Osceola County's budget process has not been completed and already the county commissioners are looking at ways to spend more money. After letting go hundreds of employees to fill budget shortfalls and to subsidized commercial and agricultural property owners so they would not have to pay their fair share of a newly approved fire fee, a new design project has caught the eye of Osceola County officials. It seems that because of the urging of tax hungry special interest group, the county is considering spending millions of dollars on making 'East' 192 pretty. Hold on to your special taxing district socks because this one is going to be good.
This past week, Osceola County officials got a look at a design plan aimed at giving an expensive face lift to the eastern portion of U.S. Highway 192. The idea of a face lift comes from a study presented to the County Commission by the 'East 192 Enhancement Committee' who no one who lives in the area has actually heard of. The main problem this group would point to is that East 192 has "a lack of identity and purpose."
Yep. A lack of purpose.
First, the WayneWho staff would like to let the mystical 'East 192 Enhancement Committee,' whomever you are, know that East 192 has a very critical purpose that we find offensive that you have overlooked. East 192 is how most Osceola County residents go to work. We know this is a strange concept for some, but many of us actually don't live off of the taxpayers and we have to drive to work every day. Of course most of us are not driving to work here in Osceola County like we used to, but East 192 is still the start, and/or end of our journey. The road is filled with commuters and small business service vehicles that are holding this community together and are not interested in bizarre light poles and odd looking mile markers. While we understand that special interest groups think that only tourists should have access to our roads, we would just like to remind them that not only do residents exists, but we are the ones who get stuck paying for all of these types of face lift projects.
What we find interesting is that the County Commission actually believes that a few botox injections of residents hard earned tax money will give the face lift that will erase years of bad economic policy. As County Commission Chairman John Quiñones said, "Those vacant buildings, lack of landscaping and blight could give visitors a negative perception of the county." We assume that this means that if we give the Knights that say 'Tax' a shrubbery, that everything will be just fine. Of course once we brought them the demanded shrubbery they would just tell us they were now known as the Knights that say 'Special Benefit District' and we would now have to bring them gold bars along with another shrubbery which was just a little taller than the first. It would be nice if we could actually have commissioners that focused on residents instead of dumping all of our money into exterior design projects to improve what 'visitors' might think about us.
As far as all of the made up terminology about 'hub districts' and creating 'avenue lanes' (which we assume was supposed to be 'venue lanes' because 'avenue lanes' just sounds stupid), enough already. Why don't we just tell the taxpayers what these terms really mean. With the price tag of the ugly west 192 BeautiVacation Project topping $29 million, the 'East' 192 terminology should be reflected more accurately as 'special interest welfare districts' and 'wallet lightening lanes.' At least that would be honest.
To close this article we just like to say we would love to see the Osceola News-Gazette step up to the plate and actually do some research or at least ask questions before they blindly print articles like this. Here is a simple one that any reporter worth the weight of their pen would have asked; "Do you think that the county is heading in the right direction by putting all of their hopes in becoming a major market for amature sports when every attempt so far has not only met with failure, but cost the taxpayers millions of dollars?" Or if a reporter actually paid attention to other forms of national news, they might be able to ask a question like; "Since every major athletic venue has witnessed extreme drops in attendance and revenue during the downturn of this economy and many amature leagues have had to declare bankruptcy, do you feel that it is wise to ask the taxpayers to subsidize yet another special interest group?" We would just like to remind the writers at the Osceola News-Gazette that the articles they drop down on paper are about issues that affect real citizens in Osceola County. While the Osceola News-Gazette may believe it is their job to spit 'facts' down on paper, we have to ask the writers how they know if the 'facts' are even facts? When they put an opinion in their paper like "...giving certain portions of the highway a more defined role that would be able to attract business..." and treat it like it is the truth, they do not do justice to their trade or to the residents of this community. It is not like we are asking them to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring, we are just asking for them to ask some questions. Maybe if publication would actually start asking some questions on issues like this, the WayneWho staff would make sure to bring over some nice shrubbery to decorate their office.
This past week, Osceola County officials got a look at a design plan aimed at giving an expensive face lift to the eastern portion of U.S. Highway 192. The idea of a face lift comes from a study presented to the County Commission by the 'East 192 Enhancement Committee' who no one who lives in the area has actually heard of. The main problem this group would point to is that East 192 has "a lack of identity and purpose."
Yep. A lack of purpose.
First, the WayneWho staff would like to let the mystical 'East 192 Enhancement Committee,' whomever you are, know that East 192 has a very critical purpose that we find offensive that you have overlooked. East 192 is how most Osceola County residents go to work. We know this is a strange concept for some, but many of us actually don't live off of the taxpayers and we have to drive to work every day. Of course most of us are not driving to work here in Osceola County like we used to, but East 192 is still the start, and/or end of our journey. The road is filled with commuters and small business service vehicles that are holding this community together and are not interested in bizarre light poles and odd looking mile markers. While we understand that special interest groups think that only tourists should have access to our roads, we would just like to remind them that not only do residents exists, but we are the ones who get stuck paying for all of these types of face lift projects.
What we find interesting is that the County Commission actually believes that a few botox injections of residents hard earned tax money will give the face lift that will erase years of bad economic policy. As County Commission Chairman John Quiñones said, "Those vacant buildings, lack of landscaping and blight could give visitors a negative perception of the county." We assume that this means that if we give the Knights that say 'Tax' a shrubbery, that everything will be just fine. Of course once we brought them the demanded shrubbery they would just tell us they were now known as the Knights that say 'Special Benefit District' and we would now have to bring them gold bars along with another shrubbery which was just a little taller than the first. It would be nice if we could actually have commissioners that focused on residents instead of dumping all of our money into exterior design projects to improve what 'visitors' might think about us.
As far as all of the made up terminology about 'hub districts' and creating 'avenue lanes' (which we assume was supposed to be 'venue lanes' because 'avenue lanes' just sounds stupid), enough already. Why don't we just tell the taxpayers what these terms really mean. With the price tag of the ugly west 192 BeautiVacation Project topping $29 million, the 'East' 192 terminology should be reflected more accurately as 'special interest welfare districts' and 'wallet lightening lanes.' At least that would be honest.
To close this article we just like to say we would love to see the Osceola News-Gazette step up to the plate and actually do some research or at least ask questions before they blindly print articles like this. Here is a simple one that any reporter worth the weight of their pen would have asked; "Do you think that the county is heading in the right direction by putting all of their hopes in becoming a major market for amature sports when every attempt so far has not only met with failure, but cost the taxpayers millions of dollars?" Or if a reporter actually paid attention to other forms of national news, they might be able to ask a question like; "Since every major athletic venue has witnessed extreme drops in attendance and revenue during the downturn of this economy and many amature leagues have had to declare bankruptcy, do you feel that it is wise to ask the taxpayers to subsidize yet another special interest group?" We would just like to remind the writers at the Osceola News-Gazette that the articles they drop down on paper are about issues that affect real citizens in Osceola County. While the Osceola News-Gazette may believe it is their job to spit 'facts' down on paper, we have to ask the writers how they know if the 'facts' are even facts? When they put an opinion in their paper like "...giving certain portions of the highway a more defined role that would be able to attract business..." and treat it like it is the truth, they do not do justice to their trade or to the residents of this community. It is not like we are asking them to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring, we are just asking for them to ask some questions. Maybe if publication would actually start asking some questions on issues like this, the WayneWho staff would make sure to bring over some nice shrubbery to decorate their office.
14 comments:
For a group that enjoys educating the reader, it's amazing that you mis-spelled am⋅a⋅teur. Look up the words or have your wife proof read.
The question is do you know what your special purpose is for?
Ouch! Looks like someone over at the gazette is a little touchy... Better watch your spelling Wayne.
But the commission is now know as the Knights that say Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing Zow Zing.
Guess it doesn't matter if you spell stuff correctly or not, the Gazette just agreed with you again.
I am glad to see that you guys can still write some articles that are humorous. Thank you for the laugh.
I think that bring us some shrubbery would make a good puppet show.
If the Gazette were responding they wouldn't have spelled misspelled with a dash. And if they hadn't written anything at all about East 192, WayneWho would have nothing to complain about.
The News-Gazette could reprimand me for doing this, so let me preface by stating that I’m only representing myself and not the newspaper. I also don’t represent the county, or position myself as an expert on Osceola government.
I was told about this blog entry from someone in the community, and although I normally stay out of these forums, I think this time I have to speak up since it seems like my actual duty as a reporter is being criticized/mocked. I might not be a reporter “worth the weight of the pen,” but I do my research.
Firstly, I apologize that my article on the east U.S. 192 review led you to the conclusion that the study was a definite plan for the county. Twice in my article I wrote the plan was tentative, so as to not mislead readers that this was something in the works.
Secondly, I don’t “drop down” articles on paper. If I did that, I wouldn’t be a reporter. I attend these meetings where I take notes, and then I request comments from locals, officials, etc... Then, I take all of those notes and try to turn them into an article. You might not like my writing, but everything is attributed and researched. I can’t write an article about what I think of the review– it’s unethical to do that in journalism.
The things you see in the paper with my name attached to it are never my opinions; they are the thoughts and statements of others, and I attribute it as such. I come in to let the community know what their leaders are doing or planning, and what’s on their minds as well.
In regards to “spitting facts,” I also don’t do that. Everything is sourced and fact-checked. Nothing is ever called a fact, and I can only debunk sources if they have given me a piece of information that can be called true or untrue without attribution. But opinions are allowed– as long as they’re not mine.
This blog entry took a lot of what-ifs and used them to criticize my reporting. Regarding this specific article, I never meant to write an investigate article, since there are no concrete details for it. Regarding my reporting, I’d like to believe I ask the questions when needed.
My name and my contact information are attached to every single article I put together for the paper. People– residents and government officials alike– can recognize me, approach me and give me their opinions any time they want (and they do!).
I love when readers and locals call to either give me more information or ask me why something was or wasn’t in the newspaper. It's the feedback from the community that helps keep me on my toes. My name is Jessica Solis. Feel free to reach me at 321-402-0429 if you have any questions, comments or concerns. Thank you, and my apologies for the extra long post.
So commentary on a news article is not allowed? Basically what Hamilton is saying is that once something hits the newpaper then it should not be talked about anymore. That is stupid. If that is the case then the Gazette should stop offering WayneWho's commentary as their own editorial.
Puppets!! Yes, it is time for puppets!!
There's a difference between commentary and saying a reporter is not worth the weight of their pen. I just think commentary should stay on the issue at hand and leave bashing the newspaper that wrote about it to a minimum. It's not the Gazette's fault that you disagree with the study.
I think that a reporter should be able to handle criticism.
I am having a hard time understanding why it is people are not suppose to question information from a newspaper? Silence leads to hire taxes and mile markers to nowhere. I am glad that someone would question the validity of a story. Keep on it Wayne.
Post a Comment