Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Gardener and the Locoweed
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Murray's 2 Biggest Problems: Her Arrogance and Her Advisors
Just who is this big-city woman who comes riding high into our sleepy little one-horse town, virtually unknown to anyone who knows anyone, bragging about her over-qualifications (which she can’t back up) and claiming the ability to solve all of our problems? The dozen or so times I met her during the campaign she always said, “Oh, please call me Jane.” She sweet-talked enough locals to out-poll two qualified lifetime Portsmouth residents and win. Now, when anyone calls her Jane, she is insulted. She seems to think that being addressed on a first-name basis, even when you live in a small friendly community, is beneath her dignity. It seems that the lesson in humility that good ol’ “Just call me Jane” should be learning is a hard pill to swallow. In my years, I have known or just met many business leaders, professionals, elected officials — from local judges clear up to an Ohio attorney general — and not one has ever insisted on being addressed by their official title. I would also like to add that, not one has come into office so ill-equipped that they had to advertise, openly, in a newspaper of general circulation, to fill important full-time office staff positions, with benefits, out of the general labor pool. The outbursts, rantings and mood swings of our mayor are a disgrace to the city of Portsmouth and an insult to the misguided voters who put her in office. If you haven’t guessed, I’m not one of them. The person who sits in that office should be one of leadership. Leadership by example, with a willingness to cooperate and do whatever it takes to get things done. What we have is a name-calling, finger-pointer who hides behind e-mails and interoffice memo to a select few and are divisive in nature. There is an old saying, “Love is given; respect is earned.” Thank you JoAnn, for not bowing down to her majesty’s demand for respect (for her title) that she clearly has not earned. Walt Herrmann, PortsmouthSome folks don't..............
The Mayor sits on that committee for the project, it's regional not parochial like your demeanor and attitude. Even here, you think Portsmouth should not come out of it's cage? Wow................no wonder, this town goes no where fast. And the election is over, are you a Birther too? The Mayor's the Mayor, what are you doing for the community besides tearing it down like so many are? Greedy for salary and perks, and the like? Wonder why you are wallowing in the squalor? Geeish............
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Budget Day in Crazy Town USA: Pray for City Council
How else can you explain the weirdness coming out of City Hall? * Engineers who aren't engineers. * Budgets that aren't budgets. * Apologies that aren't apologies. * A grown woman who doesn't know how to act like a grown-up.
You can find many examples the craziness in most editions of the Portsmouth Times. Take today, for example: 1. Crazy Town Budget: The statements by the Fire Chief (click here to read) about his budget concerns appear on the front page of the paper, but the mayor's budget comments appear on A9. Strange for most cities, we must admit. But perfectly normal in Jane Murray's Crazy Town, USA.
2. Crazy Town Budget Cuts: In the article, "Budget Cuts Concern Fire Chief," we find out that in the Mayor's proposed budget "the largest budget reduction is in the Fire Department." Now we can speculate as to why (probably because of the Mayor's recent public tiff with the fire union), but making the fire department the target of the biggest cuts only makes sense on the Bizarro planet. The mayor frequently gets her advice from felons, anti-nuclear activists, drug users, and other questionable sources. Maybe Wayne Nichols, a leading citizen of Crazy Town, is her advisor on the fire department budget. (Mr. Nichols is known for his sizable coin slot and his rambling, nonsensical, and often hateful tirades at City Council meetings, which often focus on the fire department, who he believes are overpaid incompetents who stand by and watch while children are burned alive inside their homes. He even blames them for his own home burning to the ground, despite years of Health Department enforcemetn attempts and warnings that his home was a firetrap.) 3. Crazy Town Math: Jane, explaining the amazing Mr. Peck's proposed salary. "My salary gross is $59,750, which is the same as last year's and my furlough amount is $1838. That would take it to $57,911. Jeff Peck's proposed salary is $59,000. So with his furlough amount of $1815. That puts him at $57, 185." Uuh. Thanks for clearing that up, Mayor. (Sheesh.) 4. Crazy Town Press Conference: "Whether it's water or sewer-we use those services multiple times a day. We all turn on water. We all flush the toilet multiple times per day." Thank you for sharing that, Your Majesty. Is there no end to your brilliance? (We wonder if she had this epiphany while seated on her new throne.) 5. Crazy Town Job Creation: When asked to explain her lone vote in the Ohio Valley Regional Commission against the A-Plant, she responded: "To be quite honest, I haven't given it much reflection and thought as to whether I would support it or not...I'm in favor of the jobs they would create--absolutely." She's for the jobs but is unsure about supporting the project that would create the jobs. Makes sense in Crazy Town. (Have you ever notice that when someone starts a sentence by saying "To be quite honest..." the rest of the sentence is probably a lie?) 6. Crazy Town Traffic: Last month, our engineer who is not an engineer, Jeff Peck was the only person who was proclaimed by her Madam-ness as qualified to speak about traffic lights. (Just because he is not qualified to be an engineer in the State of Ohio, doesn't mean he can't be an engineer in Crazy Town!!) Today we learn that the Mayor's Chief of Police will recommend to City Council that the Mayor's traffic light ruling be overturned based on the Traffic Committee's 6 to 1 decision to implement ODOT requirements. And who was the lone traffic committee member to vote in support of the Mayor? Darlene Daub. Huh? Wonder if she's any relation to "Little Daub'll Do Ya"? The Crazy Towner who got recalled in the 1970s. Oh, yeah. never mind. The only Crazy-Town news that actually made sense in today's paper was on the editorial page: "The Mayor's Priority Should Be To Rebuild Trust." (Click here to read.) Here are a few gems by the author of that piece:- "When your loftiest goal is to have your city put in fiscal emergency status by the State Auditor’s Office, it is time to re-evaluate the direction you are headed…it is difficult to believe it is the answer to the city’s problems."
- "There has to be a better way to solve the city’s problems, such as actually sitting down with city workers and laying the cards on the table, rather than belittling them and accusing them of not communicating, even though they have never been asked to actually meet and talk."
- "True administrators, who actually understand the workings of city government, do not attempt to rule over people — they try to communicate with them."
- "Insisting on being addressed as “Madam Mayor” is absurd, and will, in no way, endear one to the people they are supposed to be serving and working with."
- "You can’t say you are going to be more open and cooperative, then turn around and try to muzzle the Chief of Police in an open forum. The constant bickering; the endless haranguing; the elitist attitude has to go."
- "Those involved in the State Auditor’s Office know fiscal emergency status is a last resort…being placed in that category should not be the goal. We were told there would be new creative ideas in the new administration."
- "So far we have been disappointed by learning that the only answers are blaming your predecessor and looking for state assistance to re-negotiate contracts. That is neither creative nor sound."
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Nice Try Losers
Friday, March 19, 2010
New Mayor is a Disaster
So once again we are faced with the same old dilemma. Who do we believe? Jane Murray or the State Auditor? ...or the EPA? ...or ODOT? ...or OVRDC? ...or the FOP, AFSCME, or IAFF?
The State Auditor is right. There is no emergency.There are a dozen people in Portsmouth who could put together a balanced, austere budget, that would cause a minimal amount of hardship for Portsmouth. But not Mayor Murray, who is foolishly holding on to the truly bizarre position that NO CHARGE-OFFS will be made to Enterprise Funds (water, sewer, sanitation), even though the offices of the Mayor, Auditor, City Council, Service Department (Garage) and other departments, provide numerous services to Enterprise Fund divisions. Services such as accounting, payroll, personnel, legal, vehicle maintenance are all legitimate expenses that SHOULD be charged off to funds that generate revenue. Most cities, probably all cities, in Ohio that have city-owned utilities charge-off a fair and reasonable amount of their "overhead" to water and sewer fees. Otherwise what you actually have is the City's general fund SUBSIDIZING the water and sewer departments, including water and seweer customers in Rosemount, New Boston, West Portsmouth, and even Wheelersburg!
The City is audited every year and the State consistently approves of the level of charge-off to utility accounts.
But Murray, the Madam, won't do it, despite the revenue shortage in the general fund. Why?
1) Even before the election, Murray confided to several individuals that she intended to go after fiscal emergency status, "just like the County." In her mind, not utilizing charge-offs, will make it easier to do that.
2) By not making legitimate charge-offs to enterprise funds, so believes she will not have to raise water, sewer, and sanitation fees, and she will be a hero to the CAVE People.
3) She thinks that fiscal emergency status would allow her to open the contacts of all the City's Unions. That way no one can stand in her way!! (BWA-HA-HA)
4) Or maybe she's just TOTALLY INSANE.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Queen of Crazy Town Strikes Again
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Just Another Saturday in Crazy Town
"Portsmouth Mayor Jane Murray released a statement Friday afternoon saying that the Flood Defense Team will begin closing the flood gates along Madison Avenue today (Saturday), in anticipation of heavy rains that may bring rising flood waters by the middle of next week."City Services Director Jeff Peck (who finally has a title that is actually in the City's Payroll Ordinance) is apparently in charge of our city floodwall now. Mr. Peck's interview reveals that we can now add flood gate construction to the long list of things he doesn't know anything about: along with traffic lights, race relations, water, and wastewater treatment.
Peck said "I’m not really sure how many people it takes, but you could probably do it with half a dozen people, and it takes equipment to put up these big steel beams and they put up wood lagging and then they put up some plastic and sandbags and other types of sealant. So it’s not just a one-two-three, ready-set-done thing.”
Friday, March 12, 2010
Jane Murray Doesn't Get It
Governor Strickland gets it.
Jane Murray...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Hmmm. Who do we believe?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Blog Problem Fixed
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Three Signs of the Apocalypse
Monday, March 1, 2010
CAVE People: Are You Happy Now?
And especially you whose livelihoods depend on the success of the A-Plant. How can you face your co-workers after the way Murray made a fool of herself and embarrassed the City of Portsmouth in December, even before her first day in office, with her ridiculous and self-serving little tour of your workplace. (Click here for a reminder.) That ongoing embarrassment continued last week at the Ohio Valley Development Commission. Elected leaders come from as far away as Gallipolis and Clermont County to serve on the Board of the Ohio Valley Development Commission. They come, many on their own time, to support development projects and to request assistance for our area from state and federal funding sources. These meetings are often attended by representatives of congress and the governor's office. But our brilliant mayor used her first meeting with this group to cast the only dissenting vote against a resolution to help support the removal of outdated equipment and clean up at the Piketon plant. Seventeen members from Chilicothe, Piketon, Waverly, and elsewhere voted for the measure, proposed by the Scioto and Pike County Commissioners. Would Jim Kalb have done this? Would Jerry Skiver? Of course not, but the Mayor of Crazy Town did. "Grants, grants, grants," Murray says. "I know how to get grants for the city!!" Yeah, right. Ninety percent of the grants that come into Portsmouth and Scioto County come through the OVRDC. They actually vote on what grants applications get passed on to the State of Ohio and the federal government for funding. In fact, Jane, that's why they exist. Way to make a good impression on them Jane! Show them who's boss in Crazy Town! Murray's budget is still not done (she's blaming everyone else for this ), the Police Chief has been muzzled, EPA has repeatedly been given the middle finger by her Highness, and the City is near financial chaos. (At least her bathroom is finished.) But instead of doing something constructive, like solving the problems she was elected to address, she's doing something she never campaigned on and was not elected to do. Did you vote for her so she would try to stop projects at the A-plant that can bring in thousands of jobs? I know we didn't. AND THAT'S NOT EVEN THE WORST OF IT! What you didn't read in the Portsmouth Times, but we can tell you here, is the REST OF THE STORY of what happened at the OVRDC meeting. Just when you think this genius Mayor of ours can't get any stranger, she tops herself. The Board Meeting that Murray is entitled to attend as the Mayor of Portsmouth is a meeting of elected officials and funding professional across Southern Ohio, from 12 counties. Some drive hours from Batavia, Washington Court House, or Gallia County and elsewhere just to attend this meeting. What dio they get out of it? A donut and chance to help this region advance economically.
Democrats and Republicans work together to represent communities from tiny villages and less-populated counties to the biggest cities in the region (Portsmouth is the biggest of them) with a single goal: the betterment of our area. They don't bring the petty grievances. They don't bring in bums from the street to talk about homelessness. Unlike a Portsmouth Council Meeting, they don't invite in the dregs of the earth to tell them all what fools they are. And these representatives don't bring in "uninvited guests" for silly little show-and-tell sessions. It is an orderly and dignified group of men and women. At least, it was. But Jane Murray is special. She's entitled. She's smarter than those hayseed hick hillbillies. Without asking for permission or notifying anyone beforehand, Murray brought someone to the meeting with her. Not a citizen of Portsmouth. Not Mr. Peck. Not an A-Plant employee. She brought a man, well-known to many in the meeting. A Pike County resident named Geoffrey Sea. Mr. Sea is an anti-nuclear activist. He is part of a small group of nimrods who literally want to shut down the A-Plant. Jane Murray invited him to speak to the OVRDC members, which he did. He lectured these ladies and gentlemen, who have such a major influence on what grants we in the City of Portsmouth can receive. Mr. Sea is part of the Southern Ohio Neighbors Group, a tiny crew of anti-nuke kooks, who have caused endless problems for the A-Plant. This is the group Jane has sided with, against the interests of the Citizens of Portsmouth. This is the same Geoffrey Sea who, just last month, wrote a letter published in the Portsmouth Times that called Pike County Commissioner Blaine Beekman (a board member of the OVRDC) a "dishonest, self-serving...obstructionist" who made "empty promises and backroom deals." (Click here to read the tree-hugger's letter.) Very tactful, Jane. Arrogantly imposing Mr. Sea's ranting on the attendees at that meeting was WORSE than her negative vote on the resolution. It was a slap in the face to the Commission. And it was a dark stain on our City in the eyes of our neighbors. Jane's way of saying, "Screw OVRDC. I know what's best."
Do you really want our Mayor to be part of a group that has been "Agitating the Ohio Valley Since 2001"? Is that who you voted for?