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Saturday, May 22, 2004
pissing match
Dave Copeland, posted about ProfNet and how reporters sometimes just use the service to find "experts" to say the right things in a story where they already have decided the slant. As his first example he posted the inquiry from a Fox News reporter -- showing a clear right-wing bias.
Apparently ProfNet is one of those little secrets that other reporters aren't wild about the general public knowing anything about it, and the post was picked up by Romenesko and Gawker. Much attention followed. Cope also offered a more detailed explanation as to why he did that post.
A tech journalist with a blog named Dan Gillmor read about what Cope did, but didn't look closely at the post or his reasons. Instead, he assumed that since Cope is also a reporter at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the post was merely to show left-wing bias, since anyone who worked at the Trib is, like the owner, clearly a right-wing ideologue fully embracing the beliefs of the owner.
Gillmor has since updated the post to elaborate on his thoughts, and sort of correct his error in the bias exposed, though it remains clear that he hasn't read any of what Cope actually wrote. This despite Dave, graciously leaving links to his actual posts in the comments.
I suppose this was because the reasons why was not the point of Gillmor's own post. Gilmor wanted to get to the subject of journalistic transparency. He's actually in favor of it.
So in the interest of helping Gillmor with his own transparency, it should be noted that his tech column is also run in the rival paper of the Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It might help to explain why he needs to make Cope part of the vast right-wing conspiracy.
Final note, I've e-mailed with Cope before, and hopefully this fall we'll meet before a Pitt football game for a beer.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Eastlake Is Still Broke
At the bottom of my post yesterday, I noted that Jakse Park appeared not to have been mowed in at least 2 weeks (judging by the very high grass). On my way to run an errand, I took a drive past it, and saw that it had recently been cut. My guess is that they are going to stretch a bit longer between cuts.
Looks like on top of all of the other financial issues, Eastlake owes a few former employees a lot of money for unused vacation and sick time:
As Eastlake sits in a state of fiscal emergency, it must dole out more than $150,000 in unused sick and vacation time to its former mayor, finance director and recreation director.
City council members are less than thrilled with the news that the city owes former Mayor Dan DiLiberto $45,972, former city Finance Director Jack Masterson $54,945 and former city Recreation Director Michael Hutchinson nearly $50,000.
According to the City ordinances, the money must be payed as a lump sum, not in installments. DiLiberto had more than 1,000 hours in unused sick and vacation time. Masterson had more than 1,500. Many act outraged, I find myself shrugging. This is never a surprise when a longtime fixture in a municipal government leaves (at least in Ohio), a similar result just took place in Lakewood when their longtime mayor finally lost an election. She had some huge number of hours built up over the years.
Having never worked in the government sector the tradition of allowing unused vacation and sick hours accumulate without ever expiring used to puzzle me. Then I realized that those who could change the law are the same people who benefit from the present situation. They can express their outrage when a member leaves and the news of how much they are collecting leaks out, but they won't actually do anything about it. They have to bide their time until it is their turn to collect.
The Lake County paper, the News-Herald has an editorial supporting the Eastlake plan to get out of the red.
Although acting Mayor George Spinner said he will be going over the report as soon as possible with representatives of the auditor's office, he indicated that both the administration and city council "anticipated the declaration and have a plan in place to eliminate the deficit and to ensure that it doesn't happen again."
His statement that the goal is "to remove the city of Eastlake from fiscal emergency as soon as possible," while adding, "this is a very difficult time for the city of Eastlake, but we will recover and be stronger because of it," should be a confidence builder for residents.
With strong leadership from Spinner and council President Chuck Hillier, plus the input of state officials, Eastlake residents can reasonably conclude that full recovery is only a matter of time.
...
The recovery plan is based on four elements that have been previously cited: 1) passage of a 3-year, 2.3-mill safety forces levy on Aug. 3, 2) implementation of a garbage collection fee of $12 a month, 3) a savings of $1.2 million from laying off 19 workers in 2003 and 2004, and 4) selling two city-owned properties.
Awaiting a state auditor's report, plus hearing the words "fiscal emergency," are not pleasant circumstances. Nevertheless, the auditor's report was not the jolt that it might have been, and the city is well positioned to pull through the situation with the guidance of the people it has in office and with the understanding of its residents.
Of this "plan," only two parts can be actually be assured: the layoffs and the garbage collection fees. The other two are big question marks. As I wrote yesterday, how eager will Eastlake residents be to pas this levy in addition to paying a monthly garbage collection fee? I'm guessing that they are hoping for a very low voter turnout.
Then there is the sale of the city properties. They seem to believe that they can get market value for the properties. It's a short-term fix at best. They may get the market value and save some money on no longer having to maintain the property, but dollars to donuts says they will have to give property tax abatements to the buyer. Given the abundance of office space, vacated buildings and land in Eastlake and the surrounding area that would be the only way they could sell the land.
My personal opinion is that there are going to have to be some deeper cuts in the Eastlake budget to get out of the red and have real stability in the long term.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Really, Really Broke
Ohio has taken over the fiscal authority for my fair city, Eastlake. A recently concluded audit showed that the city's deficit was not merely $3.2 million, but $4.5 million. As a result, Ohio Auditor, Betty Montgomery, declared Eastlake a "fiscal emergency."
This means that a state appointed commission will be created to develop a financial recovery plan. The members will be "representatives of the state treasurer's office, state office of budget and management, the mayor, City Council president and three residents who have at least five years of business or financial experience." Governor Taft picks the residents. Once the commission is formed and has their first meeting, Eastlake has 120 days to submit a financial recovery plan for them to approve. The commission has within its authority.
*The authority to review all revenue and expenditure estimates to determine whether they result in a balanced budget.
*The authority to require the government to establish monthly levels of expenditures and encumbrances consistent with the financial plan.
*The authority to approve and monitor these levels, to approve the amount and purpose of any debt issued, to make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary to the performance of its duties, and to make recommendations for cost reductions or revenue increases to carry out the financial plan.
Remarkable timing that Mayor DiLiberto resigned only one month ago for "health" reasons, and right after he learned he could resign and receive full disability state pension. I'm sure DiLiberto will be well received throughout Eastlake, especially since he was part of the reason for the problem. It was his budget estimates in 2001 (when he was pushing for a minor league ballpark) for the next three years that led to this. He overestimated the amound of income tax revenue the city would receive.
That leaves Acting Mayor, George Spinner, out there trying to be positive.
"The state auditor's office declared the inevitable today," the acting mayor said Tuesday.
"We, city council and the administration, anticipated the declaration and have a plan in place to eliminate the deficit and to ensure that it doesn't happen again. We intend to work cooperatively with the state auditor's office. Our goal is to remove the city of Eastlake from fiscal emergency as soon as possible.
"This is a very difficult time for the city of Eastlake, but we will recover and be stronger because of it."
The plan is to have the deficit erased in 3 years. This is the plan:
* Asking residents to pass an additional 2.3-mill safety forces levy on Aug. 3. The levy would yield about $1.2 million a year for five years for a total of just more than $6 million.
The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $5.87 a month, or $70.44 a year, according to the Lake County auditor.
* Implementing a garbage collection fee of $12 a month for residents, which began in April. The garbage fee will bring in $763,452 in 2004. If council does not rescind it, it would bring in about $1 million in a full year.
* The city expects to save about $1.2 million from laying off 19 workers in 2003 and 2004, said Human Resources Director Donna Vaughn.
* City officials hope to sell two city-owned properties - The JFK Senior Center and a former fire station. Council hopes to sell the fire station for no less than $125,000 and the JFK Senior Center building for around $600,000.
This hardly looks like a great plan. Getting a new real property tax approved, while also making residents pay for garbage collection -- using the example above of the $100,000 home means an additional tax of more than $210 per year. What makes them think the voters are going to want to approve the additional levy? Who is going to buy the property in the first place, and how eager to buy will anyone when you are raising property taxes? I moved into Eastlake in mid-2001. In that time city and county property taxes have been raised for schools, libraries, the ballpark, and I think for the police and fire. The residents turned down a larger general fund levy increase in November. I guess they are just hoping for a low turnout in August.
Then there is the other part of the story, that the local News-Herald chose to skip, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer did note -- the minor league ballpark costs to the city. The minor league ballpark problems didn't directly cause the budget problems (though I would argue that part of the reason for the overestimation of income tax revenue was based on DiLiberto trying to make it look like money wasn't a problem in Eastlake), but it looks to be a huge matter in the future (which makes it unlikely that the commission should approve the city's present plan)
But Spinner called the budget deficit and stadium debt a "two-headed dragon" that is threatening the city's financial health. He and others have acknowledged that taxpayers may eventually have to help pay off the $25.6 million the city owes on the stadium and related projects.
DiLiberto pushed to build the ballpark, which opened in April 2003, with the promise that it would be self-supporting. The financing plan envisioned receiving millions of dollars from naming rights and government grants. None of that money has been delivered.
Eastlake has enough money left in the stadium fund to make loan payments this year and probably next. But Spinner has said that even with the promised money, the stadium likely will not produce enough revenue to cover the city's loan payments for the project.
So, this supposedly self-supporting thing has already been receiving plenty of city money -- in addition to the money it received from direct tax revenue -- and it looks like it will continue to demand money from the city, threatening the financial stability. Wonder how "phenomenally successful" the Lake County Captains looks to the Plain Dealer Editorial Board now.
I am going to have to assume that the nearby playground, Jakse Park, will not be opening the pools this summer. It also may explain why when Angie and I went there on Friday, the grass appeared not to have been cut for a couple weeks.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Colorado Football Firings -- All or Nothing
Writing about the Colorado Football scandal back in February, I wrote this about the Head Coach, Gary Barnett:
Instead, he has been revealed to be an even bigger sleaze (or at least sloppier and more obvious) or has worked so hard to build walls to create plausible deniability for absolutely everything going on in the football program.
The independent commission examining it, has issued its report, and call it the latter.
In a blistering report that stopped short of calling for firings, an investigative panel said Tuesday that sex, alcohol and drugs were used to lure football recruits to the University of Colorado and lax oversight by top university officials is to blame.
The panel's report said there was no evidence officials condoned misconduct, but it suggested they were lazy or simply ignored what was going on in the top athletic program at the state's flagship university.
...
The report said Barnett and his staff failed to provide sufficient oversight of football recruits and he personally did not follow protocol following reports of sexual assault or harassment at least twice.
The report also singled out Athletic Director Dick Tharp and Chancellor Richard Byyny for criticism, suggesting both failed to pay proper attention to what was going on.
The panel did not call for job changes, but said university President Betsy Hoffman must decide whether all three men are capable of changing the culture, structure and reporting systems at the Boulder school.
It also called on the regents to decide whether Hoffman herself can restore the university's "integrity and reputation" after a scandal that drew national scorn and criticism from Gov. Bill Owens.
Naturally, Coach Barnett sees the report as, uh, vindicating him.
Suspended University of Colorado football coach Gary Barnett said Tuesday he felt vindicated by a report that found he didn't condone recruiting abuses but faulted him for lax oversight.
"I'm not relieved, because I didn't expect them to find anything. I'm not happy because I didn't want to go through this process. Vindication is probably the best word," Barnett said.
...
Asked about Barnett's assessment that he had been vindicated, university spokeswoman Michele Ames said, "Mr. Barnett can read the report the way he wants. President Hoffman will be making a decision by the end of the month."
Barnett has maintained he has done nothing wrong and said the report bore that out.
"I knew there wasn't anything there, so I knew they weren't going to find anything," Barnett said. "Hopefully, sometime soon, I can get back to work and get done all the things that need to be done."
The report criticized Barnett for failing to properly monitor recruits and not following proper protocols in reporting sexual assault and harassment. It characterized him as someone with an "unproductive, defensive attitude" who resisted some recruiting changes.
You get the feeling the report has characterized him rather accurately.
Either Barnett's an idiot, has no clue, lives in his own world, and/or is going with pure spin at this point. It's hard to tell. That report, if the characterizations are accurate puts immense pressure from the top down for Barnett's termination.
Look at the flow chart. They put pressure on the University of Colorado President, Betsy Hoffman, to make real changes in the system by questioning her ability to lead the university through this and institute the changes.
The report then singles out three others below her (Barnett, the AD and the Chancellor) who the commission wouldn't say should be fired instead punting it back to Hoffman. Thus putting further pressure on her to show strong leadership and prove that she can do the job. The Chancellor may survive, but I have to believe that the AD will be kicked to the curb. And if he goes, then Barnett loses another ally. Even if Barnett somehow survived, it wouldn't be for long with a new AD charged with cleaning up the joint.
Barnett is history. It all comes down to the money they give him and the amount of blame he will take to leave.
Perfect
Caught the last 4 innings of Randy Johnson's perfect game. I had been slogging my way through a viewing of the Pacers-Heat game six -- I have been impressed by Wade, but the game was painful and ugly to watch. Over 50 free throw attempts, neither team shooting better than 32%, and the total points barely cleared 140.
They mentioned that Johnson was pitching a perfect game against Atlanta. Switched immediately to TBS and stayed there (occasionally flashing back to check the score).
Wow. He struck out 13, had 7 ground outs and 7 fly outs. Threw 117 pitches and the game was over in 2 hours and 13 minutes.
From the point I started watching, it wasn't even close. Nothing was hit that hard. There were no tough plays to save the perfect game. Johnson was in complete control.
I envy the fans at the game. I have always wanted to be at a game when just a no-hitter is thrown. They got to see the perfect game.
Maybe I Will Watch Again
Now that he is leaving the show, I might find more of it watchable.
After six years as a mainstay of the SNL cast, Jimmy Fallon announced that he was leaving the show during Saturday's season finale, which was hosted by the Olsen twins.
I never found him that funny, and the fact that he could rarely get through a sketch without nervously, annoyingly laughing at himself made it even worse.
Growing Girl
April was a miserable month for Angie. She was fighting genetics and lost. Her mother has asthma, which really got bad during the month, and my allergies kept me battling all month. While she hasn't developed asthma, it seems the allergies were hitting her rather harshly -- a cold, couple sinus infections, bronchiolitis -- all during April and the first week of May.
Then they were gone. She's healthy again, and it's kind of embarrassing to admit that I had almost forgotten how happy and pleasant she can be. I was just chalking it up to her approaching 2nd birthday and that she was hitting the terrible 2s a little early. She still has plenty of dramatic moments in the course of a day. The demonstrative flop and screaming when she doesn't get what she wants is a little tiresome after a while, but, judging by what I've seen at some of her play classes, common and something I should probably expect to see for at least another year or so.
I do hope the attempted headbutts to my jaw when I have to pick her up when she tries to run from us in the store or take something that she knows she shouldn't stops soon. Most of the time I am prepared and evade the shot, but she still lands a few.
She started counting this past week. Not yet 23 months and she can count and recognize numbers. We were watching Teletubbies (we've banned Barney, but I've conceded the Tubbies) and they usually have a sequence where they have the same teletubbie appear on the screen {Plop}, pause, "One Po." {Plop} "Two Po." {Plop} "Three Po." And so on. She pointed at the screen and started saying the number before the voice would. She got all the way up to 10. She has even taken to pointing at the numbers and saying them on some of her toys. She tends to skip "five," for some reason.
"One, to-ooo, tree, fooor, sicss."
"Five... then six."
"Fi-ive."
"Very good, Angie."
"Sicss, se-efen, eight, nine, ten!" She always ends ten with a very triumphant shout. Knowing she has pulled off quite a feat.
Today is open play time. The wife signed Angie up for Gymboree Play classes last September. The wife takes her to those, because I have a hard time getting the necessary enthusiasm generated to go with the teacher to try and convince Angie to do things. I've gone on occasion when the wife was really tired or not feeling well. It's something of a guy thing, because the occasional other token father there would be the same way. Angie and the wife seem to enjoy the classes, though, and it's good for Angie to get some socialization with other kids (though not everyone feels the same way).
The one thing I do, is take her to the "open gym" once a week. This was especially vital from about October to last week. With lousy weather, and only so often we can go to the mall play area, this place was vital. An hour and a half to let the little one run all over the place in a safe, indoor setting. Things for her to do. Other kids. Lots of parents to supervise.
The only thing I'd be in dread of, Gymbo the Clown.
Now, I'm not one of those people who live in fear of clowns. Don't really care. It's just that I have a sick mind, and this messes with it. Every now and again, they would forget to put away this 36" stuffed clown. The kids would fight over it. Everyone wanted to drag and carry it around. And there was the problem. It's a 36" floppy stuffed toy. Invariably, the kids would end up holding it at the waist. The clown torso would fall forward, arms dragging on the ground. A little kid would get so happy and excited to be holding the clown that he or she would start doing that kid bonce. Where they don't actually jump but they squat slightly and pop upright. You have to see these kids holding the bent over clown at the waist, against their own waist. They are doing this convulsing bounce making both them and clown look like they are, well, you picture it.
I then have to pretend that I don't see this, and feel kind of awkward for thinking in such a sick way. All of the mothers seem oblivious to it.
Thankfully, the clown hasn't made an appearance in over a month. We only have a couple more of those open gym classes. They end for the summer. That's fine. Angie and I have been making almost daily trips to various parks and playgrounds.
Monday, May 17, 2004
A Graphic Demonstration
Don't think Israel's aggressive actions against Palestinian terrorists and the construction of the security fence aren't making a difference? Then you need to see this graph charting attempted suicide bombers and successful ones in the last 3+ years (via Meryl).
The primary job of the government is to protect the safety of its citizens. That is what Israel is doing. I'll have to forward this to the Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial Board next time they argue the Security Fence doesn't make a difference.
Follow The Money
Gay marriage goes legal in Massachusetts today, but it doesn't mean all that much to me. Still, I feel I should point to something. So how about an editorial from the vaguely center-right-libertarian newspaper radical rightwing-Scaife owned-puppy eating-propaganda spewing-rag, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on this year's "Gay Day" in Orlando. Bet they have some mean things to say.
As the Christian Action Network and other social conservatives condemn what they believe will be inappropriate behavior by visitors during "Gay Days" in Orlando, Fla., the free market will encourage non-heterosexuals crowding Main Street USA to stay on the straight and narrow.
Gay Days, from June 1-7, invites gay and lesbians to vacation in the Orlando area. The promoters organize visits to Disney World and other theme parks, as well as schedule other activities for singles or families.
Detractors, including parents of children whose school trips to Disney World coincide with Gay Days, suspect the gathering promotes homosexuality. And of course, they are right.
Some of them also claim that the 135,000 anticipated visitors are more inclined to commit lewd or indecent acts in public.
According to a Disney spokeswoman, however, there were no more problems during Gay Days than during others, only more customers.
The free market could deserve some credit.
Gay Days claims corporate exhibitors or sponsors such as Bud Light-City Beverages, Sheraton World Resort, Disney's Visa Credit Card, Advanced Home Loans and Virgin Megastore.
Enlightened self-interest to retain these businesses, and to attract others, should help ensure that Gay Days remains family and corporate friendly.
Would that its detractors were as enlightened.
Now Things Get Interesting
Let's see the Bush twins top this (via Kaus).
I think I could really get into the Presidential elections if we get more photos of the daughters.
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