In follow-up to my posting of July 4th, I feel honor-bound to take a moment to praise the Board of County Commissioners of Leon County, Florida. These guys – and one very lovely lady – work really HARD. I watched the TV news last night, and in all the reports of the first day of budget workshops there were many film clips of some worn-out folks. I’m trying to imagine how difficult it is to sit up on that dais with a roomful of citizens staring, staring, staring – not saying anything, just staring.
Today I was one of those citizens. I sat with my group and mostly just hoped these good people would see their way clear to do the right thing Рand they did! They stepped up to the plate, took the bit in their teeth, rolled up their sleeves Рjust about any clich̩ will do Рand did the absolute right thing.
If preliminary workshop decisions become official by budget deadline time, our community will be pretty much held harmless from the draconian measures of Amendment One. Because of the solid fiscal management referred to in my previous blog, our Commissioners were able to achieve this with a combination of a very slight raise in millage rates for some property owners (although no one at or below the median home price for a homesteaded property) and cuts made previously, beginning in December of 2007. This is quite an achievement. And the upbeat mood was palpable. Commissioner Thaell summed it for the room: we should be amazed at what we have done.
Although my issue was narrowly focused – I was there as a community health care advocate – it was obvious that many worthy programs had been saved. We kept our main library open for many extra hours per week, we retained our wonderful youth employment program, we have our dearly beloved mosquito control program – and we maintained health care funding for women and children and the mentally ill who are uninsured and in desperate need of services. We continued support of our new jail diversion program and added money for a health educator to be provided through the Healthy Start program.
Today I am truly proud of my County government. I watched professional, well-informed staff respond to elected officials who showed a deep affection for what we treasure about our little city – the willingness to pull together for the benefit of all, even the neediest among us.
So I’m here at home extending my standing ovation. Hats off to all of you, six gentlemen and one lovely lady.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Beautifully put! Thanks for keeping me informed.
It was obvious that many programs had been developed
Post a Comment