my Kingdom for a hotdog

A woman actually told me last election that she had to vote for Garcia and Bain because their hotdogs were so good. I guess she forgot the CC fiasco that cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars, Mcmansions and the sex motel. Voter memories are short sometimes. How many hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars have to disappear into Borgemanns Black Holes before they wake up and realize they are being hosed?

the point is

The point is that times ARE tough. FOLKS are the ones who need to make some adjustments? What about the City? The Council? They are spending like a drunken sailor and its the RESIDENTS who need to make adjustments?? Residents ARE making adjustments and preparing to get hit with higher taxes, fees, etc. to pay for the proposed spending and incredible lack of financial sense by the Council. The dozen or so businesses in town that will benefit from the new gym project will do it at the expense of thousands of MS residents who are struggling to keep working and survive, especially the elderly. THATS the point. In addition, the Mayor and Council are so focused on their personal legacies, agendas, and lining their pockets they obviously dont know or care what the residents want, need, or can afford. Remember this when its time to vote.

criminal malfeasance

The letter in the Gazette this week is RIGHT on the MONEY. They are going to raise the milledge rate today to help pay for the new gym since the property tax revenues are dropping like a rock along with property assessments. Construction has fallen off a cliff, unemployment is up, gas is over 4 bucks a gallon, and we are in a recession. How in the world did the Mayor and Council decide THIS is the perfect time to go several MILLIONS of dollars into debt? That makes NO fiscal sense. NONE. ZERO. ZIP. NADA. Can it be that they really ARE trying to bankrupt us? This IS the way, if that is their goal. At risk of repeating myself, NOBODY can be THAT stupid, can they? Whats next? a bridge to nowhere? Colossal, calamitous, catastrophic (for the residents) lack of ANY common sense. TOTAL disregard for the majority of the taxpayers. This should be investigated by somebody for criminal malfeasance,negligence and STUPIDITY !

unconscious Council

WASHINGTON - The number of newly laid off people filing claims for unemployment benefits bolted past 400,000 last week as companies trimmed their work forces to cope with a slowing economy and fallout from a collapsed housing market.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of new applications filed for these benefits rose by a seasonally adjusted 34,000 to 406,000 for the week ending July 19.

That matched the level seen in late March. The last time claims were higher was after the devastation of the Gulf Coast hurricanes in mid-September 2005. Then, they spiked to 425,000.

NOW is the time to take on MILLIONS in new debt?

Festival

Intended or not, there were some wounded feelings on the part of some Festival Committee members about the Editorial in today's Gazette. Organizing and making the Festival happen every year is a BIG job and members donate hundreds of hours in some cases. Its a LOT of work and members may not be feeling fully appreciated by the community and a little sensitive to any possible criticism. I have always seen the Festival as a community service, a time to get together with your friends and neighbors and socialize, catch up with whats happening in their lives, and vice versa. The fact that they may donate small sums of money to deserving local charities is a bonus for our community. Those who want to return to the River theme with rides, etc, had better be ready to pay 5k for insurance upfront, and also pay for the two waterborne police officers to be present the entire time the events are being held. In the past it was just too expensive, but, if there are those in the community who want it AND are willing to pay for that, go for it! There are spirited debates about different issues but nothing that you wouldn't expect with a group of strong personalities that care about the Festival and the community strongly. There are some that are very protective of the Festival and don't want somebody on the outside, who doesn't know all the issues involved, telling them what should be done, but NOT pitching in to help get it done. Walk the walk. We hope that the Festival Forum is successful and that lots of volunteers show up and donate their services, and ideas, especially the younger people who are the future of the Festival, and the world. We are open to the discussion of new ideas and the absorption of new energies, but we are VERY careful about those changes from experience, as we are interested in making the Festival as fun, safe, and satisfying as possible for EVERYONE. We are united, and committed, to wanting it to be the best Festival possible. We just need some like-minded help making that happen.

ooops

Does anybody know if its true that they FORGOT to design sewer hookups to the bathrooms? This IS new construction, right? They could, and should, have designed it into the original floorplan, right? These ARE bathrooms, right? Bathrooms need sewer, water, and electric hookups, right? What kind of total idiot could FORGET hookups to the bathrooms? If true,Gym has raised the usual level of incompetence to a NEW level! Not only are we paying $400 a square foot so far, but they are years over deadline and have no sewer hookups! For most people sewer hookups are a pretty BASIC requirement, no? Of what possible value are bathrooms WITHOUT sewer hookups? Perhaps Gym was thinking of septic tanks for these bathrooms. Is that possible? There IS no rational reasoning for this, another city debacle. We are talking about ineptitude, incompetency, and idiocy with a capital I ! not to mention Incredibly expensive! Above and beyond their usual levels of inadequacy, which is considerable and nothing to be underestimated, this is mind-boggling mismanagement! How many times and in how many ways does this have to be said before changes in management are made? Do we have to be bankrupt FIRST? This is absurd, pathetic, pervasive.

more taxpayer giveaways

Is it true that the residents have been paying for Mr Santana's electricity for the past couple years, well over 90k out of the taxpayers pocket? Isnt it true that we are STILL paying for his electricity? Who is responsible for yet another fiasco? Gym? The buck certainly stops at his desk on payday, why not any other day? MORE incompetent mismanagement.. and the beat goes on.... is there ANYTHING we havent given him, or at least, TRIED to give him? A new car, perhaps? a new house? the golf course? Peavy field? We dont really have many more things we havent already given away.. tennis courts are gone, pool is already given away to nonresidents and other private interests ... whats left that benefits the RESIDENTS? We get the privilege of paying for everything with our taxes, and then paying again if we actually want to USE those facilities. One fiasco for the taxpayers after another, nonstop... will this NEVER cease? HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars in our taxes have disappeared and more is disappearing every day, the latest example being the bathrooms. Does ANYBODY believe the final tally on those TWO bathrooms will be LESS than 500k? A quarter million dollars, EACH, or more, for BATHROOMS. Pathetic. Pitiful. Pathologically implausible/impossible.

choices

Are there actually people out there who believe that Mr Santana posts on this bulletin board and complains about the free rent, taxes and utilities he gets? I think not.

I prefer to think of these interactions and discussions as rays of sunlight being shone into the dark abcesses and crevasses of City government. Little rays of hope that can expose the crooks, hopelessly hapless, control freaks, and incompetent ones amid the large majority of hardworking and honest employees of the City. We are in a recession and can no longer afford the luxury of overlooking their ongoing serial stupidities with our tax dollars. When does it end? Ever? No end is in sight. It is absurd. Ridiculous. Insane. Criminal? You choose.

This was in response to the poster who said those of us who complain about being robbed were just whining and complaining. They were ABSLOUTELY RIGHT ! I protest every time I get mugged. The ones who dont complain are the muggers themselves, it seems to me, until somebody complains about them stealing again.

Then the muggers/thieves whine and complain about the people who refuse to sit idly by while their money is stolen. I have NO use for robbers or thieves. NONE.

felons as mortgage brokers

Out of work? Just released from prison and cant find a good job?

No problem. become a mortgage broker. Few, if any questions asked, and little or no oversight or regulation. Ex-cons as mortgage brokers stole over $84 million from 2000to 2007, according to a Miami Herald investigative study. Thats over a MILLION dollars a month from the elderly, the poor and the disabled. Their outlandish mortgage scams included wildly inflated appraisals and phony loan applications. They defrauded borrowers and absconded with millions. Florida is now #1 in mortgage fraud in the country. We're number 1 !!!!

The Office of Financial Regulation's excuse for allowing 10, 529 ex-cons a license to become brokers during those seven years was: we believe in giving people a second chance. So they handed out licenses to convicted cocaine dealers (253), murderers (15), 84 sex offenders and 835 convicted of assault and battery. Add in the 922 larceny convicts, the 327 burglars, and 67 robbers and its hard to believe the second chance theory.

Obviously a significant portion of those ex-cons saw not an oppurtunity to become an upstanding citizen by making a contribution to society but instead, saw an oppurtunity to break the laws again and steal from law-abiding citizens.

It is, however, the 252 convicted of fraud and 161 convicted of forgery that is the most troubling, as they had access to Social Security numbers and personal financial records. Little or NO oversight for those whose past records indicate a tendency to defraud and steal? WHAT was the OFR thinking? Where is their common sense and judgement?

Even a proponent for ex-con fair treatment, Mark Maur, said, "We are opposed to overly broad employment rerestrictions but we recognize that some restrictions should be tied to certain occupations. You dont put a pedophile into a daycare center, for instance. And convicted frauds...", his voice trailed off into a disbelieving question. "As mortgage brokers?"

Miami Herald, July 22, 2008, page 1B, Fred Grimm

special interests

What are the chances that those objecting to residents pointing out shortcomings in city officials and management are the VERY ONES being exposed? They dont offer opposing facts and dont offer alternative solutions, just whine about being exposed. At least the annexation people present SOME logic or facts to back up their arguments. Lets not forget the sex motel and McMansions as other examples of management asleep at the controls, at best, on the take, at worst. Special interests run Mia Spgs with their wallets.

water reclamation

South Florida counties dump 300 million gallons of lightly treated sewage into the Bay every day, and have been for decades. Officials say its too expensive to clean or reclaim the dirty water.

Its true that it IS expensive to do, as estimates of the cost of building a facility to clean, sanitize, redirect, and reuse the water starts at 3 billion. Even by today's standards, that is serious money.

To generate that kind of cash S Fla governments- and by extension, its residents- are going to have to rethink how we think about water.Many of us think nothing of paying $2 for bottled water but balk at paying the same amount for 1,000 gallons of water from our tap at home.

A bill making its way thru the Legislature (CS/SB 1302) would make it mandatory for water utilities to clean up the waste water now discharged into the ocean by 2019 and eliminate all sewage dumping by 2025. It would require a massive retooling of our water policies and physical plants. Population growth alone will require, coincidentally, 300 million gallons of water per day by 2028.

In order to meet these standards elected officials would have to educate the residents regarding the true costs of our water.The current $35 a month will go up dramatically, perhaps two-or-threefold. Officials need to start the education process now.

Also, water managers must begin the task of redirecting and reclaiming water that is now lost to the sea. Changing the eastward flow to the sea of the canal water is an ambitious and long term project that may very well be beyond the local governments abilities and will probably require support form the State and the Federal authorities. (Miami Herald, Editorial, page 2L, April 6, 2008)

Florida International University's North campus has used reclaimed water for over 25 years to irrigate their campus. It cost $250,000 initially to run the pipes to the campus from the water treatment plant 1/2 mile away. The water is treated down to five parts per billion and retains some of its nutrients, which makes it a perfect fertilizer for the soil. Drinking water is 0-1 parts per billion. Watering is done at night or other times to reduce the chances of anyone being around to drink it and signs warn those who may be tempted to take a gulp.

The last numbers I have heard reflect 56 million gallons of reclaimed water being used per day by FIU and savings of over $100,000 a year. Also, FIU wants to expand their campus and are asking for ALL the reclaimed water they can get, up to 80 million gallons per day, and more during the rainy season.

This reclaimed water can be used to water our school campuses, golf courses, parks, and farm fields, saving the drinking water for drinking. In addition, the reclaimed water could be used at Turkey Point in their cooling towers, as they require HUGE amounts of water daily.

Its a win-win situation, where the environment wins because it get all the water and nutrients it needs; we win because it saves us money, nurtures our vegetation, and preserves the drinking water for drinking.

to err is human

To err is human, and understandable on those occasions. To err ALL the time, REPEATEDLY, CONTINUOUSLY, EXPENSIVELY, without learning a thing from ones mistakes, making ANY apologies or even acknowledging the errors were made, is arrogant and INEXCUSABLE. How do you seperate the man from the deceptive, manipulative, arrogant, misleading and incompetent job he does? If he were in the private sector he would have been gone long ago for the hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars in cost overruns and change orders, missed deadlines, bathrooms with no electricity, water, or sewer hookups, continuous pool deficits with inadequate or NO oversight that allows nonresidents to use our facilities at OUR cost, etc, the list goes on and on. How many things slipping thru the cracks are we going to tolerate? To err is human, but to repeatedly make basic, and expensive, errors is incompetentcy at best, and cant be tolerated. Arrogance is, as arrogance does-F Gump.

city cesspool

This is a forum for discussion and debate. If those who dont like others bringing up their opinions have facts to dispute those opinions, state them here. If they dont like others exposing the shady practices, backroom deals, and blatant mismanagement by city officials, perhaps its because they are the shysters themselves. The City needs MORE Martins and Owens taking an interest in this town and standing up for the interests of the residents. A thousand more Owens, Martins, Dotsons and others and we could clean up this cesspool of control freaks, shady backroom deals, continuous expensive cost overruns, rubber-stamp Councils, repeated mismanagement of city projects,and personal ambitions and agendas taking precedence over the interests of the ones who pay the bills-the residents.