11/18/10
My friends, you have read my missives which assert the opinion that Modesto government is, and has been, very badly managed. I have stated my reasons for this opinion, and today, I want to give you more evidence.
Please read today’s Modesto BEE’s editorial opinion about your city council’s “plan” for a better Modesto. A close read will expose, however, that what they have is actually a plan to have a plan. The BEE tells us that it is “not yet polished”.Let us examine what the editorial actually tells us.
First, the city council has adopted a staff document called a “strategic plan” for the “next several years”. The BEE admits that this plan “...a plan itself is insignificant with ways...to make it happen.” But, the council only “hopes” it will be implemented. And, they have 26 city employees to promote this “commitment” and ask you to “embrace it”.
Does this sound like bureaucratic B.S. which will cost you the salaries and benefits of 26 employees? At an average of $80,000 per employee, that would be $2,080,000 for this nonsense. But, let us try to be fair. The BEE tells us that they have 6 “commitments” that you are encouraged to “embrace”. Allow me to list these “commitments”, and give you my assessment of same.
1. “Build and promote partnerships that engage neighborhoods and create a sense of community.” Please, someone, tell me what that means. If they knew how to do this, WE WOULD ALREADY HAVE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY!
2. “Provide a safe and inviting community...”. Is this an admission of failure, that Modesto is not safe? If they had not failed to accomplish this, WE WOULD ALREADY HAVE A SAFE AND INVITING COMMUNITY!
3. “Provide an innovative and accountable city government...” Yet another admission of total failure. They must not know how to accomplish this either, OR WE WOULD ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNTABLE CITY GOVERNMENT. In fact, the City Manager could provide an accountable government today, if he wished to do so. Apparently, that is not his chosen “flavor of the month”.
4. “Foster a vibrant, competitive and diverse economic environment for business.” Since we know that Modesto government is grossly anti-business (mill tax, fees, no parking, lousy roads), what makes us believe that they know how to do this? What has our government been doing for the last 20 years?
5. “Champion education partnerships.” What the heck does that mean, and why should the city council butt into the school system’s horrible problems? The city should solve its own problems before meddling in other’s.
6. “Promote Modesto”. For me, this is the clincher. The council must be admitting that no promotion has been done, or if they tried, they failed. WHAT MAKES US BELEIVE THEY KNOW HOW TO DO THIS, IF THEY HAVE NOT ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED IT? Let us look at their language. “Build and promote”, “Provide”, “Provide”, “Foster”, “Champion” and “Promote”. T
he BEE tells us that “...the document doesn’t refer to goals...”. What they have adopted is just a list of platitudes, sophomoric wishing for a brighter day. There are no specifics; “provide” and “foster” cannot be measured, there is no way to tell when they have been successful. Just between you and me, I am damned tired of this baby talk about visioning. It reminds me of the “Visioning Project” of the mid 1990’s.
Remember, it listed the vision “To have enough clean air to breathe, and enough clean water to drink.” Is that psychobabble, gaseous blathering, bureaucratic gobbledygook, or just plain ape guano?I am damned tired of these non-thinkers who spend huge amounts of time and tax money to tell us about what they plan to have a plan to do. But they can not accomplish anything unless you embrace it.
Then, trust me, the next thing they will tell you is that in order to fulfill the “commitments” you have “embraced”, they will need to raise your taxes. And your water, electrical and sewer fees. AND they need a LOT more tax money for cops and firefighters.
Wait and see.You may message me and tell me where I am wrong.
Thanks,
Dave
