There is so much weird stuff going on locally it's hard to know where to begin, or what to think about it all. Money it seems is no object for a few select people and institutions, and where it is an object, the sources of supply are most unlikely. Take the rather nice little hospital in Marathon, described thusly on a rather expensive billboard advertisement in Summerland Key:
Fisherman's Hospital has made the rather startling suggestion that it should raise money by creating a tax district in Marathon and charge residents $70 per $100,000 of assessed property value. The idea is to raise money to buy modern equipment to make the facility more attractive for a proposed sale to an interested corporation. At a time when the federal government is being critiqued for being "socialist" for wanting universal health care, such a proposal from a private facility is rather breathtaking! I like Fisherman's and hope it continues to exist but if that can only be accomplished with a district tax I fear for it's future.
Fisherman's Hospital has made the rather startling suggestion that it should raise money by creating a tax district in Marathon and charge residents $70 per $100,000 of assessed property value. The idea is to raise money to buy modern equipment to make the facility more attractive for a proposed sale to an interested corporation. At a time when the federal government is being critiqued for being "socialist" for wanting universal health care, such a proposal from a private facility is rather breathtaking! I like Fisherman's and hope it continues to exist but if that can only be accomplished with a district tax I fear for it's future.The Florida keys Community College on Stock island has a new (interim) leader. The new president announced in the Citizen that his top priority are the students, a rather rash course of action if the fate of his immediate predecessor is taken into consideration. Jill Landesberg Boyle was unceremoniously dumped after she made a raft of changes at the school that put "students first." She is now on leave, drawing her full salary until June when her term in office will come to a contractual close. For the remainder of this year the college burns up two presidential salaries at public expense, to no visible purpose.
The Monroe County School District meanwhile is doing it's own inimitable waste-of-money dance in public. The School Board majority of Pribamsky, Dick and Mathewson who have loudly proclaimed their aversion to administrative spending are planning on increasing the staffing of upper level staff in the financial department by a factor of three. John Dick, a man of little visible intelligence is telling the newspaper that a staffing report allegedly dumbing down requirements for administrative jobs is the work of the ousted former superintendent Randy Acevedo, he of the three felony convictions. According to Dick the consulting firm responsible for the reduced job requirements"probably" did so at the implied request of the former superintendent who is no longer available to refute the charge. This baseless accusation conveniently exonerates the board from any oversight responsibility. Board Chair Andy Griffith's plan to reduce administrative costs is to fire all Vice Principals. That'll show 'em.
The city of Key west meanwhile is working on it's own quality-of-life-improvement plans, which one can only view with a jaundiced eye. The city manager wants to widen the harbor channel to get bigger than ever cruise ships to dock in the next decade. 1,000 foot long ships are apparently passe. The city commission is looking to add more trolley tours to city streets to keep competition alive and well with Historic Tours of America. By supporting CityView Tours' application the city hopes I suppose to avoid an anti-trust lawsuit. I'm sure we all await the arrival of even more trolleys on city streets with bated breath. There was however a lovely moment at a recent city Commission meeting I wish I had seen in person. The paper says a discussion about monies owed from Historic Tours shows the city has lost all control of it's accounts. When one commissioner wanted to know how much HTA pays the city, all the Manager's well paid assistants were unable to provide the numbers. No one has a clue how much HTA pays the city for it's exclusive franchise, and thus no one knows if their accounts are up to date. This helps explain our lack of raises this year! It is comforting in our upside down world to know that we the city workers are helping subsidize the very wealthy Ed Swift and Chris Belland's corporation. Not enough that we the people fund banks and insurance companies!
6 comments:
Dear Conch:
A raise? What the hell is a raise? I thought it was a mythical bird, with an armadillo's body and the wings of the Hindenburg.
I am submitting a plan to the City of Key West to dig a canal seven miles long, 55 feet deep, and 450 feet wide through the island. This will allow cruise ships to use the island as a kind of drive up window. They would discharge their old batty passengers at one end, and slowly move at a snails pace to the other, where those passengers (who have not had coronaries in the heat) can reboard. The ships will never really stop. This way, Key West should be able to handle 25 ships a day.
On rainy days, we will limit the speed in the canal to a minimum of 14 knots which will increase the attrition rate among those presently devouring Social Security. Will you back me in this endeavor?
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
It seems like a surefire winner to me, If we could get up to 25 ships a day maybe the city could find me an extra dollar an hour. I am nothing if not altruistic.
A cruise ship drive-up window - my sides still hurt from the hysterical laughter erupting from the image this put in my head :)
I don't think we can ever understand government and it seems as if local government is beyond hope.
I read a newspaper editorial about a grade school teacher who drew a map of the U.S. It seems Florida was out of proportion towards the large side. One of the students commented on it. In what might not have been the best choice of words, the teacher cracked about how Florida got "excited".
Some parent got wind of it. Now the otherwise outstanding teacher is fired.
The writer of the editorial said that if you think Capitol Hill politics are bad, you haven't seen anything when it comes to school districts.
Oh for the days when we all just do what makes sense for the common good, eh?
The subject of state & local government giveaways to Boeing is a rather sore one, and not long before I decamped to Portland one of the Seattle TV stations did a story showing how one thing the state of North Carolina does to attract industry is build factory buildings to the companies' requirements, then lease said buildings to the companies at well below market rates.
Doesn't that sound like socialism to you? It does to me. In a Red State, no less.
And that's the rub for Washington--the state constitution strictly prohibits handing state money/resources over to private entities or individuals. Thus the "horrible" business climate in Washington, which has nothing to offer but a well-educated, highly-skilled work force, a better than average quality of life (outside Seattle, anyway), and NO STATE INCOME TAX!!
Take that, Lou Dobbs. He was a weekend anchor on KING-TV in Seattle before getting the CNN gig...
__Orin
Scootin' Old Skool
I have followed your blogs for some time and always find them to cut to the chase and provide the "common sense" perspective that we all need. I must also express my gratitude to you, for from the moment I stepped foot on Key West, you have provided your logical, no nonsense approach to how you have broached the subject of the significant changes at FKCC. As you are well aware, from the beginning I faced nasty attacks, parochialism and pressure to keep certain employees on the payroll regardless of their job performance. On the other hand, however, I was given a serious mandate by legislators, the Chancellor of the System, and the Trustees who hired me (several of which have moved on and been replaced by new members who did not have the benefit of experiencing the history of the days of declining enrollment and substandard performance scores or threats of closure. Clearly, I was given a job to do that involved much change. This could not be done without getting the "right people" on the bus. Nor could such a significant turn-around take place in only two years.
At the grievance meeting that the trustees established, about 15 current employees came forward - they were clearly working in unison with an organized, systematic approach, e.g. all began with the words "I am not a nameless, faceless, individual nor am I disgruntled." They ensured that there voices were heard first, one after the other, and did not observe any decorum or time limits. Their claims that they "were called" (insert some phrase or word) were meant to suggest that they had first hand knowledge of this - that the president made those comments in their presence. However, in the days beforehand, many of these same individuals said they had heard that from the new provost. The truth of the matter is that there were a handful of individuals who perceived their jobs to be on the line. They enlisted the help of their friends to join them in their emotional pleas. In fact, several of those who spoke at that event or prior discussions acknowledged that "the president has always been nice to me but..." What is most offensive in this legacy, is that the community is well aware of how the new president was treated from the beginning of her tenure. She was the victim of an incredibly protracted and intensive email slander campaign, anonymous letters, weekly public record requests that were twisted to make allegations against her, and trustees who met with these staff behind the president's back from the very beginning of her term. In essence, even two years ago, many saw the handwriting on the wall and suggested that she would become the sacrificial goat.
I noted in the blog that it has been said I respect students first, faculty second, and staff third. That is not the case. While I am a very student-centered president, I am also very caring towards all employees. For instance, when I learned that our salaries were the lowest in the state, I commissioned an independent study to revamp the salary system for all. We found that, in general, faculty salaries lagged more so than staff. To address this, we offered faculty an option of earning $8,000 more per year to teach an extra class each semester and to do one mini-semester over the summer. In addition, all employees received a 6% raise that first year. This resulted in an average raise for faculty of 17% that year and it brought their compensation rate up to the average for the FL State System.
I hope this helps to explain some of the strange Keys dynamics. I'd be glad to connect sometime. Keep up the great work!!!
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