“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.