Savvy Expenditure

The WayneWho staff finally had a chance to get together and review the Kissimmee City Commission meeting from this past Tuesday and we all had one word on our lips as we came together... "Savvy"

The word savvy is not a word we would normally use in the same sentence, paragraph, or staff prepared briefing, when it comes to our elected officials, but we have to in this case. It seems the Access Osceola staff was the recipient of the "2007 Savvy Award" presented by 3CMA (City County Communications and Marketing Association). The award was for the Kissimmee FYI program in the category of TV & Videos - Interview/Talk Show. Receiving the recognition that was bestowed by the City Commission was the Kissimmee Public Information Office staff.

We have to wonder if Access Osceola and the Kissimmee Public Information Office have merged at some point? Is Access Osceola still its own entity that is paid for by a mixture of funding, or has the city taken over the entire operation? From the meeting it appears that Access Osceola and Kissimmee Public Information Office have now become one in the same and the Taxpayers/Fee-payers of the City of Kissimmee now wholey own their own cable access channel and production studio.

The city had also purchased a remote truck for the Access Osceola/PIO team to use allowing them to bring more news to the avid Access Osceola viewers. We wonder, will the City Commission staff an Access Osceola remote truck before they staff a fire rescue vehicle?

We also have to ask if paying for a membership in the 3CMA makes the award worth more to the citizens? Again, the taxpayers have paid for a membership in an organization to be considered for an award. This All-America City-esque farcical award once again does not provide any benefit to the residents of our community that give this government their money to use in a "Savvy" and constitutional manner.

The city has also launched its very own radio station. While the WayneWho staff believes that overall this is a good expenditure of funds because of the ablility for radio signals to be broadcast during emergency situtations, while cable usually goes out, we have to question simulcasting the Access Osceola signal. Power Point slides are difficult to read on a radio.

Just to toot our own horn, the WayneWho blog received honorable mention by the 3CMA organization under the category of Communication Technology/Web Site/Reliable Un-New Source. Luckily for us, we did not have to pay the membership fee for the mention.