Swing and a missAdd us to the chorus of "you want to do what?" voices responding to Commissioner Jerry Gemskie's recent proposal to divide city representation in half to try to reduce city commissioner salaries as a budget-saving move.
As we understand the proposal, Commissioner Gemskie proposes to divide the city into two districts, east and west, each electing two commissioners. The mayor would continue to be selected by all city voters. Then, because each individual commissioner would only be accountable to half of the city voters, Commissioner Gemskie proposes to cut commissioner salaries in half.
Of course there are a bunch of issues with this plan. First, do we want to be east and west Kissimmee? Second, it elevates the mayor, as the only at-large office with double the salary, rather than the largely ceremonial title that the mayor holds today. Third, it reopens the city charter for yet another "tweaking" by our "we know best" commission, only months after the handpicked Charter Review Committee failed to come forward with even one recommendation for a change to the charter. Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, if this is a budget-saving move, if and when the city's financials improve, with the commission then vote to return their salaries to "normal" or beyond?
Kudos to Commissioner Irizarry for rejecting the proposal outright. The other commissioners, by indicating that they wanted to study the issue further before deciding, have allowed this discussion to live on.
We have a couple of suggestions if the commission would like to save some bucks quickly: Stop receiving a stipend for cellphones/mileage/other expenses. If you need a city-provided computer, take a hand-me-down...how much computing horsepower do you need to browse the web and read e-mail? Two words: snack tray. Two more words: coffee pot. And finally, if you are feeling generous, you could write a check back to the city for some of your salary.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Surprising MoveAt last week's City of Kissimmee Commission meeting, Commissioner Gemskie made a surprise proposal to create single member districts in Kissimmee and then cut the pay of the commissioners. The mayor's seat would still be an at large seat so that seat would not see a decrease in pay. Simple enough, right?
The WayneWho staff finds this to be an odd proposal to bring forward now after the commission shut down all community input on this issue last year when the discussion of a charter review committee was taking place. The committee and the public were not allowed to bring up any of these topics, or discuss pay or our structure of government because the commissioners knew what was best for us. Is Mr. Gemskie admitting the commission did not know what was best and that maybe these ideas should have been opened to the public last year? Or is this just an attempt to make Commissioner Irizzary mad?
What we find most interesting about Commissioner Gemskie's proposal is that he is now advocating for a "Strong-Mayor" form of government so we can fire the city manager. When he had run for office in the past he had always defended the city manager and said that he was against this type of government, but it appears that things have changed. Changing the mayoral position to one that is elected at-large is the first step towards a "Strong-Mayor" form of government. Again we have to wonder why the commission did not let the public discuss any of this last year?
The WayneWho staff has discussed at length many of these issues, and we feel that there is another way. Commissioner pay should be performance based. In other words, commissioners should be paid based upon their effectiveness for the community and the residents. We know that this commission would be taking a bigger pay cut than the one Commissioner Gemskie has proposed, but you would get what you paid for. And besides, if it saves even one job, then it is worth it, right?
7 comments:
I was fine reading this until I got to the pay being "Performance Based" line. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair. Thanks for the laugh as always.
I don't know, I thought the idea of Jim Swan being a strong mayor was pretty funny too.
The reason for changing districts and give the mayor more responsibilities is very simple. This would bypass term limits because the mayors position would be elected differently than the commissioners positions. A commissioner could serve for 8 years then switch to mayor and serve another 8.
If the Commissioners pay was base on performance, Jeanne (I've never seen a tax I didn't like)Van Meter would owes the City of Kissimmee money.
I say get rid of all the Commissioners. They are ceremonial positions anyway. They perform no actual governing, only rubber stamp the City Managers every whim.
I mean really...name ONE actual form of legislation, leadership or meaningful role that any of them have provided.
Lets save $100,000+ in useless salaries and continue to let the City Manager do what ever he pleases as he has always done. So what if 192/Vine Street is shutting down and crime is rising up. He is the greatest City Manager in the entire world and we are so lucky to have him. We have heard the Commissioners say so.
i think that 2 districts would divide the already racially divided city. i mean east/west or north/ south, c'mon. gemskieis totally out of touch with anyone except his ego.
I mean really...name ONE actual form of legislation, leadership or meaningful role that any of them have provided.
The commissioners are doing a great job. As soon as they build the fountain we will become an All-American city.
Post a Comment