Mayo on the Side

Are all vegans/animal rights activists humorless?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:55:28 -0500

Back in college, a good friend of mine went vegetarian. Tamer was British, sensitive and a big fan of The Smiths, so it was only natural that once Morrissey started wailing about how “Meat is Murder,” he began forsaking the gustatory pleasures of the flesh.

I understood on an intellectual level, because I agree how nasty and wrong it is to eat animals.

But on a gut level, I never could go there.

I just love food of every species too much. It’s who I am.

Give me veal chops and lobsters, foie gras and fillet, chicken and ribs straight off the grill.

Mmm. Tasty.

Anyway, I always got a chuckle out of how Tamer would go to Burger King and order a Whopper: “Hold the meat, just the bun and the veggies, please.” He got a lot of strange looks.

“You can’t have a Whopper with no meat,” one cashier told him.

“I thought your slogan was, ‘Have it your way,’ ” Tamer replied.

I have to give him credit: He was a vegetarian who had a sense of humor.

Lately, I don’t know if they exist.

My most recent foray into the sanctimonious humorlessness of vegans and animal rights activists came with last week’s column on a protest at a rodeo for camp kids.

I have to admit, I restrained myself admirably. For space reasons, I took out the part about how the protest group’s director doesn’t have a cell phone because cell phone towers disrupt bird habitats and cause bird deaths.

I also took out this paragraph: “I told the activists I admired their passion and respected their right to protest. I didn’t tell them that my weekend plans included grilling up some nice juicy steaks and betting horse races at Calder.”

But I did leave this sentence after telling readers about a mother and 10-year-old daughter at the protest, both vegans. The girl never had a burger or ice cream in her life, and told me her favorite food was soy mac and cheese:

“Poor kid. I felt like buying her a Happy Meal.”

I heard from a few folks about it, but none more vehemently than Ivy B., a family friend.

Here’s her e-mail to me:

I really think it was wrong of you to take your article, which could and should have been about the protest, and turn it around to focus on a little vegan girl. I know it was only one line: "Poor kid. I felt like buying her a Happy Meal."
But it had a lot of impact on that little girl. She said in response: "Poor HIM. When people see it (happy meal/poor kid comment) they're going to think it's ridiculous and mean."

Believe me, Sarah is not deprived in the least. There are so many wonderful cruelty-free options out there today, including the most delicious, creamiest ice creams, that veganism is painless.

In fact, your newspaper not too long ago rated ice creams and So Delicious's coconut milk chocolate ice cream came in at the top spot. Not only that, but vegan treats are cholesterol-free, so even though they're just as fattening as the stuff made from butter, cow's milk, and eggs, they're still better for you and your heart--and the animals you save by opting for them instead.

And while you're at it, tell Jackie Tucker that the people concerned with animal rights, the people at the protest, are all vegan--none of them have steak, chicken, pork, or fish on their dinner plates.

Here is a poem written by Heather Leughmyer. I'm including it because it mentions your Happy Meal and it's a true testament to the wonderful way Michelle is raising Sarah--and you should give credit where credit is due. Instead of making a joke out of them, you should praise them and admire them. I know I do.

Letter to My Unborn Child

You’ll never watch an elephant standing on her head
You will see amazing acrobats and painted clowns instead.

You’ll never color Easter eggs or eat a “Happy” Meal
Instead you’ll give pigs belly rubs – You’ll know chickens dream and feel.

The clamor from the ice cream truck won’t be music to your ears
You will know your Soy Delicious caused no suffering or tears.

You may hear a gentle gobble as you softly stroke a turkey
And give thanks that she’s alive as you’re eating your Tofurky.

While other kids buy leather shoes and eat at Chucky Cheese
You’ll be kissing cows and feeding goats and saying “soy please!”

Being different can be hard I know - This world is often cruel
Maybe you’ll be laughed at by the other kids at school.

But compassion is a vital gift that too few share with others
And your heart will not be filled with guilt the way it plagues your mother’s.

So don’t ever be embarrassed or ashamed because you care
You’ll be uniquely beautiful with an empathy that’s rare.

And when you see a rescued lamb and touch his thick warm fleece
You’ll feel no sadness or remorse – You can look at him in peace.

What took so long for me to learn, I’ll start teaching you from birth
And your footprint will be much tinier on this fragile earth.

Please check out www.veganhealth.org and www.veganoutreach.org. It will tell you all you need to know about why people go vegan.

Thank you,
Ivy B

Sheesh, I guess that’ll teach me for trying to throw a humorous one-liner into an animal rights column.

OK folks, who deserves the skewering: Me or the vegans?

Now if you’d excuse me, I’m off to fire up the July 4th barbecue.

More reasons I hope to never live in a condo

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:03:44 -0500

Last month I wrote about Ida and Tony Pizzuti, an octogenarian couple from Dania Beach and longtime tenants of a condo who faced eviction because the building no longer allows renters.

I followed up with a column today, explaining how they might be able to stay when their lease expires tonight. The unit’s owner is willing to work out a complicated legal arrangement that will give them part ownership as long as they live.

Instead of monthly rent, they’ll make monthly equity payments (wink, wink).

The Pizzutis are fortunate that they have a landlord willing to take this step, so it looks like they’ll get a happy ending. At their age, they don’t need disruption and stress, especially after they’ve been model tenants for a decade.

The whole situation serves as reinforcement to me about why I’ll try to avoid condo living.

I thought the whole point of home ownership is to be king of your castle, and to have control of what you do with your property.

But when you’re in a condo or homeowner’s association, you’re at the mercy of somebody else.

There’s another condo story I heard lately that I thought would resonate in these difficult financial times, but because the woman didn’t want her name used I couldn’t write a full-blown column about it.

But it bothered me.

The nutshell story: A woman’s father had a unit in Century Village in Boca Raton. He died last year. Because of the current market conditions, the family hasn’t been able to sell it or rent it. She also lives in Century Village, in another building.

The family wanted to put the vacant unit to good use. The woman’s 38-year-old daughter has two children, 11 and 14, and has been struggling financially after a divorce.

The woman let her daughter and two granddaughters move in. Makes sense right? Why have an empty condo and a potential homeless family when you can put the two together? Especially when you consider the struggling family’s relative actually owns the unit.

But that’s not how things work in condo-land. The building is age-restricted, meaning only people 55-and-older are allowed to live there. So it didn’t take long for some folks to start complaining about the kids living there.

The condo association took action and told the woman her family would have to go.

Now I understand rules and everything, but I also understand hard times and the Great Recession.

Where’s our humanity, our compassion, our common sense?

“We have people in this country losing their homes, living in tent cities,” said the woman. “And now we have a perfectly good condo that is going to sit empty.”

Should condos ease up on the rules for hardship cases?

Feel free to discuss.

Does Madoff's wife deserve $2.5 million?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:56:00 -0500

Swindler Bernie Madoff will be sentenced today in federal court, small solace to thousands of South Florida investors whose life savings were wiped out in the massive Ponzi scheme.

Madoff is 71. Whether he gets 12 years or 150 years, he’ll likely spend the rest of his life in prison. (UPDATE: The judge sentenced Madoff to 150 years.) He’s already had his fun, living high on the hog on ill-gotten gains for decades.

The thing that intrigues me is what happens to his wife, Ruth. She wasn’t accused of wrongdoing, and doesn’t face criminal sanctions. But a lot of people wonder what she knew and when.

Ruth Madoff initially claimed assets of $80 million unrelated to her husband’s fraud, which would have left her with pricey mansions. A federal judge didn’t buy that, but let her keep $2.5 million.

Two point five mil?

Does that seem right?

That’s a lottery payday, not a punishment.

I don’t know the formula used to arrive at the number, or whether she brought assets into the marriage.

But letting her keep that much probably steams a few victims.

For that kind of money, she can buy a very nice oceanfront condo in South Florida and still have $2 million left over. Assuming a very modest 3 percent annual return of investment, she wouldn’t have to touch the principal and would earn $60,000 a year to live on.

That seems a little generous.

Something along the lines of $300,000-$500,000 might have been more like it.

And for those who say that wouldn’t be fair since she wasn’t charged, who says life is fair?

Any victims out there care to chime in?

Does FPL pay for kind words?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:26:51 -0500

If you head to one of the four hearings about FPL’s proposed rate increase today and Friday, you might be surprised how many speakers sing the utility company’s praises.

It happened at yesterday’s meeting in West Palm Beach.

Just as it will surely happen at today’s 9 a.m. hearing at the Broward Main Library (100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale), a 4 p.m. hearing at the Miami Science Museum and meetings tomorrow in Miami and Plantation City Hall (6 p.m.).

So what’s going on? Does FPL pack the house with shills?

A Public Service Commission source told me that FPL’s modus operandi is to urge people and organizations that have gotten FPL community/charity largesse (money) to come out and speak favorably about its service.

It’s legal, but it seems distasteful. But I suppose it’s all part of the rate-hike game.

I remember the same thing happened at hearings over FPL’s storm recovery surcharges a few years ago.

I guess another way of looking at it is all the people who come out to bash FPL are angry because they have to give FPL so much money. These folks are happy because they get FPL’s money.

(To read about one unhappy customer, here's my column for today's paper about a man whose neighborhood lost power for nearly 17 hours on Tuesday.)

Speakers should be forewarned. PSC Commissioners are allowed to question speakers after their remarks, so they might ask about relationships to FPL or other pertinent matters.

FPL supporters also seem to show up early to sign up, which means the early portion of hearings is dominated by them. And since these hearings are capped at three hours, the positive speakers can also monopolize time and crowd out others. (UPDATE: PSC spokeswoman Cindy Muir notes the three-hour limits listed on the schedule are not firm, with last night's West Palm Beach session running 4 1/2 hours and today's Fort Lauderdale hearing lasting 5 hours.)

If you have any interest in speaking, you should arrive early to sign up. You can also submit comments in writing to the Public Service Commission by snail mail, e-mail or fax. Refer to Docket 080677-EI, the FPL Rate hike.

Mail letters to the PSC Clerk, 2540 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL, 32399-0850. Or e-mail the commission at contact@psc.state.fl.us or fax 800-511-0809.

How would you revamp teacher layoff system?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:05:11 -0500

Now that the Broward School Board has OK’d the layoff of nearly 400 teachers, I’m wondering if there’s a better way to do it than by seniority.

Some speakers at Tuesday’s school board meeting said cuts should be made based on merit. Under the current system spelled out by union contract, it’s the last teachers hired who are the first ones given the boot.

Previous teaching jobs outside Broward don’t count toward experience. And previous non-teaching jobs for the Broward school district don’t count.

Earlier this week, I wrote about Volare Dunbar, who worked for the school district for 16 years but only spent one year as a full-fledged teacher.

Under the current system, her previous work as a teaching assistant and aide doesn't count. Her reward for moving up the ladder and getting her degree and certification: a pink slip after one year teaching third-grade at struggling Sunland Park Elementary.

We also have cases of teachers who’ve put in long stints in Miami-Dade or at private schools and then come to new schools such as West Broward High. They’re given the boot, too.

Would the union accept changes to base layoffs on merit, say based on recent evaluations? To do it based on test scores like the FCAT would be tough, because teachers in better neighborhoods/cities have a built-in edge.

If the union sticks with the seniority system, should there be a way to credit upwardly mobile workers such as Dunbar for their prior Broward work?

When it comes to their workers, the Broward Teachers Union seems to skew toward the interests of long-timers. We see it in salary increases through the “step system,” whereby recent arrivals get low salaries and small increases, but the long-timers get the bigger raises.

And we see it in the layoff system, where good young teachers (who are also cheaper for the district) might get sacrificed over veterans who've already qualified for a full state pension.

The union points out that there’s plenty of administrative fat, too, and that its suggestions to trim $100 million and spare layoffs was ignored.

Your thoughts?

Goodbye, Uncle Neil

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:27:01 -0500

I still can’t believe that we’ll never hear Neil Rogers’ voice on the South Florida radio airwaves again.

His 33-year local run is apparently over, abruptly ending on Monday with the announcement that he and WQAM have parted ways..

Even if he wasn’t your cup of tea, you have the give the man his due. He wasn’t a national megastar, but he was a legend. Our legend.

He was politically incorrect yet unabashedly liberal, an avowed atheist and openly gay man who was never afraid to call things like he saw them.

I knew something was up when I flicked on the radio just before 2 p.m. on Monday (not a day he’d be broadcasting on his relaxed summer schedule), and The Doors’ song The End was playing, along with a montage of Rogers’ classic bits and soundbites.

The end was sudden but not shocking. He signed a new contract last year, but was subjected to a humbling 50 percent pay cut.

Management neutered the show, trampling down on language and sophomoric body noises for fear of FCC regulators.

Arbitron’s flawed new people meter rating system wasn’t kind to him, dropping him from a ratings king to pauper virtually overnight.

Then came the final straw, the station’s inelegant removal last month of longtime producer/sidekick/fill-in Jorge Rodriguez as a cost-cutting measure.

Longtime listeners knew this wouldn’t end well.

Perhaps he’ll come back. Or perhaps, at 66 and happily ensconced in exile in Toronto, he’ll just while away his days at the Woodbine slots, blowing his severance a few quarters at a time.

Our loss.

I never met him, but I’ve spoken to Rogers on air plenty through the years.

The first time I went on, he shredded me pretty good. I had called in to defend myself after he ripped one of my sports columns. He called me something like a drunken Irishmen. I called in to correct him that I was actually a Brooklyn Jew.

By the time he finished with me, I had a voice mail from my boss telling me I might want to think twice about going on again.

Back in the 1990s, he used to mercilessly shred my girlfriend (a sportswriter who’s gone on to much bigger and better things). Some of the things he said were contemptible, but I couldn’t hold it against him. I always listened. He was entertaining. He made four hours fly. That takes talent.

For all his on-air bile and prickliness, friends and associates say that he’s a pussycat in real life, the nicest and most mild-mannered person around.

Above all, Rogers was a consummate professional, a broadcaster at heart who knew how to dial back the shtick in the face of crisis.

He had me on when I was in New York in the days following Sept. 11, 2001, and he let me describe what I’d been seeing. It was radio at its most elemental.

Good luck and God(less)speed, Uncle Neil.

You will be missed.

Will FPL get everything it wants in rate hike?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:51:42 -0500

Is FPL’s rate hike request a done deal?

Officially, no. The Florida Public Service Commission won’t make a final ruling on FPL’s bid for a $1.25 billion increase in base rates for 2010 and 2011 until the fall.

But it’s safe to assume our favorite electric utility will get a good chunk of what it wants.

If you like howling at the moon or spitting in the wind, you can vent at five customer hearings in South Florida this week. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek sample script in my Sunday print column. For a listing of meeting times and places, click here.

Here’s some interesting reading from Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency that also publishes stock research and analysis. Last week, the firm’s Outlook website highlighted FPL Group as its “focus stock of the week.” It rated FPL group a “strong buy” and projected the stock price (which opened this morning at $57.05) would have a 12-month target price of $68.

An excerpt from the report:

“This past March, FP&L filed a petition with the FPSC requesting an increase in its authorized rate base that, if approved as requested, could increase annual year-over-year retail base revenues by about $1 billion in 2010 and by an additional $250 million in 2011.
While we do not anticipate the FPSC approving the requested increase in its entirety, the regulatory environment in Florida has been historically constructive, and we expect FP&L to receive a good portion of the requested hike.”

I love that -- “The regulatory environment in Florida has been historically constructive.”

Translation -- Florida regulators don’t stand in the way of utilities (and their investors) from making big bucks, even in the toughest of times for everyone else.

So what’s going to happen? My best guess: The PSC will approve most of the hike, say $1 billion, but will partly delay the onset.

Instead of having a $1 billion increase next year followed by another $250 million in 2011, I could see the PSC leveling it out so that there’s a $500 million hike next year followed by another $500 million hike in 2011.

One more interesting tidbit: The Sarasota Herald-Tribune had this report on PSC commissioner Katrina McMurrian traveling to two conferences with utility executives, one hosted by a utility trade group in California and the other by Standard & Poor’s in New York. Her trips were paid by the organizations hosting the events.

Even with a base rate increase, FPL says bills will actually decrease overall next year because of a projected dip in fuel costs. But that’s a maybe. And since FPL supposedly doesn’t make any profit from fuel costs, it’s beside the point.

After traveling the state to hear from some of FPL’s 4.5 million customers, the PSC will hold its formal rate-hike hearings in Tallahassee in late August and early September.

A varied group of “interveners” has filed to formally oppose the hike, including state attorney general Bill McCollum, the Florida Retail Federation, the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, the city of South Daytona and Thomas Saporito, an energy consultant from Jupiter.

To have your say, send comments to the PSC Clerk, 2540 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL, 32399-0850. Or e-mail the commission at contact@psc.state.fl.us or fax 800-511-0809. Refer to FPL rate increase/Docket 080677-EI.

Making the FCAT grade: What does it mean?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:08:33 -0500

Broward and Palm Beach County public schools both got overall A grades in this year’s state FCAT rankings.

Is this cause for celebration, or just meaningless window dressing?

I suppose congratulations are in order. But with so many schools and districts around the state doing well, you have to wonder if the system is geared toward making everyone feel good even if the bottom-line fundamentals are lacking.

Instead of letter grades based on complicated formulas, here’s what I’d like to see. For each school, give us two numbers:

The percentage of students reading at or above grade level.

The percentage of students performing math at or above grade level.

And for high schools, throw in this additional number:

The graduation rate.

These numbers would tell me something. Saying a school went from D to a B in a given year tells little. Especially when you consider improvement among the lowest performers is one of the factors of a school’s grade.

It’s great if the lowest performers improve, but if they’ve gone from completely incompetent to horribly deficient, is that really cause for celebration? (Although I suppose it's a start).

One other thing: Two of the three Broward schools that got Fs this year are charter schools, independently-run schools that get public money.

Some cities have had big success with charter schools (such as Pembroke Pines), and Hollywood is now exploring the possibility of charter schools.

But some privately-run charters have struggled, especially those in areas where the public schools struggle.

It just shows there is no magic wand, and merely bringing some buzzwords and private management doesn’t change the fundamentals.

Educational success depends on kids equipped to learn. If parents and families don’t build a proper foundation, it’s almost impossible for any teacher or administrator to do the trick.

Will public worker benefits bankrupt us all?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:46:15 -0500

I wrote more about the budget battle between the Broward Sheriff and county commission for today’s paper, and my central question was this: When will elected leaders start leaning on public-worker unions for givebacks?

Given the new economic realities -- squeezed budgets, falling revenues, talk of layoffs and service cuts -- you’d think the logical thing would be going back to the bargaining table to readjust overly generous benefits that are from another era.

Because the path we’re on -- benefit and pension packages that make most in the private sector drool --- will lead to ruin of us all.

Of course, the unions won’t want to give up anything. But they’ve got to get real. If they want to continue on an unsustainable course, they could find themselves with nothing in the long run. Just ask the pilots at United Airlines and workers at General Motors about that.

And just Google the words “Vallejo, California and bankruptcy” to get a glimpse of what might be in store for local governments in South Florida.

I know talk like this isn’t making some of my union and police friends happy. I know some have dangerous jobs and most didn’t get into it for the money.

But when I read the details of the latest Broward Sheriff’s Office contract with the Broward Police Benevolent Association, I just think that something’s off-kilter. And it’s like that for police contracts throughout South Florida: to see all the Broward PBA contracts click here.

It’s one thing to have a decent salary and guaranteed (defined-benefit) pension. It’s another to be able to carry over months of sick time for decades and cash it out upon retirement. (Shouldn’t sick time be use it or lose it?)

And it’s another to be able to pad your final pension figures by racking up lots of overtime and including lump sum sick-time payments in the final years.

I’m not trying to pick on unions here. And to be sure, there’s plenty of other fat in other budget areas (and by all means, we should keep trimming that fat).

But I’m just facing reality: The biggest chunk of local government budgets goes toward labor and pension costs. And the Broward Sheriff’s Office uses more than half the revenue that Broward County collects in property tax.

I don’t know how we’re going to have a frank discussion about these matters, or how change will come without a major crisis, since local politicians usually kowtow to unions because of their political power.

One group that will try to start talking about it is the powerful (and business dominated) Broward Workshop. Incoming president Charlie Palmer told me the group will be taking a “rational and logical look” at these issues in the upcoming year and will advocate for change among local governments.

I say Amen to that.

NFL’s Stallworth plea: Justice by checkbook?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:03:47 -0500

Here’s the thing that bothers me about NFL player Donte Stallworth’s lenient plea deal for DUI manslaughter: It’s not so much the light jail sentence (30 days), as the troubling lesson that those who are able to write a big check to a grieving family can influence their criminal punishment.

So much for our justice system supposedly being blind.

So much for the law applying equally to all.

Stallworth admitted he was legally drunk when he fatally struck a construction worker improperly crossing a Miami Beach causeway in March.

Stallworth reached a confidential settlement with the victim’s family, and they agreed to a quick resolution to the criminal case that let him avoid a potential 15-year prison sentence.

“He’s being punished appropriately,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told the Miami Herald. “This is what the family wanted.”

That’s where this gets uncomfortable.

Because let’s say Stallworth, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, wasn’t wealthy. Let’s say the defendant was middle-class, and there was no settlement.

Without money, might the victim’s family have harder feelings and press for longer incarceration?

Since a victim’s family’s wishes are given considerable weight by prosecutors, that means the wealthy have a better chance of buying their way to sympathy and leniency than the non-wealthy.

That seems an unfair advantage.

Without doing a complete analysis of DUI manslaughter sentences for first-time criminal offenders, I can’t say for sure if the jail/prison time was out of whack. (If there are any lawyers or courtroom veterans out there who could give some perspective, feel free to chime in.)

But I do know plenty of people who’ve spent more than 30 days in jail on misdemeanor charges (not even convictions) of trespassing, shoplifting, public intoxication and resisting arrest. All were poor, and couldn’t afford the minimal bond to go free before the cases were resolved.

So you tell me there isn’t a double standard in our justice system.

One more thing to consider. Remember David Farrell, the former FBI agent involved in a crash on Interstate 95 that killed two brothers when one car was going the wrong way.

Farrell was acquitted of DUI manslaughter, but a Broward jury convicted him for DUI and reckless driving.

He got 90 days in jail.

Stallworth should consider himself very lucky.

Broward teachers get hard math lesson

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:18:15 -0500

Nobody likes to see teachers get laid off. They are mostly hard-working and underappreciated, often pouring themselves and their wallets into the job.

I’ve heard countless stories about teachers paying for their own supplies because of budget cuts, and we all know how teachers work on nights and weekends (without getting paid overtime), grading tests and reading papers.

So the news that 396 Broward district teachers have gotten layoff notices hurts.

But it’s simple math, really.

In the last five years, Broward public school enrollment has gone down 6.2 percent, from a peak of 272,691 to 255,738 last year.

That’s a loss of nearly 17,000 students.

So it’s only logical that fewer teachers are needed, especially during lean budget times.

This is what’s called a rude lesson in demographics and economics.

The 396 layoffs of some 16,500 teachers amounts to a 2.4 percent cut.

Even after the proposed cuts, the student to teacher ratio is at 15.88 to 1.

Here’s a surprising fact: When the school system’s population peaked earlier this decade, there were actually fewer teachers, only around 15,000.

For a while, teachers were added despite declining enrollment because of the class-size amendment.

Painful as it is, you could say these cuts are overdue and logical.

It’s a relatively simple equation: Fewer students = fewer teachers.

For a long time, Florida lived in a fantasy world predicated on never-ending growth.

Those days are over. Now more families are fleeing than arriving.

Until the trend changes, it’s only natural that schools shrink, too.

Obama Boulevard? Ugh, not yet

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:06:52 -0500

So the city of West Park has decided to name a street Barack Obama Boulevard.

My reaction: No way.

But then again, I’m opposed to naming any street, park or building after a living person, no matter how great, inspirational or saintly they may seem.

Because what do you do if they mess up?

That’s something Miami-Dade has dealt with in the case of former major-league slugger Jose Canseco. He had a street named after him, but then the honor was stripped after he admitted steroid use and had other off-field problems.

As a matter of practicality and principle, I say all naming honors should be bestowed upon the deceased.

Tops on my disgust list is when local politicians get parks named after themselves while they’re still in office. How immodest and self-aggrandizing.

Then there was the case of the Legislature renaming Florida’s Turnpike for President Ronald Reagan in 1998, even though Reagan had no Florida ties. It seemed ridiculous.

Now we have a Broward city naming a street for Obama during his first months in office. The signs won’t go up until July. (And those signs cost money, an unjustifiable expense given local budget woes).

I have to be consistent here and oppose this, no matter how much I admire the man or recognize his historical significance.

Please, let’s hold the Obama tributes while he’s president.

And let’s reserve naming honors for the dead.

What do you think?

Overtime and pensions: reader feedback

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:01:52 -0500

Got lots of e-mails after writing more about the Broward Sheriff’s Office overtime situation -- and the overall issue of generous public-sector employee benefits -- for today’s paper.

Here are some excerpts, from a variety of viewpoints.

From Valerie V.:

I found it interesting that you chose to lump teachers in with firefighters and police in your article this morning. Although teachers are part of the Florida State Retirement system our retirement is based on our base salary only. We also earn a lower percentage toward retirement than the police, firefighters, elected officials and judges.
We are not eligible for any overtime and when required to take summer classes to extend our certificate it is on our own time and our own dime. If we do gain access to additional pay through gaining National Board Certification (a rigorous two year
process) the pay associated with it is NOT allowed to count toward our retirement.

Your article is misleading to the public. Teachers are not compensated for ANY extra hours that they put in, and they put in many.

From Gary C.:

(Your column) covered only the tip of the iceberg. For example, you mentioned 12 days a year sick leave. Did you know that unused leave can be “banked” from year to year? I knew several employees of the County who built up 1500 – 2000 hours of unused time. Much of it can be “cashed in.” …There are also options to bank unused vacation time and cash them in. This cash vacation payout is also added to the calculations in determining pension amount.

From Gayle H.:

First of all, putting teachers in the column that speaks about overtime is a real insult. Teachers do not receive any type of overtime, yet probably almost all teachers work overtime, grading papers, lesson plans, etc.
I believe firemen and policeman may retire after 20 years, teachers must wait 30 years. I understand that they have a more dangerous profession, but teaching has become more dangerous in these times and we don't have a weapon to protect us.

Furthermore, if we invest in our teachers we wouldn't need as many policeman and need to build more prisons. Florida ranks 50th out of 50 states for money legislated for schools. I love what I do, but please don't drag teachers into this mess that other professions have created.

From Linda T.:

The bigger problem with the number of paid days off that public servants get as part of their "package" is that when they retire no one ever took a day off and they then receive a big whopping payout of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the sick and vacation days that they supposedly never took…
I had a neighbor who worked for the county. This guy went to work every morning and you could set your watch by him. However, he came home (with the county truck) sometime between nine and ten am and stayed home for hours, sometimes as much as six hours a day. He then went back to work, turned in his county truck and drove his own vehicle home. This was not an occasional thing. This was several days per week.

Guess what! When he got sick he miraculously had over nine months in sick and vacation time coming and collected his pay until retirement while he stayed home. He sold his house when he retired at the height of the crazy prices and moved to Georgia, all the while collecting his ridiculous county pension for a job not well done. It is definitely time for the various governments to rein in some of these benefits.

From Christina C.:

I am the wife of a Broward Sheriff's Deputy, and also a lifelong citizen of Broward County. I have 3 children; ages 1, 3, and 5. Yes, my husband worked overtime last year. And my kids CRIED on the Fourth of July because Daddy was late getting home to do fireworks because some poor soul blew his head off and dad had to stay late to clean up the mess.
My husband is off on Sundays and Mondays. Many of our days off our ruined when he gets called in for a court appearance. That's overtime. He has no control over it. Often times he calls the attorney over and over hoping to be cancelled, but it doesn't always work out that way.

His regular shift is 1330hrs-2130hrs. Sometimes he has to go in early for a court appearance. Good-bye to any plans that we had that morning, and again, I've got 3 upset kids because Daddy has to leave for work again and they won't see him til the next day.

Sometimes he has a late arrest. Sometimes he is responding to an emergency call that comes out near the end of his shift. Believe me, as far as I am concerned the citizens of this county could call up and schedule an appointment. That should reduce overtime.

From Joe S.:

I am sad to see that you and the other reports that have been reporting this issue have tried to sensationalize a situation in order to try and drum up readers on what is a failing business (newspapers).

You really appear from your article that you have no real sense of public employment or even the economy, just a idea that you think will upset people…

These workers originally took public service jobs at a time when most Floridians were making more than deserved money and the economy was soaring…It is sad that so many middle men (sales, reporters, etc) were making loads of money for doing relatively little work, and grew to believe they were entitled to it. Now, when things have caught up to those people and the economy is trying to correct itself the focus of these people (and you) goes toward the public servants.

Thanks all, and keep those comments coming.

More on Tri-Rail -- threats and thoughts

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:36:45 -0500

Some local Congressional types are making big noise about potential cuts to Florida’s transportation funding if Tri-Rail doesn’t get the money it needs from state and local authorities.

Gee, that makes sense, punishing a state of 18 million people because cash-strapped governments balk at paying for a system that carries around 14,000 weekday riders.

Tri-Rail faces service cuts in October, possibly rolling back to the same level as before a big federally-subsidized double-tracking project.

The commuter line’s executive director, Joe Giulietti, told me that service cuts might be averted if the executive board decides to use local gas-tax money for operations instead of long-term capital expenses. Giulietti said a decision will be made at a meeting later this month.

With $1.2 billion thrown into Tri-Rail over its 20-year existence, some say we’ve made too big an investment to let it wither.

I just wonder if we’re throwing good money after bad.

Here’s an interesting e-mail I received from Bob Poole, the director of transportation policy for the Reason Foundation, after I wrote a column about Tri-Rail last week. The Reason Foundation, which publishes the provocative Reason magazine, is a think tank that “promotes libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law.”

Wrote Poole, a Plantation resident:

“Thank you for being…brave enough to ask the question of cost-effectiveness when it comes to Tri-Rail. As a transportation professional, it’s been endlessly frustrating for me to read a steady parade of news stories and editorials always written as if Tri-Rail simply must be a wise investment because it’s rail and it’s transit and ‘it’s getting [a handful of] people out of their cars.’
But there are virtually never comparisons even with other commuter rail systems, let alone other forms of transit that might produce significantly more ridership per taxpayer dollar.

One of the most important things taught in Econ 101 is the concept of ‘opportunity cost.’ In simple language, this means that the real cost of spending money on X is the value of the alternatives that you could have bought with that money.

As you point out, spending $1.2 billion (so far) to take 14,000 riders a day off the roads…is pathetic.

No, I don’t suggest we should have used that money to buy each of them a nice car. But how much expanded express bus service (and nice bus shelters to keep people out of the sun and rain) could that money have produced?

The truly cost-effective alternative to Tri-Rail will come about when (as the Sun-Sentinel editorialized a week or two ago) the Express lanes on I-95 get extended all the way to West Palm Beach.

We can then have high-speed, reliable express bus service that for many people will be faster than driving all the way along this vital corridor. And at a small fraction of what has been spent on Tri-Rail.”

Your thoughts?

Broward Sheriff: Federal money could spare layoffs

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:48:21 -0500

Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said the July layoffs of 177 employees -- including 48 deputies -- could be averted if the agency’s bid for federal stimulus money succeeds.

Lamberti, locked in a budget battle with the Broward County Commission, announced the layoffs last month. He told me in an interview Monday that the Sheriff’s Office has applied for $14 million in stimulus money from the feds.

“We keep calling and checking to find out (the status), but we haven’t heard anything yet,” Lamberti said.

He expects a decision by mid-July.

“If we don’t get the stimulus money, there’s a very good chance they’ll be gone,” Lamberti said.

That is, unless there’s some sort of budget breakthrough with the commission to save the jobs.

All told, the Sheriff’s Office has proposed eliminating 264 positions, with some cuts coming by attrition. He insists the layoff proposal is necessary and real, and not just a headline-grabbing chess move in the budget battle.

“Some people going out the door have been here a long time and I know them personally,” Lamberti said. “It hurts. It’s tough times.”

Still, I wonder about some of the cuts, like eight inexpensive rookies just coming out of the police academy.

I asked how many of the proposed layoffs will be among double-dippers, veterans already earning a state pension in addition to their salaries.

He said none.

Hmm.

Couldn’t some layoffs be spared if the Sheriff cut back his overtime costs? The Sun Sentinel has found the agency spent $28.7 million on overtime last year, a topic I wrote about for today’s newspaper.

Lamberti said overtime among jail workers and fire-rescue has been dramatically cut this year, and that a certain amount of overtime for the law enforcement division is necessary.

“It’s part of doing business in a law enforcement agency,” Lamberti said. “If a school teacher calls in sick, you don’t cancel the class and send the kids home. If a county bus driver calls in sick, you don’t cancel the bus route. With us, it’s the same thing. And you have to have the appropriate level of staffing. You have to replace a sergeant with a sergeant.”

Lamberti also wanted to clarify some budget figures flying around.

It gets confusing, because the bulk of his agency’s budget comes from the county, but much of it comes from cities with BSO contracts.

This year’s total budget was $715 million, with around $450 million coming from the county’s general fund.

Next year’s proposed budget is $722 million, with almost the same $450 million coming from the county’s general fund (actually $100,000 less). Contract cities will pay a little more.

The county has said Lamberti has only offered $10 million in cuts, and Lamberti said his cuts actually total $35 million.

Why is anybody talking about “cuts” when the overall budget figure is higher and the county’s portion is the same?

Lamberti said it’s because they’re cutting back on programs, staffing and other expenses, such as property insurance and worker’s compensation benefits.

“If we did nothing, then the natural rise in costs just on the county side would have been $35 million,” Lamberti said. “We made cuts to bring the figure down to nothing.”

Only in government is the same level of spending considered a cut.

Orwell would be proud.