A fine line
Everyone believes that our country is in a struggle between the leftist Democrats and the right-wing Republicans. The truth of the matter is, it is a struggle between Constitutionalists' and the Socialist/Communist people of our society.
There is a fine line.
Either you respect and hold true the tenets of the Constitution of the United States or you do not. The current socialist government does not and has corrupted and defiled our rights to such a degree it is unfathomable. The pandering to fascist Islamic extremists such as Iran and the blind eye turned to Syria, N. Korea and Hamas is shameful.
The sell-out of our national debt to communist governments is self-evident. The government bail-out of major industries is a slap in the face to those who are true capitalists.
Japan is second only to China in the debt owed by America. Japan is now calling for the exchange currency to be in yen and China has, but to follow suit to cause America to plummet into Zimbabwe-type inflation. Our U.S. dollar will be useless and a loaf of bread may cost up to $1 million, if we are lucky. It is too late and we have sold our souls to the communist devil - all with the blessing of the left-wing elite.
How foolish are the people in that they don't understand a government handout comes with a cost that is so excessive, that it can only be paid with our freedoms? We will become sheeple of the government, not the people our founding fathers were adamant about, who control and direct the (small) government.
I pray I am wrong, but simply do the research and you will find I am not. I truly pray that our great country will not be divided against and plummeted into a civil war, with the God-fearing, gun-owning, freedom-loving Constitutionalists versus the left-wing, socialist sheeple. However, I fear now, that it is inevitable. If you read the Bible, you will see those prophesies are materializing before your eyes.
Mick Ellison
Melbourne
About the Peace Prize
Regarding the "Peace Prize is inspiring" screed from Ms. Patricia Elgee, in the "Letters" section on Oct. 23:
First a question: What planet are you living on? What could Obama possibly have done in 10 months of malfeasance and floundering to merit such an honor?
The award was obviously given to poke another finger in George Bush's eye (how do you spell Al Gore)? It's obviously never too late to "Blame Bush."
Your letter was taken verbatim from DNC and MoveOn talking points and as such your arguments are lacking in credibility or original thought. Obama and the Democrat party are doing their best to bankrupt and destroy what was once a great nation. They will not be happy until we are all living in a socialist/ communist nation.
It is obvious that when it comes to the politics and motives of those evil men in power, you cannot see the forest for the trees. I heartily recommend that you do some research before parroting those who wish to destroy us.
C.D. Lueders
Melbourne
It's more than an election
Will someone please tell President Barack Obama that he was elected to provide leadership and guidance in running the country, not to traipse around the country in an effort to increase the number of Democrat voters and expound the benefits of an America totally controlled from Washington, D.C.
James H. Bragg
Melbourne
A city that acts fiscally irresponsibly
This is how best to describe the policies undertaken recently by the Titusville City Council as fiscally not responsible.
We all know the economic debacle that we are facing. Looming in the not-too-distant horizon are anywhere from 4,000 to 7,000 employees that will be laid off from the Cape as the federal government retracts funding for the space program.
Moreover the housing market in this area is expected to worsen with another wave of bad mortgages coming along. The result is that those that were employed by the Cape will be leaving this area.
However, one group that does not seem to get this is the Titusville City Council.
I attended their last budget workshop and it is at that point that all five members of council voted to increase not only property taxes but increase the rate for water and stormwater drainage.
At the end of that particular meeting, I saw how all council members and the staff were all smiles as if they were having a big celebration. Of course, we the taxpayers are the ones that have been stabbed in the back by this irresponsible action. Such is what appears to be the arrogance exhibited by the members of council and their staff.
I went to the following City Council meeting. I addressed council as to the outrageous actions they undertook. They are hiring two code enforcement officers. For what? To code enforcement on foreclosures?
I expressed the concern that there are those in our community who live on fixed incomes. If they did not pay the property taxes then they could lose their homes via government confiscation.
Immediately, after I made that remark, one of the council members stated that this government does not confiscate homes, which is such a ridiculous and absurd remark that I had no other choice but to laugh at.
Who is the entity in charge of asserting a lien against a property when the property taxes have not been paid? It is the local government and then an investor can take over by collecting taxes and also coercing the owner of said property to have to pay interest. Otherwise that investor can take over the property with the blessing of the city of Titusville. Hence government confiscation comes into play. What would happen if a property owner fails to pay the assessments? Same result and it is commenced by the city of Titusville. Thus the assertion raised by this particular council member is to say the least insulting to the intelligence of we the people. It is all semantics and just trying to sugar-coat it.
I have addressed council many times throughout the years on the need to bring forth reforms and lower property taxes. Eliminate duplication of services. For example, there is no reason why the Titusville Fire Department should not merge with the Brevard County or Titusville Police Department to merge with Brevard Sheriff's Office. Additionally, I have asserted many times on the necessity of privatizing government functions where savings of between 15 to 30 percent can be realized.
Also, council should not be subsidizing the Space Coast Economic Development Council. It needs to be spun off into its own nonprofit corporation. It is no wonder that to open a business, one has to pay more than $100 for a tax receipt while in Cocoa one only pays $35.
The Council could eliminate impact fees to be able to facilitate the construction of new businesses in the area. Brevard County took that action. Titusville again has failed to follow suit to broaden the tax base.
The council has failed to even consider these ideas along with others that certain citizens have expressed for an economically prosperous town. This area has had the potential to become a new Silicon Valley
The council has failed to stimulate the local economy by providing true incentives for businesses to relocate to this area. In speaking to some business owners, their opinions are that this city is a hostile area for businesses.
Thus due to these and other failures on the part of this council and past council, Titusville may be at the edge of a fiscal meltdown. The council has also failed to diversify its economy in case there were to be massive layoffs at the Cape. I have addressed council on this lack of inaction of their part in the past. Again, they turned a deaf ear to these concerns. Now the concern I have held, appears to be materializing.
One action that we the people can undertake would be obtaining required signatures to place an amendment to the city charter where the following would take place if the voters approved it:
. Any proposed tax increases or assessments where the amount exceeds 3 percent would automatically have to be voted upon by the citizens.
. Up to 3 percent an assessment or property tax may be increased only based upon the consumer price index or population increase whichever is the lesser of the two.
I get the impression that our local government has become the enemy of we the people.
Of course what would you expect when our local council is emulating tax-and-spend actions like Washington D.C.
Finally, in 2010, three council seats will be up for election or re-election. All that is needed is to elect three new truly fiscally conservative individuals to council and restore fiscal soundness to Titusville.
Al Gutierrez
Titusville
Mark K. Ryan, city manager of Titusville, responds:
It is never an easy decision for any elected body to vote to raise taxes and in this economic environment, with high unemployment and depressed housing prices, this decision was especially difficult.
During two budget workshops and two public hearings, lasting more than 23 hours, budget discussions focused on staff's efforts to reduce costs while still delivering an acceptable level of service. Among the cost savings measures contained in this year's budget were additional staffing reductions which, over the past three years, have brought the number of city employees to the lowest level in the last 10 years, a period in which the city's size expanded nearly 30 percent to 30 square miles and population grew nearly 10 percent to 45,000.
While staff size was reduced, the requirement to deliver goods and services to our citizens continued to increase. Additional cost savings measures implemented, including pay and hiring freezes, deferring of construction and capital projects and deferring the purchase of police and fire vehicles.
City Council deliberated at length regarding this year's budget and ultimately voted 5-0 to set the millage rate at 4.8 percent above the rolled-back rate (which is the rate that produces the same tax revenue as the previous year.) This 4.8 percent increase generated $483,000 in revenue above last year's amount and was earmarked for two specific purposes:
1) $360,000 for additional road resurfacing efforts and
2) $123,000 to provide additional code enforcement personnel to increase the city's code enforcement efforts.
Renewing the city's road infrastructure at a time when both labor and raw materials costs are at very favorable levels (nearly 40 percent below the costs of just a year ago) made for a compelling argument, in effect we put more money into road resurfacing to prevent their structural failure, which would require their reconstruction at a cost many times that of resurfacing.
Another area of council focus is that of improving curb appeal. One of the tools that a city has to reach this goal is to increase code enforcement efforts and the additional funds provided to code enforcement will allow staff to become more focused at enforcing our municipal codes.
The decision to increase the amount of property tax revenue by 4.8 percent was not done without considerable review and analysis proposed operating and capital expenses and with an eye toward more efficient delivery of goods and services. Even with the 4.8 percent increase, Titusville still has the second lowest ad valorem tax per resident in Brevard County. Numerous cost savings measures were implemented and the fiscal year 2010 budget as adopted by Council will allow the city to continue to deliver an acceptable level of goods and services to its residents as well as making some progress in closing the funding gap in our road resurfacing program at a time when labor/material prices are extremely favorable.
In reference to the smiles exhibited by the city council and staff at the conclusion of the Sept. 24 meeting, this was in reaction to the finance director's response to concluding more than six months of hard work and 23 hours of dialogue with the elected body.