Well it’s here, the canary has flown it’s cage. John Skipper’s column today gives credence to what NIT has been saying for months; Fire Department and the Sanitation Department are now on the block. In a previous article I stated that there was $180,000.00 in overtime charges coming from the Fire Department….and then there is the union. We have a wonderful Fire Department here that does a fantastic job……leave it alone.
In his column Skipper talks about these issues using the metaphor of canaries being used to test the ideas. NIT already did that months ago. Skipper is the biggest canary this administration has, it is he who is brought behind closed doors at Five East to “test the water” through his column; today he does just that. He is that canary he speaks of. These issues are being feebly disguised as a “lean” initiative to save money for the city. I’ve got news for you; if the city wants to save money ax Trout, Eric and the idea of moving the desk. Shift Trout to driving a city bus, put Eric’s desk in the first booth in the nearest tavern closest to Five East and get serious with the idea of running this city by voting out the entire lockstep council.
It’s my opinion that Solberg has her hand in this casserole somewhere, especially in the Sanitation end. If a local firm is hired she will write their insurance for certain. If there are family ties through blood or marriage, then watch out. No one votes with Eric 100% of the time without some sort of payback.
Whatever you do, do not misjudge John Skipper; he is very bright and extremely talented at what he does. I figure he draws two paychecks for the same work, one from Lee Enterprises and another from Five East. Anyone who prostitutes themselves should get paid, that’s the way it’s always worked. John talked about calling your council representative to voice your concerns about the issues he brought forth; I agree, call them and tell them to go back in their room, the food trays are being delivered soon, and Eric will be stopping by with their pills right after that.
Peter Children
At the risk of sounding repetitive, who wants to further damage the economy of Mason City? Don’t you think that is what is going to happen if they privatize departments such as Sanitation?
Family A’s man of the house works for the City, makes a decent wage with benefits. Has a middle of the road home, a couple of vehicles, and takes a yearly vacation. If he follows the norm, his wife also works and cares for their 2.5 children.
Family B’s man of the house works for H, a private waste hauling firm. He has very limited if any benefits and makes half of what Family A’s man of the house makes. They rent a flat, have one vehicle, and the wife must work to help cover the bills. They rarely Holiday unless a parent helps them out with the air fare.
Which family contributes more to the local economy?
And if Family A’s man of the house looses his situation, you think he is going to stick around Mason City to work for less? He and his family are far more mobile, and a place like San Antonio with it’s growing economy will lure them away. Just call it shrinkage.
We have all seen the results of loosing the Holcim workers. Why would anyone want to follow that pattern, because it hurts all sides of the equation. More shrinkage! Think about it. Loss of retail sales, loss of tax revenue, lower real estate prices, lower average area wage. It goes against any formula I have ever seen for successful – Growing communities.
No one can show me a community which lowers the standard of living below third-world levels, that thrives and grows. You cannot show me one community in the U.S. that is growing and prosperous, that has such large chasm’s between it’s middle and upper class citizens.
Yet, that is exactly what this proposal suggests to do. And if you are a family somewhere in the middle, this does not bode well at all.
I also don’t understand all the references to Five East?
We once had a private ambulance service with Snells. Then it was turned over to the city which by the way the city does a fantastic job of serving Mason City with ambulance and fire service. If it’s not broke then don’t fix it. If overtime is an issue, then change the shifts. Any health care facility is run 24 hours a day, most of them with 3 shifts. A shift change would be alot easier than trying to privatize. As far as garbage, I have been against this from the very first rumor. Once again, the city provides very good service with picking up our garbage. Some have complained about sorting the recycling, well to me that’s just laziness. Takes all of about 5 minutes to bag or wrap the cardboard and paper and the rest goes in the bin. I wish this council of ours would listen to the public..how about just once? We don’t want or need private garbage, we don’t want or need private firefighters and ambulance service. I’m sure there’s much bigger issues at hand that the council should be spending their time on. Leave well enough alone with these two issues.
First of shift changes may be the solution. The fire dept is not open to that idea. When you work 9 days a month and have businesses on the side. Your career or full time job might interfere with your full time one. As far as sanitation goes. When you work 6 hours and get paid for 10 hours of work. I would not want to change either. Tell me how many other jobs you can think of that have that benefit.
Fellas… can’t we all get along?
As for Skipper’s column, here is how I took it:
Don’t talk about or write about the Mayor or Council. They can’t take it. They have a thin skin and can’t be criticized. They usually come up with really bad ideas and if you start talking about it you will figure out how lame and lazy these people are. So please, leave them alone and go about your business and let them run your lives in a vaccuum.
Thanks Mr. Skipper but NIT and the general public are watching and will talk all we please about the real problems in this town since City Hall refuses to address them.
I am assuming you are one of them.