Kudos to Commissioner Ben Konop

According to a press release Comm. Ben Konop issued late last night, he will vote no on increasing Lucas County's conveyance tax.

Real Estate Tax Hike Set to be Voted on at Commissioners Meeting--Konop to vote NO

Konop: raising taxes by $120 on working families "unconscionable" in this economy

At Tuesday's 9:30 a.m. Lucas County Commissioners Hearing, Commissioners are set to vote on a real estate tax hike proposed by Commissioner Gerken that would raise taxes on the average home seller in Lucas County by an additional $120. Commissioner Konop will vote NO.

"It is unbelievable to me that in this economy, the worst since the Depression, we are even discussing Commissioner Gerken's proposal to raise taxes on home sales in Lucas County," stated Commissioner Konop. "This tax hike will hurt working families who are already having a tough time selling their homes and paying their bills," added Konop.

"Once again, I will forcefully oppose this tax hike, and I hope Commissioner Skeldon Wozniak will see the light and save working families from a tax increase in this horrible economy," Konop said.

It's not often that I agree with Konop's votes or proposals, but he's right on not imposing a tax increase.

The vote on the proposal will take place during today's Board of County Commissioners Meeting which begins at 9:30 a.m. It is likely that the tax will pass with the support of the other two commissioners.

In other business, the commissioners will vote on an agreement with the Toledo Science Center, formerly COSI. This is the new name of the facility and the agreement will disburse the levy dollars approved in the November election.

More GOP Clubs go against LCRP's levy endorsements

Immediately after the Lucas County Republican Party voted (questionably) to endorse several levies, including the third levy request for COSI, the Toledo Young Republican Club announced their opposition to the endorsements.

(Background information on the LCRP executive committee meeting and the issues that arose regarding the voting, the lack of notice to members of the committee and the lack of quorum.)

Now the Greater Toledo Republican Women's club has voted to oppose the endorsement decision. Their press release, issued late last night:

Toledo, OH - The Executive Board of the Greater Toledo Republican Women voted unanimously to speak out against the decision of the Lucas County Republican Party to endorse a variety of tax levies, including the COSI Levy. As Republicans we have no business lending our support to increase taxes for our community.

"I was shocked to hear that Mr. Stainbrook would push for the support of any type of levy." said Kay Clawson. "Had I been informed of the meeting I would certainly have been there. I hope Mr. Stainbrook will strive to adhere to our party bylaws in regards to future meetings."

And this from the Fallen Timbers Republican Club:

The Fallen Timbers Republican Club joins other area clubs denouncing the endorsement of Levies by the Party Chairman

In following the admirable lead of Jeff Simpson and The Young Republican Club, The Fallen Timbers Republican Club Executive Board Members officially oppose the endorsement of levies, including the COSI levy, by the Lucas County Republican Party. The Club was prompted to take a public stance due to extensive contacts from it's membership regarding their disenchantment with the disappointing endorsement of the levies by Jon Stainbrook, Chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party.

The endorsement of these levies mar the core beliefs of the Republican Party. The Club is strongly against tax increases and the funneling of public funds to non-profit/private entities. Our members are resolute with their opposition to levies such as COSI, which clearly violates the soul of the Republican Party and conservative principals. The Club is strongly against tax increases and the funneling of public funds to non-profit/private entities. Our members are resolute with their opposition to endorsing levies which clearly violates the soul of the Republican Party and conservative principals.

The Fallen Timbers Republican Club believes that COSI should be privately-funded and not subsidized by the already over-taxed families in Lucas County. When COSI was founded, it was intended to be self-sufficient by donations and admission fees. Furthermore, citizens have given the responsibility and their tax dollars to public schools to teach science not to non-profit/private entities such as COSI.

FTRC President and Lucas County Republican Party Executive Member Christine Seles was not notified of the Executive meeting by the LCRP and is quoted as saying: "I would have voted “no” on any motion to endorse COSI or any other levy. My position is that elected officials should not tell people how to vote, and as a republican I am unsettled at the local chairman’s position on endorsing taxes. The voter should be allowed to form their own judgments on how to spend their hard earned dollars."

Furthermore the FTRC Officers would like to express our dismay that Jon Stainbrook did not adhere to the LCRP by-laws. Chairman Stainbrook did not inform the entire executive committee of the meeting. The FTRC has been informed by an member and other attendees that the meeting was not properly conducted in compliance with Roberts Rules of Order, and that Chairman Stainbrook voted twice on the same motion to break a tie vote. We would hope that the LCRP by-laws and proper parliamentary procedure is followed at future LCRP meetings.

To be a "Maverick" is to stand up and fight for what is right when you see something is wrong. The FTRC is inspired by Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin, our true American Maverick's, as we also make our stand to protect the core principals of the republican party.

Sincerely,
The Executive Board of the Fallen Timbers Republican Club,
Christine Seles, FTRC President
Jan Lowe, Vice President
Diane Haupricht, Treasurer
Barbara Mott, Secretary
Stephen Imes, Sgt. At Arms

COSI gets endorsement of Lucas County Republican Party

Amid a series on controversial votes, it appears that the Lucas County Republican Party has endorsed the third COSI levy, despite the rejection of this levy by voters twice before.

According to several reports, there was a motion to adjourn the meeting due to a lack of proper notice to many members of the executive committee. The LCRP bylaws call for a 5-day notice of the meeting to all members of the executive committee via U.S. mail. I spoke to several people who never received the mailed notice, but who did get a last-minute phone call.

Again, according to what I was told, Chairman Jon Stainbrook ignored the required lack of notice.

It was also brought up that Stainbrook prohibited an elected state central committee woman from entering the meeting. The elected state central committee members are, according to the bylaws, members of the executive committee and, as such, are expected to participate in the executive committee.

Now, the person banned from the meeting was Joann Wack, someone Stainbrook has publicly opposed and against whom he's made several charges. His issues with her aside, she is still the state central committeewoman and he cannot ban her from participation because he doesn't like her.

Stainbrook also named additional members of the executive committee. According to the bylaws of the party, the membership of the executive committee is as follows:

ARTICLE VIII
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A. An Executive Committee shall be formed after the organizational meeting of the Central Committee. Membership shall include:

1. All Lucas County Republican ward chairmen.
2. The elected officers of the Central Committee, plus three (3) additional officers to be selected by the Central Committee Chairman.
3. The members of the State Republican Central Committee who reside in Lucas County.
4. The president or designee of any Lucas County Republican auxiliary club with twenty-five (25) or more paid members that has been recognized during the previous two (2) years by the Executive Committee as an active Republican organization.
5. Past LCRP Chairmen who reside in Lucas County.
6. Any Lucas County Republican officeholder elected in a general election who requests appointment by the Chairman.
7. The Party Chairman may appoint any registered Republican residing in Lucas County to be an at-large member of the Committee. The number of the Party Chairman’s appointees shall not exceed the number of members listed in Numbers 1, 2, and 4 of this section.
8. Members who serve in more than one (1) position shall have only one vote.

So Stainbrook does have appointment authority, but his appointments cannot exceed the combined numbers of ward chairmen, club presidents and the central committee officers.

Apparently, there was a question as to how many people could be appointed, with Stainbrook making a comment about being able to appoint as many people as he wanted.

Then came the discussion of the issues. There were questions about which issues would be considered for endorsement and Stainbrook decided only issues with a representative present would be considered. It was unknown whether or not Stainbrook informed the campaigns for the issues that they would be considered at this meeting in order for them to provide a representative. And reports indicate that there was no one present to represent COSI, even though that issue was voted upon.

There was a motion to abstain from endorsing any issue. The result of that vote was an 11-11 tie, with Stainbrook voting no. Under parliamentary procedure, the motion would fail because it did not have a majority. However, Stainbrook, despite voting 'no' already, decided that, as chairman, he could break the tie - so he voted again.

The Children Services Board levy was voted on and passed. The Port Authority levy was voted on and passed. Then the COSI levy was voted on and received a vote of 10-10. Again, under parliamentary procedure, the motion to endorse the levy would have failed. However, despite voting 'yes' to endorse COSI, making the vote 10 in favor, Stainbrook decided again that he would break the tie, thus resulting in an 11-10 vote to endorse the COSI levy.

Now, how support of these levies represents the core principles of the Republican Party of limited government and lower taxation apparently was never part of the discussion.

But for the chairman of the executive committee to vote twice is beyond any distortion of parliamentary procedure - and should be rejected by all Republicans in Lucas County.

Additionally, the lack of proper notice to members of the executive committee - as required by the bylaws - should negate any action taken tonight. Didn't Stainbrook make a huge stink about proper notice prior to being elected chairman of the party? Has he now embraced the very actions he once opposed? It appears so.

When I served on the executive committee - something I did for my entire time as an elected official - the executive committee would schedule a meeting and invite all the levy representatives to come and give a presentation. We also invited any opposition campaigns to give a presentation as well. We'd have them come in, give the presentation, answer our questions and then excuse them. We'd then decide whether or not we were going to take a position on the levy and, if so, we'd vote. The chairman never voted as part of the decision, though I suppose they could have cast a vote if we had a tie.

The LCRP will suffer criticism for the way this endorsement process was handled - or, rather, mishandled. Additionally, I expect there will be a huge outcry against Stainbrook and the party for endorsing the COSI levy - except from The Blade. I expect an editorial praising Stainbrook and the party for their 'courage' to endorse COSI will not be too far in the future.

Whether or not you personally support the COSI levy, you cannot - under any distortion of principles - claim that endorsing this levy represents the core values and principles of the Republican Party. Supporting a taxation of citizens in order to fund a non-profit entity that has proven it cannot support itself is contrary to the fundamental precepts of the GOP, including limited government, individual responsibility, and limited taxation - taxation only for the constitutionally mandated functions of government.

And local Republicans, being the people they are, will probably register their objections to this abandonment of principles by not supporting the party with their labor or their funds, rather than in any public commentary. But it would be foolish to underestimate their outrage over this.

It's only democracy if we get the vote results we want

This morning I heard Fred Lefebvre, morning show host on NewsTalk 1370 WSPD, read an email exchange between Ingrid and Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop.

Ingrid was opposed to putting the COSI levy on the ballot for a third time. Konop supports it, calling it 'democracy' to be able to vote on the issue. Ingrid pointed out that we've already voted on the issue twice, but Konop was undeterred.

I guess, according to Konop, that it's only 'democracy' when the vote outcome matches our personal desires.

My hope was that Comm. Pete Gerken would stand by his earlier comment that he wouldn't be able to support a third request unless there was significant change in the business plan presented by COSI. According to the information they submitted to the county's Citizen Levy Review Committee, the only 'change' was that this was a presidential election and more people are expected to go to the polls.

However, based upon a press conference yesterday, Gerken's criteria for 'change in the business plan' might be a bit different from my own. Several businesses have announced they will form a 'Businesses for COSI' committee to push for passage of the ballot issue.

"County Commissioner Pete Gerken said the new partnerships made him more likely to support the levy.

“It gives it a different flavor,” he said. “It doesn’t look like a retread of what didn’t work before.”"

Now, my question would be why the 'Businesses for COSI' weren't working on permanent funding for the facility rather than telling us that we should tax ourselves for it. And are we even remotely surprised that three of the four companies leading the effort are represented on the COSI Board?

Ronald Unnerstall, quoted in The Blade article today, is a COSI board member. Steve Krull from Owens Corning does not serve on the board, but fellow employees David Johns and Thomas Winston do. First Solar is also represented on the COSI board by former CEO Chip Hambro.

While I'm grateful for the corporate support these companies have and are offering, I take exception to them telling me I should tax myself for a facility I don't use and which has, over the last 10 years, had a negligible impact on math and science test scores, simply because they think I should. I'm tired of other people telling me what the best uses for my money are - or calling me 'uncaring, insensitive and mean' because I want to spend my money on my priorities rather than on theirs.

Then there was the last line in the newspaper article.

"So far, the levy campaign has raised $220,000, according to Lori Hauser, COSI’s director of operations."

If COSI can raise nearly a quarter of a million dollars to run a levy campaign, wouldn't their time be better spent raising that money for their continued operations? If they put as much effort into fundraising for their museum as they do for the levy, imagine where they'd be today - perhaps still open???

Weekend round-up

The editors of The Blade think that we, the voters of Lucas County, just don't understand tax levies. In this editorial, they say "(t)he third time should be a charm for COSI Toledo."

Yes, two failed levies and they think it needs to be on the ballot again.

"COSI may ask voters again to help fund the museum with a 0.167-mill levy, the same amount as last year. That would be a good move, provided it is backed up with an adequate campaign to educate the public about what's at stake."

You see, we just didn't understand what was at stake when we defeated the two previous levies.

I guess we didn't understand that OUR priorities for spending were more important than theirs - and COSI's. I guess we didn't understand that the management of the facility was lacking in sound financial practices. I guess we didn't understand that the attraction didn't continue to attract attendees because they didn't keep their exhibits current. I guess we didn't understand that such a museum needed to do more to be self-sufficient rather than rely upon eventually turning to taxpayers for support. I guess we didn't understand that Toledo tax dollars were already subsidizing the facility through the payment of utilities. I guess we didn't understand that the financials for the facility showed that it was not sustainable when it was first built. I guess we just don't 'get it.'

But when you consider all these points, I'm of the opinion that the voters are actually smarter than the Blade editors because they chose NOT to give their tax dollars to a non-profit organization that shouldn't ever be on the ballot in the first place.

In the end, The Blade thinks "COSI should give Toledo voters another chance to reconsider the folly of previous levy failures. Maybe a third time will be lucky." COSI should give US another chance??? COSI hasn't done anything to earn another chance from us - and hopefully the Board of County Commissioners will, for a change, heed the will of the voters and tell COSI no when when they ask to put another levy on the November ballot.

***

The Lucas County Republican Party has a new chairman - Jon Stainbrook. He was elected by the Central Committee during their meeting Saturday. Of course, winning the chairmanship is the easy step. Raising the money and following through with all the promises is where the real work begins - and it's much harder to do than it is to say.

***

The City of Toledo, in an anti-business move, took over providing ambulance services and is now getting ready to make their first lease payment on the vehicles. They're saying that they've billed about $1.4 million - as they planned in their original budget. What they don't say is how much they've actually collected. Hopefully city council members will ask about the money actually received as part of the discussion on the payment.

The Fire Department also says that response times have improved. That's because they dispatch an ambulance with the rescue squad, ensuring that the ambulance and rescue squad arrive at almost the same time. Of course, when the private ambulance companies suggested this very same dispatching protocol, the Fire Department objected. You see, if an ambulance with a paramedic arrived before a rescue squad, that paramedic could begin to provide treatment and care - and wouldn't have to turn over the patient to the Fire Department upon arrival. And that just wasn't acceptable to the Fire Department and their union members.

Now that the union members are providing the ambulance services, it's okay to dispatch at the same time, so it's clear that this wasn't really about 'patient care' because they could have accomplished the same 'reduced transport times' by changing their dispatching protocol.

In the mean time, private ambulance companies have laid off employees, reducing the amount of payroll taxes the City collects. I wonder if any council members will think to ask about how much tax revenue the city's lost when they evaluate the 'success' of the ambulance program.

Another COSI levy?

WSPD News is reporting that the city is considering spending tax dollars to mothball the COSI building ($6,900 per month) ... and that COSI wants to put another levy on the ballot in November.

I guess their defeat last year wasn't enough of a notice that residents in Lucas County just don't have the money to be taxed for a science museum.

The only way they can get on the ballot is if the Board of County Commissioners votes to put their levy on the ballot. Considering all their complaining about how bad county residents have it, I can't imagine that the three commissioners will vote yes ... but this is Lucas County where elected officials never met a tax they didn't like.

Stay tuned...I'm sure it will get much more interesting.

COSI: 'everything's on the table'

According to the report on Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's 'working lunch' with COSI supporters, "everything is on the table" when it comes to finding a way to save COSI.

While the COSI board has given up on the idea of keeping it open, they've decided to close as of Dec. 31 while working on various options under which it could re-open.

Neither David Waterman, COSI board chairman, nor the mayor ruled out another levy request in 2008. (No mention was made in the article about the private fundraising effort being led by Jerry Jakes.)

Hopefully, they won't go the levy route - or any route that expends public dollars on this failed enterprise. The COSI business plan wasn't good, as Waterman said, and the public has twice rejected funding a failed plan. The idea of spending Toledo Public School monies on a school in that facility also did not get a good reception, so any such proposals need to have solid, sound and supportable business plans ... something Toledo government doesn't do well.

Saving COSI????

The Toledo Free Press is reporting a private effort to save COSI.

"Retired management consultant Jerry Jakes is summoning his inner Santa by organizing an effort to save the Downtown science and technology museum. He said COSI could be saved if each family in what he calls “Lake Erie West” donated $5.

The burden shouldn't be left to Lucas County; Jakes said COSI is a regional asset. Families in Bowling Green, Perrysburg, Sandusky and even Monroe, Mich., are encouraged to send money. The 76-year-old Sylvania resident is asking households to help raise $1 million before the museum closes Dec. 31.
...
His campaign is off to a slow start. Jakes has tried to get the word out, but he's one person counting on others to help. The Toledo Community Foundation has agreed to collect the money sent by COSI supporters, but details need to be finalized."

COSI Chairman David Waterman, while appreciative of the effort, doesn't think it will be enough - or soon enough - to change the plans to close down the facility at the end of December. And, according to today's Blade, "he has heard no proposals that would keep the lights on past year's end - or avoid a third levy request to Lucas County voters in March."

But local 'leaders' aren't letting two defeats at the ballot box stop their efforts to find a way to keep COSI open. Fourteen 'members of the community' sent a letter to Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak and Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, saying they stand 'ready, willing and able to work with you and others to do what it takes to keep COSI Toledo alive in our community.' (italics were in the letter)

Those leaders are: Richard Anderson, Chairman of The Andersons; Bruce Baumhower, President UAW-Local 12; Jim Hoffman, President of Key Bank; Billie Sewell-Johnson, President/CEO of the Area Office on Aging; Steve Mickus, President/CEO of Mercy Health Partners; Fr. Ron Olszewski, President of St. Francis High School; Rev. Willie Perryman, Jr., Jerusalem Baptist Church; Thomas Brady, President of Plastic Technologies, Inc.; Jack Ford, member of Toledo Public School Board; Jimmy Jackson, President of The JAJ Company; Francine Lawrence, President of Toledo Federation of Teachers; Pat Nicholson, President of N-Viro Energy Systems, Inc.; Thomas Palmer, Managing Partner of Marshall & Melhorn; and George Tucker, Executive Secretary AFL-CIO.

Now, why Billie Johnson is a signer, I don't know. Her agency, the Area Office on Aging, is funded primarily (if not solely) by public dollars, including a levy in Lucas County. Of the signers, James Hoffman and Jack Ford are members of COSI's board.

The mayor, who thinks the voters didn't act 'wisely' in defeating the COSI levy, has scheduled a 'working lunch' for Tuesday with the authors as well as the addressees in an effort to see if funding can be worked out. (Wonder who's paying for that - Carty out of his personal funds? or you and me, from city tax dollars?)

But Waterman is not optimistic.

"...everything that had been discussed so far about preserving COSI would involve a "post-closing" reopening and public funding - the latter being something Lucas County voters have rejected twice.

"We're continuing to proceed in our orderly shutdown. … Nothing has happened yet to stop that in the short term," he said. "But we continue to meet with officials and other interested parties. We have had good support from everyone except the voters.""

And that's the problem. Jerry Jakes understands that the private sector is what can - and should - save COSI, and I hope he's successful in his fundraising drive. I only wish it'd been started earlier, with the enthusiastic support of the COSI board.

**If you would like to donate to the 'SAVE COSI' effort, you can do so here, but putting 'SAVE COSI' in the gift purpose field.

Sometimes I hate to be right

As predicted in this post about Jack Ford's idea to make COSI into a science/math school, The Blade has jumped all over the idea as a viable option to keeping the failing venture open.

While it's true that they'd rather have this remain a museum in the downtown area, they're basically giving the elected officials the go-ahead on the idea. Which means that you'll see the TPS school board, the mayor and the county commissioners 'uniting' to figure out how to make it happen. Never mind that voters don't want their taxes spent on this ... it's obviously more important to keep The Blade happy than it is the voters.

The Blade says they don't want another shuttered building downtown. I can't help but wonder if it ever occurred to them to actually sell the building to a private developer and let the private market take responsibility for making it into a successful venture ... especially when you consider that neither the city nor TPS have a good track record on such projects.

I hate it when I'm right on these kinds of things.

COSI as a charter school?

That's the idea of Jack Ford, a COSI board member and newly elected (to fill the seat he was appointed to) Toledo School Board member.

According to today's paper, Ford suggested to Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and COSI board president David Waterman that TPS could take over the building and make it into a charter-type school focusing on science and math during the day while leaving it open to the public for visits and exhibitions during the afternoon, evenings and weekends.

I think the idea of a charter school focusing on math and science is a great idea. And it would make sense if we don't already have one in the Toledo/Lucas County area.

But ....

One of the biggest problems COSI faces is the HVAC costs because of the design of the building. If TPS is going to invest taxpayer dollars for a math/science charter school, the COSI building is certainly NOT the most economical nor efficient building to select, even if they were able to get $1 million in other tax money from the city, the state or the federal government.

Besides, this really has nothing to do with the need or the offering of a charter school - this is all about how to save COSI, which the voters have said - TWICE - they don't want their tax dollars used to save.

And it doesn't matter which tax dollars they use for this building - school, city, state or federal - they're all still tax dollars and the voters have said NO.

Just what part of NO do they not understand?

(prediction: The Blade will jump all over this idea as a good solution to saving COSI and the downtown.)

Thoughts on levies - money doesn't grow on trees

While I've said a lot on Eye on Toledo about the tax levies, I wanted to emphasize some specific points made - and highlight a couple of comments made by callers.

First, whether or not you can AFFORD the levies, I think it's contradictory to say people need various government programs because they can't afford their food, gasoline, heating, homes ... and then vote to raise the taxes that they pay. So, as liberals are so fond of saying, remember those who are less fortunate when you vote Tuesday because a yes vote on these levies is not just to tax yourself more - but to tax EVERYONE more - regardless of their individual ability to afford the additional costs.

If you still don't know how these levies will impact you, visit the AREIS website and put in your name or address and then, under DATA, look at the 'levy estimator' option. It shows what you're currently paying, how much the specific levy will add and how much the total will be.

If these levies fail, I'll save about $270. If they all pass, I'll pay 62% more. In fact, I queried about two dozen properties and found that the increase varies between 62-65%. When was the last time that you voted to raise your costs by that much?

If you haven't yet decided how to vote on these issues, please visit the WSPD podcasts for Fred Lefebvre, Brian Wilson and me and listen to what the representatives actually said (Fred's interview), listen to the analysis of the interview (Brian's show) and then what the callers and others had to say (my show).

A lot of people have suggested that only property owners should be able to vote on property tax levies. I disagree with this because renters do pay property taxes through their rents - even if it's not as obvious to them that they do so. Some landlords have even begun to include a clause in their lease that gives them the ability to increase the rent when the property taxes go up.

However, another caller suggested that the law about how property tax levies are passed should be changed to require that a 'majority of property owners' must vote yes in order to have such levies pass, rather than just a majority of 'voters.' This is something I found very intriguing, but highly unlikely, as there would be significant opposition to such a change in the law.

As for the specific levies, I don't believe that COSI should be on the ballot. They are a private, non-profit organization that had a bad business plan and didn't do anything to change their business plan other than plan to go to the voters for money at some time in the future. Further, according to their interview on WSPD, they haven't changed their failed business plan - meaning that the failures they've had in the past will likely continue.

In 2006 I voted against putting COSI on the ballot (Resolution 2006-1240 dated 8-22-06). Nothing that COSI has said or done since then has given me any reason to change my mind.

TARTA's levy is for 10 years. There aren't a lot of things I buy today that are expected to last for 10 years - and we've seen significant changes in how people 'move' over the last 10 years to give anyone pause when considering this levy. TARTA has not responded well to the changing needs of the community and I cannot help but wonder if part of their reasoning is based upon 'ridership.'

Under federal law, they count 'rides' not 'riders,' so a person who takes the bus to and from work counts as 2 rides, not 1 rider. If you transfer, you've now given them 4 rides but still just 1 rider. Knowing that federal support is dependent upon increasing the number of rides, rather than increasing the actual number of people, is it likely that routes are structured to include transfers? I don't know, but if it is likely, we've got federal rules that actually promote inefficient operation of our local public buses. And then there was the comment James Gee made on the WSPD interview that he believes it's better to run large empty buses than to switch over to smaller, more efficient vehicles.

And this is the leadership in the agency asking for 10 years of funding while spending $2.9 million from their cash reserves to cover a budget deficit this year.

The MetroParks and Library levies are also up for vote. While I really like both these organizations, their work and their services, I think it's time they had a wake-up call, like so many of us have had over the past several years. They continue to think that their needs are more important than ours and that their increased costs should just be covered by us, despite the fact that so many of us are running our homes on less money. We've all made cuts in how we live and it's time these organizations do the same.

I'm not expecting that there will be continuing high levels of service, but I'm willing to scale back my expectations in order to help them reduce their costs. But, if they make their cuts in order to impose the most hardship on their constituents, they won't get my support in the future - either in votes on levies nor in membership/donations. The Library could cut morning hours in order to stay open weekends and nights when adults are less likely to be working. Instead of expanding, the MetroParks could delay or eliminate additional land purchases, leaving more of their operating funds to cover what we already have.

And if they were to do these things, the 'quality of life' in Lucas County would not be negatively impacted - nor would the sky fall. In fact, had these organizations asked for a renewal (collecting the same amount of money as they have in the past) instead of a replacement (collecting the same millage but on the higher property values of today) levy, I might have voted in favor of them, as it's what I've already budgeted. But when my personal income - like so many others - is down, costs are up, and I've modified my lifestyle accordingly, I think it's only fair that our 'public institutions' do the same.

When we were younger, we'd go to Mom or Dad and ask for money for this or that purchase or expense, much like these organizations are doing to the voters. And the phrase accompanying the 'NO' answer we so often heard? "Money doesn't grow on trees." Perhaps it's time that the voters in Lucas County started acting like the grownups we are and tell these organizations the same.

UPDATE: For another good perspective on the levies, read this blog post from Just Blowing Smoke.