The Crying Game

In many respects, politics is the art of compromise. Sometimes it is compromise on what projects or services tax dollars are going to be spent on. And sometimes the compromises are on issues that follow ideologies, such as funding social programs versus roads and bridges. This is why during an election season, candidates need to be pressed much harder on what they believe the roll of government is so we can understand their reactions. Understanding the nature of a candidate is critical to understanding how they would perform for the people once elected. Since candidates are rarely questioned on real issues during campaign "debates," we believe that voters find it difficult to make this kind of determination. Understanding the nature of a candidate is also critical to knowing if they will be able to help make a governing body move in a positive direction, or if they will kick the sand, grab their toys, and storm out of the sandbox.

It seems that the nature of newly elected City Commissioner Art Otero has begun to surface. At last week's meeting, Commissioner Otero became very upset when the other Commissioners were reluctant to sign on to his ideas for spending tax money on our local airport that at this time covers all of its own costs. "You guys are just shutting the door on me. I’m just looking for an opportunity," he cried as the other commissioners gave a negative response to the idea that he be appointed the Airport Czar since our form of government does not allow commissioners to micro-manage staff, which he seemed to not understand. He also did not seem to understand the reluctance of the rest of the commission that spending tax money to fulfill his campaign promises was probably not the best position for the city to take.

Hence we see two problems that have developed because of the lack of vetting during our local election cycles. The first of which is the character and nature of elected officials. In the movie "The Crying Game", the main character Fergus is told a story about a frog and a scorpion: the scorpion, wishing to cross a stream, asked the frog to let him ride his back over the stream. When the frog asked the scorpion how he could be sure that the scorpion would not sting him, the scorpion replied that if he did sting him, it would mean death by drowning for both of them. The frog complies, carrying the scorpion on its back across the stream. Before they reach the other side, however, the frog feels pain and realizes that the scorpion has stung him. He protests, "Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion? For now we both will drown!" The scorpion replies, "I can't help it, it's in my nature." The moral of the story is that people tend to do what is in their nature. It was in Illinois Governor Blagojevich's nature to abuse his power granted him by those who elected him. It was not the position, the title, or that politicians are all bad that made this happen. It was the person and what was in his nature to do. So we have to wonder if Commissioner Otero's nature will be to cry and storm off when a political issue does not go his way? There were signs of his temperament issues during his last campaign that the Osceola News Gazette decided not to report on, so we have to wonder if he would have been elected if these issues were known? The WayneWho staff believes that Commissioner Otero needs to be aware, if this is his nature, and if it is, he should work to channel it into viral passion for the betterment of our entire community. Instead of being upset that he may not have won this battle, the discussion on the airport was not all that negative. Other commissioners brought up ideas that were just as important to the economic success of our city, so maybe instead of making snotty statements, look for compromises. If some believe that other areas of our city need help first, use some of that channeled passion on helping to accomplish those goals to further ones promised during a campaign. In the end, the nature of an individual politician should succumb to the nature of politics which is the nature of compromise.

The second problem that this tantrum shows us is that the vetting process needs to become much tougher during local election cycles. While the WayneWho staff believes that Commissioner Otero rightfully belongs in his elected position, we are very concerned that his one issue campaign was never fully challenged. Why did no one ask the question "How are you going to pay for expanding the airport?" or "Since the economy appears to be falling apart, what specific things will you do to 'bring in jobs' if the Airport expansion cannot be done?" What really scares us is that the election going on in St. Cloud right now is suffering from the same lack of vetting that most Osceola County seats suffer from which leads to the same mistakes being made time and time again. We can only hope that those asking the questions during this election, and all of those coming up, will learn that their roll in the process is of critical importance instead of letting the behind the scenes special interest groups play king/queen makers. If a candidate says they are going to 'cut the fat,' ask them what specific projects they consider fat. If they say they are going to bring jobs into the area, ask them what specific steps they would take to make that happen. Don't let the candidates off the hook if they start to sound stupid, push them for an answer. After all, it is the nature of 'reporters' to ask tough questions even if they feel like a sharp sting to those being asked. The rest of us would appreciate this because we would not like to drown.

Understanding the Problem

Tonight, at the behest of Commissioner Art Otero, the Kissimmee City Commission will discuss financing impact fees in order to help with developer's (campaign contributors) cash flow during these rough economic times. While we disagree with several of the issues that Commissioner Otero has brought forward because of the lack of scrutiny put into them, this post is not about attacking Commissioner Otero for bringing forward ideas for discussion. The WayneWho staff believes that by bringing forward these ideas, there is a slight chance the commission will stumble upon either something that makes sense, or they will figure out how ignorant their past decisions have been. For now though, we will discuss the "Impact Fee Bailout" plan that turns the City of Kissimmee into a banking entity, without pointing to a specific commissioner or staff member who might think its a good idea.

The WayneWho staff has always been against impact fees. Our belief has always been that impact fees were nothing more than a governmental ponzi scheme that was based on the premise that 'growth' would go on forever and never end. Quasi-Governmental Groups like "MyRegion.org" and "MetroPlan Orlando" which were created by development interest groups to give the illusion that growth was being managed, kept feeding our community the "growth was coming, and there is nothing you can do about it" rhetoric year after year and helped conjure up ways to accelerate growth to the point of what we all see right now, collapse. Now, there are no more impact fees rolling in and the money that was misspent on infrastructure is no where to be found leaving all of us without. The premise of "growth will pay for itself" or "growth will help us build our needed infrastructure" has been proven wrong, and all we can hope for now are breadcrumbs from the federal government in order to put in place the infrastructure that we should already have.

So now the City Commission wants to offer a bailout to developers in the form of low interest loans backed by taxpayer money. What they still have not seemed to figure out is that they can not build their way out of this problem. Growth is not dead because of impact fees, growth is dead because of governments allowing developers to over supply the market. It is a supply issue. The lack of credit has reduced the demand for an inventory that was already over supplied. So the City Commissions' answer is to build more? Demand cannot be artificially created. That is the problem that got us where we are now, so it does not make much sense to repeat the same mistakes. Supply must be brought under control.

The last point follows upon what we had discussed yesterday and that is the misusing of collected funds over time. The back-up for the workshop tonight states that impact fees tend to collect in a fund until such time that a project is needed. Basically we collect all the money and then we dream up some 'project' of what we are going to spend it on instead of having a plan that says we are collecting these funds to eventually build this project. In an effort to really stimulate the economy and pump some money back into it to drive some spending, how about give the money that is just sitting there back? $23,000 back to a homeowner is a lot of money that could help generate spending for goods and services in our local area. Since the government has no plans on what to do with 'our' money (not theirs', as Commissioner Otero believes) and trying to artificially create a development boom is a mistake, this seems like the best solution to get things running right.

Anti-Gas Tax Formula

The residents of Osceola County are about to pay dearly for the mis-management of local governments. Just as gas prices have started to come down, and residents have earned some relief at the pump, Osceola County wants to max out it's local option 'Gas Tax' to the full 11-cents per gallon to fill the holes in their government budget. Of course our local mainstream news media, the Osceola News Gazette, was quick to jump on board with this tax raising idea and praised it in an editorial this past weekend. In the Editorial called "5-cent gas tax needed now", the Gazette's Editors urged Osceola County Government to enact a new 5-cent per gallon of gas (which means that you are actually paying Osceola County 11-cents per gallon) and to dedicate the funding to the Lynx transportation system, road improvements, and rail transportation. Their crack investigative teams have uncovered something that most of us have known for years, the county has fallen behind on road construction and maintenance projects that we have already paid for. Although their editorial is filled with nothing but empty promises, false logic, and pure mis-statements, this un-news article is not about the ignorance of the media, it is about the idea of raising another tax.

We have been told for many years that growth should, and would pay for itself. It has not. As we have written time and time again, growth will never pay for itself. Better "Transportation Options" were supposed to have been taken care of because of the bounty of dollars generated by growth which would bring impact fees, more property taxes, and more revenue in general. Well, where are they? What we are left with is a lot of pipe dreams and promises and no money to pay for them. That is unless we tap the ATM (Automatic Tax Machine) known as the residents of Osceola County. The idea is really very simple, government does not have to cut back and make hard decisions if it can generate more revenue without increasing it services. Government would just end up with a higher profit margin that it could then roll into advanced spending measures that have little to do with "Public Transportation" or "Better Roads," or any other type of political campaign promise like "Transportation Options." Lynx will never be funded adequately because it serves a segment of our population that historically does not vote. If "Public Transportation" was really a big concern of politicians, then why have commissioners allowed it to be in the middle of a funding game of chicken? And if roads that served our working class citizens who are just trying to get to work and home again in a timely fashion were honestly on the agenda, then why is it that a majority of the funding for road construction and maintenance for the past fiver years has been spent on new roads for creating more developable land for homes to be built on? The homes that, by the way, should be paying for all the transportation improvements we now need. Growth will pay for itself after all, right?

The problem with an increase in the gas tax is that the money will never be spent for what it is intended. Sure for a year or two, to get though re-election campaigns, some money will make its way to Lynx and our roads so signs can be erected to show how government is spending our money. Then someone will come up with some plan that will need the transportation funds to accomplish, and the promises of "Transportation Options" will be broken again.

The real problem is that local governments do not want to save more in their general fund money to pay for the improvements that are being talked about. Cut "Access Osceola" and use that money to fund Lynx. Cut County Commissioners allowance's that they gift to government dependent social programs and give that money to Lynx. Cut retirement benefits for elected public servants and give that money to Lynx. There are "Funding Options" other than making another withdrawal from the pockets of Osceola County residents and we suggest government explore those first.

The last argument that the WayneWho staff would like to make is that the total of increases in fees and taxes for governments, toll road authorities, and over-leveraged private sector companies trying to stay afloat are going to continue to erode revenues locally. While many will argue that an increase in the gas tax will only add $160.00 to the amount spent on gas for the average family in one year, we need to then add the extra $80.00 in toll increases for the year, $40.00 in increases for trash collection, $150.00 for increases in electric and water, and then of coarse whatever additional increases there will be in gas when the price goes back up. With the state the economy is in right now, a tax increase cannot be looked at in a vacuum. While we do not suggest that local governments should take a back seat in generating the revenues for services that their residents truly need, we are suggesting that governments develop a big picture mentality. The bigger picture right now for most in our community is survival, and taking more money from them is irresponsible.

Mayor Swan's Day Off

In a bid to find a way to increase their slumping ratings and keep their jobs, the City of Kissimmee's TV station, known as Access Osceola, is about to release what they hope will be a hit governmental situation comedy called "Mayor Swan's Day Off." This fast paced anything goes comedy about a Mayor determined to take a day off in search of adventure in the middle of an economic crisis, promises to be one heck of a knee-slapper.
Reminiscent of the 1986 hit "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," the govcom starts with our restless mayor convincing the rest of the commission that by working one less day even though hours, resources, and people would not be reduced, that the city could save millions of dollars. In an exchange that reminds us of the movie "Spinal Tap" where one band member explains that they have the loudest amplifiers because their volume knobs can be turned up to 11 on the dial instead of only 10 like other bands, Mayor Swan just continually repeats the statement "We will be working one less day." Confused by the repetition and scared that they might be missing some key piece of evidence that will make them look stupid, the rest of the commission agrees with Mayor Swan, starting his wild and zany adventures in the big city of Orlando. With his best friend, Commissioner Irizarry who's part is like the depressed and unhappy 'Cameron' character, they start their big day by swiping a code enforcement truck after they realize that most of their 'Day Off' would be wasted if they were to wait for a Lynx bus to show up.

Commissioner Art Otero, much like the character 'Ed Rooney', realizes the deceit and goes after Mayor Swan with the belief that if Mayor Swan enjoys his day off, economic development will grind to a halt. Watching Commissioner Otero chasing Mayor Swan from a Magic game to Gay Days parade where they mayor performs the song "Boogie Fever", you will wonder if the hijinks will ever end in this guaranteed public access block buster.
The WayneWho Staff gives "Mayor Swan's Day Off" four Osceolas and suggest you Tivo it to watch it time and time again.

A Rose By Any Other Name

A rose by any other name may still smell as sweet, but that rule also goes for horse dung and it is horse dung that the city and county have been serving. The problem, it seems, is that in tough economic time it is harder to be an elected official because you have to be able to do more than just sound smart. An elected official actually has to know what they are talking about on an issue.

This point was driven home at the Kissimmee City Commission Meeting this past week when, to the shock of many, they decided to approve a school for troubled teens in the middle of the CRA (near the downtown, but not in it). While the WayneWho staff feels that in this case the commission did its due diligence in discussing and debating this issue before it was decided, we are more concerned with the policy shifts that developed during the discussion. Is it now the policy of the Kissimmee City Commission to ignore the CRA master plan just to make sure commercial buildings have tenants? Are we looking for quantity of occupancy or quality? If this is the case then what kind of new establishments can we expect to spring up in the downtown?

There also seemed to be an idea brewing on the Commission that this school would be economic development. Unlike the RNC Chairman, we would agree that in bad economic times like these pretty much any job that leaves some level of human dignity intact is good, concepts in economic development go much deeper than just slapping the 'ED' logo on the side and claiming victory. While we applaud the job creation, we question the idea how the 'business' of a school for troubled teens will help the surrounding businesses on the whole. Economic Development is not a single victory mentality. Economic Development is a about a web of interconnected businesses that intersect to expand the stength of all of the businesses.

The simple question is, "Would you put a school for trouble teens in the middle of the LOOP?" While we know that the LOOP already looks like a school for troubled teens, the owners of the property would cry foul if you tried to put one in their property even if you tried to call it Economic Development.

The other stinking concept that was brought up this week by the County Commission was in developing a 'Green' policy, much like the one in Lake County. While we think 'Going Green' is a great and important step, the problem again is that you are just slapping a green name on something that can be pointed at for re-election. A true 'Green Policy' is more than building standards. It is more than 'suggesting' to developers who have already strip-mined our land, that they should start building quality homes that are energy efficient. A 'Green Policy' is not only about building more homes. While that is part of the policy, it has much more to do with long term and large scale water reclaimation, energy production and conservation, and the expansion of natural habitats. Natural habitats are not created with bulldozers.

Again while we are glad that the County Commission debated the issue, we believe they need to expand the arguments to a much larger level. We were also very discouraged by Commissioner 'Be My Valentine' Arrington's argument that "We need to demand a better product from our community." This community of residents has fought very hard to make this a better community and demanding more from them is arrogant and wrong. The Osceola County community is one we are proud of and that we have witnessed time and time again step up their efforts to make this a better community despite the efforts of government to make things worse. While Commissioners such as Ken Smith have railed against the public for their ability to discipline their children, it is these same parents that are the ones who step forward to make sure our communities' children are taken care of. Mr. Arrington, this community is demanding more of its government and if you are going to make any demands, make them of yourself.

Orlando Sentinel Tries Un-News

In the grip of dwindling readership, lagging sales, bankruptcy, and round after round of layoffs, the Orlando Sentinel this past week tried its hand at blog style un-news articles. The front page article that they ran basically stated the topics that students who would be taking the writing part of the FCAT the next day would be seeing. This caused a flurry of upset parents and school officials to react in a negative manner towards the paper. For those of us who are rightfully in the un-news business, we call on the Orlando Sentinel to apologize not only for the stupidity of leading people to believe it was printing possible FCAT cheat sheets in its periodical, but also for the many un-news articles it has printed over the past year in preparation for its debut un-news article. The world of un-news journalism is serious business and should be left to the un-news professionals. The WayneWho staff cannot even imagine a scenario where a list of even 'possible' test answers would be published to give students an unfair advantage. We think this directly relates to a culture of lost ethics and honor at the Sentinel and draws into question most of the other 'journalism' they attempt on a daily basis. Hiding behind the idea that it was just a 'layout malfunction' on the 'Front Page' of a newspaper seems like a thin explanation.

We think: Un-news articles should be cut from the Orlando Sentinel. While the importance of the Orlando Sentinel ranks on the same level as the position of lieutenant governor in the State of Florida, delving into the realm of un-news is not a for the ultra-liberal at heart. Mass spending agendas and cradle to grave social programs at the taxpayers expense do not make for good reading by average hardworking Floridians. This might explain the Sentinel's readership problem, but that is for their CEO and management to figure out.

True un-news articles follow a more established pattern that today's journalist don't seem to understand. An un-news article on a topic like; Kissimmee resists 'Buy Local' policy not because it will hurt local businesses in their bids for jobs outside of our county, but because the City's Mayor does not want his company, 'Waste Management', that operates outside of Osceola County, to lose it lucrative contract with the city of Kissimmee. Another un-news article topic; City Commissioner Jerry Gemskie disagrees with 'Buy Local' policy because it would separate him from his long-time Simi Valley, California political consultant. We know to the journalistic guru's at the Sentinel, these articles do not seem like news and we would have to agree. That is why they are called un-news articles that nobody reads anyway. Our simple advice to the Sentinel is that after they apologize for their 'layout malfunction', they need to figure out how to, once again, write honest and real news articles to inform a public that wants to know.

Until next un-news article, the answer is 'D'.

And The 'Taxes' Red Glare

Local government officials often preen their feathers while chattering about how important their role is in the 'big picture' of our daily lives. "We are the people who provide emergency services, and we are the ones who can raise your taxes," are just some of the blathering comments you will hear politicians chirp in their own honor. For those of us who enjoy history, we are reminded of the nonsensical babbling of British royals who espoused their importance in governing of the New World from across the Atlantic. The 'royals' exercised their governing expertise in a land they had never seen by doing the same thing politicians have been doing since politicians were created, they raised taxes. Of course now we see our local elected leaders at both the city and county levels want to increase our gas tax to make sure they have access to dedicated funding for all of their important things that they do for us.

Dedicated Funding

The term "Dedicated Funding" should strike fear in the hearts and wallets of all of our residents. "Dedicated Funding" really means "Replacement Funding" for money we are misspending someplace else. The increase in the gas tax which is being championed by county officials such as County Commissioner Fred 'I will never vote for a tax increase' Hawkins and Brandon 'Be My Valentine' Arrington presents a dangerous economic pitfall for not only the residents of our community, but the businesses as well. Very recent history shows us the crippling effects of high gas prices which helped to accelerate the economic disaster that has now befallen our county, so the WayneWho staff has to ask, why would you run the risk of pushing our county that much closer to the brink of collapse? Wouldn't the most prudent course to take be to help incubate, not subsidize, businesses in Osceola County be reducing fees and taxes where possible? It has been proven time and time again that giving government more money to misspend is not the answer.

While the WayneWho staff firmly believes that funding Lynx appropriately is critical, we believe that the funding is already present in the taxes already being charged. Forcing more gas tax revenues from the hardest working members of our community, who have to drive to other counties to go to work, to pay for round-a-bout fountains and poorly painted light poles on the tourism side of town sounds more like the chirping of the British Royals of old, chattering over the 'new revenue' the New World represented. We guess that our newly elected officials have already decided to powder their wigs in honor of King Louis XIII. We just hope they remember that it was a tax on white wig powder that ended the fashion of white wigs.

New Commissioners MIA

With all of the discussions of a new hospital that is needed in the Poinciana area moving forward, and the possibility of the area becoming its own city, we would have expected to see the new District 3 County Commissioner, Brandon Arrington basking in the glory of media spots re-capping campaign promises and other new found ideas brought about by his time served on the commission. Best case, we would have hoped that we would be hearing from the public that he was ignoring the media and was hard at work helping to fix the problems of his district, but it seems that Commissioner Arrington has disappeared on those he was elected to represent. This is probably because of all of the bad news coming out of his district despite some of the other 'positive' things being pushed by residents down there. The only note worthy communication we could find from Commissioner Arrington was in a e-mail received from one of our readers with a newspaper clipping in-which Commissioner Arrington spends a large amount of time discussing the importance that residents should place in celebrating Valentines Day. Maybe getting elected was the easy part?

This silence is not owned by Commissioner Arrington alone. Commissioner Hawkins and Commissioner Harford have also seemed to enjoy their limited engagement into the issues facing Osceola County residents. While all three commissioners jumped on board a politically popular idea of creating a 'Buy Local' policy that removes price protection barriers for local taxpayers, we have heard little else come forward in the shape of solid plans on how to handle the budget crisis without raising taxes on a public that cannot afford even the slightest bump. Changing meeting times or opening calendars are not the problems commissioners were elected to fix. Creating isolationist policies that are already starting to strain relationships with governments and large project managers outside of our county were also not good first steps. While the discussion of these ideas were/are important, and action was needed, the discussion of possible problems/backlash was lacking. While the WayneWho staff does applaud the small strides that have been made, we believe the grace period is over and it is time for the real work to begin. This means that real public issues should be discussed and the discussions on the importance of Valentines Day should be left to Ann Landers or the editors at the News Gazette.

Fountain Follies

The WayneWho staff was out in the downtown over the past couple of days to do our part as 'Jaywalking Watchdogs' in an effort to help the Kissimmee Police Department in their efforts to curb the heinous crime of jaywalking that has been holding our community under siege when we noticed something even more insidious. Fountains shooting bubbles had returned to downtown. At first we thought that the bubbles blowing onto Broadway from the new sidewalk fountain at City Center was another ploy by either the TDC or the Kissimmee Main Street social club to bring 'visitors', not shoppers, into the downtown. They had already tried this with the 'Sculpture Walk' which is also commonly called the Downtown Kissimmee Sidewalk Obstacle Course, but we soon realized that the pretty bubbles were the act of skateboarding insurgents bent on the destruction of private and public property.

It seems that the 'Sculpture Walk', two story parking garage, and the abandoned Toho parking lot stage are just too much of a draw for the hooligans who have vowed to take over the area. As the few remaining shoppers, who risk being covered with bubbles or being side-swiped by hoards of skateboarders, look for help from local law enforcement, officials have only released a statement stating that since the skateboarders have not committed any jaywalking offenses, they are not on the priority list of enforcement officials or commissioners.

This whole un-news article got us thinking about the dwelling challenged bathing facility that was supposed to be built in the round-a-bout on Martin Luther King Boulevard. The 'fountain' which was approved over a year ago with money set aside from the transportation budget seems to be missing. The money is still allocated for its construction but after a year there is still no 'fountain'. Did the bubbles scare local officials into rethinking their 'foutain' stance, or is there something else? Considering every local government is hoping for federal bail-out money we wonder if the commissioners have decided that a homeless bathing facility might be a bit excessive in such bad economic times. Maybe one of the commissioners getting ready to run for re-election can bring up the re-allocation of the 'fountain' dollars into more worthy transportation needs instead of hoarding taxpayers money for pet projects. Just a thought from your local un-news source.