Matt Stewart and commenters on ORL has been all over the MRDD levy issue in a couple of pieces. There's only a few thoughts that I want to mention. As you all know the County Commissioners voted to withdraw the new levy request from the primaries in March.
My first thought is that anyone who heads up a public agency solely funded by taxpayer money should be beyond reproach. I haven't had this feeling about Bill Devon since last fall when he first put the new levy on the ballot and tried to bully us voters into passing it. Back then the MJ estimated that there would be nearly $6 million carry-over into this year. That was recently confirmed by the County Auditor with the year ending figures. I think Devon needs to get an accountant to crunch the numbers before he comes out with his outlandish requests. He is obviously out of his league when he balances the books.
Devon's board of directors are apparently satisfied with letting him do his thing. Is this a rubber stamp board? They approved Devon's request for a lavish dinner meeting after Devon has laid off people. What? Didn't they think that wouldn't raise some eyebrows? That was a real slap in the face for the folks that lost their jobs. I won't even go into the cleaning contracts that were recently brought out.
Devon lost a ton of credibility when he threatened us with closing Robert Bycroft. Is he that arrogant to think that people all over the county wouldn't stand up and take notice? We voters have a strong history on generously supporting the special needs people. It's something to be proud of but it's not something that should be abused by the likes of Bill Devon.
When they voted to withdraw the levy Commissioner Dan Bing was quoted as saying it was "nice that there weren't any repercussions". True it didn't cost us any money but I think it is premature to determine if there are any repercussions. Only time will answer that. It was also noted that future levy requests by any agency will have to run their numbers past the County Auditor to reconcile their figures before determining whether to put the issue on the ballot. Well...duh! This should have been standard operating procedure from the get go. Good communication is the key to running an efficient business of any kind. Thankfully Nancy Milliken had the wisdom to question the MRDD levy request after looking at their figures and the initiative to bring her findings to light of day. We tax payers are not paying for a good ole boys country club membership.
I'm glad they resolved this before we next vote. Now we won't have the guilts for not supporting those that depend on our county's services at Bycroft and the County Sheltered Workshop. I don't know about you but I have had a nagging feeling of letting these folks down every since last fall's election when I voted against Devon's first request. That feeling of guilt is exactly what Devon tried to foist on us.
Thanks should also go to our area members of the Fifth Estate for keeping us informed. I like the job they have been doing.
ole nib
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3 comments:
Nib,
We reporters are members of the Fourth Estate, not Fifth, just FYI...
my license plate used to say 4THST8 and only a handful of people every got it (including one sheriff's deputy).
jobob - You're right, of course. Thanks for clearing that up. About 10 years ago I read Jeffery Archer's book Fourth Estate, a fictional story about competing media empires. Got the numbers mixed up in a decade of cob webs.
For those who are wondering what the devil we're talking about the division of classes goes back to the Middle Ages or medieval times in France, England and later is some parts of Europe. Originally there were only three estates dividing clergy, nobility and commoners. Sometime in the first half of the 19th century the term Fourth Estate came about to refer to members of the press. However, jobob, according to Wikipedia, the fifth estate is a newsmagazine that started in 1975 that primarily refers to investigative journalism in Canada. It's name is a play on words to emphasize their efforts to go beyond everyday journalism. I just learned that today. That's today's history lesson.
ole nib
Why didnt the philanthropist millionaire who owns the Spread Eagle donate the "thank you" lunch and write it off. Or does he need our tax money that badly?
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