July 19, 2007
JOE SAINO, THE MEMPHIS WATCHDOG, FOR CITY COUNCIL, SUPERDISTRICT 9, POSITION 2
What will Joe Saino do that will have a positive impact on the city of Memphis?
1. The builders of the panama canal said the first thing they had to do was to drain the swamp to get rid of the disease carriers. We need to get rid of inflated programs like the over 200 unauthorized appointed positions in city government and save millions. Also we need to do away with the riverfront development useless construction program, with the Linebarger high commission tax collection program and especially the no bid, private welfare ACS program that the mayor uses to reward his friends and supporters. The result of these changes will be millions in savings.
2. Some of these savings need to be returned to the tax payers in property tax reductions. a large part of the savings need to be used to beef up police programs with high tech cameras and a computer program to pin point high crime areas so that police can be positioned more effectively.
3. We need to utilize the riverfront in a more effective way by leasing land on mud island for restaurants and night clubs facing west so that we can attract people to the beautiful view. Possibly we can put a foot and bicycle bridge from riverside to the south end of the island to make it more easily available. The western view of the river with its river traffic is what will attract people to downtown Memphis.
4. We need to stop or severely cutback busing of our school children in order to save millions from the huge school budget and use this money to teach early reading to preschool children so that when they enter school, they will be better prepared to learn to read, write and do math.
5. We need to design new schools to a standard plan with space requirements cut back to average southern standards and use this same school design which can be computer altered to fit the location but which because of standard design will be at a much lower cost. Reading, writing and arithmetic don’t depend on a school that looks like a palace.
6. Private industry jobs are the most important requirement for our taxpayers and we have been severely restricted by the loss of new businesses due to our high tax rate. This has forced our leaders to give tax abatement through pilots, some $48 million dollars in 2006. We need to get these recipients of tax abatements to start picking up their fair share with strict oversight of the pilot and give the property tax rate for the average residential taxpayer some relief. In addition we need a city charter amendment that will require the approval of the voters for any real property tax increase. This was recently done successfully in Nashville.
Finally, nothing is more important than transparency in government. I call for a change in the city charter to require all rfps (request for proposals), replies to rfps, contracts, purchase orders, related correspondence and selection justification, all professional contract awards with related correspondence, all building projects, related contracts, purchase orders, change orders and correspondence, all salaries, benefits, pension details, land deals and minutes of meetings, all budgets, financial statements and audits to be put on the internet. Only by making open records access easier, can we keep the sunshine on government practices which politicians like to conceal. The current no bid purchase orders given under the ACS contract shield is an example of gross abuse and lack of transparency in bidding and awarding contracts. The fedex arena and the cannon center are other examples of abuse. Only by keeping the sunshine on politicians can we prevent the slime that occurs when something is hidden under a rock.
Two of my heroes are John Lunt and Heidi Shafer. Remember Heidi, she now works for George Flinn. However, back then she came out and opposed the consensus that we ought to build the Fed Ex arena without letting the citizens say yes or no in a referendum as is required by state law for a large project using ad valorem taxes for bonds. Everyone said she could not get the signatures but she did and I helped. When finally it looked like she would get the required signatures, the majority democrat controlled City Council and the majority republican controlled County Commission changed the bonds to revenue bonds, which are still full faith and credit bonds, and denied the citizens a say on the arena.
The other hero is John Lunt. When the democrat/republican controlled city council passed the January 2001 pension resolution giving all elected and appointed officials the right to retire with a full pension and medical retiree benefits after 12 years regardless of age, John Lunt came forward and asked the city council to revoke the resolution. They could not even get a second for the proposal. Then he got a petition going and got 30,000 signatures in 30 days and under this voter pressure they revoked the resolution, but only for future people. Tom Marshall will be eligible for his immediate pension starting after the election.
These two people were able to get citizens to unite against politicians who put their own interests first and foremost. This is what we need to do for this election. Unite with me and send a message to my opponents that the people are sick and tired of race baiting and self serving politicians and want some one who puts the taxpayer first and foremost. The taxpayers are tired of being sheared like sheep every year and want to take back the power and that is what I will do. I have worked for 3 years through open records request to expose the corruption and cronyism that is the basis of the City Council and the Herenton Administration. Put me on the City Council and I will contribute ½ of my salary to MIFA and if you put a new mayor in City Hall I will contribute the other half to MIFA.
TO DONATE TO MY CAMPAIGN FOR HONESTY AND TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT, GO TO MEMPHISWATCHDOG.ORG AND CLICK ON DONATE NOW OR SEND A CHECK AS SHOWN ON THE WEBSITE.
Click here to read about my campaign and donate or volunteer to help.
JOE SAINO, THE MEMPHIS WATCHDOG, FOR CITY COUNCIL, SUPERDISTRICT 9, POSITION 2
What will Joe Saino do that will have a positive impact on the city of Memphis?
1. The builders of the panama canal said the first thing they had to do was to drain the swamp to get rid of the disease carriers. We need to get rid of inflated programs like the over 200 unauthorized appointed positions in city government and save millions. Also we need to do away with the riverfront development useless construction program, with the Linebarger high commission tax collection program and especially the no bid, private welfare ACS program that the mayor uses to reward his friends and supporters. The result of these changes will be millions in savings.
2. Some of these savings need to be returned to the tax payers in property tax reductions. a large part of the savings need to be used to beef up police programs with high tech cameras and a computer program to pin point high crime areas so that police can be positioned more effectively.
3. We need to utilize the riverfront in a more effective way by leasing land on mud island for restaurants and night clubs facing west so that we can attract people to the beautiful view. Possibly we can put a foot and bicycle bridge from riverside to the south end of the island to make it more easily available. The western view of the river with its river traffic is what will attract people to downtown Memphis.
4. We need to stop or severely cutback busing of our school children in order to save millions from the huge school budget and use this money to teach early reading to preschool children so that when they enter school, they will be better prepared to learn to read, write and do math.
5. We need to design new schools to a standard plan with space requirements cut back to average southern standards and use this same school design which can be computer altered to fit the location but which because of standard design will be at a much lower cost. Reading, writing and arithmetic don’t depend on a school that looks like a palace.
6. Private industry jobs are the most important requirement for our taxpayers and we have been severely restricted by the loss of new businesses due to our high tax rate. This has forced our leaders to give tax abatement through pilots, some $48 million dollars in 2006. We need to get these recipients of tax abatements to start picking up their fair share with strict oversight of the pilot and give the property tax rate for the average residential taxpayer some relief. In addition we need a city charter amendment that will require the approval of the voters for any real property tax increase. This was recently done successfully in Nashville.
Finally, nothing is more important than transparency in government. I call for a change in the city charter to require all rfps (request for proposals), replies to rfps, contracts, purchase orders, related correspondence and selection justification, all professional contract awards with related correspondence, all building projects, related contracts, purchase orders, change orders and correspondence, all salaries, benefits, pension details, land deals and minutes of meetings, all budgets, financial statements and audits to be put on the internet. Only by making open records access easier, can we keep the sunshine on government practices which politicians like to conceal. The current no bid purchase orders given under the ACS contract shield is an example of gross abuse and lack of transparency in bidding and awarding contracts. The fedex arena and the cannon center are other examples of abuse. Only by keeping the sunshine on politicians can we prevent the slime that occurs when something is hidden under a rock.
Two of my heroes are John Lunt and Heidi Shafer. Remember Heidi, she now works for George Flinn. However, back then she came out and opposed the consensus that we ought to build the Fed Ex arena without letting the citizens say yes or no in a referendum as is required by state law for a large project using ad valorem taxes for bonds. Everyone said she could not get the signatures but she did and I helped. When finally it looked like she would get the required signatures, the majority democrat controlled City Council and the majority republican controlled County Commission changed the bonds to revenue bonds, which are still full faith and credit bonds, and denied the citizens a say on the arena.
The other hero is John Lunt. When the democrat/republican controlled city council passed the January 2001 pension resolution giving all elected and appointed officials the right to retire with a full pension and medical retiree benefits after 12 years regardless of age, John Lunt came forward and asked the city council to revoke the resolution. They could not even get a second for the proposal. Then he got a petition going and got 30,000 signatures in 30 days and under this voter pressure they revoked the resolution, but only for future people. Tom Marshall will be eligible for his immediate pension starting after the election.
These two people were able to get citizens to unite against politicians who put their own interests first and foremost. This is what we need to do for this election. Unite with me and send a message to my opponents that the people are sick and tired of race baiting and self serving politicians and want some one who puts the taxpayer first and foremost. The taxpayers are tired of being sheared like sheep every year and want to take back the power and that is what I will do. I have worked for 3 years through open records request to expose the corruption and cronyism that is the basis of the City Council and the Herenton Administration. Put me on the City Council and I will contribute ½ of my salary to MIFA and if you put a new mayor in City Hall I will contribute the other half to MIFA.
TO DONATE TO MY CAMPAIGN FOR HONESTY AND TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT, GO TO MEMPHISWATCHDOG.ORG AND CLICK ON DONATE NOW OR SEND A CHECK AS SHOWN ON THE WEBSITE.
Click here to read about my campaign and donate or volunteer to help.
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