Market Makers

According to the Osceola News-Gazette, the Downtown Business Association's (DBA) board voted unanimously to close the downtown farmers' market last Thursday due to issues that developed during the lease renewal discussion for the Toho Square market location. We were surprised to learn about this, and engaged the WayneWho Investigative Blogging Unit to look further into the issue.

Apparently when the lease renewal came up as a discussion item at the Commission meeting, at least two commissioners expressed an opinion that the DBA was not doing enough to grow the farmer's market. According to the Gazette's article, the suggestion was made that...wait for it...a local government funded organization, Kissimmee Main Street, should run the market instead. This represents a true shift in local government policies. It has now become the apparent purview of elected officials to step in and recommend the transfer of not-for-profit events to different organizations when those officials believe they can do it better. Perhaps this reasoning only extends to events held at city facilities, but even so, those who operate events at the lakefront should be wary, as the commissioners may be looking for "bigger and better" from you as well.

Perhaps it was the intent of the commissioners who recommended this course that the potential fundraising of the farmers' market would reduce the city's future fund allocations to Kissimmee Main Street, making this another case of "revenue neutral" bookkeeping. To this we say there is a difference between an event being able to pay its own expenses vs. being able to generate excess revenue, or daresay, "profit."

We are disappointed that the DBA had to make the decision to discontinue their operation of the farmers' market, but we wonder if it hadn't run its course, with business people making a business decision that it was no longer self-supporting. If this is the case, we hope that various governmental grants won't be used to artificially support the event. After all, we already have fountains, birthday celebrations, and All America City competitions to pay for.

Just some random thoughts today...

The new traffic light at Vine & Orange Ave. is a big help to those trying to turn left into Target or Home Depot. Thanks to the city or county or FDOT for that one. Hopefully it will keep some of the retailers around a little longer.

Did you know that last week was Florida City Government Week? We didn't either, until we saw the press release that the city released on Thursday announcing that they had been celebrating all week.

In the sparse employment section of the Sunday Sentinel, we noticed that KFD is hiring. Know any firefighters? Send them over to the city for an application.

The big intergovernmental school concurrency meeting is tonight. Hopefully someone brings along some coaches to show all of the teams how to play well together. And we hope that some real work is accomplished, although we know all of the elected officials will be glancing at their watches, wanting to run to the nearest TV to find out what happens with the property tax discussions in Tallahassee. Perhaps they can look up that info on their wireless devices and/or the city's free WiFi network.

Kid Nation: Bonanza is Disgusting!

This week at Kid Nation, they're burning off a bunch of footage for the mid-season shows. We see the kids dig a pit to dispose of the town's trash, and learn that some townspeople just dig in their heels when asked to do any work. The Town Council finally learns that the only power they may actually have is to withhold paychecks when their team members don't do their jobs.

It isn't until about the last five minutes of the show that we see the actual subplot, and perhaps the more clever explanation for the episode's title. One of the townspeople has been working in the background, helping out his team's elected leader, counseling other townspeople, and moderating disputes. We see that the Town Council has met and decided to award him the coveted gold star for the week. But we also discover that the same level of involvement that makes him popular is causing him to debate whether he wants to continue as a resident of Bonanza City. We hear him say that the ongoing negativity makes him want to be somewhere else. And so, when the host asks his weekly question over whether anyone wants to leave Bonanza City, he raises his hand. It is only through the quick intercession of some of the townspeople and Town Council that he is convinced that he should stay and help make the town better.

Does anyone share that townsperson's thought, that while he tries to be an involved member of the community, the grass may be greener somewhere else?

Smile for the Voter

As our readers are aware, the Kissimmee City Commission has proposed some changes to the city charter that will be on the ballot in January. All of the proposed changes are related to how elections are held in Kissimmee, covering issues such as how candidates qualify to run, when the election will be held, and a random lottery to determine the order in which candidate names will be placed on the ballot.

We thought of this when we recently read an Associated Press story about a Princeton University study in which participants were shown pairs of photographs for a very quick glance, and then asked to pick the individual they thought was more competent. The photos were those of candidates from governor and senator races around the country, and the participants picked the picture of the winner of the election more than two-thirds (66%) of the time.

What do you suppose would happen if a picture of each candidate was printed on the ballot?

Alexander Todorov, the psychologist who ran the study, commented "The findings suggest that fast, unreflective judgments based on a candidate's face can affect voting decisions. Voters are not that rational, after all. So maybe we have to consider that when we elect our politicians."

Sound of One Hand Clapping

Another Tuesday evening passes with no Kissimmee Commission meeting, and we had to wonder is there any difference between an evening with no meeting and one with a full meeting. Would the city grind to a halt as some believe, or would the lack of commissioners even be noticed. Besides the obvious cost savings for the city by not having to refill the commission snack trays, and the fact that no new fees can be assessed to the citizens when there is no meeting for them to be conjured up at, we had very few thoughts on the benefits of the traditional meeting structure. This brought us to talk about an old Zen proverb, "What is that Sound of One Hand Clapping?" We wondered if this proverb could apply to our local commission.

First we had to address what the two hands would consist of to make this proverb make sense in our context. We concluded that one hand was the commission and the other hand was staff. When they work together, or clap as the case may be, a sound is produced. In essence, if the commission and staff come together, things get done. So the next step is to determine if one of either the staff, or the commission, is not present, is there still a clap, or in this case, do things still get done?

The simple logic to follow is that if there is no agenda, can the commission function? What would the commission do if there was no back-up and no agenda in which to follow? Could they function? Would they panic without staff recommendations? And since staff are the ones who create the agenda and the back up for the commissioners, does the agenda mean anything if there is no one there to vote on the items it contains, or at least give direction?

These questions actually lead us into other proverbs such as "Which came first the commission or the agenda?", "Don't put all you commission snacks in one basket," and our personal favorite "Is an agenda that nobody reads still and agenda?"

These thoughts are well beyond the insight of the staff at WayneWho. The debate did lead to someone ordering pizza, so we were still pleased with the outcome of the discussions and pushed forward with writing down our thoughts. We leave finding the true answers to you.

Reading, Writing, and Representing

We read Mark Pino's column this weekend about the question of single-member districts for the school board, and one line kept coming back to mind. "And if it goes the wrong way, the district may still end up in a federal courtroom." Since the only group that has threatened legal action are a group that supports single-member districts, it must be implied that the "wrong way" is continuing with an at-large School Board.

We don't know the question yet, but single-member districts aren't the "right" answer to every question about elections. There is movement in Orange County to have an elected superintendent. Lake County had an elected superintendent, but is moving back to an appointed superintendent. Osceola at one point had an elected superintendent, but is back with an appointment. There is no one correct solution.

But Mark is right on the point that most Osceola residents are bored with or not interested in the issue. Why? Because we are asking the wrong question. Outside of those who follow politics for career or sport, election strategy and organizational structure are pretty dry topics. To the average Osceola resident, there are much more pressing questions regarding our schools:

• How do we improve our schools to give better opportunities to succeed for our students, a better workforce for our employers, and a better educational reputation for our community?



• How can we cause our School Board to work cooperatively with our other local elected officials, rather than constantly being at odds and negotiating through attorneys and threats of lawsuits?



• How can we improve our school construction program, such that school buildings regularly open and operate without last-minute road construction and other variances?



• How do we improve financial accountability within the school district, so that we do not continue to lose funding and spending money on projects that require various and lengthy approvals?

The school board candidate who can answer these types of questions will have our vote, even if they have a third eye in the middle of the green arm growing out of the center of their forehead. Conversely, the candidate who does not have answers shouldn't be wasting time in the election process, regardless of who they claim to represent.

Access Osceola Sweeps Clean

In the ongoing ratings battle faced by our local government access channel, Access Osceola has made many changes before the start of Nielsen Media Research sweep dates for November 2007. "Our new season is going to be about flashy colors and drama. Our new slides and shows will both delight the senses and sharpen the mind," revealed one Access Osceola insider close to the source.

It appears that the replays of the ongoing government meeting situation comedies, or sitcoms as they are called by avid TV fans, are out and new flashy slides and additional programming have been added to replace them. "Gov-Meet sitcoms, or 'govcoms' are a thing of the past. They represent the early days of the reality TV craze and the fans have moved on to shows with more advanced story lines. In the early days, the fans loved the alliance building and the surprise twists and turns created by political maneuvering, but they have grown tired of the series. When a show loses it's edge, it is time to cancel it. We have introduced new characters, new plots, and we think we jumped the shark some time ago."

(For those who are not aware of the term "Jump The Shark", the simple explanation is that single point in your favorite Television show where it passes its peak. The term itself refers to the moment in the Happy Days sitcom when the character Fonzie jumped over a shark on water skis. This is the point at which most historians will agree that the show took a downward spiral. Some argue that the introduction of Ted McGinley to the cast of the show was its ultimate doom, but the shark jumping episode is still considered to be the end of the shows success.)

Research that has reportedly been done by the Access Osceola marketing department has shown that flashy informative slides test well with the general public. This format has attracted more non-profit tax subsidized advertisers which has added a new depth of intergovernmental funding into the mix. This will allow Access Osceola to compete with other local antiquated profit based broadcasting outlets.

Some data suggests that since the removal of the governmental meeting replays, the ratings for those time slots have improved and the average viewing time has increased. Access Osceola management believes that the introduction of its new list of shows will drive the ratings even higher. WayneWho was given a sneak peak at one of titles that they think will be great hit. The biggest production for Access Osceola so far will be a crime drama series called 'Smith Street Blues'. Fashioned after one of televisions best police dramas 'Hill Street Blues', 'Smith Street Blues' promises to deliver something.

Sunday Funny - Park Politics

A man is sitting on a bench in the park reading a newspaper. Suddenly he throws the paper onto the ground and yells, “All politicians are *ssholes.”

A man sitting next to him in a finely pressed suit says, “I take offense to that!”

The upset guy asks him, “Why? Are you a politician?”

“No," he replies, "I'm an *sshole.”

Kid Nation: Viva la Revolucion

Are politics a highly-evolved skill executed only by those who have put in their time, learned the procedures, and developed the experience necessary to refine this skill? Or are politics an innate part of human competition that can be performed by children with no experience in politics what so ever? Let the viewer decide.

It's Day 14 of 40 in Bonanza City, and the Book of Central Planning (aka the Pioneer Journal) opens with "The winds of change are blowing in Bonanza City." The Journal indicates that simply having been in a leadership position is not always enough to remain in a leadership position. The Journal calls for elections.

As the upcoming elections are announced, a town resident asks if they will be allowed to cast a vote for the leader of each of the districts. They are told that they will only be voting for the leader of their own district. (Hmm... These children seem to be able to handle the concepts of single member districts.) We watch as the Yellow District challenger begins practicing his professional political speech. The Green District meets as a district and decides that no one will run against their current leader. The Blue District leader physically attempts to avoid his challenger as she approaches him to announce her candidacy.

The Council calls the townspeople together, and each Council Member makes a speech on why they should be retained in office, and then call forth for challengers. There is no need for fancy qualification procedures in Bonanza City, nor any possibility of a runoff. The two pre-announced challengers for the Blue and Yellow teams step forward, as well as a "dark horse" candidate from the Red team, shocking the Red councilmember. The common thread of the incumbents' speeches is "I will work harder, please give me another chance." The best-received speech is from the Yellow challenger, who calls out his opponent for her low level of performance, and says to the town "don't tell me you are going to vote for me, tell me you agree with me." After the speeches are over, the Red incumbent tries to talk the challenger out of running by telling him that the job is not as glamorous as he might think.

The townspeople have another challenge event, and the current Town Council feels the re-election pressure as they make their decision over which reward the town will receive.

Candidates then mysteriously find large poster paper and markers and being making their political posters. Townspeople from other districts, perhaps feeling that they had no other way to express their views, begin to tear down posters of other districts' candidates that they don't want to see elected. Of course, we know that destroying political signs is a childlike behavior that would never be entertained by adults in the real world.

And that's it. The campaign season is over, with nary a sponsored debate, or any endorsements, no negative postcards, or even much door-knocking. We go to the town meeting/election, where we find that, of the three Council members up for election, one is retained, and two are replaced.

The careful WayneWho analysis of the win/loss point is as follows: The two incumbents who were voted out of office were the most vocal on positions that were contrary to the desire of the community. Those two were beaten by widely diverse challengers: one was the most vocal and polished, with a history of leadership, and the other was a virtual unknown who wanted to get his points across. The incumbent who was retained had been more passive in his governing, and thus there was not as clear of a rallying point against him. That election came down to personality decisions and less of a sense by the voters that the incumbent must be replaced at all costs.

Next week, Bonanza City deals with a trash control problem. Perhaps they will need to impose some sort of assessment (fee) to control and dispose of the city's refuse.

Building A Better Fee

In an effort to stave off the onslaught of tax relief attempts by the State of Florida legislature and Governor Charlie Crist, the City of Kissimmee has put the finishing touches on a new 'fee' that will ensure economic stability for the city government for years to come. While other 'fees' and taxes have generated negative responses from those forced to pay them, this new 'fee' promises to upset only a small but growing segment of our local community.

The new 'fee', originally dubbed the "Homeless Impact Fee" which will be renamed before the final vote, is designed to address the added impact and long term cost that the homeless community creates. "The homeless are an inevitable result of our current predatory growth practices that have fortunately prevailed in our community for the past several years," noted one high level official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "The homeless are a vitally important and an integral part of our society because they serve as an example to the rest of society what happens when you fail to embrace benevolent government policies." Government officials acknowledge that the expense created by working to maintain the current homeless populations to be an example for others has increased rapidly over the past several years. The new 'fee' that will be charged to those who are homeless, are about to become homeless, or who benefit from panhandling will help to offset this expense. "We believe that this 'fee' will serve as a model for other communities to enact to help maintain their own homeless populations."

Building a better fee is not always as easy as it looks some administration officials have acknowledge. Some organizations were outraged by the name of the ordinance and demanded that the word "homeless" be changed to a term that bestowed dignity instead of dread. A consultant for the homeless made the simple claim that "Just because someone lacks a roof over their head does not mean they deserve the title 'homeless.' Being at home is a state of mind and who are we to judge who is or isn't homed in their own mind." Other terms that have been discussed for the ordinance are undwelled, unhomed, shelter challenged, and the perpetually out-of-doors. Right now, it seems that many are leaning towards the term undwelled or "Undwelled Impact Fee", which also seems to work for the new "Undwelled Bathing Station" that will be under construction very shortly.

"Banding" Together

In an effort to find an alternate source of money that can be used in the city's never ending quest to become an All-America City pageant winner, the City of Kissimmee is rolling out its new awareness funding scheme. The City has decided to launch a "KissimmeeStong" campaign to not only raise the needed money to compete and enjoy a few days at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, but to also raise awareness about the critical issues facing our beloved community. "We were just surfing the net and we saw these bands, and we were like, yeah, you know, we can do that," stated a source that did not want to be identified.

Initial reports indicate that the "KissimmeeStrong" pageant award ReminderBands will be available in the color of "Stunned Orange" with embossed lettering that will reflect the "KissimmeeStrong" message. "It's all for a good cause," reflected one high level official. "We figure that if nobody buys them, we can just pass an ordinance that mandates citizens to wear them. This way we make money on the bands, and even more money on the enforcement fines if you are busted not wearing one. It's perfect because it's not a tax, or a fee, and they can't say sh** about it."

Other ideas have been tossed around the city after the successful deployment of the "KissimmeeStrong" bands for other causes and reminders that could be used to generate income. One of the ideas that insiders gave the WayneWho staff a sneak peak at was the "Fire Fee Payment Day" ReminderBand. Sunset Sage with yellow wording make this ReminderBand a real keeper and a late fee saver.

In The Race

The Kissimmee City Commission took up the issue of funding the 2008 All-America City entry themselves, after Osceola County declined to continue with the funding process last week.

The opening salvo was interesting. In the early afternoon news, WFTV reported on the agenda issue. The City PIO took the position that the runner-up status in 2007 and a potential win in 2008 were a good marketing tool for the city. Meanwhile, City Commissioner Carlos Irizarry called the entry a "waste of money" and said that we had "Mickey Mouse" to draw people to the area. WFTV did their homework, contacting the Osceola County Economic Development Department to gauge any impact (none shown), as well as Polk County, a 2007 winner (data inconclusive). WFTV also noted thatlast year's competition costs would have paid for almost 3 police patrol cars. Yes, we know that police cars come out of a different funding source than tourism junkets.

The debate on the issue of funding the award pursuit was somewhat lively during the commission meeting as Commissioner Irizarry stayed on message and continued to support a curtail in government spending. The rest of the commission pushed to pass the expense item with a small caveat that they would seek private (business) donors to fund the actual competition participation, should the city be selected as a finalist. And with a 4 to 1 vote the City of Kissimmee is again in the race for the All American City award. Perhaps some of our rapidly-expanding payday extension service institutions will want to contribute to the ..."Kissimmee... Your OK with us."

All Good?

In an editorial this past Sunday, the Osceola News Gazette has declared that the dust has settled for the special election between Tom Griffin and Wade Davis with Mr. Griffin being elected to the St. Cloud council seat. We agree that Mr. Griffin deserves congratulations on his hard-fought victory and that the residents of St. Cloud also deserve a round of applause for the high voter turn out and participation in the election. We do not feel, however, that this should be then end of the discussion on this election. The dust has not really settled on some of the dark issues that were raised during these campaigns.

One of the issues that was raised, that has not been addressed, is that of a school board member threatening a candidate if they did not go along with a development project. There was also confirmation by several candidates that the developer of the same project of interest to the school board, was shopping candidates with the promise of campaign contributions for a favorable nod on the project. The WayneWho Staff finds it odd that the same news organization that reported these revelations would now act like nothing ever happened.

We feel that the citizens of St. Cloud made the right call in their choice to fill the vacancy, but we firmly believe that the local election process has been shown to be tainted at best. Along with getting back to the business at hand, all local governments should be taking a long hard look at election and ethics reforms. Reports of problems election after election continually remove doubt on our elections being fair and in the best interest of the citizens whom these elections serve. Although Mr. Davis believes that large amounts of campaign contributions do not sway the integrity of a candidate, it is obvious that the voters did not feel the same way. Integrity in our election process is what gives our country its greatest strength and should not be swept under the rug because the a victor has been declared. Questions remain and answers are owed.

Blogs meet press

We, like most of you, read newspapers, watch TV, and read other blogs as well. Most people who keep an eye on local goings-on look for as many sources as they can find. Some people still don't trust blogs, and some people think that the mainstream press is being left behind by these newer technologies.

When these multiple sources of information are coming to the same point on issues, it's time to sit up and take notice. We enjoyed some of the aggressive feisty commentary offered by the Orlando Sentinel editorial board this weekend on the issue of tax reform.

"Many local governments, the targets of all these tax cuts, have shown they're not much interested in cutting their spending, so you can expect higher fees to make up for lower taxes."

And

"Local governments grew fat over those boom years. Now a third of Central Florida's local governments have ignored a law passed this year requiring them to cut their spending. Some cities, such as Maitland, didn't lower their taxes at all and others, such as Kissimmee, simply raised fees. This proposal does nothing to curb that. It should."

State lawmakers are taken to task, not for implementing these cuts (the common refrain of those at the local level), but for not being aggressive enough in reforming the entire tax system, including reducing sales tax
exemptions.

Will blaming Tallahassee be acceptable going forward if further cuts are needed? It doesn¹t appear that that will be the case. For those incumbents who haven't yet filed for the 2008 election, we also note that there have been nice articles written about those who have decided it is time to pass the torch. We don't know that the same nice article with be forthcoming for those who come in second in an upcoming election.

It's your job.

Community Development Districts

There has been much written in the last couple of weeks about Community Development Districts (CDDs) in various parts of the county. In the Saturday News-Gazette, the editorial board says Kissimmee's first CDD "is a good idea that has been a long time coming...the area will be able to devise its own mini-government, through which it could raise money for various projects through bond issues. It appears to be a win-win situation for all involved and might serve as a poster child for other areas of the community."

In the same issue of the Gazette, there is a page-one article on how the Stevens Plantation CDD in St. Cloud is hoping to recover about $250,000 that it now appears they mistakenly overpaid to a consulting firm.

Now, we don't know that CDDs are good, bad, better, worse, and so on. Obviously someone created them to solve a problem they were facing. But here are our questions:

1. In St. Cloud, the CDD board and the City Council are the same folks. Different titles, same faces. Is this the norm, and who will be on the Kissimmee CDD board? What is the dollars-and-cents advantage of having two
entities with the same membership?

2. Municipalities can issue bonds. CDDs can issue bonds. Does a CDD get a better interest rate on their bonds than a municipality does?

3. Municipalities have staff. CDDs apparently do not, based on what happened in St. Cloud where consultants were hired as project managers. Is there ever recurring work in a CDD that would justify hiring staff, or is everything a one-time project bid out to consultants? If a CDD hires staff, would that resource be better utilized in the larger environment of the municipality?

4. In the Stephens Plantation CDD, in addition to the CDD board (City Council), there are apparently a dependent special district board and a resident owners association. Who actually makes decisions, and are the other boards simply "advisory" in nature?

Kid Nation: Do Differences Unite?

It's Day 11 in Kid Nation's Bonanza City and we can see many similarities between Kid Nation, and our local governments. Of course the action is slow so the editors are going to have to ramp up the drama a notch (We propose a fire fee to get things going). Perhaps next week, but more about that later.

The Town Council has been thoroughly programmed that they must report, robot-like, to the Council chamber to review the weekly journal (staff recommendations in the back-up) and do what it says. This week, the journal tells them that the town needs to get religion. The council, as the journal and editors' puppets, announce at a town meeting that the town will start having a universal religious service, commenting "The town usually doesn't like what the journal has to say" and "We make the decisions whether they like it or not."

The scene cuts to four members of the town council ringing the town bell, calling all of the townsfolk to their community religious service, and not one member of the town responds to the call. The council walks away, dejected that their leadership titles were not enough to get the townspeople to do their bidding, but oddly enough, they don't even hold the service among themselves, even though they felt it was such a good idea. Later, one of the townspeople, through invitation and personal relationships, creates her own community religious service which is well attended by the townsfolk.

Later, after the weekly team competition shakes up the work assignments, the townsfolk choose a library of religious books over a mini-golf course for the center of town. The town council, tired of being vilified for their self perceived magnanimous decisions, puts the selection up to a town vote.

We discover that the town council member known last week to quote "deal with it," whose team was demoted this week from the upper class to the cooking crew, is back to shirking her duties. She is found doing shots in the town saloon and ignoring criticism. At the weekly town meeting, she is held up for the most criticism among the townsfolk, who continue to grow more dissatisfied with the leadership of the council as a whole. She responds with threats for worse job assignments, but in the world of Kid Nation, there are apparently no impeachment procedures, and the council doesn't really hold any power over the individual members of the town.

In the previews for next week, the editors tease us with the revelation that there will be elections in the town, and we will see how the townsfolk deal with campaigns...it appears that many campaign posters will be torn down and shredded in the street. By the sound of things to comes, the Kid Nation government may have discovered the usefulness of Code Enforcement. Stay tuned.

Nukes before chips

Our good friends at the Wall Street Journal report on a study commissioned by Saint Consulting Group of Hingham, Mass. Saint Consulting is apparently in the business of supporting or opposing development plans, depending on who is paying for their consulting services.

1,000 randomly selected people from around the US were polled. 75% of those polled would oppose a casino being built in their town. 65% would oppose a nuclear plant. 20% would oppose a wind farm for power generation.

In last year's poll, only 23% supported power plants in general. This year the number is 40%, which is attributed to concerns over rising energy costs.

25% actively opposed a development project in their town, up from 20% last year.

We note that the data did not include any hypothetical scenarios about strip malls, financial services storefronts, or municipal fountains.

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

A discussion item on this week's Kissimmee City Commission agenda merits, well, discussion. Item 8A discusses a proposal by the Parks & Recreation department to purchase Reed's Boat House and convert it into a parks maintenance facility.

There are some interesting positives here. It removes the current parks maintenance facility, a metal building adjoining the old Hansel plant, which would probably have to go during any redevelopment plan for the plant. And it has the potential to save money, with the implication that purchasing and remodeling Reed's and demolishing the old facility could come in under the budgeted amount for a new maintenance facility.

At the same time, we have to question the desire to take another taxpaying property off of the tax rolls. And certainly the unique location will make it difficult for the boat owners who currently store their watercraft there to find similar storage near Lake Toho.

Does a parks maintenance facility need to be on lakefront frontage? And couldn't space be found sharing space with the remaining KUA operations along the lakefront?

Finally, we drove past Reed's the other day and noted that the concrete block wall along the lakefront across the street has been recently removed. This, along with the potential acquisition of Reed's by the city leads us to speculate...is the concept of closing Lakeshore at the railroad crossing back on the table?

Public Service Announcement

St. Cloud Mayor Donna Hart and Kissimmee Mayor Jim Swan will talk about budget cuts with the Osceola Chapter of the League of Women Voters from 11:30 to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Broadway Café and Art Gallery, 127 Broadway, Kissimmee. Cost: $15 with reservation. Details: 407-222-1405 or pburghs76@aol.com.

Sunday funny

A nervous taxpayer was unhappily conversing with the tax collector who had come to review his records. At one point the auditor exclaimed, "We feel it is a great privilege to be allowed to live and work in the USA. As a citizen you have an obligation to pay taxes, and we expect you to eagerly pay them with a smile."

"Thank goodness," returned the taxpayer. "I thought you were going to want cash."

All aboard?

It's time to check in with some public transportation notes...

Downtown Orange County, which apparently is a liaison agency between I-Drive businesses and Orange County government, announced this week that they had secured $2 million from the Florida Department of Transportation for an I-Drive transit hub. The so-called "super stop" will be a pick-up and drop-off point for buses, taxis, trolleys, and shuttles. The transit hub has apparently been on the drawing board since the 1990s, but was put off each time a planned rail project along I-Drive failed.

We tried to analyze the reports on this station to figure out how it finally made it to the front of the line, as it sounds very similar in concept to the intermodal station that Kissimmee is proposing for downtown. It isn't tied in to a major transportation push in that area, and in fact it appears that none of the stations being proposed for the commuter rail system would be built as "hubs," so even if/when we get a commuter rail station, it wouldn't be built as a hub. And other than this "Downtown Orange County" group, we didn't see the names of any of the other governmental or quasi-governmental groups involved with securing funding. Anyone know the secret handshake?

Also this week, the Sentinel printed a story that originated in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel proclaiming that for the second consecutive year, the South Florida Tri-Rail commuter rail line ranked in the top 3 fastest-growing commuter railroads in the country. They note that the ridership is a big turnaround from 18 years ago, when the rail system opened to mostly empty trains, and that train frequency has increased from once an hour to once every 20 minutes. The biggest obstacle that the train continues to face is that CSX Transportation continues to control dispatch of the rail lines, and commuter trains are sometimes given lower priority than freight trains, leading to delays.

We hope that the Central Florida commuter rail folks will take a lesson from our neighbors to the south. Clearly for the commuter trains to gain riders, they must be reliable and run on schedule, which requires that they have priority over any remaining freight on the tracks. We understood that the CSX Transportation board was to take up the issue of selling the existing track for the project to Florida Department of Transportation in mid-September, but we have not been able to find any evidence that the deal has been completed.

Birds of a Feather

We would like to thank the Osceola News Gazette for bringing to light the two remaining candidates’ lack of stance on ALL the issues. Amazingly, both candidates sound exactly the same. Regarding the workforce housing project known as the Preserve: Davis is on the fence, stating that the site is up for debate. Griffin states that his dissent for the Preserve is because of the proposed location of the project. Regarding the issue of budget cuts and tax cuts: Davis was the first out of the gate calling for budget cuts and tax cuts. Griffin although initially starting his campaign stating that he had some questions about the budget that he would like answered, then shifted his campaign towards economic development. When asked a budget related question in the candidates’ forum, Griffin stated that he had not really looked at the budget and couldn’t answer the question at that time. That raised some eyebrows here at WayneWho headquarters. Now that taxes and budget are being cut, Griffin has questions regarding how the city will live with the budget cuts and what impact that will have with the continued services of the city. As far as economic development in St. Cloud: neither candidate has really offered any real plans as to how they plan on bringing high-paying jobs to St. Cloud. Regarding growth and traffic in the city: Davis and Griffin have not addressed the issue.

Short end of the stick:

The Preserve: Both Griffin and Davis are for the project if it is moved from the Michigan property.

Budget and Taxes: Although Davis did nothing in the past to lower taxes or cut the budget, Griffin didn’t even take the time to review the budget when he stated the reason for his running was to address the budget. However, during the campaign they both were for tax cuts and budget cuts.

Economic Development: Both offer no plans.

Growth and traffic: Neither candidate has addressed the issue.

WayneWho’s thoughts:

Again the voters find themselves in the unfortunate position of choosing between the lesser of two evils. Both candidates have spent all of their political capital for this three-month seat and neither seems to have a clue what is important to the community and either one will more than likely just end up being business as usual. As far as Wade Davis is concerned, we know his record, however, we may be seeing a real change of heart. Is it election year rhetoric that reads good or is it a real conversion towards the people? That is something the voters will have to figure out.

Tom Griffin has a lot riding on this election. With the added support of the St. Cloud firefighters’ union, the realtors association and the landlords’ association president, will he be able to pull this election off? All we can say is may the man who worked the hardest win, because we feel that in the end he will be the only one who does.

Kid Nation: Deal With It!

This week, the editing on Kid Nation looks like it slows down a little bit. But some issues still develop...

The kids decide to have a late-night party, during which they drop something in shot glasses into mugs of root beer, making non-alcoholic boilermakers. Amazingly, the next morning, no one wants to get up, and the cooking crew decides that they will make "brunch" consisting of hash browns which the kids have to eat with their hands right out of the skillet.

To deal with this issue, the Town Council consults with the weekly book of knowledge, and decides they must put in a curfew. They announce their decision, that all members of the town will have a 9:30 curfew, ignoring protests from the community that older members want to stay up later and that those who work must end their jobs early. After the meeting, one council member says "It's so hard to be a council member...nobody likes you."

After the weekly competition, the teams receive their new rankings/assignments. The team that didn't like to cook is now the "upper class," and their council member goes from offering excuses as to why her team doesn't perform their duties to using her new favorite quote: "deal with it."

The town council decides to interview each member of the town on who should receive the gold star award. The decision, however, comes down to a hurried council conversation huddle at the weekly town meeting. The townspeople indicate in growing numbers that they are unhappy with the job the council is doing, and Miss "deal with it" promises to change after several people call for a new election.

Next week...religious differences rattle the town, and one council member fights to keep power.

Work to Live

We've all read the articles and heard the quotes from members of the community. Florida's status as the low cost-of-living leader has been diminished, and the moving companies say that for the first time in recent memory, they are making more trips out of the state than into it.

To us, the largest group of people leaving or threatening to leave the state are retirees. Their income stream, while oftentimes fixed, is portable. They can move to a lower-cost location without as many worries about finding a job or having schools for the kids. And many states in the southern US are adopting tax policies to encourage such moves.

Logic suggests that these openings in the population won't be filled entirely by more retirees, but by adults of working age (although with school enrollments falling, it appears that some of the vacancies aren't being filled at all). But with this trend over time, the ratio of employment-aged adults to retirement-aged adults in the state will tend to increase.

Our point is this: across the state, more of the population is going to be working to support themselves, and less of the population will be living on retirement plans and savings. That will require more jobs to be available.

Let's start planning for that.

Outsourcing Responsibility

The WayneWho staff has noticed a growing trend with city, county, and state governments outsourcing decisions on how taxpayer money should be spent to non-elected bodies. We believe that this is a dangerous trend in government that needs to be monitored much more closely.

Tonight, hidden away in the Consent Agenda for the City of Kissimmee Commission meeting, is a request for approval on the annual funding agreement for MetroPlan Orlando. We feel the name of this social club speaks for itself, and we question why we are continuing to pay membership dues to a club that has failed so miserably. The whole idea that we need to pay membership dues to a club whose main purpose is to develop better transportation plans for the Metro Orlando area instead of using the $39,301.00 to fund our own transportation solutions makes no sense at all. Is this $39,301.00 paid out of the gas tax money since this is a social club about traffic? That argument worked on the fountain, so why not for this? And why are we not concentrating on our own issues instead of following the failed lead of other "Regional" governments who have not been able to fix their own problems. All these little groups do is create "decision shelters" that operate much like "tax shelters" for the rich. These shelters allow things to get done without prying eyes being able to see what is going on even though it is your money that is funding the club.

We believe that it is time to in-source the process of fixing our traffic problems. It is time for the counties and cities to put together a group that will create a plan that will work for our community. It is time we put our people on the problem, because it is in their direct interest to fix the issues instead of letting the problems build year after year. Osceola County residents have a unique quality of dealing with issues head on instead of thinking about them over a latte. We believe that we should adopt one of the favorite Latin phrases of English physicist and novelist C.P. Snow: "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." I'll find a way or make one. Let's make our own way and stop paying the social club dues.

It's Your Job

Over the weekend, we were frustrated to read a quote from a local elected official, who said (we're paraphrasing here): "Why are you people showing up to protest the budget now? Where were you before?"

This joins some of our other recent favorites (still paraphrased):

"Well, if you don't want us to do this, come up with another solution."

And

"We hate to do this, but Tallahassee made us."

Ladies and gentlemen of the elected community, the public shows up to discuss an issue when you schedule a public hearing to do so. And we would suggest that if your impression of what your community wants is 180 degrees different from what you hear at a public hearing, you haven't been spending enough time with your community.

Further, it isn't the responsibility of the community at large to solve the issues that come before you, although you should consider yourselves lucky if they bring you a workable solution. Why isn't it their responsibility to do so?

It's your job.

You campaigned and asked that the community elect you as their representative. You have been placed in a position of authority, and are paid for that position, to represent the interests and wellbeing of your community. Your job is not to sit in the office and wait for people to bring you ideas.

Try these for analogies: You walk into your local fast food restaurant. You wait in line, eventually making it to the counter. You place your order, only to be told that, had you placed the order earlier in the day, they might have been able to give you want you wanted. As it turns out, the item you wanted has since been changed and is no longer available. Or, same restaurant, same line. You get to the front of the line, place your order, and then are told by the person at the counter that you are welcome to go back to the kitchen and try to make it yourself.

Our advice? Get out and talk to your constituents. Don't hold public hearings too late to factor into your decisions. Stop blaming the public for not going along with your preconceived plans. Otherwise? We fear that the public will select the next person who steps forward who might take action, because "might" is a better option than "didn't."