodgates open, as the cameras would virtually pay for themselves, even if the criminal charges don't stick?

September 11, 2001

We all remember the day. We all remember what we were doing when the first, and then second, commercial airliner hit the World Trade Center buildings. We remember the symbol of American military power, the Pentagon, with a gash that cut deep into our own hearts. We remember feeling of loss and uncertainty when the airliner crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. We remember the fear of being in a country under attack, and that uneasy feeling in the pit of all of our stomachs that told us, we could be next. We remember the horror of watching the towers disappear from the landscape of American life. We all remember the day.

Today is September 11, 2007. A day we remember the victims of a terrorist act that not only took members of our American family, but affected our American family on the most basic levels. Today is September 11th.

Today the politicians and the pundits will relive and remember for us the darkest hours of that fateful day. They will talk about keeping us safe, wars, terrorists, sleeper cells and what they will do to protect us in the future. They will tell us we are safe, but not that safe. They will tell us that this tragedy has defined the time that has followed and has brought us to where we are today. They will remember the day for us.

The September 11th that we remember is a day where America and the courage of Americans shined like the brightest star in the night sky. It is a day where Americans ran INTO burning buildings to save anyone that they could. It was a day that Americans worked together, cried together, and promised each other that this would never happen again. It was a day where politicians and pundits watched as Americans did what we do best, we did our jobs. September 11th is not the day that we remember America in its darkest hour. We remember September 11th as America and Americans in their finest hour in the darkest of times.

We remember.

Local utilities in the news

First, a shout out to Embarq, who is in the process of framing out a new facade for their building in downtown Kissimmee. That side of the downtown strip is cleaning up nicely...thanks for participating.

The Orlando Sentinel had a story on electric utility growth today. KUA is predicting a 3.8 percent average annual growth in their transmission network over the next five years. OUC said their annual growth is around 2 percent, except in the St. Cloud area, where it's approaching 6 percent. Electrical utilities are in the business of selling power, and they don't want to end up short (can you say 'California rolling blackouts'?), so we think their modeling is going to be pretty good. Hopefully other entities that are concerned with growth are taking note of those numbers. The numbers of what causes electrical demand are interesting as well...a hospital can consume the power of 5,100 homes, so it wouldn't take too many large corporate environments to continue to drive demand, even if housing slows down in the short term.

Oh, and we didn't downsize the puppets. They're just enjoying an off-peak vacation week.

Sunday Funny - Top 10 Possible Campaign Promises for the St. Cloud Election

#10 - Put a fountain project on the agenda so it can be voted down to show Kissimmee how things get done.

#9 - Go to a city wide Citizens' Identification System to allow St. Cloud residents first dibs on pavilion space at the lakefront.

#8 - Determine if Stevens Plantation has been kept empty so the next Survivor show can be filmed there. Survivor Stevens.

#7 - Increase pork barrel spending on actual BBQ pork products.

#6 - Fight to annex only areas with proper mudding locations.

#5 Turn the "Preserve Project" into the worlds largest Dairy Queen as soon as possible.

#4 - Finally set a timetable for the lakefront reconstruction. (Until we realize we missed something else.)

#3 - Put up warning posters in men's public restrooms warning of the possible presence of Senator Larry Craig.

#2 - Appoint a committee to find out why St. Cloud has not been the focus of a WayneWho Puppet Video yet.

#1 - Fight to bring long term security and stability to the School Board.

And a child shall lead us

In mid-September, CBS will broadcast "Kid Nation," a reality show where 40 kids between 8 and 15 will be placed in a small New Mexico "ghost town" without supervision. They will then have to create a government and functioning economy.

Depending on how awful the editing is, this could have some interesting outcomes. Will the 15 year olds, being almost twice the age of the 8 year olds, be better business people? Will the sure-to-be-typecast kid with a parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent who have been the mayor of a town be the best choice to govern "Kid Nation"? Will the average kid line up to follow the kid who loudly broadcasts that he has all of the answers, even if it is later shown that he doesn't? Will the kids who have had some civics or government classes, or participated in volunteer organizations, be more well-rounded members of the town than those who haven't?

Tune in, or set the TiVo, and lets see if we can see some parallels between the kids and ourselves.

Ethically Challenged?

We were going over our earlier post today at WayneWho headquarters and realized that the letter that was sent to us from Tom Long titled "Spread The Word" possibly contained some very damaging information. In his letter he states that one of the candidates for the St. Cloud Council race was not only offered $15,000 in campaign contributions from a School Board Member, but was also threatened by that same School Board Member when he would not take the money to secure a positive vote on the Preserve housing project.

Does any one else feel the slime level rising in the room?

We started asking some questions and we have yet to find any reports or ongoing investigations into this issue from either the State's Attorney or FDLE which means that no complaint has been filed. Did this episode really happen? Did someone try to threaten a candidate and why hasn't that candidate brought these ethically challenged individuals to light? Is this standard campaign spin to look like a victim in the people's eyes, or is this a major ethical violation commited by the school board member and/or omitted by the candidate by not formally reporting the violation? We have to question the lack of true action in this murky political arena here in Osceola County. WayneWho would like to know the truth and we hope someone will investigate the charges.

Letters to WayneWho

Typically people write to us through the comments section of our blog. However we received the following two letters through our email and felt like we should share them. As a side note, we also received an email that we won the UK Lottery and wanted to let you know that if that pans out, we may not be long for this area!

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"Spread the Word"

Greetings All

Last night, Sept. 6, there was a St. Cloud city council candidates debate. Most of the citizens concern was on the preserve. Four of five spoke openly against this boondoggle.

One citizen asked each candidate if Mr. Wolf had approached them and offered to fund their campaign. Four of five refused the money. Mr. Davis's response did not satisfy the audience. It was full of political rhetoric and when pressed by the audience, he finally admitted that he had taken Mr. Wolf's money.

In fact one candidate volunteered that a school board member offered $15,000 for his campaign in exchange for supporting the rezoning issue for the preserve. When the candidate refused, the school board member threatened him.

Mr. Davis repeated the same worn half truths and fabrications previously presented by Jonathan Wolf (developer) and Tom Greer (school board member). So the only candidate for the workfarce housing fiasco is also the only one taking Mr. Wolf's money. That would be Wade Davis.

So now we have a clear choice. Mr. Davis wants your vote, not your opinion. He says he wants to serve the people, but will not vote for what the people so clearly demand. He says no one can buy his vote, but in this case, that is surely what happened.

Tom Long

**** Important -Retraction of Letter - Please Read ****

Wayne

It appears my recollection of last nights debate was wrong. Therefore I humbly retract my statement. The truth is, Wade Davis said he did not receive campaign money from Jonathan Wolf. While the other four candidates stated they rejected monies from Mr. Wolf and school boards members, Mr. Davis was the only candidate that really struggled with an answer. Members of the audience that contacted me today felt that Mr. Davis's answer was evasive at best.

Tom Long

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"LEADERSHIP… or Lack Of!!!!"

To the Editor:

Can we all agree that our schools currently:
-are in disarray!
-too many failing grades!
-obvious safety issues!
-have no corrective plans!
-lack School Board leadership!

Case in point! The School Board recently evaluated the job performance of Mr. Muse. He was given a score of 3.3; which is exemplarity, but please note, simultaneously, the recent FCAT scores plummeted, drastically!

Just this past week, the School Board gave Mr. Muse a plan as well as a deadline to succeed. In my opinion it will not! There is no leadership on this inept Board. This plan should have been implemented years ago, not now! Its timing clearly indicates this desperate behavior. Minus leadership, what can anyone expect?

The School Board was elected to protect and serve our children. But have they done so? The degrading FCAT scores are a terrible example of their lack of leadership. Have they forgotten their responsibilities to our children? Are they only consumed with the politics of future office?

There is virtually no communication with St. Cloud City, City of Kissimmee and the County Commission! This alone points out their lack of leadership! Why have they taken such an aggressive approach with all these governmental authorities? Is there a hidden agenda? Is this logical?

The School Board's actions are never well timed! They delay requesting final approval to open schools until the very last minute. The same applies to initiate inter-local agreements. I suggest Messer's Wheeler, Greer, McKay Stone and Chalifous admit their costly short comings! This put the County Commissioner's between a rock and a hard place.

Case in point! At an annual expense of approximately $264,000 ($22,000 per month) they entered into a Lease to use the old Sports Authority Building... But a year passed before they requested permission from the City of Kissimmee to open a school at that location. How fiscally sound was that? Is that how taxpayer's funds are wasted?

Where is the communication here, I suggest that Messer's; Wheeler, Greer, McKay Stone and Chalifous, finally admit to their errors here.

Messer's Wheeler, Greer, McKay, Stone and Chalifous should take responsibility for this ship {School Board}, not hide behind Mr. Muse. Messer's Wheeler, Greer, McKay, Stone and Chalifous are the captains, not anyone else.

I know Mr. Muse will not succeed in accomplishing the points and plans laid out to him. When this happens, a buyout of his contract will be at the expense of all taxpayers! This would not happen, if the School Board ran a Fortune 500 company! Lack of leadership would vote the board out for misfeasance!

My prediction will come to light next year. And when it does I urge everyone to vote the rascals out! Elect a new board, responsible only for our children's best interests, not their personal ones.

I pray the School Board understands their inherent roles and start the healing process now, instead of later! Prove me wrong! I will be delighted to tell the world, "I'm sorry."

J. C. Oliver
Kissimmee, FL

“Government Works”

The phrase “Government Works” is an oxymoron if ever there was a phrase that deserved the title. There are times when it may seem like government is working, but rest assured, this is only a set of random patterns falling together that seem to the untrained eye like controlled decision making in action. For this we offer two discussions.

First we have the City Commission meeting from the past week where again they discussed the installation of an expensive fountain in a roundabout on a barely traveled road at the taxpayer’s expense. Government finally worked in this situation. After the commission approved the project at an earlier meeting, two commissioners, Irizarry and Gemskie, fought the continuing of the project in the current form. The other three commissioners favored spending taxpayer’s money in order to create an eye catching center piece on the roundabout. If we heard Commissioner Van Meter correctly, she stated that the aesthetics were worth any amount of money. Martha Stewart would be proud. Commissioners Irizarry and Gemskie eventually lost the debate, but that is actually where we see Government at its best. There was debate on an issue that impacted residents. This has not happened on the City Commission in a very long time, and we welcome the return of debate and hope that it is here to stay. Taxpayers may not always win, but at least our voices are heard. The three commissioners who favored the fountain will have to see how they are judged by the electorate in their upcoming elections.

Our second discussion on the phrase “Government Works” finds itself in a “Letter to the Editor” in the Gazette today. A Kissimmee citizen has written a letter defending Mr. Shipley, we assume because Mr. Shipley’s own defense rebuttal letter failed so horribly against the rebuttal letter written by Tony Ferentinos. In his letter, the citizen exclaims that Mr. Ferentinos does not know how “Government Works” and then defends Mr. Shipley’s honor by listing his long list of accomplishments. You can see the humor in this statement yourself. “How Government Works” is a completely relative statement because it depends on where you are on the great circle of government processes. If you are a taxpayer, you know that government is working to take your money and give you limited services in return, and then ask for your praise on those limited crumbling services. If you are in government, then government is working to expand its operations and help keep you employed. If you are an elected official then government is working to allow you to spill your vision of what the community should look like at someone else’s expense. Yes, Government Works.

Voting with their feet

Well, another one gone. While driving around the city today we noticed that the Chevy's Tex Mex restaurant in front of Target on Vine St. has removed all of their signage and was empty. Sad to see that they couldn't survive with the traffic draw of Target and Home Depot right behind them. Guess we'll have to watch and see if they turn up along Osceola Parkway.

- Public Service Announcement -

A reminder for our St. Cloud readers: Tomorrow (Thursday 9/6) is the debate between candidates for the St. Cloud special election. The debate will be held at the KUA offices on Carroll Street, starting at 6:30 PM.

With a Whimper

Buried in the small news over the weekend was the announcement that the Kissimmee Charter Review Committee had completed their review of the city charter without any major change recommendations, other than grammar/language items.

We'd like to thank those who participated in the committee, even though we called you out early in the process for primarily being 'insiders.' The process had to be tedious, even if no major changes were recommended. It will be interesting to see if the commission goes forward without any further recommendations of their own.

Reviewing this process in hindsight, we have to ask: Did the charter review meet the expectations of those who proposed it? It certainly seemed like a hot topic during the last election, when most candidates said that they supported having a charter review committee. Then the city commission decided to place five election changes before the public on the January ballot, arguing that they needed time to 'educate the public' on these proposed changes...there were even discussions about holding community events about these changes. Now the charter review committee has completed their work.

Were those who called for charter review simply hoping to get out of submitting 20 signature cards in the next election?

Kissimmee Puppet Commission Theatre - Outtakes

Sunday Funny - Lab Results

An old man goes to see the doctor and gets some tests. When the results come in, the doctor calls the old man in and says, “You'd better sit down. It's pretty bad.”

The old man, naturally, gets all nervous and asks, “What is it, Doc? Don't hold back -- just give it to me straight.” “Well,” says the doctor, “you have cancer and you have Alzheimers.”

The man replies, “Wow. Well, at least I don't have cancer.”

The DUH Factor...

The Osceola News Gazette reported in Thursdays edition that Bill Furth, an economist, believed that for Osceola County to stay economically healthy over the long-term, we needed to diversify from tourism based jobs and promote industrial growth. "Tourism is good," Furth said, "but too much of anything isn't good. Diversification is something this area has to do."

Duh...

We know that local officials and the economic development department have had a tough time understanding the statement above that pretty much every high school kid working to move out of the area already understands, Osceola county sucks for jobs. If you want to make good money you need to get an education and then move out of the area. Of course the bedroom community theory of Osceola county has been touted for years as the most sensible plan, but time has proven this theory worth as much as a United Cities Dollar - worthless.

The Chamber of Commerce did offer that their county has worked hard to develop an economic plan and improve its low wages during the past several years.... Yes.. Stop laughing... they just admitted that they developed a plan to get us where we are... Stop laughing...

Duh...