Comment

Comment by Kurt D Wullenweber on October 5, 2010 at 1:48pm

Joan, I thought the subject of this thread was a meeting with Mr. Corrigan to tell him what was thought of him based on one vote. You seemed to be taking the position of K. Obrian, so my comments were based accordingly.
There are council members who voted against the tax increase, yet still refuse to cut superfulous spending on their special personal projects. I'm sorry, but this is worse than voting to pay for the budget that will not be cut. The last thing we need is running up more government debt so we can cut taxes and keep spending. I thought we, the tea party of all people, understood this is the way the not-too-distant Republican majority landed us in the position we are in.

Comment by Valerie Sawyer on October 5, 2010 at 11:25am

You do have people in our City Council like Clay Yarborough, for instance, who "get it". He voted no on the tax hike and frankly votes no on just about everything - and gets criticized constantly by the Times-Union and others for it. He understands the role of government. He's also an incumbent and doesn't deserve to get voted out. He in fact is the model. We need to spend our time and energy finding other young men and women like him and give them the backing they need to run for office. If we could get an entire Council like Clay, we could change the beast that has become the government of the City of Jacksonville. I have been told by people who work for the City that the "system" is the true monster - that the system itself is so convoluted and so broken. We MUST get City leaders who are not afraid to take on this monster and tame it. We have departments like the yard waste department - a legitimate service of the City - which has been absolutely gutted (their dept has been stripped of everything) and then we still have a department like the Human Rights Commission spending $1.3 million a year with 17 full-time employees doing.....what? We don't even really know! That is the kind of stuff that has to be fixed and we need leaders who can stand up and take it on. It won't be easy at all because it also involves tentacles of the State government and the Federal government - but it must be done if anything is going to change.

Comment by Joan C. Hall on October 5, 2010 at 11:07am

Why do you keep telling me to have a conversation with whomever ? I think you are confusing me with
kobrian. This is my last missive to you. I will vote out every incumbent I possibly can. Good Luck to you.

Comment by Kurt D Wullenweber on October 5, 2010 at 10:45am

Until the tea party movement, where was the vehicle for communicating, outside word of mouth? The socialist news media?
Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Dick Armey, JIm Demint, Mike Pence, Joe Wilson, Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz, Herman Caine, how many more do you want me to name?
They have been out there for many, many years for those of us who have been active. I have given more than I could afford of my hard earned money to candidates promising to help us change for as long as I can remember. The same reason I drop at least a 20 dollar bill in the jar every time I stop by a tea party event or the office.

Don't get me wrong, here, I am DAMNED glad so many people have awakened to what is going on, but also understand lots of people have had to figure out what they can accomplish within the system they have to deal with and in, with a general public who couldn't be bothered to put down their beer or turn off their football game.
I have a politics list in my email address book that now contains well over one thousand names and addresses and I've spent far too many hours on the computer reading and forwarding the messages we need to get out, for at least 10 years now.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for waking up to what's been going on and getting worse.
Have your conversations with whomever you believe you need to, but understand many are NOT your enemy.
I am not protecting my friend here, I'm trying to get some people to understand these problems are not new because so many just found out about them and make sure you know who you're talking to and what they have tried to accomplish before you claim they ruined your lifestyle or damaged your family. The worse possible thing we can do is attack someone who has been fighting OUR fight, without OUR help.
As far as communicating with your reps, how many have you called to find out how you can help?
Please don't take this as wanton criticism, but as enlightenment, as far as my limited abilty may communicate it.
Bless us all, we all need it.

Comment by Joan C. Hall on October 5, 2010 at 9:30am

Who are all those who have worked to fix the system? What did they do to communicate to the citizens what was really going on? Did they possibly hold town hall meetings (THAT THEY INITIATED) to try to light a fire under all of us who naively felt their elected officials were working for them? I'm the first to blame MYSELF for being so trusting. FOOL ME ONCE SHAME ON YOU. FOOL ME TWICE SHAME ON ME.
This tea party movement started because people finally woke up. How long have you been awake and what have you done prior to this ? I don't intend to scream at anyone I intend to vote them out if possible and do all I can to work toward that end. I never did intend to meet with him and hear the same excuse over and over again. I'm sure we'll all learn a few lessons along the way. That's what life if all about. No one knows everything unfortunately too many seem to think they are the exception. It seems your fighting for your friend and that is commendable we can only go on his record. I've heard many people say they like the man (Obama) but not his policies. What is a man if he is not made up of his convictions?

Comment by Kurt D Wullenweber on October 5, 2010 at 9:00am

Well feel free to meet with him, I'm not trying to stop you.
I also think some people in this movement are going to have a lesson, or two, after this election. There are a lot of good people who have tried for a long time to fix this mess before it got to this point. Now tons of people who have finally awakened are screaming at EVERYONE in government.
Be prepared, when you start screaming at those who have worked to fix it, when they look you straight in the eye and ask you where the hell you've been for the last ten years, while they've been trying to get you to pay attention and help them fix this crap! Don't act as though your innocent of what was going on while you were sleeping.

Comment by Joan C. Hall on October 5, 2010 at 8:57am

It's obvious he is ineffective in his position. If it is affecting him the way you describe then perhaps it will be in his best interest to get out. This sounds harsh but we can no longer support those in office that aren't able to do the job. THE SLEEPING GIANT HAS AWAKEN AND IS MAD AS H___!

Comment by k. obrian on October 5, 2010 at 8:47am

Yes, but he volunteered to serve and if he couldn't handle it he shouldn't have run for a second term. He has hurt my family and made us worse off because of the way he voted.

Comment by Kurt D Wullenweber on October 5, 2010 at 8:42am

I think our solution is as much from the outside of government, as from the inside, as Mr. Corrigan seems to have found out.
Believe me, I saw Mike with a bloody forehead on more than one occasion........from beating it against the wall he found when he got to the city government he thought he could change and fix. I am surprised he is still there, maybe he saw a ray of hope.
Maybe the best situation would be for us to form a citizens group and start demanding solutions that can't be accomplished from the inside. Demanding ballot initiative to put city services up for bid, instead of having city empoyees, would be a good place to start and a good start for the ENTIRE COUNTRY to copy. Again, we are past the point of thinking we owe current city employees a lifestyle above and beyond what those paying them can afford. They have bitten the hand that feeds them for far too long, and this goes for government employees at every lavel of government.

Don't think I'm running interference for Michael, he can hold his own, but I'm trying to explain you are not going to find the person you seem to think he is.

Comment by Joan C. Hall on October 5, 2010 at 8:07am

All answers aren't simple . But that doesn't mean we just go along with them. That's what got us in this mess in the first place. Obama wants us to thank him. Well I have one thing to thank him for and that's for opening my eyes to the corruption in government. That includes our State and City government as well as the Federal government. Vote the establishment out every chance we get and hopefully we'll start over. Please don't tell me some of them are good. They are there and have been for several years and still go along with the establishment. If they can't stand up for us then they don't belong there.

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