Federal and State Money for Channel Widening Study Doesn't Cost the Taxpayer Nuttin' Honey
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - October 7, 2012
Recent public debate regarding the costly study to widen the harbor channel leading into Key West has stirred up many lines of reasoning. Barely visible in the proponents' silty cloud of verbal discharge was this turd articulated by Key West Mayor Craig Cates. (Someone should inspect the lock on his Y valve.)
According to an article in the Citizen (See Here), Cates stated, "I am in favor of doing the study if it doesn't cost the taxpayers any money," and "I don't see a down side if it doesn't cost us anything."
Think Again - Welcome to the VAM Performance Formula
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - September 23, 2012
I'm all for accountability. I also believe there are ways to evaluate almost anyone's performance. But in the development of a teacher evaluation formula, the wizards at the State Department of Education have illustrated without a doubt why it is critical that they themselves need to be evaluated. Psychologically evaluated. They are straight out certifiable. I'm not exactly sure if we can Baker Act an entire State Department, but I think it is time to try.
It might prove easier than trying to understand the formula they came up with to evaluate teacher performance.
State Attorney Dennis Ward Registers as a Republican What's he got cookin'?
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - September 10, 2012
After his recent defeat in his attempt to win re-election, State Attorney Dennis Ward has dumped the party that dumped him in the August 14th primary.
Ward acknowledged today that he has left the Democratic Party and registered with the Grand Old Party. Further, he wants to be involved and says he is looking forward to attending tomorrow night's meeting of the Southernmost Republicans....not that he hadn't amassed GOP club frequent flyer miles anyway.
Education Revolution, Scores Big Florida Board of Education Continues to Fail to Make the Grade
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - August 28, 2012
This latest winner was sent to me from Rick Roach, the School Board member from Orange County that had the fortitude to take "and fail" the FCAT (See Here.) and says it is all about holding people accountable. Somehow students are held accountable, as are teachers.... but the failures at the State level that can't get the quarter billion dollar boondoggle known as the FCAT together somehow escape scrutiny from the main stream media.
Fortunately, we have talented students that have a grasp on the issues (and should be running the State Board of Education) that can articulate the failure that is the FCAT, and in turn the Florida Board of Education. Education Revolution gets a passing grade from Naked Conch with their latest production! Enjoy!
I read with great interest the article in this week’s News-Barometer that stated in November the homeowners within the proposed Cudjoe Regional Waste water system will be notified that they will be taxed an additional $5,700 onto their property taxes for their sewer assessment. First of all, I want to make it clear that I am for the sewers and wish that we all were doing more to protect the fragile environment in the Keys. However, I have to voice my displeasure over this assessment fee. I believe, that when the County first announced the goal of constructing sewers in the Lower Keys their claim was that the assessment fee per home would be no more than $2,500. Home owners in the Cudjoe Regional system will be paying over twice the amount of money than their fellow home owners paid in other areas built first. Why is this? How can the County justify that a owner of a multimillion dollar home on Shark Key, which was not even included in the original plan to have sewers in the Lower Keys, pay half the amount of a sewer assessment fee than a person who might own a trailer in Big Pine Key. “Come on Man”- this to me not only seems unethical but is down right immoral. Why are we being left to be responsible for the delays and underfunding issues that have hampered this project on a local and state level and that we, as homeowners, had no say in nor control of. Is there anywhere else in the Keys where there is a disproportionate tax levy for sewer assessments solely based on which homes were assessed first or last? I do not think so. Then why is this disproportionate tier level of assessment tax being considered for the Cudjoe Regional System? It just does not seem fair to me that those who were first on line, or were allowed to cut into the line, should pay less than those who had no choice other than to be placed on the back of the assessment line.
I know that when the County Commissioners were discussing the possibility of putting a toll on US 1 in Key Largo the argument against it was that it would be unfair since it would levy a disparate monetary burden on the citizens of the Upper Keys because the residents of the Upper Keys would most likely have to pay the toll more often than the residents of the Lower Keys. Well, please explain to me how this is different.
I realize the argument will be made that the majority of the current CountyCommissioners were not elected officials when some of the prior decisions were made about the sewers, funding and the previous assessment costs. However, the current elected County officials were involved in establishing the cost of this current assessment fee for the Cudjoe system and they also have the power to act upon and correct an inequitable financial burden being placed on the backs of residents of the Cudjoe Regional system. This could be done by reassessing areas that have already paid their assessment and make this a fair and balanced tax for all.
In response to the many requests to re-post the video "How the FCAT Affected my Life" in a different format, here it is embedded below. We invite you to watch this 6 minute expose on how the FCAT is adversely affecting some of our most talented children. It was originally provided to me by Orange County School Board member, Rick Roach.
Students discuss the problems associated with standardized testing. This video was created by FHS Patriot Productions. Directed by Tea'a Taylor. Executive producer Cody Stanley. Copyright PTV 2012.
MCSO Creates Roadblock to Public Information, Forced to Show Cards Candidate for Sheriff Bill Grove Exposes Aircraft Fuel Folly
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - May 24, 2012
Satirical Summation
Grove: What are the annual fuel costs for your airplane?
MCSO: We would have to copy and add up all the receipts, it will cost you $150.
Grove: You can't just give me a number?
MCSO: There is no "Total." $150, please.
Gardi to MCSO: You mean your award winning finance department can't provide a line item on fuel costs...even to the Sheriff?
Less than two hours later...
(During which time Becky Herrin emails administrator Mike Rice and asks..."Does this change anything?")
MCSO: Ohhhhh...you wanted a total. Now we get it. Ooops, we had forgotten to give you the line item report of fuel costs. How silly of us. Here it is, no charge required.
Conclusion: MCSO intentionally created a challenge to obtain information which ultimately illustrated that the Sheriff jet sets around in an effort to get on a new reality TV show called, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Taxpayer Funded Agency Administrators."
OK folks this all gets back to that transparency thingy again. Let's start with the press release coming out of the Grove Campaign.
Sheriff Candidate Cries Foul Over Fuel - For immediate release - May 18, 2012 Grove for Sheriff Campaign
Bill Grove, candidate for Monroe County Sheriff has cried foul over the MCSO’s release of records relating to fuel costs of the department’s aircraft.
What started out as an exploratory effort to examine the practicality of the Sheriff’s Office use and maintenance of its own aircraft has exposed what Grove describes as a, “less than good faith effort,” on behalf of the MCSO in providing the information.
“You would think that asking for the annual fuel costs of the plane would be a simple request,” Grove suggests. But as it turns out, he was at first given a scattered replied provided by MCSO Administrator Mike Rice detailing gallons purchased, mixed with other dollar amounts. Grove pressed on for weeks in an email exchange with MCSO’s public relations specialist, Becky Herrin, to obtain a simple, dollar amount on an annual basis.
Herrin eventually explained in an email, “There is no "total" available. We would have to make you invoice copies, and you would have to total them up.” She referenced an email from Rice explaining such detail, that also suggested “The cost to gather these records, including staff time and copies, will be approximately $150.”
Grove paid the fee to obtain the records, along with other charges for a total of $200. Shortly afterwards, he mentioned the issue to Matt Gardi, a candidate for Clerk of Courts, himself an advocate of ease of access to public records. Gardi queried Herrin with the following questions;
1) Does this mean that the MCSO finance department has no way to easily provide a line item on the aircraft's fuel costs?
2) Does this also mean that if the Sheriff himself were to pose the exact same question to his finance department that it would consume $200 worth of labor and material resources to get such an answer?
Coincidentally within two hours of Herrin receiving Gardi’s email, Mike Rice realized he had failed to provide a report in his first response, and emailed Grove a line item report of the aircraft’s annual fuel costs.
“It was one way or the other,” Gardi states, “either the MCSO couldn’t provide a line item which would indicate they have a terrible accounting system, or they were intentionally obfuscating and attempting to dissuade Grove from obtaining the information. As it turns out it was the latter.”
Having seen the incredibly quick response to Grove, Gardi asked for any email exchanges between Herrin and Rice during the two hour period. Herrin provided Gardi with an email wherein she forwarded Gardi’s questions to Rice 10 minutes after receiving it and asks, “You were going to send me something for Bill..Does this change anything? See below...” (Click Here to See Email.) Rice then replied detailing his epiphany of forgetting to attach a line item report weeks earlier.
Grove was refunded his fee but still voices objections to the intentional deterrence MCSO created with their behavior.
“This flies in the face of the intent of Public Records laws,” suggests Grove. "This incident clearly shows the way the administration of the Sheriff's Office is less than transparent with regards to how they spend our money.” "Shortly after I began asking about the plane the MCSO website is changed." "Now the website no longer says agencies reimburse them for use of the plane, because that just has not been done." "The Sheriff's Office flies their own private aircraft all over the place and they don't want the public to know about it." "Fuel cost over the last four years average $65,000 dollars a year and the total reimbursement from other agencies during those four years is less than $1200.00."
Well, in an odd way I guess that's pretty transparent. It's transparent that the MCSO was giving Grove the run around, and attempting to discourage his requests with unreasonable fees. Florida Statute 119.07 (1) (c) states, "A custodian of public records and his or her designee must acknowledge requests to inspect or copy records promptly and respond to such requests in good faith." FS 119 also provides for a $500 fine for violations, and it becomes criminal when those violations are intentional. Quick, someone call...the Sheriff!?!
But now let's take a look at just one example of the jet setting. (Please see here.) This is what the MCSO provided Grove as representing the only reimbursements the Sheriff's Office has received for use of it's aircraft. These are requests for reimbursement, by the MCSO from FDLE for use of the aircraft to transport the Sheriff to Medical Examiner's Commission meetings, mostly held in Sarasota for only a few hours. It also includes reimbursements for meals, car rentals and lodging. The reimbursement is calculated on the average mileage rate the State pays for use of a personal vehicle, but does not illustrate the true cost of flying the plane on these junkets.
Now one might argue that using the aircraft is less expensive, which might be true provided the Sheriff went only for the meeting and returned that day. However, in almost every instance you see an additional expense for a rental car, meals, lodging, and the proverbial canary in a coal mine...the pilots lodging. Yes, because as you see on some of these documents it states "Pilots reserved own rooms." I'm sure these pilots didn't spring for these rooms on their own, (You and I did.) and that detail is simply not included here. That's not even mentioning the pilot's pay. Again, most of the time these trips appear to be for meetings that only lasted a couple of hours.
So what alternatives did the Sheriff have? I have a sneaking suspicion he may have been able to find a white Crown Victoria somewhere in the department and driven. That's just a hunch, as I seem to recall seeing a few of those around the Keys. But as someone who has protested Agency Administrators' frequent travel to such meetings and conferences in general, I might suggest that he could have been an advocate of attending the meetings via teleconference or the web, such as any private sector company would do. This would eliminate the need for the plane, the pilots, the meals, the lodging, the gas, etc, altogether.
Again, this is just one example of the aircraft's use that Grove was able to find. Who knows how much the MCSO would want to charge to find out the true cost and purpose of each and every flight that makes up the $65,000 annual fuel costs. The MCSO references the fact that they only paid $500 for this plane, but what is it truly costing us? Kudus to Bill Grove for digging into this.
She probably can't pass the FCAT, but she would make a great Presidential candidate.
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - May 17, 2012
12 year old Victoria Grant of Canada explains in a few minutes what the mainstream media mumblers have failed to do in years. It applies across the board to most every nation's financial system. Did you ever wonder...? Enjoy!
Also, while we are enjoying the truth about banks, below is a quick little news clip of a Kansas City man who paid cash for a house, and subsequently had it invaded, had the locks changed, and all his belongings discarded. He is suing JP Morgan Chase, but one has to wonder where law enforcement is in all of this!?
We are beginning to see this type of activity here in the Keys as well, as a Marathon couple recently reported to me that a bank "servicer" recently walked into their home, scared off a cleaning crew, and posted a notice that the locks would be changed....and the property had not even had a Lis Pendens filed on it yet.
You and I would be in jail for home invasion and theft, but somehow the banks get to make these "mistakes" free of consequence. We also would be in jail for filing any of the countless fraudulent documents that the banks have filed with our Clerk's Office, and that Judges throughout the State are rubber stamping, destroying our title histories, property values and tax base.
It's crimes of fraud, theft and forgery, plain and simple. Where are the handcuffs? Where?
Miami Herald Reports Preliminary Results Indicate Only 27% Pass FCAT
No need to scratch your head on this one when you force teachers to teach for a test, then change the test and scoring methods halfway through an academic year.
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - May 15, 2012
The Miami Herald is reporting today that preliminary results indicate that only 27% of fourth graders earned a passing score compared with 81% last year. (Read about it here.) That indicates something is wrong, but not with the children. Rather it indicates once again that we should scrap this quarter billion dollar boondoggle pushed on us by educational wizards in Tallahassee.
We need to redirect this misallocation of funds going to the State Department of Education, and get it back down into the classroom to our aides and teachers, and let the teachers teach. The magnitude of the wasted resources, and damage caused to our children by these lost years of FCAT folly is incomprehensible. We need to get back to the basics and redesign the educational system from the ground up starting at the local level, where each locality is unique and faces different challenges.
It's time.
Towards that end as well, please enjoy the video below provided to me by Rick Roach, the School Board member who failed the FCAT. (You can read about it here, as it continues to maintain it's ranking as the most read post on Naked Conch!)
What would you rather invest in, our kids, or a failed quasi-federal boondoggle?
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - May 10, 2012
Would you prefer to invest in our kids and teachers, or invest in a failed banker led company in conservatorship, whose assets are comprised primarily of the most toxic mortgage backed securities, whose liability covers an ocean of underwater mortgages, and who could not even be in operation if not for billions in bailouts?
Well you, my dear friends, are increasingly investing in the latter, while sticking it to the teachers and our children.
That's right, according to a recent report (See Here) I obtained from the Clerk's Office, the County, (you and I) are invested in Fannie Mae for close to $50 MILLION Dollars. In fact, over half of our County investments totaling close to $130 Million bucks are tied up in GSEs, or "Government Sponsored Enterprises," private companies backed by our tax dollars. (That means, they get the profits, we get the losses.) In fact, we are seemingly increasing the percentage of our portfolio placed with GSEs.
But meanwhile, back at the School District, we are facing a $6 million dollar shortfall and teacher layoffs. Recently School Board member Andy Griffiths has been discussing a huge reduction in bond payments that will free up close to $1 Million per month of capital outlays in October of 2015. But no one, including Andy, has offered any type of stopgap measure to get us from here to there in the interim...aside from the novel idea of a tax increase, of course.
So, if you think about it, dollars we HAVE, are invested in failed companies that need dollars we DON'T HAVE to operate. (Essentially federal debt we are saddling our children with.) In the meantime, resources we allocate to those very children being saddling with federal debt are being cut back. We have essentially created student loans for grade school kids, while providing them with less of an education. Seems like we could do better if we put the 1st graders in charge.
Here is my solution. We divest from Fannie Mae, and use some of that money to refinance the School's bonded indebtedness. We extend the terms of the debt, reducing the cost of interest to the school system while reducing their payments, and actually allow for an INCREASE in the rate of return on the County investment as opposed to what Fannie Mae offers. As voters, we allow for more of the millage to be redirected from capital to operational so that we can fund the current operating shortfall.
This would not cost the taxpayers anything, replenish our fund balance, and eliminate the need to layoff teachers.
However, this is not intended to let the administration and school board off the hook for their failed leadership. It's time to "Right Size" admin. That's right, it's great that we can pay these wizards boatloads of cash when times are rosy, but when the tide goes out, their boats should sink first!
We need to cap all administrative pay at $90,000, and eliminate all pay and benefits to the school board until the ship is righted. If these wizards can't accept this reduction for the good of our children, then let them leave, and leave quickly. There will be countless talented individuals from throughout our community that will step up to the plate out of dedication to the kids and our community, a type of motivation that is needed now more than ever. We no longer need placeholders, we need people that perform.
We can talk about potential teacher reductions, or teacher pay cuts, but with the mindset of whether or not it is truly feasible or warranted. But certainly not in the context that Superintendent Jara does, suggesting he is only NOW "right sizing," coincidentally when we have a $6 Million dollar shortfall, and not last year when he suggested we had "cut to the bone."
Before we cut teachers or their pay, we must remember we already did last year. Those furlough days you heard about were simply a way for the district to say, "You don't get paid for Holidays anymore." That came right out of teachers' paychecks. Also, if we need to talk about pay cuts for teachers, we need to talk disproportionately about pay cuts for admin. Whether it's a bigger drop in the bucket or not, administrators need to feel a greater pain from their own failed leadership!
Health Department Loses Equipment, Obfuscates, Evades Questions, and Spreads Untruths About Inquiries. More Questions Still Linger About Plenty of Missing County Equipment.
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - April 3, 2012
Overview: After having learned that the County Inventory Clerk filed a complaint in Sept 2011 with the Office of the State Attorney, citing being pressured to resign over finding $250,000 in missing equipment at the Health Department, I initiated an inquiry to find out more. I wrote about it here on Naked Conch, and as well in KONK Life newspaper.
Ultimately what transpired was that as a result of my inquiries, I seemed to have alienated Bob Eadie, the Director of the Monroe County Health Department, whereby he eventually suggested that my assertions and line of questioning was "false and without foundation." I stand by every word I wrote, and support every valid question with documentation contained below. Mr. Eadie then went on Guy deBoer's show and made comments that were patently false and misleading, to which I respond throughout the five video segments below recorded on my show on the KONK Broadcasting Network which aired on March 30.
Bottom Line: In this day of countless scandals, any public agency needs to strive to be as transparent as possible and responsive to the public, especially if they have a repetitively problematic track record.
The facts are this:
The Inventory Clerk for Monroe County did file a complaint with the Office of the State Attorney in Sept 2011 suggesting he was being pressured to resign as a result of "the Health Department is short of $250K of missing computers." That complaint can be viewed here.
I did receive a document from the Clerk's office as a result of a public records request that contained some very questionable items. (Full document here.) This document contained a letter (Found here.) from Mr. Eadie to the Clerk's Office in 2009 explaining the improper disposal of over $227,000 of equipment, along with an accompanying list of deletion requests (Found here.) signed by Mr. Eadie to account for the missing inventory and zero the books. While I have admitted that most of that list looks obsolete, remember that that is at the time of it being administratively accounted for as missing with the deletion requests. No one knows when it went missing. In addition, the list does contain some items from 2006.
In his 2009 letter, Mr. Eadie assures the Clerk's Office that "We have adopted procedures that will prevent the disposition on public assets without proper authorization."
The very next year, in an email exchange (Found here.) between the Health Department's Andrew Bulla, and the Inventory Clerk Mitch Hedman, Bulla writes that "the majority of the MC tagged assets have not been found." Also, at the very top of that page, Mary Vanden Brook seems to have made an odd statement of "One suggestion: add the present value as zero or close to it."
Other unusual items contained within the Clerk's response were, a 2010 list of $29K of items "missing 2 years," (Found here.) and a very long list over countless pages of valuable inventory under a heading of "Need Destruction Form." (Found here.) This list is HUGE!
I found all of this to be very unusual, so I made a Public Records Request (Found here.) of the Health Department for the following;
1 - The Monroe County Health Department's copy of the last three years of Monroe County Inventory Reports for the Monroe County Health Department as prepared by Mitch Hedman, or any record reflecting an accounting of Monroe County Inventory of equipment or assets assigned to the Health Department maintained b or provided to your agency for the last three years.
2 - Any email exchange between Andrew Bulla, Mary Vanden Brook, Brian Blair, Mitch Hedman and/or yourself during the month of July 2010 that contained the words "Missing MCHD Assets" in the subject line.
3 - Any record maintained by the Health Department that reflects or discusses missing County assets or
inventory, and/or a copy of any policy or procedure developed by the Health department to track Monroe County Assets.
Health Department Administrative Director Mary Vanden Brook responded by offering to provide a response to the Public Records request at a cost of over $400 including charges for her time as well as Mr. Eadie's time. (The entire email exchange can be found here.) Throughout the email exchange you can read that along with objecting to the cost of providing a response, in an effort to be more concise, I also offer more detailed options such as;
"How much would it cost for a copy of the last three years of County inventory records that your office may have?"
"it would be nice to view the entire email conversation that is only partially copied in the PRR from the Clerk, where Andrew Bulla suggests he can't find the majority of tagged assets"
"It would also be nice to review any policy you implemented as a result of your letter of 2009"
Mr. Eadie did provide me a copy of another deletion request from July of 2010 for approximately $29K worth of equipment filed only after it went missing that seems to correlate with the "missing 2 years" list. This list did however contain over $10,000 of relatively new equipment that was misplaced and that to my knowledge was never reported to the police, nor covered by insurance.
After failing to respond to my more simplified requests, calling me irresponsible, suggesting my accusation had no basis in fact, Mr. Eadie then became irate after my article discussing the above topic was published in KONK Life. Guy deBoer gave Mr. Eadie the opportunity to come on his show.
On this show, Mr. Eadie states the following untruths;
Untruth #1- He had never heard of any inventory issues until I brought them to his attention. FACT: His signature is on over $227,000 of deletion requests for equipment that was missing and/or improperly disposed. He also had provided me with an ADDITIONAL list of $29K of missing equipment with Mary Vanden Brooks name on it.
Untruth #2- My public records request was for THREE YEARS of emails. FACT: It was originally for a search of only one month, between specific people, with a VERY defined subject line. I revised it to be for ONLY ONE particular email exchange.
Untruth #3 - He would be willing to sit down and let me revise my request and make it more specific. FACT: SEE ABOVE. I already had, and he has yet to respond.
This coming from a guy who accused me of being without foundation.
Ultimately after all of his obfuscation he did provide me one tidbit of information that was helpful. Apparently the questionable inventory BEYOND the missing $257,000 with his or Ms. Vanden Brook's signature, found listed in the Clerk's response on pages 14 and 15 as part of his inventory report under the heading "Need Destruction Form" was in fact not his equipment.
That begs the question, then whose equipment is all that? To that end, I had already submitted a Public Records Request to the Clerk's Office for the inventory reports from the Fire Department, and the IT Department on March 12. To follow up, I also sent a follow up to the Clerk's Office on March 24 to find out more. (Found here.) As of today, there has been no response whatsoever. And on it goes....
In Conclusion: In light of all the scandals, and the fact the Inventory Clerk was compelled to file a complaint with the State Attorney last September, our public officials should be jumping at the opportunity to be as transparent as possible, not putting up road blocks, and spewing untruths about people making inquiries. Enjoy the show below including Mr. Eadie's appearance on Guy deBoer's show!
Just the facts, mam, just the facts!
Part 1 - An Overview of the Issues
Part 2 - Let's Charge over $400 to provide you with a response to your public records request...including Bob Eadie's and Mary Vanden Brook's time...seriously?
Part 3 - Gardi adjusts his requests, Eadie sites an email that he doesn't provide, and a phone call that no one has a copy of as his "facts," and basis of his defense.
Part 4 - Bob Eadie appears on Guy deBoer's show....now it gets interesting. Suggests he never heard of any issues, ignoring his signature on over $227,000 of inventory deletion requests for missing equipment he signed years before and an additional $29K list he provided to Gardi. Let's check facts, shall we Mr. Eadie...
Part 5 - Eadie suggests Gardi asks for "THREE YEARS OF EMAILS!" Absolutely 100% untrue, coming from a guy who has just accused Gardi of being without foundation!
State Will Cover Entire $50 Million Should Scott Approve Deal - Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - March 29, 2012
Roman Gastesi was kind enough to spend some time recently at the Sugarloaf Homeowners Association, along with Monroe County Commissioner George Nuegent. At the presentation before approximately fifty conerned citizens, Gastesi elaborated on the most recent sewer funding initiatives.
After having seen news coverage that the State's proposal may have only been intended to cover the first year of the proposed $50 Million dollar bond issue, which ultimately may have left Monroe County holding the bag, Gastesi assured residents that the entire bond issue will be backed by the State for the full duration. The intention appears to be to use real estate doc filing fees to cover the subsequent years payments.
This was good news to many, whose concerns still centered around special assessments that will still need to be administered along with estimated sewage hook up fees. However, the plan did seem feasible, with precautions being taken to allow for the project to back track should any funding source evaporate.
While there still seemed to be many potential pitfalls to the entire funding obligation, risk to County government exposure did appear to be minimized in the event of any set back such as voters not approving an extension of the dedicated sales tax. All eyes will be on Governor Scott who could strike the proposed $50 million bond issue from the budget in he coming days.
Arrangement Might Leave County Holding the Bag - Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - March 15, 2012
Lost in all the hopeful rhetoric surrounding this year's anticipated sewer funding that has left so many local officials patting each other on the back is the discussion of what happens...next year.
To my understanding, those numerous officials who brought their entourages up to Tallahassee recently to do what I frequently refer to as the Tallahassee Two Step, are celebrating the fact the State is willing to pony up the first year's funding of a $50 million dollar bond issue. As Ryan McCarthy of the Keynoter recently reported, the Legislature has included $4.8 Million to fund the first year of the bond issue in this year's budget.
So, while all our local officials are elated, and feel vindicated that the expense of sending so many folks up to Tallahassee for the final crunch of the budget process was not just a glorified trip to hold hands and sing Kumbayah, I am left wondering where will we stand next year at this time.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for exploring every alternative to fund the completion of the sewer projects, but I have always maintained that perhaps we should not be so idealistic, and we, along with the State need to extend the mandated time frame for completion again. That timeline needs to be stretched at least until funding is available on a pay as you go basis from the State, not by incurring more debt.
While the State is ponying up $4.8 million this year, I want to know what happens when our entourage of elated local deal makers come back empty handed next year. What happens after they travel to Tallahassee, and spend days using the latest app on their iPad to locate restaurants to dine with other important deal makers in a frenzy of self aggrandizement and then the State says no to additional sewer bond funding??
Guess who is on the hook for the rest of the $50 Million dollar bond issue? Yeah, you guessed it, you and me. Ever wonder how those things happen that result in some government official saying, "We couldn't have seen this coming, we need to look forward, deals we made in the past are water under the bridge."
Ultimately, locally we may be stuck with an ongoing need to fund this $50 million dollar bond issue to the tune of $5 Million per year. That's when you'll hear about all the dire cuts that will need to be made to essential County services unless we implement some new creative tax, like expanding the gas tax, or a toll booth on US 1, on increasing the sales tax, and on and on and on.
NC Covered Schools Outstanding Half Million to FEMA in January! - Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - March 6, 2012
The Key West Citizen rolled out an article today covering the fact that the Monroe County School District owes FEMA almost a half million dollars as a result of over funding they received for hurricane Georges clean-up.
This just goes to prove that Naked Conch is your one stop source for up to the minute breaking news, we covered that here on our blog, ohhh, sometime around January 10!!!
I guess we can expect to see some coverage by the Citizen of the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of missing inventory at the Health Department, and questionable oversight at the Clerk's Office we have been covering here at Naked Conch... sometime in May?!?! We look forward to it!
No Teeth Settlement Exposed by Financial Times. - Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - Feb 17, 2012
Leave it to a foreign news source to cover the most pressing issue in the USA. No need for American news sources to cover the shortcomings of a settlement that relieves global bankers from criminal prosecution for the greatest fraud in world history.
Even for those that thought that the Federal and State regulators' recent settlement with the Big Banks was a step in the right direction, albeit a small one, we now learn that not only have the banks evaded criminal prosecution for destroying the vast majority of our title histories, but in fact, we the taxpayers, will be the ones paying the settlement on the bankers' behalf.
This only continues to confirm that our Federal and State regulators are neutered by the Banks' control and influence, and that it is imperative that we address the infractions and damage done at a local level.
However, a clause in the provisional agreement – which has not been made public – allows the banks to count future loan modifications made under a 2009 foreclosure-prevention initiative towards their restructuring obligations for the new settlement, according to people familiar with the matter. The existing $30bn initiative, the Home Affordable Modification Programme (Hamp), provides taxpayer funds as an incentive to banks, third party investors and troubled borrowers to arrange loan modifications.
Neil Barofsky, a Democrat and the former special inspector-general of the troubled asset relief programme, described this clause as “scandalous”.
“It turns the notion that this is about justice and accountability on its head,” Mr Barofsky said.
BofA, for instance, will be able to use future modifications made under Hamp towards the $7.6bn in borrower assistance it is committed to provide under the settlement. Under Hamp, the bank will receive payments for averting borrower default and reimbursement from taxpayers for principal written down."
Sweet. Just sweet.
Or better put, as Tyler Durder pens on ZeroHedge.com, "Just to be clear: the guilty party in a fraud against taxpayers has their 'punishment' paid for by the innocent taxpayer who had the crime committed against them? ok, thank you."
- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - Feb 11, 2012
As the campaign season heats up heading into the 2012 elections, I was surprised to learn that both candidates for State Attorney, incumbant Dennis Ward, and his challenger, former Chief Assistant State Attorney Catherine Vogel support some form of decriminalization of Marijuana. Catherine Vogel discussed the topic with me live on the air on KONK during a recent appearance on my show, the Naked Conch Hour. I followed up with Ward off air to get his thoughts regarding the topic, and while being much more guarded, he suggested that he too, might support similar legislation.
To be clear, the concept of decriminalization is by no means “legalization.” But rather, would take the criminal aspects away from the infraction, while still maintaining a civil penalty. Proponents of decriminalization argue that there is a tremendous waste of resources that go along with criminal charges being filed against those being caught with small amounts of marijuana. Factoring into the equation is taking Law Enforcement off the streets to process the arrest, consuming time and resources at the jail, and then the subsequent labor and material costs associated with the State Attorney, Clerk, Courts, and possibly even the Public Defender’s Office. Proponents suggest that criminal prosecution of those caught with small amounts of marijuana is a costly objective. They suggest that decriminalization would result in a civil citation being issued, the pot being confiscated, and the individual paying a fine, much like a traffic ticket. This in turn would generate revenue for all aspects of law enforcement. Opponents argue it creates a slippery slope, and will lead to further acceptance of illegal activity and condones recreational drug use. They suggest that a relaxed fine, as opposed to criminal prosecution may not create a great enough deterrent to recreational users, thereby increasing the use of marijuana, and aiding the criminal enterprises that exist behind the scenes, producing and distributing pot. They suggest that a fine simply will become a price to be paid for indulgence.
On my show, when Vogel was presented with the question as a result of the flow of conversation, she was quick to point out that as State Attorney she would always prosecute the laws as they exist, and would not impart her sentiment upon the duties of the office, and the responsibility of prosecuting those currently charged. However, she expressed her thoughts that from her research jail time does not seem to change the behavior, and agreed that the amount of resources consumed were substantial. Therefore, she concluded that she would support a legislative approach to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. We didn’t have the opportunity to get into the specifics of what defined small amounts, but Vogel was clear of her support of some sort of decriminalization if developed by the legislature.
State Attorney Ward was much more cautious, requiring specifics such as what defined a small amount before offering an opinion. He was however quick to offer his full support for the medical use of marijuana, but a little more guarded when it came to possession. He argued that juveniles already have a way to avoid criminal charges, and thought that age should also play a factor in consideration of any such legislation. He wouldn't disagree that there was a huge consumption of resources that went along with a criminal prosecution, even in the event of a juvenile that may avoid a criminal record but whose case was still managed by the system. Ward did eventually capitulate that there may be some instances that it would make sense simply to cite someone with a civil infraction and collect a fine, versus consume all the resources to criminally prosecute. However, he was clear that he would only support such legislation if small was in fact “very small,” and that he would still have to evaluate such a change on all aspects of the legislation developed.
Joining me to day, Friday Feb 10 at Noon on the Naked Conch Hour is Rick Boettger, fellow Show host, and columnist for Konk Life to discuss the recent 49 State Attorney Generals settlement with the banks regarding their foreclosure practices. Where are the handcuffs?
AKA - Government at it's best! - Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi - Feb 3, 2012
A little known public park on Lower Sugarloaf has been held against it's will unable to serve the public as it would like to for approximately the last two years. In what can only be hoisted as a disturbing pennant of the proverbial "I'm from the Government, I'm here to help," this little gem of the Keys has been commandeered and cut off from public access... at the public's expense of course. Worse than that, with it's care under the watchful eyes of Government, this prime piece of Real Estate has also been removed from the tax rolls.
Now granted, it is my understanding that this gem was gifted to the State, and I am in the process of finding out more details, but what used to be a slightly overgrown lot, with an old house on it a few years ago, used by locals to watch the sunrise, fish from, and maybe drop a kayak from, has become a pristine park...logically fenced off from use by the public.
I understand budget constraints, but somehow the State was able to spend money to rebuild the seawall and boat ramp, construct the kiosks, level the ground, spread gravel and landscape this pristine piece of paradise. (Let's not get into the fact there was probably a nice contract that was awarded to perform these enhancements.) Yet, ultimately they also spent money to build the large gate at it's entrance, and adorn it with the big ol' lock that secures it from the nasty public, hell bent on entering... and dare I say "enjoying"...this public asset.
So perhaps with budget constraints, our Government can not afford to maintain or insure what they have built and that is the reason this parcel needs to be shut off from public access. It's ironic, because we often hear the rhetoric of how the wealthy have bought up all the water access and restricted open access, but yet here we have an example of our very own government doing exactly the same thing. AT OUR EXPENSE!
Surely we could not trust the public to properly use open land without the amenities of State provided conveniences. Even though the public is doing that exact thing from adjacent property, across the channel, and from the nearby bridge. Surely if the lot was a gift, the State could not risk simply leaving it as natural open land, but instead needed to groom it like a Disney World attraction so that it would be nice to look at from outside the locked gate! Folks, people say that I'm "radical or extreme" for my suggestion that all levels of government can reduce their budgets by 25% without missing a beat. This is a perfect example of what I am referring to, and it is what the State has done with this property that should be more appropriately dubbed "radical or extreme." Furthermore, I suggest that those reductions can occur, AND the level of service can be increased.
However, if we keep listening to high paid government bureaucrats suggesting that they have "cut to the bone," we will be left with more Parks like this to enjoy.
.JPG)
.JPG)