A Tale Of Two Budget Cuts

Our old boss here at the Times. Gene Patterson, was a WWII tank commander under George S. Patton. He tells the story of Patton chewing out his men for not gaining ground fast enough -- he knew it was not fast enough, Old Blood and Guts yelled, because he wasn't seeing enough second lieutenants getting killed.

That story popped up in my mind on Wednesday when, by coincidence, I had a previously arranged lunch meeting with Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. It turned out to be the eve of her announcement  of how she would meet the tax cuts just passed by the Legislature. The next day she laid off 121 full-time employees, and eliminated 133 part-time and seasonal jobs and 115 other posts. Here's this morning's article by Janet Zink. [Times photo | Brian Cassella]

Why did this remind me of Patterson and Patton? Because Iorio said she specifically told her top managers that she wanted to see assistant department heads and management included in the cuts, and not just low-level workers or things that were most visible to the public. "I got the message," Iorio said, talking about public opinion in favor of property tax cuts. "And I decided we were going to do it, and do it without any hand-wringing."

It is tempting to contrast the Tampa story with this morning's article by Aaron Sharockman about the comparable cuts proposed by Mayor Rick Baker in St. Petersburg. Sharockman's article says Baker's cuts are more targeted toward lower-level workers. My Thursday column also criticized the direction of the cuts under the headline, At least the deputy mayors survived.

However, in the Tampa-St. Petersburg comparison, there is an important difference that ought to be factored in. St. Petersburg, under Baker, has made at least SOME cuts to its tax rate year after year, while Tampa's millage stayed the same. That meant Tampa was riding the full tide of soaring property values, while St. Pete was giving back to taxpayers at least some of it (not all, but some). So if Tampa's response to the new order seems more dramatic, it's also the case that Tampa might have had further to go.

Comments

[Lorraine Margeson]

I still say that we could lose two of the three Deputy Mayors, just keep Tish Elston. Mayor Baker doesn't go to Council meetings much anymore, but if he did even as a second termer, he wouldn't need so much high-level administrative help, I'm thinking. The Codes Department cuts are massive and I think NOT in the best interest of the city...........with two Deputy Mayor salaries gone, we could save more of the lower-level folks. Won't happen, though..........just talkin'.

[James B. Johnson]

Every government agency I know of has sacred cows. That is, positions that produce no widgets, and are reserved as prizes for the pets. The fire departments, for example, have haystacks that go around scolding people about swimming pool safety. In some agencies these people control parking passes or office supplies or petty cash disbursements.

Heck, St. Pete could save a bundle if it did away with its box-cutter brigade… errr… end homelessness committee.

[Aquaserpent]

Every job lost big or small hurst us all. It's too bad corporate media doesn't focus on that, but that may not be what people want to hear and then sales would slip. I wonder if the ST. Petersburg time could do without Howard, I now I could.

[David Mathews]

Every job lost hurts us all, but this is only the beginning of sorrows.

A lot more people will lose their jobs over the next several years. Such is the normal course of events with a nation which has spent so many decades living beyond its means loses the option of living on debt.

Americans have such a sense of entitlement that it is going to be a real tragedy when they discover that the entitlement is lost and gone forever. Americans will begin to experience the sufferings which presently afflicts billions throughout this dismal world.

What is good enough for "them" is also good enough for "us".

Nothing lasts forever, not even the good ol' U.S. of A.

I hope that the St. Petersburg Times begins warning the citizens of St. Petersburg: "Consumerism is Dying! If you wonder whatever happened to your prosperous future visit a landfill."

If the residents of St. Petersburg walk blindly into this catastrophe this area will suffer a lot more than it would otherwise. The St. Petersburg Times should warn the public every week: "America is dying, plan your future accordingly."

But this is not a message which is suited to a newspaper. Newspapers don't serve the best interests of the public. Instead, newspapers serve the corporations. Newspapers exist to sell consumer products: Wal-Mart, Houses, Cars, Electronic gadgets, more houses, more cars ...

Newspapers serve their advertisers so well that it is often difficult to differentiate between the advertisements and the articles. Americans are addicted to consumerism because the newspapers, television and radio spread pro-consumerist propaganda full-time, 24/7.

The news and the editorials only serve to gain the consumer's attention long enough to direct the eyes to the next advertisement. Without the advertisements, no newspapers; and without the newspaper, the journalists wouldn't have a job.

But there is no conspiracy: Journalists are Americans, journalists are consumers, and journalists actually believe that they are doing their customers a favor by pandering to their greed and gluttony.

So the end of the American story is a tragedy. There's nothing at all remarkable about that story. All nations, kingdoms and empires have followed the same pattern since the beginning of time. We are no different than anyone else. There's nothing at all exceptional about America.

[Don Mott]

The time for our local governments to tighten their belts is long overdue.How many times have you seen a city or county work crew on the side of the road? And how many times have you seen the entire crew working? It is usually one or two people working while four to six are standing around watching. It is hard for me to understand why any work crew needs more supervisors than workers. If a private business operated this way they would be bankrupt in no time at all. Let the local pols cry and wring their hands all they want but the fact is there is a lot of fat that can be trimmed from their budgets without the taxpayers ever noticing, except we might see everyone on the work crews actually working. They should be more efficient as well. Several years ago I was assigned to a county work crew doing grounds maintenance. The hours were 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM. After everyone finished their coffee we actually went to work about 7:30 or 7:45. By 2:30 we sitting in an air conditioned room waiting for quitting time and I would bet that it is the same today if not worse.

[Paul D. Harvill]

Between now and January 29th is going to one hell of a ride for Florida voters before making those decisions on January 29th.

[James B. Johnson]

Don Mott
OMG How true! On my street, a few days ago, ten men worked repairing a pothole about 2'x2' square. We had 3 supervisors watching the operation, 1 truck driver, 2 flagmen, 3 guys with shovels, and 1 guy standing by with a tamping machine.

[Kathleen Ford]

Disgusting lack of fiscal discipline (just how many deputies does Baker still need since he had no clue coming in about local government procedures)and unnecessary threats of cutting pubic safety and social programs just to scare the public. Enough of this already! Kathleen Ford
PS another great day in St. Pete, if you're not murdered!!!