I would like to take a minute to welcome our newest (and returning) council members.
We got to see Tony Palmeri and Jessica King take a seat on the council this week. Along with them, we welcomed back Bryan Bain and after a year of "vacation" we welcome back Frank Tower as our newest Mayor. Congratulations to all.
Now it is time to get down to business. I am making a public plea to the City Council that I will also include in an email to each council member. This is something that I feel needs their attention and should be addressed.
To Mayor Tower and Oshkosh Common Council Members,
I would like to address an issue that is evolving within our school district that will have a great influence on city assessments for many years to come. As most of you already know, the school board has approved an open ended scenario 7 to be addressed by the administration. If this scenario is allowed to be brought to completion, it will mean a drastic reduction in property values in many areas throughout the city while stagnating growth on the south/west section of the city. This scenario is NOT a viable option for Oshkosh and should NOT be considered acceptable by this council. I plea with you step in and protect the cities interest in this matter. It will have a lasting negative effect on this city and should not be allowed to be completed. Further scenario discussions should include City Administration to represent the council and homeowners/taxpayers.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kent Monte
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7 comments:
I agree...... I live in the Roosevelt school area.
As soon as the word got around that Roosevelt would be one of the schools closed up with the SAVE OUR SCHOOL signs. Most of the people with the signs in the yards are older people, no children attending Roosevelt. I asked a couple of them why the signs since they didn't even have children....
their response "If they close that school our property values will go down." One elderly man even went on to to say "and you can bet the city won't be so fast with any reassessments.
Save our Schools
Save our property values!
This should be of great concern for all civic leaders as we loose property values they will have a bigger gap to fill when it comes time to balance any budget.
If you want property values then clamor for higher taxes so the schools can continue as they are. You CANNOT starve the district for cash and retain the status quo.
It is that simple.
The OADS is not STARVED for cash..
More money for the schools will only result in more mismanagement of funds. It is that simple.
Look at the adminstrative costs...
look at the salaries and benfits we pay.
Throwing more money at a problem DOES NOT always solve the problem... we DON"T have any more money to flush down someone's
"gold plated" toilet...Its that Simple!
11:17:00 AM stated...
"Look at the adminstrative costs...
look at the salaries and benfits we pay.
Throwing more money at a problem DOES NOT always solve the problem... we DON"T have any more money to flush down someone's
"gold plated" toilet...Its that Simple!"
AMEN!!
Good converstion on another blog site...
What was left out of this story was a comment that Tony Palmeri made: "This economic development commission needs to have a member or members who are from organized labor." In other words, he wants union members on an economic development commission.
Had this been an "are you in favor of" question prior to the election, and Mr Palmeri had said yes, he would be in favor of it, he would have lost the election by a landslide. Tony, are you crazy? If you had a business that you wanted to relocate, and in your first meeting with a potential city you were greeted by a commission containing a union member, you would RUN RUN AWAY from this city as fast as you could. Some companies that are looking to relocate are doing it because they are trying to get away from an existing union. And if you didn't have a union, why in gods name would you want to move to a city that appears to promote them? NO profitable, growing business wants anything to do with a union environment. Period.
Tony, you were elected to work for the good of Oshkosh. In your first regular meeting, you bring up one of your personal, left wing agenda items. It would be OK if it was a good idea, but this one stinks! Shame on you! Get back to working for the good of Oshkosh. BTW, these types of things are what have kept you from getting elected to higher offices in the past.
REPLY...
Interesting theory - except for some facts. Tony has always been pro-labor, and he made that clear during the election. After all, he was the President of TAUWP (The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals). Labor is not exactly a "left wing agenda" - Labor works to bring better standards of living to people who do the work be it public employees or private employees. Tony probably got elected BECAUSE of his strong labor positions.
Tony campaigned on "living wage standards" for Oshkosh, and that is why it would be good to have Labor representation on an Economic Development Commission. The last thing Oshkosh needs is more minimum wage no benefits service sector jobs. No one can live on that other than teenagers and a handful of college students. Oshkosh needs good paying jobs that can support families.
If some businesses are going to "run run away from this city" because labor is at the table of economic development than good ridance. Oshkosh needs businesses that are going to support good jobs. The last thing we need are more wal-mart level jobs that keep people living at the poverty line and sucking tax payer money through badger care.
All this is very interesting in that the only Unions that are growing and thriving are Public Sector Unions.
Private sector unions have been on the decline for many years now.
Corporations will not do business with the extraordinary wage and benefit demands made by unions.
Public sector unions only succeed as there are arbitration and quid pro quo laws. These laws protect union members often at the expense of the average property tax payer.
A private sector union member may not receive a wage increase as healthcare cost increases keep rising with healthcare costs draining any wage increases - where as public sector unions often get cost of living wage increases along with 95% taxpayer funded healthcare.
Our system needs changing. One segment of our labor system should not be insulated from the realities faced by other laborers in the private sector union or non-union.
Healthcare in America need reform.
It's funny how the only topics on this blog that can get any attention are those that are led by the same few anti union anti city employee people who keep spewing their drivel in any way they can.
If you feel that having Oshkosh taxpayers fund 95% of city worker healthcare insurance, please feel free to share your name and address so we can see if you actually live in the city and are a Oshkosh property tax payer.
Paying 95% of city worker healthcare is unfair to the average Oshkosh property tax payer!
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