Comment

Comment by Joseph Theodore Troupe on September 27, 2010 at 2:12pm

This question has nothing to do with the current discussion, but can someone provide me intel on other Tea Party Chapters such as Beaches and Ponte Vedra Tea Party meetings? Another First Coast Tea Party member and I share an interest in attending these meetings as well as First Coast meetings inasmuch as we are from the Beaches and from Ponte Vedra, respectively, and we know other concerned Beaches Conservatives who share the same interests (Ponte Vedra was once considered part of the Beaches).

Comment by Joseph Theodore Troupe on September 27, 2010 at 2:06pm

We seem to be, as we should be, concerned with National and State politics. Perhaps we need to concentrate more on City politics, and run candidates who are more serious abour holding down local taxes and city expenses which, are beginning to take too large a bite out of our paychecks for benefits that are too far above the norm for retiring City workers. We need to bring such benefits and expenses more in line with those of private enterprise.

Comment by Sarj Bloom on September 27, 2010 at 1:50pm

A good analogy for our current two party system is a dairy department at a grocery store that only sells two brands of milk. One is sour, and the other is really sour. The two distributors of the two brands of milk have things set up so that no other brands are allowed to be sold nationwide. This means you only have these two choices, no matter where you go, and that's it.

So you go in and buy a quart of Democratic milk, you get home drink it and it's sour, so you throw it out. The next day you go back to the store and you buy some Republican milk. You get home, drink that one and it is even more sour than the Democratic milk was, so you throw it out.

The next day you figure, well maybe I just got a bad batch of Democratic milk so you try it again. You get home and it's sour, AGAIN. The next day you give Republican milk a try again, and its even more sour than the Democratic milk was, AGAIN.

Now even though both milks suck, they have very unique packaging. Some people REALLY like the Democratic milk carton with the promises of quality milk inside, so they keep buying it hoping it will get better, but it doesn't. Same for the Republican milk carton. Different promises on the carton that appeal to different people, but still lousy milk inside.

Now the question is, how many times do you think a person would have to do this little exercise before they figured out that neither brand of milk was any good, and neither was getting any better? Turns out that most people figured this out and just gave up drinking either milk, altogether.

And that is where the saying came from that; "There is no sense in crying over spilt milk."

My response would be....switch to Tea. Sarj

Comment by BUDDY on September 27, 2010 at 1:24pm

I have to make my own provision. 100 million a year and rising for pensions is insanity. The same ideology has banrupt the car companies. You can price yourself out of the market. It has been unions that have make unfair demands that have busted many companies and now maybe cities. No doubt in my mind, our City Government and our Judicial System is a joke.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could all retire with 80% of our salary at age 55 after only workings 30 years? We could all retire at age 55 just like our Government workers do If our Federal Government would pay back the billions that they have stolen out of our Social Security for the last 40 years and giving it to people that don't pay anything into it or deserve it. Do you have any idea how many millions of jobs that would open up here in the US? Have you ever asked yourself, why doesn't our Federal Government steal out of their pensions and give it away to people that don't pay anything into it or deserve it? Our Government workers have been on a hayride for the last 40 years at your expense. Jacksonville is now $52 million in dept, next year $110 million and in the year 2012, $240 million just in pensons. You are going to see our property taxes, and all other Government fees double in the next few years.
How about your City Council… Did you know that council members get paid about 45K per year plus medical for a part time job and then each one of them has a full time aid that makes 55K per year...I mean com'mon! Gimme one of dem jobs..right? I think they could keep the councilmen's calanders, answer some phone calls and reply to some emails in part time hours and or for a lot less money.. they are a secretary for pete sake..I can't see it If you go to the COJ.NET website and scroll down on the home page you can download the proposed city budget which is a whopping 373 pages and details every bit of what is nearly a BILLION dollars (993.8 million to be exact). On page 7 is where it clearly states a 5% reduction in operating budgets.. Now I believe that is not including pay roll, as that isn't considered operational costs.. But I could be wrong on that.
You can start by asking the Mayor to cut half of the Journey budget for the 40 new police officers as they just recieved a federal grant for 55 new officers.
Next, you can ask the Mayor to cut some of the internal service funds that are forecast for 12 million above last year.
Next, you can ask the Mayor to cut Enterprise Funds back to what they were last year saving another 22 million...yes that is how much he wants to increase spending on the stadium, ball park and performing arts etc... In tough times it is not unreasonable to expect that we don't increase these things.
Next, why don’t you ask the Mayor to cut some of his appointed AMIO positions all of whom make from the high 40's to the mid 130's and there are like 166 of those positions for which he has expanded from 130 over the last 3 years... These are not advertised, interviewed or other proper government positions.. and they have a ton of connected people in those positions if you know what I mean... anyway these positions alone account for 11.2 million a year.
Next, you can ask the Mayor to cut about half of his $658,000 for lobbyists.
Well, as I have amply demonstrated for you there is no reason for them to hit salaries if they just cut some of the fat.. oh and there is plenty more.. like the mayors miscellaneous expenses budget.. I think that is like 30 million with no real definitive use other than as his discressionary "what if" account. You could also tell him no more trips to Paris.
A Jax lineman makes $36.00 an hour, that’s $75,000 a year “not counting overtime” and a retirement of $64,000 a year for life. The average salary in Jax is less than $40,000 a year. Even JEA’s retirement pay is $ 26,000 more than the average pay in Jax. That’s not bad pay and benefits for someone that hide’s in the woods 6 hours a day. A JEA manager told FCN that they need to hire 6 more lineman. Try to figure that one out!!

Eliminate the personal use for police and other city vehicles. Did you know that it costs $1200 for a fireman to fill in for another fireman if they call in sick or take a day off. All we need at those fire stations outside the old city limits is one lieutenant and maybe 2 or 3 certified,that’s “certified volunteers”. They will go through the same training that a regular fireman does. The top pay for a certified fireman would be $8 to $10 an hour; they can also be used to fill in when needed. Believe me, thousands will apply. Others Cities have tried this and they are very happy with the results.
No more accumulative sick leave and why are we paying for all those employees cell phones? Some City Employees retire with as much as $110,000 in accumulative sick leave.
If Peyton’s afraid of the unions than maybe its time to step down and let’s find some real men and women with the guts and backbone to run this city in the proper way.

Comment by Joanna B McDermott on September 27, 2010 at 12:24pm

Done, Jack Webb speaks out of both sides of his mouth at the same time......he fibs. Hope to be there tomorrow.

Comment by Joan C. Hall on September 27, 2010 at 12:12pm

Yes we can vote out the councilmen that do not stand for us. REMEMBER this NOVEMBER there is a referendum that the Council approved asking voters to move city elections to fall 2011, roughly five months later than currently schedule This will change the date officials take office from July 2011 to January 2012. This is supposedly allowing newly elected leaders more time to transition before budget deliberations begin in the summer. Sounds beneficial. However if voters approve moving city elections to fall 2011, they would also be extending the terms of sitting city officials by six months through the end of 2011. Do we really want those officials to continue to ignore us and pass legislation that benefits them and their friends?

Comment by Valerie Sawyer on September 27, 2010 at 10:10am

Should we encourage everybody to park at the Park & Ride lot at the Prime Osborne and ride the Skyway down to Hemming Plaza? Otherwise, parking is going to be a bear.

Comment by Joseph Theodore Troupe on September 27, 2010 at 7:12am

THE CITY COUNCIL IS COMPRISED OF... WHAT? POLITICIANS! POLITICIANS HAVE NEVER MET A TAX THEY DID NOT LIKE, AND THE CITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE FOR THE TAX INCREASE DESPITE OF OUR PROTESTS TO THEM. THAT SAID, WE CAN TAKE IT OUT ON THEM AT THEIR NEXT ELECTIONS IF THEY CONTINUE WITH THIS PURSUIT OF RAISING OUR TAXES, ESPECIALLY DURING THIS RECESSION.