Comments by scrutinizer
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Posted on May 24 at 5:03 p.m.
Wow! Are you serious? The city loses money on the one pool it has now. Do you really think we can afford to do that in two places? Four and half million dollars to build it and we spend over $90,000 a year supporting its use by a mere 12,000 people. How about a little promotion by the management?
Posted on April 11 at 11:49 p.m.
Hey, dhcc66 - ask any City worker out on the job how many employees his department is down. Those employees are not being included in the reclassification. Most of those are not in the management side of the equation - that tends to make things look weighted on the side of management when we may not have too many chiefs after all, just short on Indians from positions vacated that have not been refilled.
We have deficiencies in our streets, response to emergency utility repair, the parks are deteriorated, curent laws and ordinances go unenforced, fire and ambulance service may prove to be inadequate - we need to put some bodies out there for the management to manage! But as the taxpayer cries for fewer taxes, he remains unwilling to sacrifice services or bring in revenues from increased fees outside of taxes. Being a service organization, the easiest place to make budget cuts is by reducing personnel. It's catching up to us, Emporia. This crisis caused by Tyson's layoff may hurt us pretty bad in the end. Just as we are realizing our shortfalls in City budget, our income potential has been slashed.
I agree some restructuring is needed, dhcc66. But how about Mr. Zimmerman leading by example and refusing his wage raise UNTIL the rank and file get theirs? Or, how about leaving the wage pool for those raises and forgoing the remodel? Thanks to the current commission for the call to accountability over the last year. It was a long needed step in the right direction. Be careful, please, that you don't falter now.
Posted on April 10 at 11:28 p.m.
Nice, Mr. Zimmerman - a juicy wage increase of $5,000 and a remodeled office. Life is good at the top! As for the workers wage pool being diminished by your remodel - I say, let them eat cake!
As for dhcc66 comments about getting more workers - just how is the City going to pay for them? Already many departments are understaffed from previous vacancies unfilled because we haven't been able to afford to replace the workers who left! And why have they left? For better wages and the chance to maybe get a raise once in awhile. In the meantime, the responsibilities increase for those remaining, the equipment ages, and the infrastructure crumbles.
Time to requisition a fiddle, Nero Zimmerman!
Posted on April 10 at 11:15 p.m.
WOW! Talk about the tail wagging the dog! Who is the ERC to be dictating to the City? A tenant, that's who. They rent a building from us on 4th Ave., destroy the interior with incorrect operation of the utilities, and then demand that we fix it. And guess what? WE DID!!!
The ERC has done a poor job of attracting clientele to the pool, too. They have had 3 director's in the short 5 year life of the facility. Nice job on the hiring end! It is the Park Department that props that facility up with it's personnel and resources.
All the facilities used by the ERC for its programs are owned by the City. Why should the CC turn over the reins to a tenant and trust that they can manage the taxpayer's property any better than they have in the past? It won't happen!
What should happen is the ERC should dissolve, the City should form a Parks and REC Department and finally hire a director that can keep up with the work that is out there.
Posted on March 4 at 9:15 a.m.
I'd like to pose some questions that relate not only to this discussion, but to all considerations of energy use:
1) How much energy of any kind can we save by conserving?
2) How would conservation promotion affect the development of energy sources of any kind, including ethanol?
3) Would ethanol be viable at all if corn production wasn't subsidized by the government?
The production of corn utilizes what I consider our most precious resource, the topsoil that was built over millions of years. Row cropping causes erosion of this resource and corn production is the worst culprit of all crops in causing erosion. It requires more nutrient for proper growth than about any other crop, too.
Because it is such a drain on topsoil and because, to our GREAT detriment, we have not adequately explored how to conserve our resources, we are running down what I consider dead-end paths in an effort to find the Holy Grail of energys. Ethanol ain't it.
Posted on February 8 at 6:24 p.m.
My wife lost her job recently to downsizing. Nobody seemed to raise this kind of fuss for her. I don't see how Tyson downsizing will hurt Emporia that much. All the extra strain put upon the social services and school district that serving an impoverished and poorly educated immigrant population has caused, should be greatly eased. Some bumps in the housing market at a bad time will right itself after the election dust settles.
Posted on February 1 at 4:48 p.m.
Very eloquent, Melody. Soothing and inspiring, all at the same time! Maybe you aren't all that "wimpy, weepy an wounded" at all. Blessings upon you for your beautiful lesson.
On Oneness
Posted on October 30 at 3:41 p.m.
Yum! I did not know this place existed but I will definitely be checking it out. And what a great location.
Good luck in your venture. And keep it healthy.
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Posted on May 26 at 12:22 p.m.
If memory serves, in the first year the pool opened, the L-cat and school buses departing from playgrounds were used to transport kids whose parents couldn't take them there. Response was poor and the service discontinued.
The fact is, the pool needed a 10 acre site to be built on and where it is now is where it was possible to find a site after much looking took place. Now that it is there, those who will use it need to be able to get there and a little encouragement could start a trend. Could the Rec Commission revisit trying to help in this capacity?
On The next step at Peter Pan