Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Retiree Health Insurance
Thursday, May 16th, 2013May 16, 2013
Last Monday I wrote about the coming train wreck in health insurance premium increases. Today I want to point out a change that could save the City of Memphis millions of dollars in the coming year and in the future.
Again I point to the Shelby County government as a model of fiscal responsibility. In June 2007 the Shelby County government passed a resolution to provide for OPEB benefits and approve changes to health insurance benefits to employees and retirees.
Shelby County acknowledged that the Government Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No. 45 (GASB 45) and that the new standard recognized that the expense must be recognized as the benefits are earned rather than as they are paid. The resolution went on to say that the County’s actuaries calculated the annual required contribution to be $49 million, a $36 million dollar increase over (more…)
Memphis Appointed Employees
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012November 13, 2012
Last week I gave you information on the cost of the January 2001 pension resolution that allowed elected and appointed employees to retire after 12 years regardless of age.
When I started digging into this subject I found the following information.
- Section 250 of the Memphis City Charter provides that the Director of Personnel/Human Resources shall classify all officers and position. This section sets forth certain positions as appointed and allows for the creation of additional appointed positions with the concurrence of the Council of the City of Memphis. Over the past 20 to 30 years, The Director of Personnel/Human Resources has classified a number of positions as appointed that are not specifically enumerated in Section 250 of the Memphis City Charter.
The result of all this is a plethora of appointed positions. I have attached a list of about 300 (more…)
Beale St And The 17 Boxes of Documents
Thursday, November 8th, 2012November 8, 2012
There was an article in the Commercial Appeal last week concerning a court ruling on the ownership of Beale St. The judge ruled that Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc., the company that has run the Beale Street Entertainment District since 1982, can assign its sublease to the city of Memphis.
This brings to mind that in 2006 I received a report that there were 17 boxes of Beale Street documents stored in a locked closet at Robert Lipscomb’s Office of (more…)
$10 million Reasons Not To Vote For Tax Increases
Monday, November 5th, 2012November 5, 2012
When you go to the polls tomorrow you will have a chance to decide for or against several tax increases.
There is an orchestrated campaign to convince you that the only choice is these sales or gas tax increases or property tax increases. Well I have shown below a good example of how we got to this situation. This is millions thrown away because of bad policies and decisions that benefitted the insiders.
In January 2001 the Memphis City Council passed a resolution that allowed elected and appointed City of Memphis employees to retire after 12 years of service regardless (more…)
A Morality Play
Wednesday, October 31st, 2012October 31, 23012
As I have watched the election season, it is like watching a morality play on a national stage. There are so many people and so many thoughts on what people consider important.
There are the single issue voters such as “It is the environment” or “abortion” or “jobs” or “the debt and deficit” or “terrorism”. All of these are important issues. However to me the single most important issue is “character”.
The character of the candidates is important. However the American people have little faith in the (more…)
The Legacy Of Jimmy Carter
Thursday, October 25th, 2012October 25, 2012
There is the old saying that states “We are the Federal government and we are here to help.”
If there ever were good reasons to vote for smaller government, here are prime examples. We need to do away with these two federal departments which are examples of waste caused by big government.
The Department of Energy was formed after the oil crisis on August 4, 1977 in order to end the United States dependence on foreign oil by President Jimmy Carter’s signing of legislation, The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-91, 91 (more…)
The Bridge at Remagen
Saturday, September 29th, 2012September 29, 2012
I decided that I need a break from local government issues and talk about a controversy in history. I was watching a movie on television last Friday and it was the “Bridge at Remagen”. It was an exciting movie about the bravery of the troops who came across the last remaining bridge over the Rhine river during the second world war. I always thought the movie was a true representation of what happened at this historic event.
My German family members have a much different story from that depicted in this Hollywood production.
Where Do You Stand, Who Are you?
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011Thanksgiving is this Thursday, November 24, 2011. Our streets are awash with riots, demonstrations, filth, rapes, murders and anarchy. These people claim to be the 99% but are they really?
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what this country means to you. Regardless of what people say, this country is unique. It stands out from every other (more…)
A Beautiful Letter From Aunt Clara
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
This is the last of my articles on my recent visit to relatives in Germany. There has been a lot of interest in these articles and a lot of informed comments. Germany has a lot of problems just like the rest of the world and of course our own county. While there is a lot to like in present day Germany, there is no (more…)
Saving $92 Billion Dollars
Thursday, July 7th, 2011This is the week that we celebrated the Declaration of Independence, July 4th. Part of that document is shown below.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure (more…)