Logo Truth

So now we finally have the truth about why Kissimmee City Commissioner Art Otero proposed the addition of "In God We Trust" on the city's logo. According to an interview done by the Orlando Sentinel:

"Commissioner Art Otero, who proposed the addition, said he was prompted to suggest the change because he doesn't agree with the direction the country is going under the Obama administration, which he referred to as 'socialist.' He said his initiative was not based on faith but on patriotism."

"This nation has been moving toward more liberal postures such as homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana," Otero said. "I'm against that way of thinking. Those are not the values upon which this nation was founded. I think we need to fight for the values we're losing."

So the expense is justified to stick one to President Obama. Nothing says patriotism more than not supporting your Commander in Chief during a time of war. Classy, very classy.

As far as Commissioner Otero's argument about President Obama's push towards "socialism," we have just one question. Will Commissioner Otero give up his government provided, taxpayer funded health care? This must be the socialist direction Commissioner Otero is talking about since all the other "socialist" cries from mis-informed republican "leaders" have faded away. Most of the banks have repaid the TARP funds and GM just went through the quickest bankruptcy proceedings in history of the country. What other claims could Commissioner Otero be trying to falsely tie to our President? President Obama has specifically said he against the legalization of marijuana and he has said he is against gay marriage? Sounds like Commissioner Otero and President Barrack Hussein Obama have alot in common. That only leaves the issue of government provided health care as a 'socialist' issue, unless the scary "liberal" demons chanting in Commissioner Otero's head have given him other insights that we are just not aware of. We also have to wonder that if direction of the country is really the motivator behind the logo change, does that mean that Commissioner Otero liked the direction the country was headed in a year ago? This would at least explain Commissioner Otero's infantile concepts of the responsibilities of local government. Spending $200,000 of taxpayers money to let people know how you 'feel' about a few issues during an economic crisis is not a very conservative approach to government. It is wasteful.

Fix our roads, provide us good public safety, and spend your own money to let the world know about your feelings instead of raising our taxes to do it.

From out For Bid - To Out To Lunch

During last night's commission meeting, the Kissimmee City Commission decided to, once again, run from a simple and good decision for taxpayers, and instead create an opportunity to expand the size and cost of government. The decision was based on discussion item 8B - "Solid Waste Franchise Agreement" and whether or not city government should open up the bidding process to allow other private companies an opportunity to bid on a contract that Waste Management has enjoyed for many years. As we noted in our article from yesterday, the decision should be simple. Open the contract up for bidding so a selection committee could decided what the best option for the taxpayers of our community. Even the opposite of that, which would be to keep the contract with Waste Management would have been an acceptable choice based on staff's accounts of the quality level of service the company has provided to the city. Of course leave it to our city commission to stick a square peg in a round hole.

The decision that was made was to extend the contract with Waste Management for 1 year and, in that time, have staff research how government can take over the and replace the private component of solid waste collection. Basically, our commissioners just decided to increase the size of government and increase the price tag it takes to run it. All of this while at the same time deciding government should force out private competition. This decision will allow government to take over private business interests even though the testimony from staff clearly showed that quality and cost were not issues. The commission just took a simple decision and turned it into a lose-lose situation for the residents and businesses of our city.

So what is next on this issue? Simply put, residents are going to hear alot of imaginary service, cost, and valuation arguments based on fictitious information from other municipalities. This is how government hides itself in its protective bubble and internally justifies bad decisions. Staff will put together a power pointless presentation and answer 'we don't know' to any real questions that get asked. The community will be told that the takeover will cost one price, but then in the next budget cycle the numbers will jump much higher. Then, as we have experienced so many times in the past, fees will be raised or created to cover the hidden costs of the expansion of government. Then when the public decides to fight back to stop the increase in fees, government will threaten to cut other services to shut them up. Just watch the upcoming discussion on Fire Fee increases if you don't believe us.

The point of this article is simple. Limited government that can live within its budget can not continue to conquer and expand itself. There is a huge difference between going out to bid to test the markets and expanding government into a socialist state. As our leaders head into budget workshops to decide how to make necessary cuts to survive the upcoming year, does it make any sense to be planning to add more expenses? Maybe in the "government is that answer to everything" bubble, it does. The WayneWho staff just doesn't fit in that bubble.

Out For Bid

First we would like to start off by saying we appreciate the Osceola News Gazette's article this past Saturday that represented some of the critisims being voiced by those who were affected by the flooding rains (4 inches) that overwhelmed the City of Kissimmee's storm water system. We hope that questions about the failure of the system over such a large area continue to be asked and that city government can divert some energy away from designing logos and put it into fixing failing infrastructure. If nothing else, maybe someone should ask where all of our "Stormwater Fee" money has been going if it has not been going into updating and upgrading our stormwater infrastructure? Where did the money go?

As far as today's article, we will keep it short. On tonight's City of Kissimmee Commission Meeting Agenda, or script as we like to call it, there is an interesting item up for discussion. Item 8B is a discussion on the "Solid Waste Franchise Agreement" which is currently held by Waste Management who employs our Mayor, Jim Swan. The agenda item is intended to give the staff direction on whether or not to open open the door for bids on the agreement to other companies, or if they should keep the contract locked with Waste Management.

The WayneWho staff believes this as a very simple choice. Open the bidding process to make sure that the taxpayers are getting the best deal possible. This does not indicate that Waste Managment has problems, or is a problem, but in times such as times such as these wise decisions are made based on research. By openning up the bidding process, a level of transparancy can be created as well as a sense of fiscal responsibility. Maybe if researching better deals were done more often, taxes and fees would not have to be raised year after year. Do the right thing and put it out for bid.

(Sidenote: The WayneWho staff refuses to comment on the personal relationships of out-of-state bloggers and problems they may, or may not, be having with their local electorally challenged counterparts. While we have received many e-mails on this subject, we feel it is not our place to get involved with the personal issues and/or the relationships of others. We just don't feel that any of these topics belong in our realm of un-news. We just hope that those involved can kiss and make-up before feelings really get hurt.)

The Mess

The WayneWho staff has had a busy week trying to help some friends clean up after the flooding that happened earlier this week. The whole area is pretty much a big mess and will probably be that way for some time. While the floodwaters have gone, the damage to the heart of Kissimmee will take some time to repair.

While we have caught a few of the news briefs about 'unprecedented rains', 'more rain than the system was designed to handle', and about how 'some blocked storm drains' contributed to the mess, our favorite comment has to come from our City Manager. In the face of this mess, he simply states that 'Everyone should have renters' insurance and flood coverage...' Sure, just like the fairy tale that growth was going to pay for itself, reality is far different from the out of touch point of view of this administration. Maybe residents could afford rental insurance if they were not spending so much money on gas to drive to other counties for work or if they were able to use their fire fee money to pay for it, but these are discussions for another time. The point of this article is focus and linking renter's insurance to clogged storm drains is not a focused argument.

The WayneWho staff understands that the best efforts of man can, and will, be thwarted by Mother Nature from time to time. This is probably one of those times. Our problem is that it is hard to look a the history of our commission(s) and know that our best efforts were put forward to keep the floods under control. Arguments that have focused on 'All-American City Awards', 'Revitalizing 192', 'Government Run TV Stations', and 'Logo Changes' have taken the focus off of the basic and boring job that is local government. That is the job of providing public safety and infrastructure to the residents who pay taxes for that purpose. While their is no glory in creating a functional drainage system that can handle 5 inches of rain in 1 1/2 hours in a hurricane prone state, it is probably the most relevant. Maybe the money spent on all the frivolous sideshow issues could have been put to better use for our residents. Maybe not. The point is that we do not know and there is a general consensus that government does not know either. Frivolous issue after frivolous issue has taken the place of municipal management. As a community we are left asking, are we getting what we pay for or are we just being entertained?

The WayneWho staff wants to make it clear that we do not blame the city or the commission for the weather. We understand that the weather is controlled by a much Higher Power and that some how this mess is in His plan. Maybe it was meant to show He thinks we need to focus on what is important, and that adding His name to a logo is not one of those things? Or maybe, like the City Manager would suggest, the rains were meant teach the Biblical importance of renter's insurance? These are questions we just can't answer and that we leave to our readers. For us, we are just going to focus on drying out our socks.

Did Staff Lie?

An interesting discrepancy was uncovered at this past week's City of Kissimmee Commission meeting. While we understand that the commission feels that it is important to make small insignificant changes to give the appearance that they are doing something, we feel that wasting time on logo changes to try to help Commissioner Art Otero feel patriotic is not helpful to the citizens of our community. While we do not wish to discuss Commissioner Otero's waning patriotism, we do have to wonder, after yesterday's un-news article, if this is a growing trend with newly elected officials? Regardless of these issues, it was during the discussion of possible changes to the city's logo, which sounded more like the nonsensical singing of Nero as Rome burned, price discrepancies were questioned by Commissioner Cheryl Grieb. The WayneWho staff feels that it was this part of the discussion that begs the most attention and possible investigation.

About a year ago, Commissioner Grieb had suggested that the City of Kissimmee hire a design firm to create a new logo that would help to improve the city's marketing efforts. Much like the City of St. Cloud had done, Commissioner Grieb felt that a new logo would help to redefine our community. Her mistake at the time was in suggesting that the city remove the 'Cow' from the logo. The public reacted negatively and the project found itself without much support. The information that killed the project was a report from city staff that it would take $200,000 to change the logo.

Fast forward to present day and now to change the logo to help a commissioner finally feel patriotic, and the amount of money that it will cost to change the logo is around $745.00. WTF? How can the number drop from $200,000.00 to $745.00? Is the economy that bad or did staff mislead the commission a year ago? The excuse from the City Manager is that the price difference is related to the speed at which the commission at that time wanted to change out the new logo. This is not the full truth by any means. If you listen to the tapes of those meetings, time frame of a new marketing deployment was only lightly touched on. When the Commissioners discussed rolling out the new logo changes more slowly, it was staff that directed the discussion towards a hasty deployment. When the numbers came in at over $200,000 dollars staff never said that there were ways cut the expense, or delay the expenditure over time. Quite simply put, staff misled the city commission.

What we find really disturbing is that staff is once again misleading the commission. It will still cost around $200,000 dollars to change out the logo, it is just that it will broken up over time. The WayneWho staff finds it sad that the commission would allow these types of expenditures instead of finding ways to reduce the costs to citizens and the businesses of this community. Raising fire fees on small businesses to pay for logo changes just seems out of touch when the area is in economic turmoil.

Our last points on this issue would be that if the commission is going to follow this misguided path, wouldn't it actually be more intelligent to do what Commissioner Grieb suggested? That is to hire a professional firm to develop the logo and let the public decide what they like? Why is it our city logo has been hijacked by the commission and staff and is being changed without public input? Is this the logo of the city commission or a logo that represents the City of Kissimmee? Maybe something as drastic as a logo change should be directed by professionals working with the public instead of individuals with absolutely no marketing experience, working behind the scenes. Seems like a simple conclusion to reach for us, but we guess we will have to see if the commission wants to involve the public or not.

The Color Purple

The WayneWho staff is glad to be back. Taking a little time off from our retirement jobs to make the trip to Arlington for Independence Day just seemed like the right thing to do this year. No matter what party, or political philosophies, honoring the men and women who have died for the freedoms and the independence that makes our country unique is never cliché, but rather a time for understanding the cost of freedom. With over 300,000 buried at Arlington National Cemetery, it is easy to see that the cost is that of our country's greatest national treasure, its people. You can't help but be humbled in the presence of those who have fallen while serving us, under a flag of red, white, and blue, for a national purpose instead of a fleeting personal quest. While we must always remember the courage that it took to create and sign the Declaration of Independence, we must also remember what it has taken to keep the beliefs in that document alive. Standing in Arlington, you can't help but remember and feel a sense of morning turn into a sense of hope.

As we said though, we are glad to be back. We are glad to get back to see what nuggets of information we can find to turn into top of the line un-news articles. So after a little rest, we called a staff meeting and started going through e-mails and searching the internet(s) for possible ideas. That's when we ran into a strange sight. Osceola County's own supervisor of elections web site http://www.oscelections.org/ has gone purple. Actually, not just purple, but purple with hues of pink as well. Even the image of the American Flag is muted under the the color purple. Feels like a kick in the teeth to cover up an image of national pride with the colors of the British Royalty we declared our independence from and shed blood to achieve. Of course for those only focused on the political prizes like our new Supervisor of Elections, Mary Jane Arrington, and her son, County Commissioner Brandon "Valentine" Arrington, paychecks are more important than history. National pride is only something we slap on a postcard to get elected so we can get in to do whatever we want.

For those of you who may have an affinity for the color purple and the British Royalty it represents, we apologize. It is a free country and our citizens have the right to change things to suit their own wants so they can find their own level of patriotism. The WayneWho staff are all just too old to find comfort in changing colors that don't run. We feel that the color scheme of a governmental agency funded by tax dollars of United States citizens, representing our democratic voting process, should reflect the color scheme sewn into our first flag by a hard working widow who ran her own upholstery business. If red, white, and blue were good enough for George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross who commissioned Betsy Ross to sew our first flag, maybe those colors should be used to honor the streak of independence and democratic values born into all Americans.

The WayneWho staff also found something else that bothered us. Local tax groups, county officials, and city officials have all been hopping on the 'Buy Local' rhetoric. As we have pointed out on several occasions, 'Buy Local' means nothing because unless you are in the development business, local governments make sure that they use out of county businesses for other outsourced tasks. This case seems to be no exception. At the bottom of the Osceola County Supervisors of Elections website you will find the line "Powered by ePolk.com" which takes you to a company out of Winter Haven. While it seems that this company is a good company, we just have to wonder if our local officials have any amount of loyalty or local pride left in them.

Anyway, as we said, we are glad to be back.