Now Our Cops Need Our Help[The second and FINAL reading of the 2008-2009 operating budget for Indian Rocks Beach is scheduled for Thursday, September 18th at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Auditorium. YOUR ATTENDANCE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IF THERE IS ANY HOPE OF KEEPING OUR POLICE FORCE INTACT IN IRB!!]
Above is a photo of the Pinellas County Sheriffs who lay their lives on the line every day to make IRB “The World’s Safest Beach.” This photo was taken by former IRB Commissioner Jeremiah Carmody after a recent City Commission meeting. At that meeting, each officer assigned to IRB was personally introduced along with their very impressive roster of police experience. We should be proud to have this caliber of protection in our small beach community. Instead, the plan is to cut one of the officers pictured above. So, which one will it be?
No one would disagree that next year proves to be one of the most financially challenging one in the history of IRB. In view of the grim national picture, one would be skeptical if that were NOT the case. And when you add downright mismanagement of our tax monies, secrecy to the point of cover-up, and terribly misguided budgeting priorities to an already crippled economic climate, you have a recipe for certain fiscal disaster in IRB.
All of us recognize that cuts must be made. But where are the priorities for these cuts? Who in their right mind would opt to keep a full-time librarian and plan to expand the library facility at the risk of possibly compromising the safety of our residents? I say “possibly” because we don’t know what effect this all-but-certain police reduction will have. Will we see a difference in the level of service with one less officer? Maybe…and maybe not. Is it worth the risk to find out?
The commission considered three police staffing options…keeping it the same, making a modest reduction or opting for a more drastic reduction plan. Please take special note of the following come election time:
NO COMMISSIONER voted to keep the status quo in terms of police.
Two commissioners, JOHNSON AND TORRES, opted for a modest reduction.
WOLLIN, KENNEDY and VALERY (the deciders!) chose the most severe cut.
On the flip side, NO COMMISSIONER dared to touch the subject of eliminating the library or foregoing a planned library expansion. Commissioner Wollin did make a rather fleeting comment about reducing the librarian’s hours. None of her fellow commissioners expressed any interest whatsoever in discussing the subject further.
Let’s just get it out in the open….those associated with the library were instrumental in getting this commission elected so they will support the library till the cows come home. Will they give it up if a citizen or a police officer is hurt…or worse yet killed…as a result of their misguided priorities?
Commissioner Kennedy indicated that the moment the police reduction isn’t working, she’ll insist on a return to the status quo. Our taxes and water/sewer rates have been jacked to the stratosphere. We’ve been told the town is on the verge of bust and that next year’s budget is supposedly lean and mean. So, where in the hell is $100M coming from to put the eliminated cop back into the budget after this “experiment” with people’s lives doesn’t work?
The professionalism the Sheriff’s Office displayed during this entire negotiation process is to be admired. By contrast, our commission persisted in asking what some considered asinine questions like…what a typical day consists of for an IRB cop. Let’s see…there’s a robbery at 9 a.m., domestic run promptly at 11:15 a.m. and a vagrant on the beach at noon (he slept in!). Ironically, these questions were posed by the commissioner with “quite a history” of run-ins with the police.
Why Sheriff Coats didn’t “walk” from the deal after Commissioner Kennedy proposed replacing his officers with the Indian Shores Police…I don’t know. Be glad he didn't. What options would there be if he had walked? Pulling some ill-conceived power play while negotiating from a position of relative weakness was dangerous and irresponsible—especially with stakes this large.
Those of us referred to as “the same old people saying the same old things” will be there Thursday evening to support our police. Unfortunately, because we do not lavish praise on the "current regime," our comments are largely dismissed without so much as a second thought. We urge you to grab your neighbors, grab your friends (even your enemies will do if they live in IRB!) and attend Thursday’s meeting to stand up for the men and women who protect us and our properties every day in IRB. Even if our commission persists with this irresponsible budget cut, which unfortunately is a real possibility, our officers will know that WE, the citizens, support them 100%.
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
P.S. It’s also time to start thinking about the upcoming March election! Who can we urge in our community—strong leaders with good judgment and solid financial credentials—to run for two seats on the commission? We need commissioners who will stop all the secrecy, listen to citizens no matter who they are, where they live or who they supported at election time…people who will fight for US instead of pet projects and politically-based causes. There are so many talented people in this town, surely someone will step forward?? Any nominations from the cyber floor?
13 comments:
Why are our commissioners cutting our protection??? The last time they tried doing this the commission at that time heard from our residents "loud and clear". Insisting we do not want our protection compromised. I can't believe this commission would even consider endangering the public by doing this.... Maybe we should all start "calling our libraran day or night to protect us of any wrong doings" that goes on in our neighborhoods!!! I don't think IRB
is the place it use to be anymore and it is very disturbing to think
that my family's safety and well being is once again taking a back
seat with our commissioners! I personally called the sheriff's office and spoke to an official about this and yes, the residents security will definitely be affected by a change!!
I’ve heard and seen some pretty crazy things during my time of living here in IRB but I have never heard or seen anything this insane and twisted until the “Step-ford” commission took office. I guess upon locating the missing 1 million dollars from city hall, we will now need to put a bid out on mannequins to sit in empty patrol cars so that we can try to fool the gypsies, tramps and thieves that may enter our quiet little beach community. Get real!! Better yet, get some common sense. It won’t take long for those mischievous persons to realize that all they need to do is create a diversion for the only police officer in IRB while his/her friends commit the real crime. What if “you” need an officer and he/she is not available to come to your aid? I’m sure the new librarian is very nice and helpful but was she trained to protect and serve the community? Maybe we should ask the librarian those same asinine questions regarding her typical day as the officers were asked. I’m sure alphabetizing the books is right up there next to protecting our citizens. I really can’t grasp how the commission can hire a librarian and fire an officer. We can order up a good book and research any topic online but we can’t order up our police protection. My last realization was that most of the opposition is coming from an individual that has had “quite a history” of run ins with the police. Is the opposition being given by that individual a coincidence or a tit for tat?
Hey, at least one lucky officer won’t have to put up with Valery’s verbal abusive, name calling or swearing any more. And why do I think Jose is behind some of this? I don’t see his partner in crime, Leo, blogging about any of this. They’re just slinging mud at nonsense, like always.
"The Worlds Safest Beach" not for long. Perhaps we can change our tag line to the Worlds Best Waste of Taxpayer Dollars and home of a do nothing commission. These guys are closing in on the one year anniversary of their Kumbaya feel good and smile sit in. I say they have been on the "Worlds Longest Coffee Break" and its time to get some folks up there with the integrity to do the right thing. While they have been spending our money on law suits, consultants and pet projects they have failed us in leading our city back to prosperity. During times of economic slowdown the last thing the consumer needs is higher taxes and fees. It shames us that we are now looking at reducing our police force in half to justify the hiring of a FULL TIME librarian and increased library facilities. I recommend these commissioners, librarian and the "Old Friends" of the library each get concealed weapons permits, and enroll in the Pinellas County Sheriffs Department Citizens Patrol Volunteer Program! http://www.pcsoweb.com/pages/crime_prevention/citizen_patrol.html
I think the library needs to be self sufficient if it intends on remaining an ongoing entity in our city. The city of Treasure Island is pulling out of its library consortium, thats what leadership does in times of challenge, they make tough decisions in the best interest of their city and constituents. So the next time you attend a meeting and I hope its this Thursday join these folks on the dias for a group sing-a-long of Kumbaya and dont forget to add the swoosh of a toilet flushing in the end to symbolize them flushing your money and basic services down the toilet. By the way rumors have also been circulating that the librarian/library/others have been on a crusade to ban books, Ok Sarah Palin why dont you bring your rifle to work and keep us safe too!
If blogging in on your own blog posting is allowed...I wish to direct these comments to Jane, the librarian.
Jane:
I've never met you yet I feel very badly for your circumstances. Quite honestly, you have taken a lot of crap you don't deserve. I hope you realize that comments being made are nothing against you personally; it's the librarian position itself that is the target of our frustrations.
You are, in no way, to blame for all this nonsense. In fact, the Friends of the Library and the City did you a terrible disservice by bringing you on board in the face of declining tax revenues. They knew when they hired you that cuts would be necessary...which wasn't fair to you. Just like all of us, you, too, have been the victim of poor decisionmaking and mismanagement.
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
Well said Nancy, I completely agree with you. What is so frustrating is that the budget is full of pork spending. Most of which has been put there by our current government officials. From another stupid study to spending money on chickasee park to hiring any and every “consultant” out there. No wonder we’re in the financial trouble we’re in. These officials want it all. Not just happy a few things, but they want every one of their pork items. I wonder if they run their own finances similar. Bottom line is they have been behaving like kids in a candy store with our money. They have done a poor job with managing the finances of this town, and unfortunately the librarian is stuck in the middle. I feel really bad for the librarian in that this is just the tip of the ice-berg. Right around the corner are talks of the “library”, a very costly expense, which will run us millions of dollars-millions that we do not have, driving us deeper into the red. I suspect the attacks on the library/librarian will only get worse. The sooner these clowns are out of office the better.
For residents that want a good sampling of all that the IRB Sheriff's Officers do to keep our
neighborhoods safe. Take a look
at September's "IRB Neighborhood
Newsletter". If you don't receive it you can read the three articles at:
http://beachnewsletters.com/issues/ir_sept08.pdf
I HOPE OUR COMMISSIONERS READ IT -
ITS WORTH READING !!
Great reporting by Bob Griffin. The actual link is below.
http://beachnewsletters.com/issues/ir_sept08.pdf
I certainly hope RB has the common sense to realize how unpopular it is to trade badges for books! Will somebody please step up and run against these "Clowns" and bring common sense back our city government.
beachnewsletters.com/issues/ir_
sept08.pdf
VICTORY..........WE WON, we will not see a reduction in our police protection. HAHA BV & TW, for whatever selfish reason you wanted to cut our police protection you lost.....get used to it. Our librarian made a presence at the meeting last night, I think we could strap a gun to her if need be and deter crime. At least for the time being we should not see any increase in crime because of a less protection and we know the books will remain safe!
A nice piece of information. To keep the library and its high cost librarian in the budget [cost I believe is $75,000] during these tough times, shows a commission out of touch with reality. Then to drastically reduce police protection, is a slap in the face!
While reducing police protection might be a budget reduction, needed option; certainly not before taking out the librarian and that very silly proposal to pursue a new library.
Would someone tell the Commission this Country is in a recession! Revenues will be drastically cut in 09, and 10 will be worse.
Few projects other than those of basic necessity should be approved. Our tax rate should be at 1.89- what the staff recommended.
Lastly, would someone from the Commission inform us what we have spent in the financial dept this year? This would cover the Treasurer, the Assistant Treasurer, the consultant,the auditor, and the outside firms. Someone informed me this would be $400,000 this year.
You are right, the Commission needs to wake up and we need to vote changes where needed.
Regards,
Victor Wood
510 Harbor Drive/IRB
Last night was a step in the right direction for our commission (at least 3 of them) to put this town back on track. Although I do not agree with the approved rate increase based on the fuzzy math in the budget, it did show that we at least have one commissioner with a backbone and his finger on the pulse of this community. I would like to thank Commissioner Dan Torres for leading the charge for the citizens of this community. It was also helpful to understand how we got to where we are financially in town. Based on the report that was given, we spent all of our money in the last 2-3 years. Very sad. I now understand why Commissioner Wollin was so quick to point the finger of blame on everyone else. She, Commissioner Valery and Major RB Johnson have been there during this time. Again, very sad. I also noticed how quickly they spent this new tax windfall. They raised our taxes and then spent a large amount of it on things that should have already been in the budget. Questions were raised if they were hiding money. I now believe they are. I am happy we kept our policing, and sadden that they cut the librarian back. One of the highlights of the night was when Mr. Carmody spoke up regarding his time as commissioner and called out Major RB Johnson on having amnesia regarding what went on during their time together. Major Johnson had a look on his face as if to say, wow, somebody remembered, I thought I could get away with it! Equally funny was when Mr. Carmody asked Commissioner Valery to wake up and pay attention. Commissioner Valery lost his cool and snapped back swearing in a tantrum. (Mr. Wood, you may not want to use the words “wake up”, apparently Commissioner Valery falls asleep often in meeting and does not like it when he is told to wake up) Commissioner Valery stated he was tired of all of the criticism. I guess he thinks he is doing a good job bringing our town to financial ruin. In the end, thanks to Commissioners Kennedy, Torres and Mayor Johnson our town will remain safe.
I was also in the audience. The commissioners all looked so confused. No citizen got a straight answer. It was almost if, for some of our commissioners, it was the first time they seen the budget. And with the lack of answers to simple questions, I can see they conducted a bad review of the budget. I can understand why Commissioner Valery got frustrated. They were being called to the carpet on a number of issues and because he had no answers or lacked the intelligence of specifics within the budget to address the questions, he just snapped. I understand he has a really bad temper. Kudos’s to Dan Torres and Cookie Kennedy. Our mayor seems to have too many excuses. I am very disappointed in Commissioners Valery and Wollin, who I feel look down on everyone as if to say they are better than us. Did anyone happen to catch that condescendingly smug comment by Wollin when she said; we can review the budget in 2 months if money starts falling from the ceiling and thing get better. This lady has to go. Funny thing is that our City Manager, to her surprise, said things will be better. Like Victor said, you 2 clowns need to wake up. Wake up Valery, there I said it!
Post a Comment