"These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls"

Hypocrisy and Lunacy

This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

"If it was not such a tragic, desperate situation facing our nation at this moment in time, the antics of our inept political leaders would be humorous."

The most serious aspect of our current national and state dilemma as it impacts our elected officials is the problem they face concerning "How can I continue to please and appease everybody all the time…when we are out of money?"

"A manager! A manager! My Kingdom for a manager!" That is what I feel the impulse to yell when I see or read the news.

I especially enjoyed watching the financial tribunal which was held in Washington last week, where the group of legislators met with the top honcho’s of the Big Three auto makers. I found this event to be a great example of the stupidity, hypocrisy, and political posturing that only compounds the fears and disdain most citizens feel for our national leadership.

First, it was an obviously big mistake for the auto executives to use their corporate jets to fly to a meeting where they were required to get on their knees and beg these sly politicians to sprinkle their bank accounts with billions of tax payer dollars. They should have come to the meeting wearing soiled coveralls after hitchhiking from Detroit to Washington.

This tactical error gave those seasoned officials the opening they needed to pounce upon these needy, bleeding executives and simultaneously make themselves look politically astute and demanding as they prudently managed the available bail-out funds. Of course, the politicians themselves were all driven to that same meeting by chauffeur driven limousines at taxpayer expense earlier that morning. In my opinion both groups are "fat cats" who have no appreciation for the real plight of the nation or the public.

In reality, the plight of the auto industry is no different than the desperate plights that were previously faced by our electronics industry, our textile industry, our steel industry, our paper industry, our toys industry, our pharmaceuticals industry, and many, many other industry sectors which are diminishing or are already gone. Our nation has evolved into an industry cost model that can not compete in today’s world markets, and consequently almost all of our industries are doomed to eventual failure or relocation out of the USA. Only those products that are too perishable to allow the time it takes to transport them here from elsewhere, or those that are too bulky to allow affordable shipping costs are protected in today’s world of global industrial competition.

With the costs added through over regulation from a herd of watchdog government agencies and bodies of legislation as contained in the family leave act, discrimination claims avoidance, bogus workman’s compensation claims and requirements, minimum wage legislation, environmental legislation, occupational and safety administration legislation, social security benefits costs, laws tilted to promote unionization of industries and companies, and soon to be enacted medical insurance costs....combined with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and a philosophy of open world markets – all create an environment where few American industries can hope to compete on a world wide basis. We have priced ourselves out of the game.

All of these various bodies of legislation and oversight of industry are founded on some original basic need and justification. However, the bureaucracy and politics involved has added to these basic needs to the point that the massive amount of disruption and costs which are now impacting U.S. industry borders on lunacy. Most of the requirements, rules and costs are about 40% need justified and 60% bureaucratic B.S.. Each area of regulation requires extra record keeping, extra staffing, and frequent disruption as bureaucrats invade, demand attention and information, and inspect as the industry simultaneously attempts to produce in a productive, cost efficient manner. Big Brother government regulates the way they manufacture, what they design, how they package, and how they advertise.

Meanwhile in most of our industries the unions also frequently disrupt orderly production, lower productivity, create extra staffing, add wages and benefits, and create costly rules and inefficiencies. All of these extra costs from government and labor have to be added to the ultimate cost of the product. When all of the calculations are finalized, the net result is a non-competitive product that is too expensive for a consumer to buy when it sits on a shelf or in a show room next to a competing foreign made product.

We must face the fact that we can no longer manufacture most products in the United States….and that includes automobiles.

Rudiments – Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
● The "crats" are planning to close Three Rivers State Park at Sneads. At the same time Marti Coley and other legislators are parading around in their districts across the state as they give away checks totaling millions of dollars for NEW parks, even one for $200,000 in Bascom and another one for $200,000 in downtown Marianna.

● The credit card companies are sending out notices announcing their intent to raise interest rates to between 20% and 25% on all accounts, even if you have a perfect payment record. They have been bombarding the public with promotions begging them to take and use credit cards for years, and now they plan to "stick it to them". This will cause even more foreclosures, reduce retail purchasing, increase the plight of the struggling public, and deepen the recession. Rates this high are recognized as being usurious and against most banking laws, but the credit card companies have found a legal loophole. This is something you can complain to Boyd and Nelson about. The public needs protection in this matter—and quickly.

● Another of the many hands you feel in your pocket is the greedy utility. Florida Public Utilities has used their bribery of the Florida Public Services Commission to gain another 11% rate increase for your electricity beginning January 2009.

● Across the nation every company is tightening its belt. Industries and companies are laying off thousands and unemployment is soaring as this recessionary snowball rolls downhill and gathers momentum. I predict next year these staff reductions and cut backs will reach the most protected group of employees of all…the sacred bureaucracy. When the cow is sick you finally have to quit milking.

In these times all I can recommend is that everyone be conservative in all you do….and pray a lot! Do that and you will be "Getting It Right".

Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.

Getting It Right- Bail Out or Pay Back

Is congress trying to save the U.S. Automotive industry or the United Auto Workers Union?

By Sid Riley

This column presents a rights preserving, fiscally conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

The Democratic Party is deep in dept to the hundreds of Unions which make up the American Federation of Labor (AFOL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). These organizations have been donating heavily for many, many years to hundreds of Democratic candidates as they campaigned for elected positions in our government. Among the largest and most significant of these unions was the United Auto Workers (UAW).

At present the U.S. Auto makers are traveling at a good pace on the road to bankruptcy. For instance, General Motors is currently losing over $160 million dollars per work day. Now, let’s do the math on what is really motivating Congress to bail out this failed industry.

A conservative number for the total number of union members that would lose their jobs if the Big Three auto makers went bankrupt, including all of the union controlled sub-contractors allied with the industry is 2,000,000 (two million) jobs. Now, let’s assume that each of these loyal union members (and voters) pays union dues each month of $150.00 as a payment to the union for getting them their $40 per hour job, complete with fantastic benefits. This means that these jobs are adding $300,000,000 to the union’s mafia controlled income. Additionally, for each auto produced the companies are paying approximately $1600 per auto into the UAW Pension Fund and Health Benefits Plan. With annual sales of 16,000,000 autos, this equates to another $25.6 Billion dollars per year, or over $2.1 Billion per month. Thus we see that the U.S. Auto industry is a huge "Cash Cow" for the union movement. They can not afford for this cash cow to die, even though they have caused its serious health problems by over-milking for years.

Through the 1970’s, 1980’s, and into the 1990’s the U.S. auto industry’s companies and unions made shoddy products, promoted and allowed wages and benefits which satisfied an insatiable greed, passed the costs onward to the U.S. consumers since few foreign competitors existed, and thus engaged in decades of decadent excesses. Then came the global economy, free trade, and foreign competition.

In this environment the cost profile which was developed from these years of excesses is not competitive. They are thus doomed to eventual failure. Do we prolong that death by feeding that greed for a few more months or years…or should they now pay for their mistakes? Better them than us. This should include the excessive retirement benefits of those auto union workers who participated in creating this situation and are now feasting on those benefits.

In my opinion, this current move to "bail out" the auto industry by our current congress is more of an effort to save billions for the unions than it is a move to help the dying industry. They want to use the tax dollars paid by millions of uninsured tax payers to pay the health benefits for these union workers who have demonstrated nothing but greed for decades. Congress is only responding as the Unions are calling in a "payback chip" from all of those campaign donations.
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A friend sent this to me from the internet this week. It is one of the most eloquent, best written descriptions of our national plight I have encountered. I am enclosing it for your reading.
How Long
Do We Have?
About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years"
"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. from dependence back into bondage"
Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the Presidential election:
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..." Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal’s and they are given the right to vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE SACRAFICES MADE BY THE BRAVE MEN WHO LIVED BEFORE US.

Our nation needs patriots now more than any time since World War II. Our nation is about to evolve into a Socialistic Democracy from a Capitalistic Democracy. If you will help resist this change…you will be ‘Getting It Right".

Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.

Getting It Right - "For A More Perfect Union"

It is "Payback Time" To The Union Movement For Obama

This column presents a fiscally conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

"Big Political Donations Should Now Yield Big Rewards for the Union Movement in the USA".
Even before President Elect Obama takes office, the union movement is moving. They are already beginning to pressure the legislative leaders to recognize their "wish list" of new legislation that will make unionization easier to accomplish, more lucrative, and more widespread within the industrial sector, and within all government employment.

Auto Industry Bail Out - As a starter, the automotive unions are pushing for the domestic automotive manufacturers to be given approximately $75 billion of the $700 billion bail out funds. This is a "porky" move which is being sponsored by the United Auto Workers in order to help General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler retool their factories for the new era of smaller, fuel efficient autos that will be in demand and must be manufactured if those companies are to stay in business. However, when you probe the issue further, you find that only about $25 billion is needed for retooling, and a major portion of the balance is slated to repay the union’s medical and pension funds, which those companies have not been able to pay.

The unions want to use public tax monies to pay their union members lifetime medical and dental benefits, and lucrative pension payments….while the rest of us suffer, do without, lose most of our pensions, and are forced to pay the bill. The terrible part of this situation is that in the existing political climate…they stand a good chance of success.

I would favor offering low interest loans to those companies for retooling, meanwhile restricting dividends, executive salaries, and benefits until the loans are repaid, and offering no "bail-out" free money for the companies and their unions to gobble up. These companies and their unions have demonstrated bad management and excessive greed over the past decades, thus moving their cost structures to a non-competitive level…and if bankruptcies and closings are in their future, they all earned it.

Abolishing Secret Ballots – Another front burner union proposal is a move to abolish the secret ballot when unionization elections are held within a company or function. Although the secret ballot is a cherished part of the American culture, designed to assure the right to vote without fear of reprisals, the Union Bosses want to know which employees voted against the union. They will thus know who to "blackball", and which front porches for their mafia hoods to burn. These practices will enable them to penetrate and unionize with greater success in areas such as Wal-Mart and other selected companies.

Abolishing "Right To Work Laws" – At present there are fourteen states where state laws have created "open shops" for workers instead of "closed shops". In those states right to work legislation is in effect, workers can work for a unionized company and not belong to the union. They have the right to choose whether or not they wish to pay dues and belong to the union. In the other union dominated states where right to work legislation is not in effect, in order to work for a unionized company, all workers must join the union and pay dues.

These laws have greatly weakened the strength of the union grip on industry in the mostly southern, right to work states. The union movement wants to pass state and federal laws that will ban the right to work legislation. They will certainly have this on their agenda during Obama’s term.

Expanding Unionization of Government Functions: At present there are several government functions which have been identified as "critical" and unions are thus prohibited from organizing these areas. An example would include the Air Traffic Controllers, and other similar jobs where public safety would be put at risk if disruptive union activities were allowed.

The unions do not like these restrictions, since thousands of potential dues paying workers are not within their grasp. We can expect this to change in the coming months. Of course the unions enjoy unionization of public functions, since they can escalate wages and costs without fear of putting the organization out of business from foreign competition…as they did many industries. When government functions are unionized they have an open reach into the never ending flow of money from the taxpayers.

Raising the Minimum Wage: The unions and their politicians like to raise the minimum wage. They can then pretend they have helped the lower earner work groups. In reality, these are the jobs which are most sensitive to competition from other parts of the world, and these jobs are soon transferred out of the United States to other nations. Those workers they pretended to help the most are actually the ones hurt the most. A good example is the textile-apparel industry that was lost during the past decade.

Also, by pushing up the minimum wage, the platform of comparison for union wages is thus pushed upward. This helps the unions justify further wage increases for high paid union workers.
Conclusion: In my opinion the union movement and the impact it has had on industrial production costs over the past fifty years has resulted in those industries becoming cost prohibitive on the world market. As a result America has lost a major portion of it’s basic industries. For example, today the bewildered steel workers stumble around in the decaying union halls in Pittsburg and ask forlornly, "What happened to my $30.00 per hour job?" The same thing is happening as we speak to our automotive industry.

But the union movement hopes for revitalization as the liberal, pro-union Obama regime takes power. They are about to form a "More perfect union".

Rudiments- Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
♦ Well as I write I can look out the window and see everyone at all of the retail businesses along the street busy at work, hoping to entice some customer to enter their shops. Small business vans and trucks roll by as they rush to make a delivery in their continuing struggle to survive. At area factories and warehouses everyone is hard at work…and meanwhile across the street at the court house all lights are out and the private parking spaces are empty, as our federal, state, and county bureaucracies enjoy one of their many, many paid holidays, using our tax dollars to enjoy themselves while the tax payers work. It just doesn’t seem right to me. They pass the laws, set the rules, and give themselves whatever they need. They always look out for each other and themselves. We are asked to keep our mouths shut, our heads down, to ignore it, and just keep on working.
♦ I wish Milton Pittman good luck and a happy life. He has been a good Commissioner and has always been a positive, honest force in our local government.
♦ This Christmas I encourage all area citizens to "Buy Local". Our local businesses are struggling in this weak economy and we should all try especially hard to support them this year as we buy presents for our loved ones. Do this and you will be "Getting It Right".

Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.

Getting It Right - This Is "Sunshine Week" Have You Celebrated?

State Recognizes Importance of Florida’s Sunshine Laws
By Sid Riley

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

While many of us are celebrating the abundance of sunshine we are now enjoying as Spring has finally arrived in Jackson County as heralded by budding dogwoods and azaleas, others are pausing to celebrate the fact that Florida is one of the states where "Sunshine Laws" exist.

In my opinion, this is one of the things our Florida Legislature has gotten right. Our state Sunshine Law has long been a national model for presumption of openness. However, our legislators have now allowed nearly 1,000 "special interest" exemptions that allow secrecy of everything from union negotiation strategies to pet records. Politics are steadily beginning to taint the system. We should all let our legislators know that we do not want the lobbyists to "buy secrecy" by having laws passed that exempt their special interests from having their activities monitored by the public.

Sunday marked the start of Sunshine Week, a national effort by newspapers, TV stations, nonprofits, schools and libraries to emphasize the importance of open government and access to information. It is not an exciting topic, but it is a fundamental component of an effective democracy. In a society that relies on an informed public, the access to and flow of needed information is vital.

Positive Developments:
Some recent positive developments in the protection of these laws have occurred.
- Attorney General Bill McCollum launched a Government Accountability Project to find out which state and local records were the hardest for the public to access.
- Clemency reports, which were previously kept in secret, are now accessible to applicants prior to their hearings.
- Crist also has released names previously held secret of double-dippers collecting state pensions and full state salaries at the same time. This led to new bills designed to end abuses within the state retirement system.
- A spending disclosure bill is in the Legislature for creation of a Web site to list all contract expenditures in excess of $5,000 by state agencies. Potential Problems: Despite the continued emphasis on government openness by advocacy groups, others continue to promote exemptions that create "loopholes" in the concept.
Some of the troubling bills include:
- Expansion of exemptions in the insurance arena to shield insurance companies "trade" secrets from public scrutiny.
- Exemption to allow closed door meetings for officials to discuss potential litigation against the state.
- An exemption that goes overboard in restricting all personal information such as names and addresses. To erase this data from all documents creates a huge administrative workload and cost.
- Allowing agencies to charge large fees for access to public information. One state agency instituted a $700.00 fee for the simplest record search. The FDLE charges $24.00 for background records that local police usually provide for less than a quarter.
- The Jackson Health System signed a questionable contract with the State last year, and the Miami Herald requested for copies of hospital e-mails on the deal. The hospital sent a reply they would provide the requested information for a fee of $165,721. The ensuing standoff was never resolved and the records remain secret.

Where to go for information- Some useful web sites are: - www.miamifly.net/watchdog/foia.html - www.coj.net (tax estimator) - www/doh.state.fl.us/irm00praes/praslist.asp (doctors, hospitals licensing status, complaints, discipline actions) - http://data.fldoe.org ( education data, school test scores, grad rates and more) - www.fdle.state.fl.us (criminal background checks, sexual predators, offenders) - www.flgov.com/og home (describes how to access records in every state agency) Remember, an informed citizen, votes wisely.

RUDAMENTS- ODDS AND ENDS WORTH MENTIONING: Teen Age Sex- On last week’s 20/20 TV program the subject of John Stossel’s part of the show was what appears to be fallacies with the strict interpretation of some sex law violations. Specifically, it dealt with a portion of the format of "Megan’s Law" which draws the line for a minor female at sixteen years of age. Stossel also appeared on the O’Reilly Factor discussing the same issue. In its existing form the law shows no differentiation for sexual activity between a sixteen year old girl and an eighteen year old male, and for this same girl and a forty year old male.

I tend to agree that the forced sentencing levels and inclusion for life on sexual predator listings for an immature, oversexed teen age boy is too harsh and stupid. For the forty year old, it is appropriate.

I am writing on this subject because of a press release received at the Jackson County Times this week from the Sheriff’s Department. They are investigating a local case where an eighteen year old boy, Gerald Lee, had a baby with a sixteen year old girl. He is thus being charged with Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Child between 12 and 16, and could be found subject to the harsh sentencing penalties defined in Megan’s Law and would then be on the sexual predator listings for the rest of his life. He would have been 17 when the act occurred.

Ironically, just a few days after seeing the issue presented on television, we had the same, exact issue before our legal establishment here in Jackson County. Florida has Megan’s Law which forces judges to give severe sentences to anyone guilty of molesting a minor (I think the minimum sentence is twenty years).

If we could do detailed investigative work on the sexual history of every male in Jackson County, how many of us would also be guilty of fooling around with a sixteen year old girl when we were seventeen? This law needs modification in this part of its format. Ruining a young man’s life because of an immature teen age love affair is wrong.
As to the old deviant that killed and tortured poor little Megan in that trailer, they can’t kill him fast enough or bury him deep enough to suit me.

For more on the 20/20 story go to http://abcnews.go.com/2020.

Courthouse Beautification- Well they have the $60,000 new second handicapped ramp finished at our courthouse. I think it goes well with the existing level of beauty of the facility. State JUCO Tournament- I want to congratulate the Chipola Appreciation Club, and all who took part in making this event a real boon to our area.

We wish the Indians great success at the national tournament.

Administration Building- In my opinion we should not allow our commissioners to merely delay the building project. An opportunity currently exists to buy a suitable facility at a price that would ultimately save the county millions of dollars. Please encourage them to hire an unbiased construction expert to determine if there would be any problems with using the old Wal-Mart building for a new County Administration Complex, and what the cost per square foot for preparation would be.

With this information at hand, they can then make a wise, informed decision as to the advisability of making an offer on the vacant building. To wait will result in a lost opportunity to possibly save taxpayers millions of dollars. If they delay too long another use will be found for this fine facility.

Meanwhile, stay informed, be proactive, and prepare to vote for candidates that will not continue to widen the spread of the wings of government over our personal lives and dig its talons into our pocketbooks. Do this and you will be "Getting It Right".

“And Away We Go!!”

This column presents a conservative, individual responsibility, free will viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

"The ‘Day of the Liberals’ is upon us. Prepare thyself."
Hide your purse and cling onto your "Inalienable Rights", the Liberals are coming!

Before I begin I want to clearly state that the focus and content of this week’s column has nothing to do with the fact that Barack Obama is a black man. In fact, I feel good that our nation has been able to overcome years of bigotry and bias, and has developed to a point where men can be chosen solely on their merit.

However, I do have serious reservations about the fact that this particular man has the most liberal voting record out of the 100 Senators now serving our nation, and had a previous history in the Illinois State government as being an ultra-liberal.

This history of left wing liberalism, a socialistic philosophy, and a "Big Brother Caretaker" outlook does bother me. It frightens me even more when this type of philosophy is in control of the executive branch at a time when the legislative branch is also dominated by a ultra liberal, left wing leadership.

The last time this situation existed in our governmental structure was during 1965-1967, the term of President Lyndon Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, with liberal John McCormack of Minnesota leading the 89th Congress. They had a huge majority (295-140) in the House of Representatives, and a 68-32 majority in the Senate. They were thus in complete control of our government.

This was the time the "Great Society" and "War On Poverty" initiatives were begun, and with them the birth of our extensive welfare entitlement programs. An astounding eighty-four liberal, expensive, bureaucracy expanding pieces of legislation were enacted.

Their liberal appointments in the Federal Judiciary and on the Supreme Court endured for the next thirty years and led to much of the liberal lunacy which today has almost rendered our federal court system ineffective. The liberal decisions which emanated from the Supreme Court throughout the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s have changed and degraded our society.

We are now faced with that situation again, with ultra liberals such as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, the Kennedy Clan, and many, many other radicals in charge and free to destroy and spend at will. They can now enact and enforce their far left, socialistic agenda unrestrained and unabated by any elements of conservative sanity…. And as Jackie Gleason would say, And Away We Go!
May the Good Lord continue to bless this great nation.

Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● I see another poor horse in our county has EEE, or the animal variety of West Nile Virus. The State Health Department is sending out press releases telling everyone to avoid going outside where they might get bitten by a mosquito, to always spray greasy repellants on themselves, and to turn over all flower pots, cans, tires, or anything that might allow water to stand where mosquito larvae might hatch. They seem to somehow ignore the huge, ugly mosquito ponds that their sister State bureaucracy, the FDEP has caused every business to dig on 40% of their property. Do they not realize they have created a public health hazard by bringing the swamp to the city for mosquito’s to use for breeding? The mosquitoes no longer have to hunt for a can or pot full of water. More liberal lunacy in my opinion.
● It appears that the consultant’s utility survey report to the Marianna City Commission has confirmed that we have a greedy, abusive utility monopoly in charge, which with the endorsement of the Florida Public Service Commission is victimizing the citizens of Marianna. We must now rely on our City Commissioners to correct this situation…..or continue to pay the highest bills in Florida for our electricity.
● The cost of living in Marianna continues to steadily increase, even though it is a tough economic time for its residents.
During the past few months the City Commissioners have approved the following increases:
● Not repealing the exorbitant water-sewer rates that were installed as a measure to help finance the required new water treatment system, before the grant funding was realized. At that time a promise was made to the citizens of the city to lower these high rates if other funding was found. That promise was broken.
● Raising the municipal millage to generate $250,000 more in tax revenues from the pockets of the city citizens.
● Increasing the rates for curb side trash pick up.
● Adding the $4.00 per meter monthly charge for gas service.
● Raising gas rates by 20%.
And at the same time the struggling city residents are paying the highest electric rates in the state!
● To all of the winners in our election I say "Congratulations". I hope you will always be prudent in the manner in which you spend the public funds which will now be at your disposal as you execute your duties. If you do this well, you will be "Getting It Right".
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Hatcher Publications.