Government Gone Wild!

Over the past couple of years of writing this column I have talked a lot about broken government, especially locally. The headlines over the past couple of weeks show that government as a whole has gone wild. It all seems to ask the very simple question: does anyone have any common sense?

Let’s start with the whole sequester issue. Since when is a decrease in the rate of an increase a cut? Even under the sequester budget the rate of government spending will still increase just at a rate of 2% less than before. I understand that with entitlement programs not included in these “cuts” the rest of government will take on a larger percentage, but really, what private sector manager cannot cut 2-4% out of an already bloated budget and not affect service levels?

So the FAA decides to turn a 4% cut into a 10% cut in tower personnel to maximize end user disruptions while not touching unspent budget monies. Of course, the majority of furloughs were to non-union sub-contractors and major market facilities. Fortunately, Congress (of all people) stepped in and mandated the FAA re-work their budget to minimize disruptions and spend other unspent funds. Why was that even necessary?

On a local level, all I have to say is MPUSD. Once again we enter the theatre of the absurd as we watch the MPUSD Board shoot itself in the foot, again. Let me remind them. You hired a PR firm to clean up your image then you go and try to hire a new Superintendent with an open sexual harassment claim against him. You had a search firm give you a list of 27 or 28 “qualified” names and this is who you picked and you were surprised at the community’s reaction?

It is not very often that I agree with the Monterey Herald’s editorials but they were right on this week. It’s time to restart the hiring process and include members of the community on the hiring committee. Once that is done the community will have an opportunity to get a broader group of Trustees on the Board in November (sooner in Marina as the Board needs replace a Trustee).

I think we all need to remember that you get the quality of government that you vote for, especially during school board elections. Only 20% or less of the community even bothers to pay attention and vote during most “off year” school elections. I urge you to really pay attention this coming election cycle and vote. Our children and our community deserve so much more.

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Thank You Marina!

As I have noted previously in this column, I have the privilege to serve as President of The Marina Foundation. It is in this role that I wish to thank the entire Marina community (and those from around the region) that helped to support our efforts to purchase an ADA equipped Van for the City’s Senior Recreation program.

I am very pleased to announce that as of our annual Man & Woman of the Year Awards dinner and fundraiser on April 6th that we have, in fact, reached our goal of raising $20,000. That is the amount that The Monterey Peninsula Foundation (host of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am) will match as part of an overall grant towards the Senior ADA Van.

This was a community wide effort from the beginning. We have received generous contributions from individuals, organizations, other non-profits and companies to reach this goal. It represents a major milestone for our community and for The Marina Foundation. It is now up to us to work with the City of Marina and arrange for the purchase of the Van itself. This will take a few weeks, especially if we custom order the Van which may be the case. The good news is that it should not be all that long before we see the new Van in service to our community. Again, we thank you all.

In addition to reaching our overall fundraising goal at our annual dinner we recognized two individuals whose body of work in service to our Marina Community was recognized with the Man & Woman of the Year for 2012.

I would like to thank Sally French for all of her efforts through the years and especially as a volunteer at Marina High School. Her willingness to volunteer and help the school administration on a daily basis is amazing. In addition, she has volunteered numerous hours with the Marina High Booster’s also in support of our Marina High School. Her service has been so valued by the school that it was the schools administration that nominated her for the award. Congratulations Sally French as the 2012 Marina Woman of the Year!

I would also like to thank Mike Mast for his incredible service to the Marina Community going back to the early 70’s. Mike has served in so many capacities it’s difficult to list them all. Mike was involved in the early incorporation efforts for the City of Marina (successful in 1975), he helped to start the Marina Rotary Club and has held every office including President, he has been a vital and active member of the Marina Chamber of Commerce for years and has served as President three times. He has coached baseball and softball teams of all levels over the years and now serves as the Coach of the division champion Marina High Girls Softball Team. Congratulations to Mike Mast as the 2012 Marina Man of the Year!

I would like to encourage everyone to take the time to help out with our community, be it with the school PTSA or boosters, your church or other community organization. The need for help is all around us. Not everyone can donate money towards a cause but we can all make a little time to help others. We have some great examples to follow with Sally and Mike.

More later...