Earth Dozer

The WayneWho staff hopes that you enjoyed your Earth Day celebrations yesterday and that your eco-guilt level has been reset to zero for another year. While we all believe that protecting our planet is important, we have become very discouraged with the 'Hallmark' holiday feel that Earth Day has taken on. From the national level on down to our local community, Earth Day has become nothing more than an opportunity for sales pitches about half-baked policies and products that amount to little more than good old fashion snake oil. Earth Day, Earth Friendly, Green, and Clean are all new marketing adjectives that amount to little more than eco-guilt pacifying fluff we wrap ourselves in to feel like we are doing something positive, even though we all know we are not doing what we should. While marketing is about exploiting ideas that illicit a reaction to make a purchase, the WayneWho staff thinks this is not the way to help correct the environmental damage that has been done to our planet. Slapping the nomenclature of Eco-Sustainable or Green on something to turn a quick buck will do nothing to help our planet.

With that being said, we received a strange invitation yesterday in the middle of soothing our eco-guilt that screamed of 'Green' marketing gone awry. Our staff was invited to attend an "Earth Day at the Osceola Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida Osceola." We thought to ourselves, a chance to help locally and planetarialy all in one stop? Great, we are on board and we can be home in time to watch Matlock. Then we noticed this event was being billed as "The Community of Destiny and the children of Boys & Girls Club give back to Mother Earth." Wow, that is an eco-guilt trip and a half.

While we noticed that there were going to be some guest speakers, we realized that not one of the speakers was versed in the effects of climate change or, for that matter, the importance of the Boys & Girls Clubs in our community. Basically they were going to have the heads of corporations talking about the pretend world of green building, water taxis, and thousands of magical jobs in compost management that MIGHT be created if the Destiny housing development is allowed to be built. We heard the event was kinda-sort-of cool because Destiny unveiled its environmentally safe Earth-Dozer that they would be using to tear at the flesh of good old Mother Earth. Ripping up sensitive Florida lands would allow them to snap together their clean slate city of tract homes and uppity coffee shops. We heard the Green Earth Dozer was a big hit with the kids when they used it to crush an old 76' Chevy Nova because it was not Earth Friendly. This despite the fact that the Nova used to get 16 mpg before the days of ethanol and was actually better on the environment than may of the vehicles on the road today. Never mind that nonsense, crush it with the Earth Dozer and you will save the planet. We think that old-car crushing will be all the rage at next year's Earth Day celebration.

Capital Budgetmania 2009

Make sure you tune in tonight or set your Tivo up to record a Budget Battle Royal like never before. Tonight on the city's own Pay-Per-Resident channel, legends of the capital budget world will face off in matches the fans never thought possible. Titans of the tax expenditure arena will fight to the death in this once-in-a-lifetime no-holds-barred contest for your tax money. Strap in viewers, it is going to be a long and bloody night.

The night will start with an explosive match between the tag team darlings of the commission, the stealthy Public Information Office and the High Tech Access Osceola combination vs. the Cyclopean Civic Center. The often publicly whipped Civic Center will leave it all out on the mat as they work to crush the high tech funding of the rarely seen TV station team. Tempers will flare as the Civic Center team puts forward the one piece of fact that will make the TV Station team quiver in fear, "How many residents are you actually serving and what kind of revenue do you generate, because we have a computer that tracks every dime and every person that walks through our door?" Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Don't miss it!

Another match that you won't want to miss will be the fledgling city staff team vs. the gargantuan KUA Killers. The KUA team is looking to keep its revenues to dole out more management pay raises and special events' funding instead of providing cost effective power to our local governments and our residents. The KUA Killers have left the carnage of their opponents on the mats at the county and the school board, and now their greedy sights are set on the staff at the City of Kissimmee. Even though the city technically owns KUA, the public-private utility upper management knows the more of the staff they can take out at the city, the bigger their bonus checks will be. Boom Baby! This will be a night you won't soon forget.

As City of Kissimmee Commissioner Art Ortero would say live and on the air, "Let's Get Ready To Rumble!"

Overdue

The Osceola News-Gazette published and editorial titled "Reviewing job titles overdue" this past weekend, which basically states that an independent audit of county positions, job titles, and salaries is overdue. While we are glad that government, as well as the Osceola News-Gazette, is finally leaning towards a fiscally responsible sized government, we think the slowness of government action in the face of this economic crisis demands a much harsher criticism than 'overdue'. It is not like government has neglected to return the book 'Romeo and Juliet' to its local overstaffed library which has lead to an overdue notice being generated. Government has delayed its reaction to this crisis by almost a full year which has cost the taxpayers of our community millions of dollars. The title by the shadow editor should have been 'Delay in reviewing job titles act of nonfeasance' because there was a failure to act even when a clear and ethical duty to act existed.

While we do applaud the Osceola News-Gazette for taking a brave and unpopular stance of pointing out the clear and inappropriate delay in action of our local county government, we would have hoped for a little bit more fervor in their writing that expressed the feelings of their local readership. We would have also hoped that they would have outlined more items of government that are 'overdue' for a discussion. Growth and zoning policies, excessive taxes and user fees, and governments' continued reach into the private sector markets. Drastic cuts to the sacred entitlement programs like the CVB or the Economic Development squad are also long overdue and should be on the table. We have yet to see an accurate report card of the failures or successes of these organizations to date and the taxpayers would like some answers. We have been forced, during these rough economic times, to stand on the sidelines and watch them throw money into the wind, so why not set up a little real Q&A in a real town hall style meeting. Again the WayneWho staff has to say that we think 'Overdue' is an overdue understatement.

Hispanics Hate Cattle?

This past week's City of Kissimmee Commission meeting was an eye-opener to anyone who might have watched it. First we learned that with no votes being cast, the city has converted itself to a strong Mayor form of government. After the majority of the commission had already decided on voting on an ordinance to curb cellphone abuse during commission meetings, Mayor Swan hijacked the process and guided the commission into passing a cream puff policy that will allow the abuses to continue. "The bottom line is after our meeting two weeks ago, I was kind of embarrassed personally and for we as the commission," Swan said Tuesday. "I just hate the thought having to have an ordinance to tell us we ought to act in a professional manner and we ought to take time away from our personal affairs to do the people’s business in the people’s house." That was the whole point Mr. Mayor. Some of the commissioners are less concerned with the people's business and more with what they should say to win re-election. The electronic devices also create a 'transparency' issue that should have been considered more strongly as a matter of policy.

The second eye-opener was a discussion by Commissioner Irizarry about some promotional videos that are available from the city's website. His argument was that the first video that depicts Kissimmee as a place with a "charming atmosphere" complete with bass fishing on the lakes, hospitals, historic neighborhoods, an airport and a close proximity to theme parks ignores what the Hispanic community is looking for in a community to call home. In Commissioner Irizarry's words, "It’s not what I’m looking for."

Commissioner Irizarry went on to say, in an interview with the Osceola News-Gazette that "the video ignored the fact that 53 percent of the city’s population speak a language other than English, arguing that the video portrays Kissimmee as too much of the 'good old boy cow town' it used to be." Commissioner Irizarry stated in the interview, "If I don’t like cows, I’m not going to go there. If I don’t like bass, I’m not going to go there," he said.

The WayneWho staff suggests that Commissioner Irizarry should make sure to put that message on his re-election campaign mailer. "Kissimmee, I'm not going to go there." It has a nice ring and expresses exactly the type of divisive political tactics Commissioner Irizarry has used since the the start of his last election campaign. It's the 'White Good Ole Boy Cow Town' against those of us who are not white. Maybe we should remind Commissioner Irizarry that he was a champion of continuing to dilute the Hispanic vote by fighting to keep from going to districts in Osceola County when the county was in violation of federal law? Or just to break this down more simply, how does talking about cows create a racist environment?

The answer is actually very simple. Commissioner Irizarry knows nothing about government, the city he lives in, or the whole of the people he is supposed to represent. The WayneWho staff would argue that it does not make sense to attack the heritage of our community for some type of political gain. The history of our community should be learned and celebrated by all who call Kissimmee home.

As far as 'good ole boys and their cattle,' lets just have a quick history lesson. In the year 1521, Juan Ponce De Leon brought a small herd of Andalusian cattle and horses with him on his second expedition to the New World. These were the first cattle and horses to ever set foot (or hoof) on what is now the continental United States. The Spanish explorers were forced back to their ship by the Caloosa Indian warriors, and Ponce De Leon received a mortal wound. There is no record of what became of the explorers livestock, so it is imagined that these were the first cattle to ever run wild in Florida. The challenge to conquer Florida went out, and other conquistadors soon followed. These explorers brought cattle, swine, and horses. By 1700 there were over 30 privately owned ranchos in Florida. A census ordered by Spanish tax collectors reported over 20,000 cattle on the ranchos. The horses and cattle played a tremendous role in Florida history.

So the question to Commissioner Irizarry is, who really are the good ole boys who developed the cow town environment in the state of Florida? Wouldn't it actually be nice to once again have a thriving cattle or agricultural industry that provided jobs and stable incomes in an economy like this? We would also like to ask if you would have attacked the video for its content if it was your face on the video?

As for the WayneWho staff, we celebrate the people of all races who worked the lands of Florida and helped build our original economy on the cattle industry. We just hope our next set of commissioners will do a little homework before they speak and be proud of our community and all of its people.

Now Hiring

The WayneWho staff caught an interesting article in the Osceola News Gazette this past week that stated, "With the highest unemployment rate and the lowest average annual wage in Central Florida, Osceola County officials admit there’s work to be done to improve the county’s standings". The article discusses a report done by the quasi-governmental agency Workforce Central Florida where it showed the county’s average annual wage over the last two years had increased from about $30,000 to $33,332, but was still the lowest average out of the five-county region (Osceola, Orange, Lake, Sumter and Seminole counties) the tax-funded agency oversees. We assume that the author of the Gazette's article threw in this information in as a quick 'FYI' because we think that most people who are trying to live in Osceola county are already aware of how bad the situation is.

This report was in the news because it was presented last week to the Osceola County Commission who took the information more like a golf score than they did as an indicator of how critical the community's situation is. As quoted from the Gazette, from the commissioners, "the county still had work to do to help it improve its figures in comparison to the other counties." Basically they said, we don't really care about how bad it is in Osceola County as long as we do not look as bad on paper as the other counties do. To prove this Commission Chairman Quiñones championed the county's back up plan of relying on job creation outside of the county in areas like Lake Nona. Quiñones noted that "We need to do everything that we can to diversify our economy, and not depend on just one or two industries.” This explains why the commission is 100% focused on relying on the 'Lake Nona Medical Strip Mall and Car Wash' as the savior of Osceola County's economy.

The County has decided it can improve its unemployment appearance by having government agencies hire more people itself. The WayneWho staff was e-mailed an interesting link the other day that contained a link to a job posting on Monster.com for a Governmental Affairs Officer. The job listing is described as "The incumbent advocates Osceola County’s position at all jurisdictional levels as instructed by the County Manager," which means the job is basically to agree with everything the County Manager says, and then to go tell everyone else how great the County Manager's ideas are. Even if common sense tells you his ideas are bad, it is your jobs to tell everyone how great the ideas are. The job could pay upwards of $96,000 and has plenty of county benefits. That is good pay for a position that does not benefit the taxpayers in any fashion. The pay seems excessive to the WayneWho staff since we found a "HAND FED 2 YEAR OLD MALE SOLOMON ISLAND ECLECTUS. COMES WITH 2 CAGES ONE NEWER CAGE PLAYSTAND, TOYS ETC. TAME AND TALKS, GREAT BIRD, EASY KEEPER" on CraigsList.com in St. Cloud Florida for $1250.00. This sounds like a much better deal on a pet for the County Manager than $96,000 per year. We guess that depends on how much the public is willing to pay for the crackers.

Like an Old Joke

We miss the grand days when Johnny Carson ruled the Tonight Show and used a bit where he would make a statement about a generic issue, like about how 'hot' the temperature was, and the audience would instantly respond with 'How Hot Is It?' To which Johnny would come up with a funny joke about the heat and we would all laugh. The joke might be something like, "It’s so hot that I swear I just saw two fire hydrants fighting over a dog." Usually the late night host would have come up with something better than our simple attempt at late night comedy, but the WayneWho staff was kinda-sorta in the mood for this style of joke after hearing some of the news coming out of Osceola County over the past couple of weeks.

It seems that Osceola County is in bad financial shape. (This is the point where you, the audience, should be saying to your computer screen "How bad is it?") It is so bad that we saw the income level of the County now qualifies the government to receive food stamps. Wait for it. Still not funny. How about, It is so bad that a long time, high paid county administrator resigned saying the county needs his salary to stay afloat. Wait for it. Yep, not funny just scary.

What we find even more scary about the fiscally prompted resignation is that there has been no response from the elected leadership to tell us whether or not our economic situation hangs on the edge of one salaried employee or if the resignation was based on mutual incompetence? And if things have gotten this bad, why did an audit just say everything was peachy? Very mixed message if you ask us. Maybe someone should start explaining.

One more try. The financial situation of the County is so bad that the new city of Destiny is changing from green construction to cardboard construction to meet the needs of future Osceola County residents. OK. Johnny Carson will always be the king of this late night bit. We will stick to un-news.

Spring Break

Well, the kids are off from school this week and it seems that the Kissimmee City Commission has decided to take the week off as well. We cannot confirm that there is no commission meeting tonight, because it seems that nothing on the city website has been updated. We checked to see if the agenda (script) for any possible meeting for tonight had been posted in advance so citizens would know what issues were going to be discussed, and we found nothing. We tried checking the minutes from last week's meeting, but we had no luck in seeing if the meeting for this week had been canceled because the minutes have not been updated since December of 2008. We would have to assume that the Commission is taking the week off to enjoy some well deserved spring break fun over on the coast. Maybe the Public Information Office can send some of their Access Osceola people over with the commissioners so we can live vicariously through their adventures. Since nobody has time to maintain the public information website, at least we could get some fun shots of commissioners bonging a beer.

We guess that maybe next week we will get a chance to hear some more in depth discussions on cell phone use during meetings, the financial health of KUA that is now draining the public coffers, and the best flavor for Tequila Jello shots. Until then we will kick around some other rocks here in the county and we will see what crawls out.

Osceola County Targeted By Virus

For many around the world this April Fools Day will be no joke at all. Millions of computers will be infected with a computer virus knows as 'Conflicker' that is set to launch some unknown style of attack today. For many computer users, today will be a day filled with anti-virus updates, screaming at Microsoft technical support, and in the most extreme cases, trips to the dumpster with the infected PC's. Not a fun day at all.

The WayneWho staff has uncovered information on an even more insidious Conflicker Worm Variant that set to launch its attacks and focus them on Osceola County Florida. This variant that has been dubbed 'Cowlick.B' and already has the hair on some technology professionals' heads, standing on end. "This is the worst threat that we have seen because it affects more than just your computer and we have no way to tame a Cowlick," noted one security professional buying Norton Anti-Virus and a comb at the local Staples.

One City of Kissimmee Commissioner, Cheryl Grieb, who had been predicting this disaster for the past several years and was thwarted in her efforts to remove 'Cowlick.B' point of origin, was upset by the news. "I knew this would happen. You put a cow on a logo and someone is going to go after you for it. It is too late now. We are all just going to have to come together so we can get through this hair crisis," stated Commissioner Grieb.

For those who are infected with the 'Cowlick.B' virus we caution against radical steps to get rid of the problem. While there is no 'Cowlick.B' removal tool on the Internet at this time, industry professionals strongly urge against using scissors to deal with the threat. The first step you should take is to consult with your stylist. Be aware that some local stylist may already be compromised and prone to 'Cowlick.B' distribution. The WayneWho staff recommends a Crisco topical hair solution to tame the unruly effects of the the 'Cowlick.B'. This old school solution seems to be the only effective method in combating this new age threat.

Be safe and April Fool's.

Finishing School

Discussion Item 'C' on the Kissimmee City Commission meeting agenda for tonight is a waste of time that we agree should happen. Per the request of the commission they are sneaking a discussion item back on the agenda while not trying to raise any 'Red Flags' to the public on how back-ass-wards city policies have become. The item titled 'Robert Rules of Order and Commission Decorum' not only a discussion on the proper way for commissioners to do their jobs, but it is also a discussion on cellphone, texting, and twittering use during commission meetings. We will again repeat the phrase 'DURING commission meetings'. Their arguments much like pimple faced teenagers working the front lines at a Jack-in-the-Box is that if there were an emergency they could be reached. As employers of the commission our suggestion follows the Employee Handbook at Jack-in-the-Box; Cellphone use is not permitted during your shift except at an employees designated break time. Quite simply, if the commission decides to use their cellphones during the meetings then the WayneWho staff believes that any information on those phones becomes a matter of public record and we will duly request all such information. If there is even a remote possibility of sunshine laws being broken during a commission meeting using new technologies, then it is critical for the commission to address the problem and adhere to higher ethical standards.

The second part of the discussion, is whether or not the commission should have a training class on 'Robert's Rules of Order' and professional conduct standards. We believe this is important. Image, etiquette, and communication skills are all critical social components in the job of a commissioner. We believe that adding some social graces to our slate of commissioners would help raise the level of the perception of competence in the minds of the public. We recommend this 'Finishing School' training be acted on and taken seriously. Maybe the etiquette classes could be put on Access Osceola as a way to justify the expense of the city's TV channel and help educate the public on this critical government work. Remember 'Pinkies in the Air'.

Double Digits

If anyone happened to catch the news over the weekend, they would have noticed that Osceola County has broken the 10% unemployment barrier. Even with all of the promises by candidates and elected officials to 'bring jobs' into our area, it seems that the mistakes and mismanagement of the past have forced a new reality. An unemployment level in Osceola county of 10.7%, which, by all accounts, is still rising.

While the WayneWho staff is very aware that the economic crisis we are now in is unfolding on a national stage, we still believe that using smart government strategies could have made this time in Osceola more bearable. We know that the promises of candidates and elected officials to 'create jobs' were convenient election and re-election white lies, but we have to question if the past and current actions are even remotely helping to create or save jobs? If we look back to the beginning of this new commission's reign, we see more housing related projects approved than we do job creation projects. While the commission offers distraction issues on building green and raising gas taxes, that hide the fact that they are continuing down the same course of reckless development, more and more jobs vanish.

The WayneWho staff understands that in difficult times such as these, jobs are going to be lost. Our problem is that the county, and other local governments, have lost any sensibility when it comes to what they should be doing. There is no plan except to spend money on anything that some consultant says is smart, and to let developers have their way with us. This must end.

Today there is an item on the Board of County Commissioners agenda under the 'Department of Economic Development' that is an approval to renew a contract and increase the level of search engine optimization services which will cost the taxpayers an additional $285,600. While even us old folks realize that times are changing and that new advertising arenas must be used, is it smart to spend $585,600 in the face of county staffing cuts and an expanding local homeless population, to be seen on the Internet? Especially at the direction of a 'Department' who owns the current economic disaster in Osceola County? We guess it is also just adding insult to injury that the firm, POP Multimedia Incorporated based out of Seattle Washington does not fit the 'Buy Local' banner elected officials have wrapped themselves in like a child's security blanket. 'Buy Local' hell, we cannot even keep the taxpayers' money in the State of Florida. And what kind of questions will the County Commissioners ask? Will they ask for any documentation that shows the taxpayers who are covering the tab for this Internet adventure have received some benefit of the money spent? How many companies that have decided to relocated to Osceola County because they found us while playing on the Internet? What is the return on the taxpayers investment? How many jobs have been created? What words can we type into a search engine to find the economic development website? Will any of these questions be asked, or will it be the usual, 'Move to Approve'?
Of course the Osceola County Economic Development Department is not alone in their shameful spending. We can always count on the Osceola County School Board to waste money while preparing to lay off teachers. Last week the School Board heard a presentation out of Texas (not located in Osceola County) called Energy Educators who will 'guaranty energy savings at a certain percentage through behavior modification and take 35% of the savings as payment' according to a un-official press release from our good friend School Board Member Jay Wheeler. We missed the meeting, so we are not sure about how much taxpayer money were are talking about giving this company, but we believe this should not be approved in any fashion. Paying any company, especially one that does not fit the new campaign pledge of 'Buy Local', to tell us to make sure we turn the lights off when we are not in a room, is just pure stupidity. Is their pay based on the type of behavior modification techniques they employ? Is the Osceola County School Board sanctioning water-boarding for those who forget to turn their computers off at night? Nonsense.

All of this loony legislating is what we have witnessed while the unemployment rates have surged to 10.7%. We see more money being spent on wasteful items now than we did during the bubble boom over the past several years while the unemployment rate has continued to accelerate. At a time when failure is not an option, it seems the only thing our local governments, and their departments, can do is create a strategy leading us directly into failure. Let's just hope that we don't have to pay to have people find us on the Internet for the term '14.5% unemployment'. That would be tragic.

Banished

The WayneWho staff has been kicking around Osceola County's plan to spend its take of the millions in federal funding to alleviate the foreclosure crisis in the state of Florida and we are a little bit confused on one of the ideas. We were glad to the see the County Commissioners correct the stances on museums and health clinics and focus on foreclosures like the American Taxpayers have trusted us to do, but their is still one element that seems odd. Why would you build low-income housing in the middle of nowhere?

Before the folks down in Poinciana get upset at us, we are not suggesting that Poinciana is nowhere, but rather we are saying that Poinciana is a suburb of the Metro Orlando area where people strive to live the quiet life and commute to jobs that are a good distance away. Like in any other suburb type environment government services, shopping, clinics, and real jobs are at some distance away. So, we have to ask if it is smart to push your low-income residents away from the central hub of services and access to transportation? Would it be more convenient for families that cannot afford a vehicle to live in an outlying area like Poinciana that does not seem to be equipped, as a real city would be, to handle the needs of our low-income citizens? We do not believe the plan makes sense unless a new location that is more central and reduces transportation problems is looked at. Since the City of Kissimmee needs some help getting their Redevelopment project off the ground on Vine Street, maybe the County should discuss building the type of building that city wants, multi-story, parking garage, funky CRA colors with rope lighting, on that corridor instead of banishing low income families to the edge of the county. If the whole idea is to create an environment where people can live, work, and play, then maybe this would be a better plan.

Of course, no city wants more low-income families in its midst and forcing the Poinciana area into taking on the responsibility before it has the chance to become a city is just perfect timing. Poinciana is the forgotten town that Avatar built for years that the county has easily overlooked and it appears nothing has changed with the district's new commissioner Brandon "Valentine" Arrington dutifully nodding his head to whatever the rest of the commission has to say. Maybe "Valentine" should actually crack open the plan and give it a quick read to see if it makes sense. Maybe he should go down and ask some of the community leaders in Poinciana if they are ready to handle the needs of low-income families or at least spend a few minutes explaining why he thinks this is a good idea. It is not like the community leaders down there aren't already scrambling trying to handle one of the worst foreclosure rates in all of Florida, let's throw a little bit more on them. Is this more of the County's "Clean Slate" agenda at work trying to cleanse the area of those it perceives hinder its ability to attract high-tech and bio-medical firms?

The WayneWho staff thinks that spending some of the federal money on low-income housing is a smart idea, but we have to argue against its planned location. Banishing low-income American families will not help them get back on their feet, it just hides them from our line of site. Forgetting about a problem does not make the problem go away.

Bubble Talk

Our article yesterday touched on the idea that many in our area are working diligently to rebuild the development bubble that for a few good years, consumed our entire community. Today, in a good article in the Osceola News Gazette titled "Vine St. worries - Is redevelopment too slow?", we see even more evidence of this growing problem. In the article, the progress of making the zoning changes and an overlay district for the redevelopment of the Vine Street area through Kissimmee is described as moving slow, even though the vision for what the area has become well established. The frustration by some commissioners is that not enough commercial developers have been advertised to in order to get things moving along with the grand Utopian view. The idea of course is to redevelop in an area that has been allowed to fall apart in hopes that the sting of projects will some how gel as the economic epicenter of the City of Kissimmee. There is no real evidence that this will work, but the suggestion by a few of the commissioners was that we need to start building now.

While this all sounds good, we have to wonder if the creation of another construction boom is what we need right now. While we agree that the city needs to move forward with the plans for the redevelopment of the area, we think rushing the process is foolish at best. The belief that by building something you have done a good thing for a community is the exact thought process that has lead this area into the economic collapse we are feeling right now. In a Wall Street Journal article out today titled "Commercial Property Faces Crisis", the delinquency rates of commercial loans are described as going sour at an 'accelerating pace' which is threatening to cause tens of billion dollars in losses. According to the article "The delinquency rate on about $700 billion in securitized loans backed by office buildings, hotels, stores and other investment property has more than doubled since September." So the plan of the City Commission is to jump head first into commercial redevelopment in the middle of one of the worst commercial downturns on record. We can only assume that the plan is to rename 'Vine Street' to 'Toxic Asset Street' in order to get more dollars from the Federal Government.

This debate of course gave the Mayor an opportunity to light the campfire and start telling stories about the good old days of tricking businesses into taxing themselves for the the good of all in the West 192 area of the county. The bard's tale of getting the property owners to 'buy-in' to setting up a special taxing district so government could use the dollars to make the area the center piece for Osceola County tourism echoed through the chambers. The only thoughts we could grasp from another round of story time was that the Mayor's goal is to turn the failed Vine Street Corridor into the failed West 192 Tourism Corridor, and he wants to have the Vine Street property owners pay for it. Just for the heck of it, the WayneWho staff decided to take a quick ride through the 'redeveloped' West 192 ghost town that has had the advantage large amounts of tax dollars being thrown into it, and we were left wondering if this area was the best example of government at work?

The problem that we see with the discussion on all levels of government is that there is no clear acceptance that we are in a new economic era. Economic development actually means something different than it did two years ago. While we hear many whines and gripes about budget deficits, we do not see true efforts to put us on the right path to a community that is not built on the erroneous concept of some taxes being 'special' which magically makes them 'good' and 'good' for those paying them. This, of course, leads government to think that every thing they spend the 'good' taxes on is also 'good'.

Pop goes the bubble.

Rebuilding The Bubble

Usually the WayneWho staff tries not to get involved with the crosstalk of comments that come in from our readers, but sometimes comments, and/or e-mails, deserve some open discussion. We receive many e-mails that point to problems and shenanigans going on in our community which we try to incorporate into our un-news articles in creative and interesting ways. While we work very hard to keep our articles entertaining, we pride ourselves on defending sound public policy. In the end our arguments on these policies are our opinions on issues that we believe affect our entire community. And so our article begins...

Over the weekend we received an e-mail from Tom Long from the Osceola County Landlords Association in reference to a comment that one of our readers left on our "We Were Wrong" un-news article. The comment was making a reference to another comment about the Senior Apartment Complex the county wants to build in BVL. It read as follows: "... Where is the Landlords association on this one. They were hell-bent to stop developer Jonathan Wolf and the Preserve or Signature Crossing short term apartments, so where are they on this issue. I have not seen a letter or an e-mail from Tom Long on it yet, so I have to wonder if they are sitting this one out?" Mr. Long decided to respond via e-mail to us instead of to the person who actually posed the question.
It reads as follows:
"Subject: regarding Steve's comments

I was not sitting this one out. I was the first and last person to speak at the BOCC workshop. In fact, I pointed out that $5 million could help with down payment and repair assistance on more than 100 bank owned homes. It's on the county website.

Now that $8 million will be used in that direction and they are looking at 250 homes. Since I have little luck stopping big money on Signature Crossing, I tried the back door approach for the remainder of the Federal money, with some success.

I have never opposed federal money to help house those of extreme low, very low, or low income levels. That means the rents must be restricted also.

As to Signature Crossing, Where is the outrage from WayneWho? Wolf was not cut from the $5 million funding, while other more worthwhile projects got rejected. Wolf has been allowed to lie to the state and county, while the wayne who blog has went silent. "

We guess that by 'silent' you mean that we have offered more coverage on the topic than any mainstream media outlet, or that we wrote articles against the project and worked to expose the crumbling levels of trust with the 'Education Foundation.' If that is what you mean by 'silent' then we would have to agree that we have been 'silent.' What we have tried to do is point to a larger problem in our community that we believe even the benevolent Landlords Association is complicit in. That is the idea that we should begin the reconstruction of the economic bubble that existed in our county just a few short years ago which burst in a big way. This bubble was built on the premise that growth would never end and that the interests of special interest groups devoted to growth are all that matter.

First let us state that we are not attacking Mr. Long or the Landlords Association. Mr. Long has done more due diligence on this issue of the Preserve/Signature Crossing than any elected official or our local media. He has offered honest facts about the deception of the project that little Jonny Wolf and the Education Foundation has held our community hostage with for more than two years. His problem is now that he has been marginalized by the elected officials he has become friendly with. (Remember our article about the frog and the scorpion...? They can't help themselves... It is their nature to stab you in the back for political gain.)

The mindset of our local and state level elected officials is that we must find ways to restart housing. In essence they want to recreate the housing bubble because it was inside this bubble that we were all so happy and nobody was yelling at them. Politicians loved this time because campaign contributions were plentiful and they could delegate the decision making process to Quasi-Governmental Agencies/Authorities. Hence if things went wrong, they could blame the agencies instead of taking the blame themselves. This is obvious when we look at the Expressway Authority, Orlando's Airport Authority, or even the different Visitors Bureaus in the area and their recent histories of shady dealings and wasteful spending. But it is not so obvious when we look at much larger State Legislator created organizations like the Florida Housing Finance Corporation which is nothing more than a Quasi-Governmental program that helped to create that housing bubble in Florida. If we had good elected officials, they would look at the frameworks that have created the ability for developers like Jonny Wolf to circumvent the will and needs of Osceola County when it comes to common sense growth, and demand an audit of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to find out who was behind these loopholes. These types of agencies are controlled by the elected and unelected power barons of our state for the purpose of their own financial prosperity. Andrew Jackson once wrote "It is to be regretted when the rich and powerful, to often, bend the purpose of government to their narrow ends." And that is all that the Preserve/Signature Crossing project represents. It is a symbol of government waste and the concentration of privilege by those who can spread the most capital. And we were mad about AIG?

We will close this article with the trimmed down transcript of a letter from Jonny Wolf to the FHFC which we believe shows the true merits, feelings, and purpose behind the Preserve/Signature Crossing project and our community. You can read the complete letter here: http://www.floridahousing.org/FH-ImageWebDocs/Developers/SenateBill2A/PublicComments/Comment_-_2009-02-24_-_Jonathan_Wolf_-_St._Cloud_Preserve.pdf

The letter reads basically as follows:

"St Cloud Preserve, LLC
1275 Lake Heathrow Lane, Suite 115
Heathrow, Florida 32746

Tel: (407) 333-3233
Fax: (407) 353-3919

February 24, 2009

Stephen Auger, Executive Director
Florida Housing Finance Corporation
227 West Bronough Street, Suite 5000
Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Re: The Preserve - CWHIP06-28

Dear Steve:

[Skipped first two paragraphs because of excessive ego stroking.]

The Preserve is a 120 unit rental community in Osceola County, one of the few counties in Florida that continues to see growth in School enrollments. With targeting to essential services personnel, including teachers, we know this community will fulfill a need for affordable housing for these service providers close to where they work.

The public/private partnerships we have set up provides for the Osceola County School District to own the land and the not-for-profit Foundation for Osceola Education to own the buildings. This structure not only provides safe affordable housing but also provides The Foundation with cash flow from the community to fund scholarship programs for Osceola County Students.

Osceola County has proven to be a difficult area in terms of getting the support of the local government in a effort to provide affordable communities. This is a county that has found a way to block any effort by developers to submit a viable application to FHFC for many years. As you may recall, FHFC took the unprecedented move to allow us to change the location of our site for this housing due to NINBY issues and city officials who were not prepared to override the opposition. We then came up against a like situation with the Board of county Commissioners, but were able to create a work-around with the approval of FHFC, whereby their contribution was made up from other sources, allowing the community to remain viable.

Our project is ready to move forward and can comply with the requirements for completing the credit underwriting within the time frame as specified with a view to commencing construction this summer.

Sincerely,

Jonathan L. Wolf
Managing Member"

Did you know?

The WayneWho staff received an interesting e-mail from our good friend Osceola County School Board Member Jay Wheeler, we assume, about yesterday's post. The e-mail titled 'What our children need education to prepare them for/watch' contained no explanation as to its importance or relevance to the current discussion matter, just a link to a YouTube Video. Many of our readers know that the WayneWho staff are all great fans of YouTube, but we also know the information that is posted on it may or may not be credible. But we were thankful for the link and watched it anyway. You will not need to watch it for the rest of the article to make sense, but we suggest you take a moment when you get a chance to see the guiding principals of our Osceola County School Board Members. The link to the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY.

The 'Did You Know?' video is basically a list of trivia style questions that are strung in rapid succession to make the viewer go 'hmm....' The video starts of with the factoid that 'If you are one in a million in China' which then flips to a picture that says '...there are 1,300 people just like you.' The second factoid shows a large Chinese flag with the statement that 'China will soon become the NUMBER ONE English speaking country in the world.' Of course by this point in the video the WayneWho staff collectively sighed 'hmmm...' with the intrigue of what the word 'soon' might mean, but we continued on in hopes that this video sharing exercise might mean something. The next question states that 'The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's is greater than the total population of the United States.' So now we can see the scare tactics beginning to take shape. The next succession of slides basically describe the future job market starting with the factoid that 'The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.' And then the factoid bomb is dropped on the viewer that is supposed to shake them to their core, 'We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.' (Wow... that is deep.) The rest of the video trails on in more useless factoids that may or may not have any basis in reality, but we at least understand the motives behind the School Boards and teachers around the state. We want money that you have not made yet to pay for educating your children to survive in fantasy land. This explains the problem.

First let us state that everyone on the WayneWho staff believes that education is critical to the future of our country, and that continuing to educate oneself should be a top priority for every person. In the early years of development, teachers and parents play critical parts in giving us the tools we need to be able to learn. If we know how to learn, then we can adapt to new technologies and ideas. Teachers are critical to developing this ability.

Our problem is that learning a test, the FCAT, does not teach you to adapt to new technologies. It teaches you to vomit practiced answers in the hopes of more school funding and raises for teachers. Having students watch movies, play computer games, or playing trivia games in the classroom are not building the educational bridge to our nation's future, these practices are only building a bridge to our wallets and one of the contributing factors to why India has more smart people than we do. The fundamentals of education have been lost in a sea of never-ending Tomorrow Land visions that have produced the reverse Wal-Mart effect; Less For More.

While we believe that the majority of teachers and school administrators are great at what they do, we return to our premise from yesterday. We need honesty in the system. We need independent Time-and-Motion studies that audit every aspect of our school system. As taxpayers we must ask the question "Are we getting what we are paying for or are we getting sent links to videos that explain abstract concepts to justify abstract spending?" We would also like to state that teachers alone cannot be singled out for the problems in our schools. Administrators, and even many parents have contributed to the decline, not countries like China or India.

We would like to thank our good friend, School Board Member Jay Wheeler for the link and for contributing to the debate on why Florida Schools continue to slip in results while they continue to need more money. These are the types of questions we feel should be discussed before any type of tax increase is decided upon. Maybe someone can dig up some other factoids that will explain where all the money is going and what happens to our socks when the they go into the dryer.

Save Our Schools

Populist and emotional arguments are always the greatest at throwing elected officials into a hissy-fit. When large groups of people are mad, elected officials scramble around to prove they are 'one of the people' by parroting the calls from the crowd whether honest or not. This can easily be seen in two places on your television screens right now. One is the hyped elected official anger at the failed corporation of AIG, and the other, a little bit closer to home, is the statewide public school system budget crisis. Both issues seem to require taxpayer funded bailouts on agencies that are supposedly too big to fail, while at the same time demand taxpayer outrage at ridiculous levels of mismanagement that have gone unchecked for years. While the WayneWho staff usually tries to avoid writing un-news articles of issues outside of our county, the Osceola News-Gazette's backing of a sales tax hike for schools demands some discussion.

In Osceola County, we have been down this road before. We know where a discussion on raising the sales tax to support our schools will lead. The discussion will lead to someone finally digging through the budgets of the different schools systems and discovering the wasteful spending that has gone on for far to long. If raising the sales tax in the State of Florida is going to require a vote by all of our residents, then the WayneWho staff is onboard with putting it on the ballot and letting the voters decide because then the truth will finally come out. Give the school systems their chance to make their arguments for not only why they need this money, but for how they are going to spend it wisely. Let them make their case for what kind of accountability they have had with the money they have already spent, and what type of accountability they are going to have with the money they are going to spend in the future. To us, this is a fair and honest way to address the situation before us. This is what happened in 2004 when the Osceola County voters shot down a "half penny" sales tax increase because they saw that the school system could not account for the money it was spending and that wasteful spending was rampant.

Of course this is not what is about to happen. What is about to happen is that the school systems are going to use children as human shields to protect their funding. They are going to scream and cry that we have to protect teachers while they refuse to layoff administration staff to help balance their budgets. They are going to whine about the quality of education while they waste millions of dollars on technology items that may or may not actually benefit the education of our State's children. Like AIG, it will look like we are facing impending doom if we do not throw more money at the problem. But amazingly, just like AIG, you will see the well paid actors representing the company doing things that do not match the urgency of the crisis. Yesterday, while the news that Orange County's budget deficit was going to double, Superintendent Ron Blocker enjoyed some time off and then was finally tracked down by reporters at an awards ceremony. Things must be bad right?

Here is our issue. Before we allow an angry mob of good hearted people scare the state into making a decision on increasing all of our taxes without proper intelligence, lets get some facts. We know this is a foreign idea to media outlets like our local newspapers, but we believe that we will only make the situation worse if decisions are made without all of the facts on school budgets being taken into account. We call for independent audits of all public school systems in the State of Florida to determine if proper and wise spending patterns have been practiced. Once we can all see that the schools are, for the most part, spending our money wisely, we can then begin to figure out what revenue solution would be best. To blindly support a sales tax increase is not the best solution. Adjusting the revenue stream to give a more balanced and steady income should be the solution that is demanded by all Florida residents. Slapping an additional tax would only lead to the public school systems being able to 'double dip' when property taxes come back in line as home values stabilize and begin to rise again. We would also argue that if the State is going to raise the sales tax for schools, then all local counties who are already using sales tax money for schools be forced to bring their local option taxes back to the voters. Basically what we are saying is that this is a complex issue that requires more than a knee-jerk reaction to solve. Maybe the best way to 'Save our Schools' is to stop and think.

Topical Solution

Tonight, at the City of Kissimmee Commission Meeting, the city's own propaganda network is on the chopping block. The ratings are in and the numbers are not looking good for the city owned station. Viewership is down even though the Public Information Office and the Access Osceola team have doubled their list of info-tainment products available for viewing. So what is the answer?

The WayneWho staff has developed a plan that we think is a good compromise between the needs of the public and government alike. Cut the staff of Access Osceola in half and remove Kissimmee's Public Information Officer from any real roll with the station. Get rid of the nonsensical FEC programming that runs now and go back to informational slides and video shorts to keep the public informed on what is going on in the community. Stop outsourcing Access Osceola as a video production company for free, but allow outside companies to produce videos that run on the channel. When the Chamber has a debate let them contract a private firm to shoot and edit the video instead of paying Access Osceola staff to do the work. The same goes for the work that Access Osceola has done for other organizations, let the organizations contract out the work and then Access Osceola staff can add the content to the channel. Removing this workload should allow the amount of staff to be reduced but keep the station running.

We know many of our readers who never read 'those damn blogs' are coughing up donut chunks right now because we said save the station, so let us explain.

In many respects Access Osceola is a luxury item. It is not required by law and while it serves a critical purpose, it not necessary to the daily functioning of our county. On the other side of the argument, government needs to do everything possible to keep its electorate engaged. There is also a public safety component that should be factored into the decision. With the city expanding its range of listeners by adding a radio station component to the mix, the station has the possibility of not only informing the public, but disseminating emergency information as well. This we believe is the key reason to keep the station open.

The station was originally started to broadcast public meetings to help keep the public informed on what government was doing in an effort to make the operation of government more transparent. In the beginning that idea seemed to work fine as the viewership grew because people wanted see what commissioners really did. Once the viewers realized the ignorance of commissioners during commission meetings and their frustration level grew because they had to watch as mistake after mistake was made from the bench, they tuned out just as quickly as they had tuned in. Why would the public tune in to watch government increase taxes and fees when there is no way to stop it anyway? The citizens, either in the room, or in the home viewing audience, cannot change the wrong track mentality of government, so why tune in only to go to bed upset? Basically what we are saying is that it is the governmental bodies broadcasting their lunacy that have killed the ratings more than it is the channel change from 9 to 199. Our argument is that while the full meetings should continue to be broadcast, there is more that can be done to fill the time between meetings that would attract viewers that do not require full production sets and crews to accomplish. Our suggestion is to simply go back to the power-pointless slides. Focus on community calendars and information that is relevant to the average citizen. Lists of places to help feed Osceola families are more important than the FEC programming now currently running.

As we have already stated, it is the mission of the station that should lead to keeping it on life-support right now. That mission can be found in the fact that the station has the ability to act as an emergency beacon for our community. Silver and Amber Alerts, emergency Police and Fire information, and of course disaster information after an event. This should be the the mission of the station instead of shows like 'Tea Time with the PIO.'

To end we would like to stress that we are not attacking the individuals who are employed by Access Osceola. We just believe that Access Osceola should not hold the positions that many of these employees now have. We also believe that the Public Information Office needs to be refocused away from television production duties. The city should have a public face that is able to speak on the issues and stances the city has. We can see a perfect example of this with the PIO at the Osceola County Sheriff's Department who does an excellent job of providing straightforward information to the public. It probably helps that the PIO at the Sheriff's office can be seen out in the public, going to meetings and participating in local public events, but in the end performance should be the real measuring stick and this we leave to the commission to determine.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Celebrate Sober / Arrive Alive!

We would also like to congratulate the Osceola County Commission for doing the patriotic thing and voting to spend American taxpayers' money on what it was intended for, help for our neighborhoods.

We were wrong

It is difficult to get an un-news story wrong, but the WayneWho staff must admit that our story on Friday of last week was incorrect. The county still plans on misspending American taxpayers money on something other than helping to stabilize local neighborhoods, but it is what they are spending the money on we got wrong. From sources close to someone who once managed inter-office waste collection and receptacle deployment, we have learned that the cover story of a 'clinic' is possibly false. The information only WayneWho has been able to uncover points to something much more wasteful.

The plan, it seems, is to use the 4 million dollars from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to build a commission retreat that will be know as 'Camp Trigger'. Much like the facilities used by our country's Presidents such as Camp David, 'Camp Trigger' will be the country retreat for our County Commissioners. The retreat, which will be operated at taxpayers expense and be operated more like a commercial day spa, will offer County Commissioners an opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to host DRI focused development leaders. The goal is to create a place where commissioners can go to clear their heads and enjoy a hearty meal at the facilities built in 'Sizzler' dinning facility. County Commissioners, obedient staff such as the County Manager, and development dignitaries will be able to regain their mental footing after well deserved massages, steam baths, and colonics. The goal behind the pampering is to help commissioners get their thoughts together to help fix the problems commissioners have created in our local community, and to help them determine the information that local newspapers should print to inveigle local residents.

WayneWho has received exclusive reports from a guy named Eddie that show that this type of pampering may already be working. In anticipation of the new facility being built, it seems that the Commissioners have brought many of the services into their current office facilities to help get their creative juices flowing. We have learned that during one of these 'sessions', a concept for an idea was formed that might actually be used by Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner as a model to save the banking industry. The plan which is being called the "Toxic Asset Resolution Bank And Borrower Yeildance" program, which is more commonly known as the 'TARBABY' program by concerned taxpayers, has been heralded as the best possible solution by bank executives determined to hold on to their bonus packages. The plan which is being reworked on a federal level by a Mr. Brer R. Abbit is to be finalized in the coming weeks and is a plan that all of Osceola can be proud of.

The WayneWho staff would like to apologize for our mistaken report last week and we will continue to strive to provide our readers the most accurate un-news information possible. Our goal is to not get you stuck with bad information.

Thank you for your continued readership.

Osceola Vs. the Feds, Again

The bailouts are in full swing. Whether you believe in taxpayer money being used for bailing out companies, industries, financial institutions, or local governments, or not, the fact is that the bailouts are happening. This should lead to the idea that, as citizens, we should all demand accountability from those receiving our money. Leave it to the Osceola County Commission to, once again, screw up something that is decidedly simply when it comes to tax money, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program authorized under Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Based on the description of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program on HUD's (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) website, the program "will provide emergency assistance to state and local governments to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provides grants to every state and certain local communities to purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes and to rehabilitate, resell, or redevelop these homes in order to stabilize neighborhoods and stem the decline of house values of neighboring homes." Pretty simple, right?

Osceola County's response: we are going to take 4 million of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and build a clinic with it.

(The WayneWho staff knows that no elected officials or media cheerleaders read this blog, but in case you are, we recommend you re-read the two paragraphs above that describes again what the intention of the U.S. taxpayers is with their money.)

In a news story done by WFTV it has been reported that the County may split the money intended for starting to rebuild our neighborhoods by buying foreclosed properties and fixing them up, and instead build a two-story clinic on land where a small portable clinic already exists. A clinic that, as far as the WayneWho staff can tell, is not in foreclosure. The plan would include (wait for it) increasing the residential inventory of apartments by building 30 apartments in an area plagued with foreclosures. So not only does Osceola County Government plan to snub its nose at the American taxpayers, they plan to make the foreclosure problem worse. The WayneWho staff just wants to know what the Commissioners are allowed to smoke once they get elected?

First the idea of losing another battle to the Federal Government and losing more tax money, and possibly $14 million in NSP money because Osceola county thinks it is the Burger King county of our country and can 'have it their way' is appalling. Osceola County commissioners have tried to rewrite voting rules, and lost, so we guess that expecting they can tell the Federal Government and the taxpayers of the entire U.S. that they are not going to take the money being offered and spend it on what it is intended for, should not surprise any of us. Osceola County Commission Chairman John Quinones' response when questioned on if spending the money somewhere else when Osceola County's foreclosure numbers are so high was "We have tried to enhance and stabilize neighborhoods." If Osceola county had its own stock market, it would have crashed right then and there. Commissioner Quinones' response does not even make sense in the scope of deceit Osceola County Government is attempting to portray. At least he could have been more honest in his statement and said something to the effect of "We believe to stabilize our local neighborhoods we must get people working again and by using some of the NSP to build a building we don't need, we can put some local contractors to work because our 'Buy Local' policy will force us to do so. Basically we are using found money to help keep some of our contributors... uh, I mean, contractors in business." At least then we could nod our heads in collective disgust and say, "Hay, you have to give the guy points for being honest." Instead of course, we get drivel that makes no sense.

The second idea that we believe that we should address is that the NSP money that Osceola County might receive is not because we won some Powerball Taxpayer Lotto. It is not an award for having been studious in our community planning efforts. We are eligible for receiving this money because local governments practiced bad planning and allowed developers to control the growth in our community. One in 69 homes in Osceola County is in foreclosure which is the worst record in Central Florida, and it is because of bad, and very possibly corrupt, planning. For the past commissions, and their henchmen, who helped guide us into this mess, this is your legacy.

While many will point the finger at the individual home owners for this mess and scream personal responsibility, we say simply, you are right. If actions like the intended misuse of NSP money, and the actions of a development minded government have taught us anything it is that, as residents, we are on our own and we need to be responsible for ourselves. Government and the quasi-governmental groups protecting them do not have our backs. They do not want what is best for the residents they represent. They are more than willing to leave a man down in the field to build the next project their buddies dream up. The problem is that the boundaries of personal responsibility get very blurry in the absence of honest information from the experts that surround us.

We hope that the commission will reconsider making the mistake of spending the NSP money improperly. We hope that they will focus on stabilizing the foreclosure nightmare in our county. This is your chance to chart a new legacy that means more than having your names etched on a plaque of a building. It is our chance to get our local contractors working again by creating sustainable plans. Band-Aide measures and lax regulation have proven to be the wrong direction, so maybe it is time we try something else.

Shakedown

There was an excellent article in today's Orlando Sentinel on the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority which highlighted the many problems we find with quasi-governmental agencies. As noted in their article, the authority suffers from a culture of corruption at most levels, and has been using its influential powers to swing elections and create ways to take more money from residents. The sad news is that this type of environment is found in governments around the state, including Osceola County.

Here at home, the shakedowns are more blatant but our media is not usually all that aggressive in following up on claims of harassment and cronyism. For years, contractors and developers have been 'urged' to give donations to local pet project organizations used by politicians to leverage re-election bids. It has been so commonplace that many of these companies just consider these 'donations' as a cost of doing business in Osceola County. While we believe that it is important that companies doing business in our county are aware of the non-profit agencies we have in place to help our residents, we do not believe that the pay-to-play model belongs in our community. Organizations such as the Education Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club, and H.O.M.E have, in the past, reaped huge benefits from commissioners who had taken a shine to them. Many of the comments directing developers, who were going through the zoning process, to seek out specific charities have been caught on commission meeting tapes that no one ever questions. Of course now that the money is tight and times are hard the shakedowns have subsided, but the mentality still exists. Political favors here, adjusting an ordinance there, or helping to use taxpayer dollars to finance expanded strip mall developments are just new evolutions of the same game that not one elected official has taken any steps to stop.

Strong ethics reforms must be put in place. Many of the comments and e-mails we have received over the past few weeks have centered around the same arguments. There is no trust and very little confidence in our local elected officials. From insiders and outsiders alike, the sentiment is the same, "We do not trust government to do the right thing." We find this very sad during such difficult times.

Not one of the local governments has made any moves toward ethics reforms even being discussed this year. And in the meantime, the new 'Buy Local' policy already appears to have been hijacked to keep certain affiliated 'mud dropping' members in check. While the WayneWho staff has been excited to hear about the surge in local companies going after local contracts, we have been disheartened in the feedback we have received in how the selection process seems to be working. While we have no evidence of shady dealings with the new process, and only rumors at this point, we are concerned that more has not been done to eliminate the negative perceptions in our local processes. Reforms are needed to rebuild trust in our local process by stopping the possibility of shady dealings. The time for local governments to move on honest ethics reforms is now. The days of the 'shakedown' must come to an end.

Fun And Games

Tonight the City of Kissimmee Commission will vote on and probably pass another tax increase under the label of an 'impact fee' for its parks and recreation division. While we believe that our parks and recreation division is second-to-none as far as the service they provide, we are really questioning why staff would bring a fee increase forward in times of such economic uncertainty? We also really have to question whether the commission has any clue about the difficulties and strains those they represent are dealing with right now? Maybe instead of watching Access Osceola propaganda all day long, commissioners should turn on some other news stations to get some grasp of the unemployment and economic issues in our community. Passing another fee right now is unconscionable.

Our real problem with this increase is what it is being dedicated to. While we firmly believe that the parks department of any municipality is critical to the health and welfare of those living in the community, jobs and a steady income are probably more important. Passing another fee that will cost more jobs and put home ownership that much farther out of reach for many makes no sense during this economic crisis. We also have to question the credibility of the consultant, Tindale Oliver, that is presenting the study and the proposed fee increases because their numbers do not line up with current market trends. Their numbers also make many growth assumptions that are flaky at best. The numbers they show for possible revenue generation are not based on current building trends or even a best guess at what speed construction will return to our area. The numbers are much higher than the reality on the ground. Since an oversupply of a housing inventory is what our 'region' is faced with, how can we expect to generate the funding being promised. Again we hope commissioners will not 'glaze over' during the discussion on revenue generation and will ask some tough questions. The first of which should be, will this fee increase create more jobs than it destroys?

The other thought we had was based on our un-news article from yesterday. The constant struggle for power between all of the governments is hurting our community. All tax and fee increases should be temporarily tabled. All projects should be set aside for two weeks. From this point all government entities should come together and discuss from a 'regional' concept, how our community is going to move forward. Governments passing piecemeal tax increases and creating random building projects will not help this community become sustainable in the future. It will only create an ever declining environment that will cost more and more to manage. Right now local governments need to be aware of what each other is doing and how that is going to effect the members of our community on a broad scope. This concept was really the point of yesterdays article. The WayneWho staff thinks that local governments must stop just having knee-jerk reactions to budget shortfalls and start planning the best coarse of action to make sure revenues are spent smartly.

We know this is a scary concept, but this type of top down thinking can only come from our elected officials. Staff members of the different entities do not normally look at an issue or problem from the perspective of the entire community. They address the problem from their own job title's perspective. This is not bad, but it is part of the problem we are seeing in government right now. Too many chiefs with no concise plan of attack except to get revenues up. Not a smart plan at all.

Again, the WayneWho staff suggests a plan that all local government entities in Osceola County put these tax increases on hold temporarily, call a joint summit that is open to the public and televised to address all of the current issues facing each entity and the citizens they represent, and then discuss the issues and develop a blueprint to work the problem. We know that this is an unpopular and conservative approach to governing, but we firmly believe to preserve our community, we must conserve our community.