DECEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 31, 1999
DECEMBER 31, 1999
Have a safe New Year's Eve
DECEMBER 30, 1999
On the eve of my last day in office
Good morning. The temperature is rising. It is 29.3 degrees outside. A far cry from
the teens we have had all day lately.
Today, for all practical purposes will be my last day in office. My last official act
will probably be to vote no on the budget and the 43% tax increase. Actually, I will vote
no on any tax increase. I think it is unfair and unwarranted.
Do I feel sad? Not a chance.
I was busy yesterday getting ready for the inevitable collapse of civilization as we
know it at the stroke of midnight on Friday night. I had to stock up on Canadian Club. I
was told the distilleries are not Y2K compliant. Aunt Rose was concerned that her supply
of Baileys would be compromised, too. So I stopped into the Wine and Spirits Shoppe and
put myself into the capable hands of the staff. Floyd took immediate charge. He whisked me
around the store and in no time he, Sandy, and Janet were helping me with my massive
survival order.
It was about that time that Bradford was having its massive rush hour. Actually, twenty
minutes or so! That was when I ran into Grant Nichols.
"What are you up to, Grant?" I asked.
"Not much," he said to me. "I was on my way to the Bradford Hotel to
meet John Satterwhite. Do you want to come along?"
I looked at the time and decided I could join him for awhile. "Sure," I said.
"I'll join the two of you."
I didn't expect anything. Actually the day had been a rather mellow one. There was the
story about the first ever Tuesday night Commissioners' meeting. And there was one about
City Council passing a zoning amendment to ban adult orientated businesses from "the
historic section." "Historic?" I thought to myself. "More like
Hysterical!" That was reinforced when I saw Peggy Comilla at lunch and I was reminded
about the Peggy Building - Old City Hall. Even Greg Henry was floored by that one.
"Why are they doing that now?" he asked.
I kidded him. I told him that Dino Ross wanted to open up a Dildo Factory on Main
Street and use the store front as an outlet. "Think about it," I said. "New
industry comes to Bradford, and Ray McMahon has nothing to do with it. Dino's Dildos will
soon become a trade name like Kleenex and Xerox! That's what they are afraid of. I think
they are reacting to a joke someone is playing on them."
As I entered the Bradford Hotel nothing changed either.
Dave Sheffer was at the bar with Billy Peckham, the great Irish Tenor, and the finest
and most fair Chief of Police in the history of Bradford and all of the Commonwealth and
the Southern Tier of Western New York, except for my father of course. Sitting several
stools away was John Satterwhite, and down on the end was Welfare Wes and Toothless Tim.
Grant and I joined John and I asked the bartender to set up the bar.
"Thank you, Bud," they said in turn as she told them I bought them a drink.
All except Welfare Wes. He began to grumble.
"I suppose that now that you are becoming on of the common people you will be
taking up space on a regular basis in our favorite watering holes."
I laughed. "I work, Wes," I said. "I won't crowd you much."
"Thanks for the drink anyway," he said. "Way I see it, you owe me a
whole lot more than one drink."
I ignored that statement and said hello to John. "Happy New Year," I said to
him.
"Happy Millenium," he said back to me.
It never takes long to get started at the Bradford Hotel. Toothless Tim commented on
the commissioners' meeting.
"I never saw anything like that in my life," he told me. "I never knew
that Larry Stratton was such a bully. I couldn't believe it when he told you to shut
up."
Even John commented on that. "That was a little out of character for Larry to lose
his temper like that," he said to Grant and me.
I shook my head. "I think the real Larry Stratton has finally surfaced. You can
see that all he cares about is protecting his raise and his pay. That's obvious. I don't
see him bowing to the will of the people on what they are demanding."
"All I know," Grant said. "Is a whole lot of people wish they would have
voted for you instead of him about now."
I laughed. "God Bless them for not voting for me. Losing is the single greatest
thing that happened to me in 1999. It saved my life."
John and Grant understood what I was talking about and let it stay where I left it.
About that time Dick Kessel showed up. He had some papers for Grant and stopped long
enough to chat.
"We've had a few good debates on issues, Bud," he said. "But nothing
like what went on at that meeting last night."
I laughed. "Yes we have, Dick," I said, shaking his hand. "But we both
knew what that was really about. And I can move on, just like you."
Dick agreed. "The commissioners looked bad last night." He corrected himself.
"I don't mean you. I mean Weaver and Stratton."
I shrugged. "People can't afford it. How will business afford it? What will 43% do
to ARG? What about the little businesses on Main Street? Instead of zoning businesses out,
City Council should be covering up anyone stupid enough to want to start one before they
catch cold. Zoning out Adult Book Stores? Have they ever checked the magazine rack in the
store that is now on Main Street? There isn't much difference between the accepted men's
magazines and what they call porn any more. Those people need to get a life!"
Dick wouldn't touch that one and excused himself and wished us all a Happy Millenium.
"Is there any truth to the investigation by the Attorney General into the spending
of the Capital Expenditure Fund?" Billy Peckham asked.
"I'm the wrong one to ask," I said. "They are taking me to trial on the
campaign contribution thing now."
Every one laughed about that. They did, I didn't.
"Did you guys do that?" someone asked. "Of course. I was against it. I
don't know if I signed the check or not. Those kinds of checks I just routinely signed
when you move money from one account to another. There was never an explanation. It would
have been about the time that the press started questioning how late our payments
were."
"How did they expect to pay it back?" Toothless Tim asked.
"Raise taxes, I guess," I answered. "43% isn't too awful far away from
50%, is it?"
"No," Grant said. "Everyone knows who was lying now. It's just a shame
that they didn't take you seriously then."
I could see where the conversation was going. I didn't want to go there. More people
were coming in and more ideas were being voiced. As the discussion began to grow I slipped
away, barely noticed. I drove up the hill and got my Y2K supplies into the house. Then
Aunt Rose and I had a drink and watched the Matrix one more time. For some reason, that
was more appealing than talking politics and taxes. The Matrix seemed more real.
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
DECEMBER 29, 1999
I owed you one
I did not write for you yesterday. Instead I was writing for the taxpayers of McKean
County. The following is the summary of the budget I wrote and presented at the
Commissioners' meeting. An excellent article in The Bradford Era appears that
gives a close to factual account of what happened. You can read it at http://www.bradfordera.com/.
PROPOSED YEAR 2000 COUNTY BUDGET
PROPOSED BUDGET AT A GLANCE
PROPOSED BUDGET AT A GLANCE
This proposed budget cuts county spending by $2,346,972 from the 1999 budget and by
$2,269,968 from the proposed budget put forth by Stratton and Weaver, written by the
Controller Tom Ball. The proposed budget cuts spending in the following areas:
REVENUES
The proposed budget adopts all revenues included in the Stratton/Weaver budget with the
exception of the property taxes. It uses the existing tax rates which will generate a
little over $3,500,000. The revenue example is based using $3,500,000 for property taxes.
SALARIES
- All union negotiated contracts are honored in their entirety
- Elected officials take a pay cut. County Commissioners return to the level of 1996
pay of $36,000 per year; all other elected officials with the exception of the District
Attorney receive $32,000 per year. No special consideration or extra compensation is given
when officials such as the Sheriff do two jobs such as Sheriff and Prison Warden, etc.
- Non bargaining employees and department heads are frozen at last year’s level of
compensation.
ELIMINATI0N OF TAX COLLECTORS
The county will realize a savings of $106,050 if they eliminate tax collectors
collecting county taxes. All taxes will be paid directly to the court house in the
Treasurer’s Office. Early payments and face value payments can be made by mail. Late
payments, as is the case now, must be made in person.
MERGING TAX CLAIM BUREAU INTO TREASURER’S OFFICE
The county will eliminate unnecessary duplication of services by making the County
Treasurer responsible for collecting taxes. This system is computerized and automated and
the need for a Tax Claim Director no longer exists. The existing staff will be merged into
the Treasurer’s office and the savings to the tax payers will be in the area of
$34,515.
EXERTING MORE CONTROL ON LEGAL EXPENSES AND THE SOLICITOR
Changes in the way the proposed Stratton/Weaver budget is configured are meant to
mislead the actual expenditures of this department. While it appears on the surface that
this department was cut, in fact the area labeled "Legal Fees" and the CYS
budget identifying "Salary of Solicitor " at $704,463 and claiming that they are
necessary and mandated items is an untrue statement. That entry in the CYS budget is not a
forecasted item with the state which has approved our ceiling of spending at $2,570,025, a
figure well below the proposed figure of $2,236,421.
ELIMINATION OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT
The county makes appointments to the Planning Authority. No where else in county
government does the county maintain an office in the court house for an authority or a
pseudo director of an authority. This is a clear conflict. Furthermore, planning and
zoning could more effectively be handled by the Redevelopment Authority. In any case, the
proposed budget calls for the immediate elimination of this as a county function and the
sum of $20,000 be given annually to the authority that takes over this function. Total
savings to the taxpayers is $44,695.
AUTOMATED TELEPHONE SYSTEM
The current telephone system is capable of automation. Elimination of a manned system
will save the county taxpayers $26,947. If the county finds the need to have a greeter in
the rotunda, perhaps the Historical Society or other county agencies that derive support
from the county could man the rotunda with volunteers.
FAMILY LAW MASTER
The proposed pay for the law master is $49,920 plus benefits. This is based on a rate
of $12,000 a day rate of pay (established by Judge Cleland in 1998 and incorporated in the
1999 budget.). That assumes that the master works a full four days a week which is not the
case. Cases drag on forever and dispositions of divorces, custody, and child support are
slow in coming. The workload needs to move forward at a more rapid pace. The master should
be handling the paperwork and making small decisions. Currently, Judge Cleland has
delegated these duties of his to the master. By cutting the master to two days a week with
no benefits, the county will realize a savings of well over $35,000. This will insure that
Judge Cleland will begin to live up to his responsibility and begin sitting on these
cases.
JUVENILE LAW MASTER
As in the case of the Family Law Master, this area is the responsibility of Judge
Cleland. This is a part time position that pays benefits. Each year this position receives
a pay increase with the total work force. The proposed budget cuts the level of pay from
$19,117 to $15,000 and eliminates benefits. Total savings to the taxpayers is $14,180.
COMMISSIONERS HUMAN SERVICES
1. PAYMENT TO MENTAL HEALTH / MENTAL RETARDATION
This is an area where McKean County is in a joinder with other counties and pays more
than they do. The Stratton/Weaver budget calls for an increase of $51,917 over last year.
That is not justified anywhere in the budget or the explanation of December 9, 1999. The
CEM director does not answer to the commissioners and CEM is a bureaucracy over which the
county has no control. The proposed budget calls for a "donation" of $160,000
and a savings to the taxpayers of $64,592.
2. PAYMENT TO THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY
I recognize the importance of the airport to the county. However, it is time the other
counties pay their fair share. The proposed budget calls for a level equal to what we paid
in 1999 but much less than the Stratton/Weaver budget. Savings to the taxpayers is
$80,000.
3. PAYMENT TO DRUG AND ALCOHOL
This is an independent agency that receives contributions from the county. The
contributions have become a mandate over the years. The Stratton/Weaver budget calls for a
substantial increase in their budget at the taxpayer’s expense. I propose a reduction
to $20,000 and give the taxpayers a savings of $12,000
4. PAYMENT TO THE AREA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
This also is a bureaucracy that dictates to the county what we are to
"contribute." The Stratton/Weaver budget calls for an increase of $7,753 over
last year. The proposed budget calls for a slight decrease. Total savings to the taxpayers
is $12,418.
5. PAYMENT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SOCCER FIELD
The prior board illegally approved a covenant with UPB to pay 40% of the upkeep of
their soccer field. This board has resisted paying any charges for four years. The $20,000
included in the budget is not called for legally and is a violation of the Sunshine Act.,
as well as being unprecedented anywhere else in the county. There is also a conflict of
interest because Mr. Weaver sits on the UPB Board. I reject paying this. Savings to the
taxpayers is $20,000.
CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES
The Stratton/Weaver budget would have us believe that the CYS budget should be in the
area of $3,232,686. Five hundred thousand dollars of that amount is not a CYS expense. It
is the Juvenile Placements that arise out of the actions of Juvenile Probation and of
which CYS has no control or hand. I have placed that amount back in Juvenile Probation and
the Courts where it belongs. There is no reimbursement for these placements.
In all other areas I have coincided with the CYS budget except in the area of SALARY OF
SOLICITOR which calls for $704,463. There has never been an item in the CYS budget in any
of the prior four budgets and I am led to believe that this may be a false entry in an
attempt to bury something else. CYS expects to spend $2,070,025 in 1999, well under the
projected budget figure of $2,186,680. The figure of $2,236,421 is a realistic figure for
the CYS budget and well under the approved state level of $2,570,025.
SENA KEAN MANOR
A savings to the taxpayers of $231,724 can be realized by doing the following things:
1. PRIVATIZE THE LAUNDRY FACILITY
For approximately $150,00 a year the bedding and laundry (with the exception of
resident laundry) can be done by a private firm. Two employees will be retained for this
purpose. This represents a great savings in labor, benefits and materials costs.
2. 10% reduction in the areas of Operation, Administration, and Housekeeping
3. The areas of Medical Records, Patient Activity, Social Service, RN’s,
LPN’s, and Aides are left in tact to preserve the quality of service and health care.
COMMENTARY AND EXPLANATION
PROJECTED DEFICIT and THE TWO BUDGETS
The county expects to finish the year with a $1.1 million dollar shortfall in payments
versus expenditures. The Stratton/Weaver budget, in not cutting spending, does not address
this problem. Even with a 43% tax increase they will still fall $145,551 short at the end
of 2000. Should that occur, and if there are other "unforeseen expenses" then
another tax increase of one mill in 2001 will be inevitable.
The proposed budget takes the $1.1 million into account. With the spending cuts, no tax
increase, and assuming this shortfall, the proposed budget gives the taxpayers an
anticipated surplus of $724,389 at the end of 2000. That would guarantee that county taxes
could remain level in 2001 and probably in 2002, provided the commissioners do not
reinstate or create new places to spend taxpayers dollars.
Should the commissioners attempt to modify the tax increase downward, they will only
exasperate the problem.
A thirty percent (30%) tax increase without any spending cuts will produce a $345,000
deficit at the end of 2000 which will call for more tax increases (two mills) in 2001.
A twenty-five percent (25%) tax increase without any spending cuts will produce a
$525,000 deficit at the end of 2000 which will call for more tax increases (three mills)
in 2001.
Finally, a twenty percent (20%) tax increase without any spending cuts will produce a
$695,000 deficit at the end of 2000. That will call for a tax increase of four mills in
2001.
Comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
DECEMBER 27, 1999
A wake for Willie
Good morning. It is 18.7 degrees at 5:40 A.M. I hope all of you had a happy and
wonderful holiday. I did with the exception of one sad event. Our longtime family member
Willie the Dog died at 4 A.M. on December 26. Willie was sixteen years old.
It seems like Willie was always a part of our family. She was a crazy little puppy who
curled up on my lap and cried the day I brought her to our home in Austin, Texas. She was
just four weeks old
when someone handed her out of a car window to two children of an acquaintance of mine.
Willie was weaned from her mother that day.
The argument always existed between Sharyn and me as to whether Willie was a Golden
Retriever or a Collie and Retriever mix. I went to dog books and found a perfect female
Retriever who looked just like her, but a picture was not worth a thousand words to my
wife. Over the years millions of words have been said on the subject. But funny, with
Willie gone, none of that really matters. It doesn’t mean much about what breed she
was. All that really matters is that she was ours and we were hers and there was a bond of
love that existed no matter how bad we all were. We were a family.
Willie watched over us when she could and we watched over her. When our baby died and I
shipped Sharyn and the children off to Canada, Willie and I drank together. Me, my Johnny
Walker Black, and Willie, the water out of the toilet bowl. In those days following the
little red headed boy dying in my arms I wanted to blame everyone. I wanted to blame my
wife. I wanted to blame the doctor and the hospital. In the end I blamed God and as I
prepared to take my anger and turn away, it was the eyes of that faithful friend that made
me look into myself and find the way through it all. If she could have talked, and with
all the scotch I drank I am not sure that she didn’t, I think she would have, or did
say: "It was no one’s fault. It was life."
And as I have tried to make sense out of the things that have happened in my life,
many, many times it was in the eyes of that good friend that I found sense in things. I
found sense even when they made no sense at all. It was the unconditional love and
faithfulness of that friend who gave it to me, or at least allowed me to find it in
myself.
Alone in the middle of the night, all too many times, it was Willie who would walk up
to me and lick my face. "Wow, Willie!" I would exclaim. "Your breath is
horrible."
"Yours isn’t all that great either," she would say back to me. "Did
you brush before you went to bed? Have you considered not drinking so much? How do you
think Sharyn stands you? Do you know how lucky you really are? Why are you feeling sorry
for yourself?"
While others spent thousands on shrinks and medications, generally Willie would get me
back on the straight and narrow. Most of the time it would take only one of those looks
from her and I would find my way to the path that I was so desperately searching for.
Usually, I was already on it but just looking in the wrong direction for the next step. It
was when I would look down at Willie that I was able to see that I was there. All I had to
do was extend the next foot and go on.
And then Willie got old.
It came gradually like it does for us. She was selectively hard of hearing at first.
She had trouble walking. She didn’t do all that good at controlling herself from time
to time. Some people said she was more trouble than she was worth and that she should be
put asleep. That was about the time Aunt Rose came to live with us. Willie bonded with the
other old woman and as Rose would sneak her an occasional bite of food, the two bonded
together. Willie would sleep on the floor outside the door of her bedroom and sit at her
feet as they watched television together. For the past four years their friendship was
steadfast and Willie, 119 in dog years, lately took to watching more carefully the younger
94 year old. It seemed the two would continue together forever.
But that was not to be. Willie had a stroke some time during Christmas Day. She was
suddenly blind but did not let on that she was. When she would bump into something, we
dismissed it as being difficult for her to walk around in the mess of the day. By night it
was taking its toll on her. I found her outside wandering aimlessly and crying out. I
carried her in and laid her down and covered her with a blanket.
Willie warmed quickly and stood to look for water. She walked into the wall and kept
walking. She couldn’t see. I took her to the water and then back outside where I
watched over her. She walked in circles. She dared not walk in a straight line. She knew
she would walk off the deck. With the guests gone and everyone else in bed, Willie and I
lay on the floor. I held her and petted her as the stroke took did its work. Gradually,
through the night, Willie became paralyzed. Around four, on the floor holding her to my
body, I felt her take her last breath. I felt the life leave her and as it did I thought I
saw, just for a brief instant, a little red headed boy with a leash calling to her.
I thought I saw her get up and run to him. Suddenly she was young again. Suddenly she
was back in Texas diving for rocks in Barton Creek. She was running through the forest
here in Pennsylvania and she was stealing food from the kitchen counter. Suddenly she was
everything she was and now it looked like she had a new master. I guess he was waiting for
her for awhile and I smiled through my tears as they walked away together.
We buried Willie in our front yard in the bedspread that covered the couch when we
would leave the house. She used to lay on it even though she knew she wasn’t allowed.
She did it for years. It seemed appropriate. And as her friend John laid a crucifix on her
we all laughed and remembered her. And it became easier because we all loved her and we
all missed her.
Some will say she was only a dog. Some will say that. But I won’t. She was my
friend. She helped me through tough times. She always knew what to say. She was a true
friend.
Rest in peace Willie the Dog. April 1, 1983 - December 26, 1999.
DECEMBER 25 -26, 1999
There are no new articles
If you have a comment on this article please click here.
[ Top ] [ Home ]
[_private/toc_for_second_level_pages.html]
