City of Xenia Financial Report : Commentary

City management are to be commended for achieving excellence in financial reporting. This honorable distinction was awarded both by Ohio’s State Auditor Mary Taylor and by the Government Finance Officers Association of America (GFOAAC). Taylor’s enlightening award was called “Making Your Tax Dollar Count,” which suggests city officials are good stewards of taxpayer money. Finance Director Mark Bazelak said his office received his association’s highest form of recognition: “The Certificate of Achievement.”

It should not be overlooked that the impressive professional kudos came from those to whom our public officials report. Unfortunately, a citizen or taxpayer award was not among the kudos for their financial reporting.

If you are citizen of Xenia reading this, you also may have read the latest financial report posted on the City’s website. If you are not versed in accounting or finance, you probably had difficulty making sense of the data. Nevertheless, the report is available to Internet public of Xenia.

My question is this: Does not Xenia taxpayers deserve better?

City of Xenia Recognized by Auditor of State for Excellent Financial Accountability

At the Xenia City Council meeting on January 28, 2010, Auditor of State Mary Taylor’s office presented City of Xenia officials with the “Making Your Tax Dollars Count” award for their fiscal year 2008 audit. Fewer than five percent of all Ohio government agencies are eligible for this award.

“I commend the City of Xenia for its commitment to fiscal accountability. Congratulations on your hard work and for being trustworthy stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said Taylor.

Certain criteria must be met to receive the “Making Your Tax Dollars Count” award. Standards include:

• The entity must submit a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR);
• There must be no findings or issues present in the audit report; and
• There must be no other financial concerns involving the entity.

Finance Director Mark Bazelak also announced at the meeting that the City has received its 26th consecutive Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its 2008 CAFR, which is awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

The Mayor and City Council praised the Finance Director for the achievement. Mr. Bazelak stated this is truly a Citywide effort. He acknowledged the other Appointed Officials, Division and Department heads and staff, and most especially, the Finance Department staff.

Finance Director Mark Bazelak said this morning, “This award demonstrates the City’s commitment to ensuring the safety of taxpayer dollars and implementing financial policies and procedures to operate the City more effectively and efficiently. This is especially important given the current economic outlook of the City and the need to ask the community for additional revenue.” City Council will vote on February 11, 2010, on whether to place a .5% income taxincrease on the ballot on May 4, 2010.

If you would like to review the 2008 CAFR, a copy is available on the City’s website at www.ci.xenia.oh.us. Go to the City Government tab and select City Administration / Finance Department.

Xenia Muncipal Court Amnesty For Those With Unpaid Fines, Arrest Warrants…

The Xenia Municipal Court says to pay your past fines now or face the possibility of stricter enforcement later. This announcement was made at a press conference held by Judge Michael K. Murry, Clerk of Court Pete Creamer, and Chief Probation Officer, Bobby Robbins.

On the 1st of February 2010, Judge Murry issued a Court Entry declaring an Amnesty program that continues through April 30, 2010.

During amnesty program period, anyone who has an outstanding warrant from the period of January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2008, for failing to pay fines, non-compliance with Court orders, probation violations, etc… may report to the Clerk of Court’s office without fear of arrest. If you have an active warrant and it’s a minor misdemeanor, it must be older than one year, any misdemeanor older than five years old with the exception of any version of Driving Under the Influence, Driving Under Suspension, Assault, or Domestic Violence; those offenses must be older than seven years, and any misdemeanor non-support warrant must be older than 10 years. The violator must pay the outstanding balance on all cases that will include court costs, fines, probation fees, parking tickets, restitution and license forfeiture fees.

As an additional incentive, during the amnesty period the $100.00 court costs for issuing the warrant will be waived. Once this has been accomplished, the warrant will be recalled and your case(s) will be closed within Xenia Municipal Court with no further action required. Any traffic, criminal, parking, probation, or civil case may be resolved in this manner.

This is the third consecutive year that Xenia Municipal Court has held an amnesty program. With this program in place, offenders must understand that by paying their fines, parking tickets, court costs, and restitution, they have the opportunity to have completion of their unfinished court business without further penalty. This will also lift warrant blocks on the offender’s license. The Court also believes this will alleviate over-crowded jails and enable officers to invest that time on more serious criminal matters. These warrants range from outstanding parking tickets to assault on the misdemeanor level. Although we realize that some people are afraid to face their responsibilities or don’t want to come to court for the fear of being arrested, there is a very real possibility of more severe punishment if the amnesty program is ignored and the warrants are not dealt with.

At the present, there are approximately 1200 individuals who have outstanding warrants issued for their arrest. There are also a large number of unpaid parking tickets that should be paid at City Hall’s Utility Billing that have the potential of becoming warrants.

To accommodate persons wishing to take advantage of this unique opportunity, the Xenia Municipal Clerk of Court’s office, 101 N. Detroit St., Xenia, Ohio is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Most Americans Approve of Tebow’s Pro-Life Ad During Super Bowl

Most American say they approve of the decision by CBS to air Focus On The Family pro-life ad featuring Florida Gator star quarterback Tim Tebow, according to a recent Marist Poll.

In the nationwide survey of 1,072, 60 percent of Americans said they approved of the decision by CBS. Thirty percent they disapproved.

It was not a big surprise to see fewer than 60 percent of those who identified themselves as Democrats, liberals, moderates, residents in the West and Northeast, making over $50,000 a year, and over 50 years old approving of a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl. Likewise, it would have been mind boggling had over 60 percent those who self-identified themselves as Republican, conservative, residents in the Midwest and South, making under $50,000, and under 50 year old not approved.

Interestingly, education and gender were among the factors differentiating those who are for or against the pro-life ad. The greatest point of difference was age. Of those 18-29 year of age, 77 percent were in favor of Tim Tebow’s escape from abortion pro-life plug. That was 14 percent higher than the 30-44 age group, 19 percent greater than the 45-59ers, and a 26 percent
chasm between the over 60 sexual revolutionary socialist generation and the 18-29 millennial generation.

The rest of the story

RE: “Greene County snubs advocate of its interests,” Dayton Daily News, Friday, January 29, 2010. Greene County Commissioners Marilyn Reid and Alan Anderson were correct in significantly reducing taxpayer contributions to the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC), except their rationale for doing so didn’t reveal the whole story. True enough, the budget is tight, but even in good times our elected officials shouldn’t be throwing money over the fence to special interests without competition for that work, without value added and without oversight. That’s precisely what happened in 2005-2006 with the Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) Initiative Agreement between Greene County and the DDC. The simple truth is the only jobs protected by this effort were high priced consultants, lobbyists and career politicians who received kickbacks to their political campaigns. Here are the facts to support that assertion.

In 2005 and 2006, the last 21 months of the $1.9 million BRAC Initiative Agreement, the Dayton Development Coalition also received a $2.34 million Third Frontier grant through Development Research Corporation, a non-profit company fronting for the DDC. In 2005-2006 the DDC paid over $500,000 to their President and CEO, over $300,000 to a Washington lobbying firm currently under investigation by the FBI, $190,000 to Qbase which is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, and over $200,000 to two other consultants, not to mention at least $50,000 on domestic and foreign travel.* Although this is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s hard to disagree that it reveals a broad pattern of self-dealing, waste and abuse, if not blatant corruption by the Dayton Development Coalition and their inner circle.

Ms. Reid and Mr. Anderson finally understand that Greene County and Ohio taxpayer dollars had minimum impact if any at all on saving or creating jobs at Wright Patterson. But what they did impact was the financial well-being of the special interests that recycled that money back to the politicians who in the end took credit for job creation they had nothing to do with. This is an insult to Greene County taxpayers, not to mention Wright Patt professionals that day in and day out provide the real value added to our warfighters who put everything on the line to protect our freedom and liberty.

*Source: BRAC Initiative Agreement, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Election Commission records and other documents obtained in a public records disclosure lawsuit against Greene County Commissioners (Case #: 2009CV0305).

Abstinence-Only Education Linked to Decreased Promiscuity : Study

Theory-based, abstinence-only intervention has been linked a lower rate of sexual involvement among African American preteens, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association.

John B. Jemmott III, Ph.D, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate one intervention – an eight-hour abstinence-only program targeting reduced sexual intercourse.

The study found that the probability of ever having sexual intercourse was approximately 15 percentage points lower among teens in the abstinence-only program than those in condom-promoting courses or those undergoing no sex education.

The study randomly assigned 662 African-American students (average age 12.2) to participate in one of four programs: abstinence-only intervention; safer-sex–only intervention targeting increased condom use; comprehensive interventions targeting both sexual intercourse and condom use; or a control intervention focusing on health issues unrelated to sexual behavior.

The researchers found that the probability of ever having sexual intercourse by the 24-month follow-up was 33.5 percent in the abstinence-only program and 48.5 percent in the control group attending health promotion courses. Rates in the safer sex and comprehensive programs did not differ significantly from the control group.

In addition, fewer students in the abstinence-only group (20.6 percent) vs. those in the control group (29 percent) reported having sex in the previous three months during the follow-up period. The abstinence-only intervention did not appear to affect rates of condom use. The eight-hour and 12-hour comprehensive programs appeared to be associated with reduced reports of having multiple partners when compared with the control group.

The authors of the study, which was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, concluded that theory-based abstinence-only interventions “can be part of [the] mix” of methods to reduce sexually-transmitted infections among teens.

Pro-life leaders hailed the study as reflecting a common sense approach to sex education initiatives.

“We have known for years that teaching abstinence changes lives,” Leslee Unruh, founder of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). “Abstinence education treats the whole being, teaching youth to respect themselves, set goals, avoid risky behavior to have a healthy future.”

Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America remarked: “Once again, science validate a moral truth – that promoting chastity leads to healthier lifestyles.”

Wright told LSN that, “the only people that will be disappointed by this good news – that encouraging abstinence results in kids abstaining from sex – are the people who profit from kids being sexually active.

“Too many adults make a living from, or seek validation for their own bad behavior by pushing kids to be sexually active,” she added.

Commenting on the study, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council called it unfortunate that “this Congress and administration has zeroed out abstinence education in favor of sex-ed programs that advocate high-risk sexual behavior when it is children and young teens who suffer the consequences.”

Following President Obama’s budget recommendations last year, Congress voted to gut $99 billion in federal abstinence education funding, and increased funds for contraceptive-based education initiatives.

“The government does not promote drug use or underage drinking, and it should not promote high-risk sexual behavior either,” said Perkins in a statement Monday. “The evidence shows clearly that sexual abstinence is the healthiest behavior for youth.”

Source: LifeSiteNews February 2, 2010

Obama’s State of the Union Address: Economic Plans Only Problem Causers Believe In

Last Tuesday, Obama presented his “let’s get the party agenda done” speech. Like his campaign rhetoric, it was long on feel good sales hype and short real substance.

While blaming all of the nation’s economic woes on Wall Street, he proclaimed our economic salvation is to be found in spending more money. The core of his spending plan was focused on three areas: The first is developing clean energy because it will save us from the impending catastrophe of climate change. The second is spending more money on health care because it will supposedly save us all money. The third is spending more money on education so that the next generation will be able to afford more loans in the global economy. Before Obama can increase spending on those three areas, money must be spent on getting banks to lend more money because credit (meaning more debt) is the lifeblood of the American [corporate] economy.

Ramussen recently published the results of its national survey of American opinions about government spending and the economy. The results make it clear that Obama and congressional Democrats are out of touch with the nation, which is to say Obama only hears the cheering choir of the elite liberal and socialist Left.

About 53 percent of Americans told Ramussen reduced government spending would help the economy. Sixty-one percent (61%) said cutting taxes is a better way of helping the economy than increased spending. One of Obama’s save the nation initiatives, heath care reform, is opposed by 61 percent of the nation. Americans want it dropped. Apparently, American fail to believe the presidential sales hype that health care reform will save money or do much to create good paying jobs.

Will Obama’s federal spending freeze help the economy? If temporarily halting the rate of spending 17 percent after increasing it by 20 percent in a single year, then yes it will help. Financial advisors like John Mauldin also say such a gesture is laughable. It’s laughable because the freeze covers only a small part of the federal budget and consequently maintains the 20 percent increase in discretionary, social security, military, stimulus, health care spending, according to the Independent Institute.

Obama’s statement that he is not for big government is as laughable as the spending freeze, but his placing the sole blame for the economic crisis on Wall Street and banks is not.

Remember, the economic crisis began with the collapse of the housing market. The mortgage industry bubble burst because Washington lawmakers made it possible for cheap loans to unqualified buyers continued unabated. Big banks held very large portfolios in those types of loans. We should not forget that the SEC is the federal regulator of Wall Street as Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve is of the banking system. The Bush administration appealed to the various oversight committee of Congress to correct the mortgage problems evident at Sallie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the Democrats refused, and it gets even better. The legal counsel of ACORN who was the main player in forcing banks to lend to the unqualified home buyers was none other than Barak Obama, whose Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is a federal reserve insider, a previous Fannie Mae executive, and a reputed bailout king of Wall Street. It is Obama who selected Geithner and fought for Bernanke’s return the Fed to continue wrecking our national economy. As the old saying goes, point one finger and three are pointing back at you, Mr. Obama.

In a May 2009 article, Independent Institute Senior Fellow Ivan Eland points out the practices of the Federal Reserve that produced the housing bubble and financial industry meltdown. To soothe Wall Street jitters after 9/11, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal fund rate, printed huge sums of new money, flooded the credit market making easy loans the norm, which led to overly inflated housing values, inflated costs of consumer goods, and decreased spending.

Those are a few likely reasons why 72 percent of Americans surveyed by Ramussen expect Obama and congressional Democrats to increase spending and the national debt. In other words, most Americans realize elected and unelected bureaucrats are expected to continue the same policies of spending our way out of debt. Those who have suffered bankruptcy know it will not work.

Okay, but, what about energy and education? Surely, spending more on developing new forms of energy and related technologies as well as improving education will surely create more jobs. According to the Ramussen survey, about 60 percent of Americans believe government spending less will result in the creation of more jobs.

The issue is who should pay for the development and marketing of new energy and related technologies? Loaning taxpayer money to businesses developing new types of energy or new related technologies would benefit society. However, investors and banks exist for that purpose–not government. Increasing taxes or taxpayer debt to spur profitable businesses is a misuse of taxpayer money. Let the private sector invest in and profit from new forms of energy and related technologies. That is how capitalism works. Government’s job is to ensure it benefits all citizens, consumers, groups, industries, businesses, and employees.

Obama’s rhetoric about spending more taxpayer dollars to make all of America’s children globally competitive is the same old sales baloney regurgitated since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The poor still are dropping out of school in alarming numbers, students still to not do as well as others in the world, the gaps between poor and non-poor student still (and is not actually expected to cease to) exist, and more money is being spent to solve the problem they do not solve. Why spend more on failed policy and practice? In her book Dependent on DC, Economic professor and lawyer Charolette Twight explains how ESEA spending was never meant to solve the problems of education. The purpose of ESEA (now, NCLB) is to expand federal power over state and local education. Federal spending on education means more dependency of local school for funding on unaccountable elites in Washington D.C.