| As threatened yesterday morning, I have read the USA Today again. Sadly, my coffeemaker is still non-functional. I have a coffee story, and I put it after the jump. And yes, it's true. The gem I would have missed had I not bought the paper has to do with political downsizing. We all know that people, many people, are disappointed in government. In Western New York, thanks in large part to a man named Kevin Gaughan, the reaction is to cut government by cutting elected officials. Not voting them out of office, but dispatching the offices themselves. Starting in Erie County, which has 25 towns, 16 villages and three cities. Most of these places have a full time supervisor and three to six part-time Council members. The part-timers make an average of $16,000 plus pensions and health insurance. He did the research, thanks to a cadre of college students, and concluded that if each town cut two Council members, there would be an annual savings of $4.5 million a year. Overall, the area has lost 56,000 jobs since 1990, and 300,000 residents since 1970. After the studies concluded, he asked the municipalities to voluntarily reduce their size. Only one town agreed. After that, three towns held elections, and their councils were reduced. The petition drives and special elections continue. Gaughan believes that the void will be filled with citizen-volunteers, and will lead to more participatory democracy. In addition, during a time of smaller budgets, this will serve to save municipal jobs like police positions. Further, he believes parts of government would become regionalized, so that there was an economy of scale. Note that some places already have county or region systems. Sometimes for some services (like a county library system) and in some places for everything. For what it's worth, Grover Norquist is against the idea. What do you think? |
My coffee story: I met a woman who knew everything. Absolutely EVERYTHING, and she wanted to make sure that everyone she met also knew that she knew everything, and they didn't. We had a brief conversation about coffeemakers, and she explained that her brand was best because of "all the great European coffees." I pointed out that coffee didn't come from Europe, it was equatorial. She looked at me as if I were deranged, and said "Well, you're really not that bright, are you? Where do you THINK "French Vanilla" comes from?" Honest, it really happened.
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