Mark,
Hey I got a great team name for your group...and count me in as well..."Today's Improvements, Tomorrow's Success," and as you can see it makes a great acronym. I could even think up a few tee shirt designs to go with it.

By the way, ignore the idiot in the pear tree that thinks all the toys were for your grandkids. Under your gruff exterior lies a true heart and grand intentions. Not only that, you put your grand intentions to action-something all the talkers haven't quite yet gotten around to understanding yet. Then again, they never will. Beyond the toys for Iraq, my family adopted a child from WILK to be her Santa-a little 9 year old named Courtney, who wanted a shirt, some pants, and a barbie. Well, we did it up right for her as well and delivered the goods yesterday. The idiot in the pear tree? Folks like him will sit around with their thumbs up their butts complaining that no one ever does anything for them so why should they help anyone else. This idiot doesn't have a clue. He probably has never seen the joy come over a child's face when they get a gift from Santa or anyone else for that matter, especially a needy child. Probably too busy being miserable and tying his shorts in a knot. There's a special place in he!! for folks like that.

As for the fire department, police department, military folks, Salvation Army, and many others...God Bless you all for doing what you do. Collecting toys, food, money, clothing, etc for the needy folks around Pa and the country for that matter-volunteers all of you. You understand the true meaning of Christmas and the true spirit. The joy is in giving of yourself, your time and energy, your money, your hand-me-downs, etc. You should all be proud of yourselves.

As for all the watchdogs running around saying how dare they give out raises when we are so far in debt. First, I guess they forgot who created all that debt in the first place. They act as if Todd and Skrep were at fault, when in fact these newbies inherited a quagmire. Second, as for having any brains at all, I doubt if any of they folks have ever been on the filing side of a Profit and Loss Statement or a Balance Sheet. If they had been they probably would have understood that this 3% raise against $150 million or so budget is a gnat on an elephant. Maintaining the street sweeper brush inventory would actually have a bigger impact. When you are looking for cuts, people should always be your last resort. How do your assets look-making money or not; what is your operating return on those assets? How about your receivables? There's an asset that can end up being a liability. Are your recovering your receivables in a timely fashion or is it 30-60-90-never? We already know how poor of a job was done on collecting on traffic tickets and taxes. How much recovery are you getting on depreciation for equipment, computers, tooling? Can you shorten the term and take a bigger recovery over a shorter time period? Is the property you own doing anything for you other than sitting there? It's still a fixed asset-it could be increasing in value, but selling it could provide much needed capital. Are loans being paid off? Are they interest only loans? Can we ask suppliers to hold inventory or agree to a long term commitment where we pay them when we are paid? Are we paying suppliers within 10-30 days? Often times there are price breaks or discounts for doing so. Are we paying contractors up front for services that they fulfill over a future time period? That money can be earning interest for us. Payment should be made upon receipt of said services. How about health care providers? Are we getting the best deal? Probably not. How about pensions, gifts, per diem, cars, etc? I would rather see the free vehicles be cut rather than a body.

There are so many places that can be earmarked for savings before we attack people. It seems to me that these folks running around shouting for the cameras and papers have absolutely no idea of P&L or BS, nor does the media. So here's an idea. Shut up! Quit acting arrogant! Get over your ignorance by attempting to become educated! (Or does that sound like work?) Give the newbies a chance. It took eight years to get where we are at with gross mismanagement and negligence, so how can you expect a miracle just because you can get your name in the paper and give your kids another clipping for the scrapbook? How can we expect getting over our current pain to not be painful? I guess Christine, Walter, and Claire have much better ideas. I guess adding nine elected folks to the payroll makes a lot of sense to them. But wait aren't they the same folks screaming about wages (raises). Oh, yeah. I forgot Home Rule was perfect. That's why there's no hypocrisy. Home Rule is the Zeus of Government, lightning bolts and all.

You know, the Home Rule folk's words are so loud that we can't see their actions. Wait, you mean they have no actions? Well, surely they must have ideas? No?! You mean they are just engaged in recreational bitching? People still do that? Wow! And the news media isn't even questioning them: "What would you do?" Imagine that. For my part, I'll stick with the action oriented people. If nothing, they are more positive and fun to be around.

Keep the Faith. Give. You'll smile-trust me.
Private Sector Dude.