Town of Buffalo Blowing Public Trust Funds?

Several months ago the Town of Buffalo formed a public trust authority. It was formed for the purpose of handling the moneys generated from the $14.00 increase on your water and sewer bill. Granted the trust formation was to give the TOB greater flexibility. Nevertheless, each month 7 bucks from the water bill and 7 bucks from the sewer bill is being kept tract of and put into its very own Trust “savings” account. It is very similar to putting back money for your kid’s college fund because you know sometime in the future you are going to have to spend a whole lot of money on them.

Their goal (at that time) was to raise the rates for infrastructure improvements that will be needed because the systems in place now are at the end of their life cycle. The infrastructure needs attention and that will cost lots of money. The savings are building and have been nicely since the rates have increased. Around $60,000 had been saved up since this was implemented.

The Public Trust had a rare meeting and decided to spend $23,000 to buy a house next to the fire department for more parking spaces. They were promised that $15,000 would be put back into the coffers of the Trust by other entities. That means that the Public Trust spent $8,000 of money that originally was intended for infrastructure improvements. That is a downfall of having a Public Trust that you can’t trust. Its flexibility has lent itself to self inflicted abuse. They used your rate increase for something it was never intended to be used for, to buy real estate. The fact is Harper, Buss, Daley, Carpenter, and Orange; as the public trust authority spent, thousands and thousands of dollars to buy a house, for more parking spaces, using moneys from the water and sewer rate increase.

Here is the kicker, as if you need more. The Town of Buffalo had left over from last year’s regular budget close to $100,000. They could have moved $8,000 of that over to the Public Trust fund instead of using any of the water and sewer fees to buy that house with. I’ll bet there are people in this town who would have much rather seen those very same dollars spent to repair/replace fire hydrants that don’t even work right.

I think I’ll go out and buy me a new fishing boat using my kid’s college savings fund.

Transparent Government

Here is a REPORT that is based on transparent government. This was written by Oklahomans for Responsible Government. It is geared towards our schools and their websites. In this report are some ideas that would also serve the common good of our community and its municipal government. It would be nice to someday see these guidelines implemented by the Town of Buffalo if it should ever decide to become pro-active.

I have copied ideas and suggestions from this report that would apply to the Town of Buffalo bringing a higher standard that could easily be achieved with a little effort.


From the Report;

Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent in order to let elected officials know if that is the right way or another direction is needed.

Technology makes it easier for government entities to provide transparency, but only if they take advantage of everything that computers and the World Wide Web have to offer. It is up to taxpayers to let their leaders know that transparency is important and that technology is the most cost-effective way to provide the information to anyone who wants to view it at any time of the day.

The Internet is often the first place someone turns to in order to find out about a subject, so every government entity whether federal, state or local needs to have a presence on the web. But even a website is just the first step; it’s the content of that website that matters most. The best government websites are simply laid out, well organized and packed with information like how to contact elected officials, a budget or meeting schedules.

Complete information regarding contracts.

Board members were listed; there was no contact information or details on election dates or boundaries. Board members are the direct link between a taxpayer and the money being spent and as an elected official, they should have their contact information on the web where it is easily accessible.

The feature common to the most websites was contact information for administrators. Many also had the most recent board agenda online, but that is not enough. If someone wants to figure out exactly when a topic was considered by the board, there needs to be an archive of past agendas. Very few districts had minutes of past meetings posted. This needs to be corrected to hold the board members accountable for their votes.

Nothing about a budget or how to contact board members.

The budget for the current fiscal year plus previous years should be easily accessed.

Websites should list the date, time and location of every board meeting for the year. Agendas and minutes of past meetings should be posted online as well. Regulations covering public input at meetings should be clearly displayed.

Elected officials: Members of the board should have their names and contact information posted on the website. Each member should also have the term of their office and date of next election posted as well as the boundaries of their ward/district. If the board has committees, those committees and their members should be listed as well. It would help taxpayers if any financial disclosures and conflict-of-interest statements required of its elected officials are posted.

Public records: The website should include comprehensive information on how taxpayers can obtain public documents. That means listing which employee handles the request and what fees, if any, there are for copies of documents. It would also be nice if it posted an annual rating of its FOIA compliance: How many requests did it receive in a given year, how many it complied with, the average time required for compliance, and reasons for denials. If currently being sued for failure to provide public documents, this information should be included.

Post its policy on criminal background checks of current and/or prospective employees. The policy should include how often criminal background checks are conducted and what procedures are followed when it learns of past or current criminal conduct on the part of staff.

Check out this report to find your school's website evaluation

STICKING OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB (Originally Posted 1/28/2009)

After being questioned about the accuracy of the previous cancer rate chart, a different chart that is more current has been found.

Anonymous says "Sales Tax Collections Dropping Like a Rock"

Anonymous said...
“Easy to be critical isn't it? And if we dubbed you town board member tomorrow, how exactly would you address the water issue and where exactly, would you get the funds? With sales tax collections dropping like a rock, I just don't see where the money is going to come from."

Hey anonymous, Maybe you should be dubbed the town’s treasurer!

The sky is falling in Buffalo again.
The Town had a budget surplus of over 140 thousand bucks this last year.
That is money that could have paved a street or two. Maybe even ran a detailed water test.
Nope let’s put it in a 2% CD.

Tax collects for the last six months in 2009
Jan $28,607 vs $20,958 in 08
Feb $21,888 vs $17,254 in 08
Mar $21,196 vs $16,778 in 08
Apr $17,014 vs $16,106 in 08
May $18,887 vs $20,230 in 08
Jun $27,079 vs $22,509 in 08
July $19,786 vs $20,461 in 08

Please tell us anonymous, what sales tax collections you are basing your theory on!
The “we are going broke” hoax is alive and kicking.

Watch and enjoy while the TOB raises the water meter fees and account deposits. Hang on while the citizens of Buffalo get water boarded by the 300 thousand dollar water sprinkler system for the golf course. Buffalo politics at its finest.

RUB-A-DUB-DUB THREE MEN AND THEIR TUB

Recently an antique pedestal tub was removed from its original location. It was destined to be taken to the pile of white goods where it would have met its ultimate fate when the car crusher returns to town. During the removal of the antique tub it was discovered that it was manufactured in 1928. It was quickly claimed by one of the three men removing it with the condition that it had to leave the current property. It was strategically placed on a concrete slab on another piece of property the claimant owns.

The purpose of the location that was chosen was, first and foremost, to get it out from under their feet as quickly and easily as possible. An incidental purpose was to camouflage the awful traffic yellow paint color that clashes with the claimants landscaping and building color scheme. Traveling across rural America you might often see an antique tub, such as this, nicely done up with beautiful flowers and plants. What transpired in the short time (6 days) that it sat at its location was nothing short of shameful.

Its location became the topic of the town. Intriguing questions were directed back as to what was going to be done with the tub by numerous people. Some expressed concerns, some declared their unsolicited opinions, and many declared their absolute displeasure. All of the comments because of an empty antique pedestal tub sitting on a concrete slab.

The comments came from various people throughout our community. Co-workers mentioned it. Town trustees were quick to utter their thoughts. The city administrator gave his speculation about it. Acquaintances opined. The coffee shop gossip spread. Spouses spoke. Even the town’s economic developer along with the newly hired policeman stopped what they were doing to move the tub to another location. The consensus was all the same. It was unsightly and something had to be done about it.

The tub garnered a lot of attention. The local people demanded immediate action. All because of an empty antique pedestal tub sitting on a concrete slab

If only the same community outcry would occur regarding the DUNG HOUSE situation on the other side of town.

Rub-a-dub-dub three men and their tub.

"DIRTY" LITTLE SECRETS

If you were suffering from any stomach cramps, diarrhea, or nausea around the middle of the month of July up until just recently, and wonder what the heck was going on, it quite possibly could have been the recent positive test of coliform bacteria in the town’s supply of drinking water. Get you a copy of the Town of Buffalo’s administrators report to learn more about it. That is one of the documents that are part of the consent agenda that is rarely discussed but routinely passes each month. What some refer to as the “Secret Documents”.

For those that have a sensitive immune system and need to know immediately when the water fails such test, there will come a day when the internet will be discovered by city hall that could put up a notice on their website. If the community is even luckier, the people at city hall may even discover that you can create an email list for those that desire to be notified immediately when the water becomes contaminated with coliform bacteria .

If only the new clinic had been opened prior to this outbreak they may have gotten off to a very prosperous grand opening.

Enjoy your belated letter of confidence that you will receive from city hall telling you about this occurrence of bacteria in you town’s water supply. That is all they are "required" to do.

145th Army Band Scheduled to Perform in Buffalo on July 4th

Buffalo will be honored by the performance of the 145th Army Band during the activities scheduled this 4th of July. If you are looking for a relaxing afternoon and evening of entertainment, Buffalo's Celebration Park will be the place to be. Parking within a short walking distance of the park may be the most attractive feature of this year’s 4th of July. Bring a lawn chair and grab a shady spot for a stress free Independence Day Celebration.
Area residents are invited to avoid the Bush crowd and inconveniences. So come unwind with us in Buffalo this Saturday.

TOWN BOARD TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY?

The Town Board is a having "special meeting" to discuss and act upon some special things concerning special people.

They may even go so far as to declare that there is an emergency in Buffalo politics.

Well isn't that special that they couldn't do this at the regular meeting that is coming up in July.

This meeting is really special because everyone will become rudely acquainted with the itinerant vendor ordinance. Maybe they will go so far as to tell the community why there is an emergency situation with this.

Oops! Almost forgot about slipping some cash to the Clerk and Treasurer. $1187.08 for each one of them. Better hurry and get er done before the audit changes again. Can you say Christmas in July!

Here is the link to the agenda for the "SPECIAL MEETING"

WAS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUFFALO POLICE DEPARTMENT ALSO A HOAX?

Will the political posturing lead to the taxpayers of Buffalo watching their dollars get handed off, by the fistfuls, to the Harper County Sheriff’s Department again? Will the Buffalo Police Department creation prove to have been another hoax pulled off by a selection of Trustees? Will the Town have a fire sale for the entire array of modern, top of the line, equipment that they have purchased in the last several months for the police department? Will the taxpaying citizens of Buffalo ever get tired of seeing their tax dollars handed over to Harper County entities? Hang on tight, this roller coaster ride you’re on is about to get exciting.

IT WAS ALL A HOAX !!!!

After going through the numerous hurdles and steps for consideration for the LPAC our leaders of tomorrow have jumped on the Daley band wagon and decided not to let any of the public be active participants. So the sign up sheet was a hoax. The article in the paper was a hoax. The Friday at noon deadline for résumés was a hoax. It is obvious that Lewis and his hospital clan members couldn’t stomach the idea of having any of the applicants on any LPAC committee. So instead of having courage to back out early on, they devised more hoops and hurdles to jump through and over to get the people that signed up to trip up and fail to meet deadlines and submit paperwork.

What I find interesting about this is that with all of these hoops and timeline extensions that the only people that continued to be interested in the LPAC are same ones that are willing to continue to fight for a municipal government that is willing to work for any and all of its citizens. Why is it that Daley, Buss, and Carpenter couldn’t find any of their supporters to come forward with their qualifications to be on this committee? Where are their strong supporters when this calling came to the community to work together? Isn’t that what everyone likes to rant about? Kind of reminds me of the clean up day back in April. Rest assured none of us expected to be on this committee but it was pushed to the point that they had to completely backtrack to prevent the inclusion of even one of us.

What is really appalling about this whole thing is that the CIP is for the community and comes with high recommendations for community participation and involvement. That is exactly what they don’t want. It reminds me of when I was on the board back in 2002 and the TEA-21 Turner Street Project was being developed. One of the things I pushed for was to get all of the business owners up and down Turner Street to be on a committee to select the streetscape architect/engineer/designer for the project. I was approached by our economic developer (James) who had grave concerns about this. He asked if we really wanted to get all of these people involved with this project. I conveyed back to him that I firmly believed that we needed to. The response from the business owners was excellent and I truly believed that they felt a sense of ownership and acceptance of the project once they became a part of it. I believe that their participation led to them accepting the burdens that construction in front of their business’s doorstep will do. They were a part of it, thus they felt some ownership of it. They were actively participating in its success.

So after Daley makes a motion to leave the LPAC the way it is and during the second by one of her sidekicks, I yelled out, “It was a hoax?” Evidently the mayor was unsure of what I said so I got the pleasure of yelling it out again. I immediately thought back when James showed me that he didn’t want the public involved with the Town’s affairs. The new world order we have in place is all a hoax.

I may not hear very well but I am a good listener. I couldn’t help but notice the remarks that Mr. Fisher, who is with OEDA, had recently received the new revised priority list regarding the existing hoax of a CIP. Apparently the Town of Buffalo has been faking these public meetings that are required. Maybe I should say that James has been faking them. He is the one that submits the documents to OEDA. None of the board members can even tell you what is on the priority list. The standing committee never met to help James determine what should go on that list. Or maybe they did and only invited the good ole boys, whoever they are. It is absolutely unacceptable what our glorified grant writer, who holds the title of economic developer, has going on behind the back of our elected officials, faking the CIP all these years. When asked for a copy of the list by one of the Trustees he couldn’t even produce it. It is all a hoax. But since nobody ever reads this blog, especially our local elected Trustees, the hoax will continue. I am glad the Internet doesn’t reach out further than the confines of our city limits because I wouldn’t want our regionally elected officials that fund these CIP projects to find out that they have been PUNK’D also.

INTERNAL AUDIT

So there really is one of these after all. Here is a picture of it.

The original Constitution of Oklahoma.
The original was one hundred and ten pages long.

Yet even today, it is a live working document that still requires adherence. It reaches out to the limits of all of the borders of the state it was written for. It, along with the State Statutes, covers all of the land of the Great State of OKLAHOMA!

Even in a little town like Buffalo its presence can still be felt. It is still alive and kicking. In spite of everything, its perseverance has a hold over our municipal officials. Because of this document the town board will be voting on an agreement with a CPA to do an internal audit to determine the statutory salaries for the town clerk and town treasurer.

Is this a great state or what?

THE INTERNAL AUDIT IS IN!!!!!

ARE THESE RANKINGS ACCEPTABLE?

Click on the charts above to see larger view of them if needed. But then again maybe you shouldn't, you might not like what you see.

BUFFALO ELEMENTRY GREAT SCHOOLS RANKING

"MORE INTERESTING CRAP"

Instead of taking jabs at residents, and their geographic residential neighborhood locations.....Let’s take a stab at the issues themselves.

Can anyone come up with any reason why the Town of Buffalo should pay for the energy consumption at city hall that exceeds their historical annual average? Besides the obvious reason of “The hospital administrator wants it that way.”

There are three other Town Board members perfectly capable of making and reaching an equitable solution to this issue. Give them a chance without interference. The conflict of interest reeks. But taxpayers keep getting it fed to them by the shovels full.

Put a clause in the lease that the Hospital will meet the excess utility usage that is above the historical average upon the completion of one year of lease. Set the lease up to adjust the corresponding ratio of utilities to reflect the new data upon the renewal of the lease.

Determine and agree upon the historical average usage of the utilities for the each type involved. It can be easily determined how many units of electricity are used on an annual basis. The same can be done with the gas. Put those numbers in the lease agreement. At the end of the year multiply the actual usage times the towns 40% share. If that number is more than the lease agreement number the town gets the difference returned to them for their overpayment of the utilities. If an overpayment is due to the town, multiply the number of units times the average cost of the units during that year. Use the new data to determine the new lease utility ratio splits. At that point the ratios may be different for electrical and gas. Put in the lease that if the overage is less than 10% then no adjustments shall be made.

If at all possible the Public Trust should be utilized to handle these affairs to prevent any negative impact on the Towns fiscal years’ budget. Put the lease money in the trust for unforeseen repairs and upgrades that might be needed. This is just about making good practical business sense because the Town of Buffalo is a business.

Are We Losing Our Marbles With The Municipal Budget?

Analogy of how a municipal budget works.

Every year the town gets with the auditor and he tells the town how much total money can be spent for the next fiscal year. That number is, for the most part, set in concrete. It doesn’t matter if you spend money and then get it back it still counts against the budget.
It is not a revolving budget. It is not like a credit card that has a limit on it. You don’t get to make payments on it and get to keep spending as long as you stay under your credit limit.

Look at it like this. The auditor says you can spend 60 dollars for the whole year. At the start of the fiscal year to make sure you don’t go over budget he gives you two jars. One is completely empty and painted black where you can’t see in it. The second is clear glass and full of 60 marbles that represents each dollar you can spend. Now for each dollar you spend throughout the year you pull one marble out of the clear jar and put into the black jar and you never will see it again for the rest of that year.

Say you spend 5 dollars this month. You take 5 marbles out of the clear jar and put them into the black jar and you can’t see them any more. Let’s say that month someone pays their bill owed to the city of 6 dollars. That money goes into the bank and no marbles are put into the clear jar.

Then the next month you pay more bills using money in the bank and use up marbles from the clear jar. You receive more revenue and you put that money in the bank. You continue this cycle until all the marbles in the clear jar are gone or the end of the fiscal year comes, which ever is first.

When all the marbles from the clear jar are gone your expenditures are finished. You can’t get marbles out of the black jar and use them again. And the money that went into the bank didn’t come with any marbles. You can't buy more marbles with the money in the bank either. You only get more marbles again after next years audit and the auditor tells you how many you can have.

Even though you know there is money in the bank and you know that there are marbles in the black jar your budget is determined by the clear jar. When you use all of your marbles from it, there is no more spending allowed. Next year you will get the marbles back out of the black jar and you might get extra ones or the auditor may take a few away, based upon the revenues received.

Trustees should understand and keep track of our marbles in the clear jar all of the time.

DO WE STILL HAVE A POLICE CHIEF / FREEBIES FOR THE NEW CLINIC

Do we still have a police chief? After coming out of executive session a motion carried instructing the new Mayor Lewis Carpenter to act upon what was discussed in executive session. That could mean anything including firing of the Police Chief.

There seems to be a new trend when coming out the executive session, that is, to make a motion to do something they decided to do in executive session. More secrets? So based on what happened at the last meeting one could assume that Buffalo may be without a police chief since no one knows what was said in the executive session and they can’t talk about it. Only leaves one to speculate what they are doing to him.

Hopefully Jeremy can avoid being contacted by Lewis long enough to conclude his investigation of the toddler’s death. So if anyone sees or hears from Jeremy please be sure to find out if he is still our police chief. Will he still be the police chief after June 30?

Has Jeremy endured more executive sessions than any former police chief in the history of Buffalo? He has only been here a little over six months. Could it be he is doing exactly what he was hired to do? This is approaching the edge of turning into a hostile work environment for him. Just hope we never lose him to the petty shenanigans coming from members of the Board and City Hall. Jeremy comes across as a pretty thick chested guy, will these things deflect off of him easily? When you see him, tell him you appreciate everything is doing for our community.

A special meeting will be held on May 11th to discuss and review the HCCH lease agreement. Take special notice in how the City Clerk, who is responsible for the posted agenda, left the word "ACTION" off of the description. This is a famous observable fact that City Hall uses to control the direction of certain activities by hindering the options that are available for the board to utilize. Don’t want the board to be able to do anything… conveniently leave the word "ACTION" off of the agenda item...that will tie their hands.

At issue is clarifying who is going to pay for the utility bills and how those will be handled. Also the taxpayers of Buffalo may be getting short changed on the square footage that is used to calculate the monthly rent. 2 out of 5 trustees work for the hospital so it will be very interesting to see where their true interests lie, as they take their seat to represent the Town of Buffalo as elected Trustees. Will there be a conflict of interest?

It is hard to think of any sustainable business that survives by giving away their office space for free. Furthermore, most renters pay for their own utility bills. Now if someone has done an analysis of the historic utility usage of the building and then uses that data to set the rental rate that would be different. Since there is no way of knowing what the new clinic will use, it is only fitting to make them take care of their own utilities. Instead the preference now will be to pull numbers out of their butt each month as to what their fair share will be. Taxpayer subsidizing a private clinics utilities, what a concept.

In conclusion on this topic, having the town pay the bills for the hospital will have a detrimental effect on the operational budget of the town. When the Town has this much on its plate, using up part of the Town’s budget to pay the clinic’s utilities is incomprehensible. The public trust should be the entity handling this lease to remove the effects that it may have on the Town’s budget. “The Public Trust”…will that turn out to be an oxymoron for Buffalo?

Holy Flames Batman, They're Torching OUR Pocketbooks!!

This coming Town Board meeting is heating up to be an inferno of controversy. On the agenda is the proposal to establish charges for the fire department’s responses. The “Run Fee” policy proposal tentatively has amounts ranging from $300.00 to $400.00 penciled in for ALL RESPONSES. (fires or rescue….in town or out). The fire hydrant issue has been a hot topic for quite some time and this should only add more fuel to the fire.

Because of the hydrant issue our ISO rating, that many property insurances are based on, was sitting at an 8. That undesirable ISO rating may be causing your insurance premiums to be as much as 35% to 40% higher. The ISO rating is not solely tied to the fire hydrants. However, the flow rate of these hydrants could impact the rating. If our ISO rating were to be improved to a better class, a policy holder could see substantial savings in their annual premium. Because of the disrepair of the hydrants we may loose our good ISO rate an soon may be paying higher property insurance premiums.

UPDATE: The ISO rating for Buffalo has within the last year been up graded to a 6 from an 8. Because of this new ISO rating, a sample insurance rate for a 4 bedroom house in Buffalo, the premium was reduced by 27%. A policy that used to cost $1330 per year dropped to $971. That is a saving of $359 per year on this example!!

Now our elected officials may be so proud of our fire suppressing system they may think it is fitting to charge us a fee for a response. If you don’t have all of your property insured and you can’t pay the fee what happens next. Could they put the response fee on your property taxes? If you couldn't’t pay the $300 to $400 response fee how can you pay the extra amount on your property taxes? Could the municipal government then get a tax deed on your property because you couldn't’t pay your response fee? You betcha!!

What are we getting for our city sales taxes and monthly municipal bills? The town of Buffalo has the highest possible sales tax rate in the state. The town of Buffalo has year after year carried over moneys from the previous year’s budget into the next fiscal year only to have that extra money put into CD’s. Would it have been nice if the money would have been put into the fire suppression system that we have in place to better our ISO ratings? Would it have been nice to get a break on our insurance premiums before we get scorched by the flames of these response fees? Update: Not all insurance companies have the new ISO ratings in their database and many policies may not have had their premiums adjusted, that is if they use the ISO rating at all.

And what about those who can’t afford to insure their properties? They are not going to call the fire department for help when they know they will get burned again with a bill from the town. Will people be endangering their lives and property because they know how hard it is, in this economic downturn, to keep a loaf of bread on the table let alone shell out 3 to 4 hundred bucks for a response fee?

"Honey! Run and get garden hose drug into kitchen...Skillet caught fire again!"

"Hurry every chance you get... don't want the firemen to get here first" "Can't afford Em".

Maintain the new ISO rating before setting run fees! Continue to keep the ISO rating to help us save money on our insurance premiums! Then maybe you will get more money from people pledging that savings to the Buffalo Fireman’s Association than the fees you want to charge the taxpayers of the community.

Gus Blackwell rips Treasurer in Harper County Journal article

Look at the following verbage that was used in a recent article that was published in the Harper County Journal.

Treasurer believes that the law is unconstitutional
Treasurer simply chose to disobey the state law
doesn't have to follow the law
Treasurer again chose to ignore this law
blatant violation of law
Treasurer would still be in violation of state law

They seem to have a negative tone as they stand alone. No one noticed the tone of these words. No feathers even became ruffled.
Yet when similar things have been written regarding Buffalo’s elected officials there is a perceived outrage. What gives?

These selected words came from his Capitol Corner article that is publish by numerous area papers. Gus, who also is an elected State Representative, can rip one of our elected officials and probably didn’t get one email from anyone from Buffalo. When you read the full article it is obvious that he is upset with the State Treasurer. Nonetheless, he is showing zeal about something he believes in. I am “okay” with this. I like his passion and I appreciate him for having it. If only we could be just as “okay” with people that have the same passion about our very own city government.

Note: The selected verbage that was used for this post is specifically selected parts of sentences that appeared in the article and its context shall not be construed in any way to be applicable to our city officials. This was done for illustrational purposes only.

POOL TO REMAIN CLOSED FOR THE SUMMER?

Apparently Joe has misunderstood The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. Because of the title of the act, he must think that it is only applicable for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Because of this error, it is yet to be determined if the municipal swimming pool will get the required drain modification to be properly permitted for this summer's swimming season.

This act is actually a federal requirement. Oklahoma is the 46th state of the union. This union, which is commonly referred to as The United States of America, has its own form of government. This regime is known to most as the Federal Government. It trumps state governments. Since Oklahoma is a part of that union, it has to participate and follow the rules that are set out by the federal government. What they say goes.

So instead of opening the pool before Memorial Weekend, last year the lower the bar standard of Fourth of July opening was met. With this trend the Labor Day Weekend opening must be the new bench mark Joe has his sights on.

Those are the big three Holidays of the summer so plan your vacation package accordingly. Virginia is for Lovers is a popular tourism and travel slogan. If you do go to Virginia you will be right next door to the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. Check it out while you’re out there. That’s where the Federal Government is located that actually enacted The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.

READ MORE FROM INSIDE BUFFALO

Buffalo Disses Federal Government

FIRE HYDRANT DILEMMA

I added circles to the fire hydrants to highlight the coverage areas or more importantly the lack thereof. This is for informational purposes only. It may or may not actually represent the fire departments ability to protect your property. This is not intended to point a finger at anyone for allowing over half of our fire hydrants to get to the state of needing complete replacement or repair.

IT IS TIME TO QUIT PUSSY FOOTING AROUND THIS PROBLEM AND SEND OUT FOR BID A CONTRACT FOR THE NEEDED REPLACEMENT OF THE FIRE HYDRANTS IN THE MOST UNPROTECTED AREAS OF BUFFALO ! (all caps is considered to be voicing something strongly or quite simply YELLING)

CLICK ON THIS MAP FOR LARGER VIEW


INSIDE BUFFALO FIRE HYDRANT ARTICLE

UPDATE APRIL 16, 2009

Anonymous said...
Anyone know where we stand on the fire hydrant issue? According to the map one that isn't working is by my home......

FYI

THESE TWO FIRE HYDRANTS HAVE BEEN LAYING AROUND FOR A LONG TIME JUST WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO DIG A HOLE AND INSTALL THEM.

MAYBE SOMEONE HAS JUST BEEN WAITING FOR A RAINY DAY TO GET
(AROUND TO IT)

BUT THEN AGAIN, IT MAY BE HARD TO FIGURE OUT JUST WHERE TO BEGIN INSTALLING THEM FIRST.

For a quarter you should be able to get a copy of the "secret document" at city hall of the most recent City Manager's report that explains just what exactly has been done since the last meeting in March regarding the fire hydrant issue.

Upbeat Progress Before and After

MONTAGE OF THOMAS SOWELL QUOTES

“It's amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.”-
“It is amazing how many of those who consider themselves "thinking people" respond automatically to words the way Pavlov`s dog was conditioned to respond to certain sounds”-
“The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny doesn't know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.”

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best"-
"The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly"-
"The simplest and most psychologically satisfying explanation of any observed phenomenon is that it happened that way because someone wanted it to happen that way.”-
“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”-
“We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.”

“It is bad enough that so many people believe things without any evidence. What is worse is that some people have no conception of evidence and regard facts as just someone else’s opinion.”-
“Reality is not optional.”-
“People used to say, "Ignorance is no excuse." Today, ignorance is no problem. After all, you have "a right to your own opinion" -- and self-esteem to boot.”-
“Much of the self-righteous nonsense that abounds on so many subjects cannot stand up to three questions: (1) Compared to what? (2) At what cost? and (3) What are the hard facts?”-
“What is more frightening than any particular policy or ideology is the widespread habit of disregarding facts.”-
“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”-
"Facts do not speak for themselves. They speak for or against competing theories. Facts divorced from theories or visions are mere isolated curiosities.”-
“For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert; but for every fact there is not necessarily an equal and opposite fact”

“The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites.”-
“The words games of the left — from the mantra of "diversity" to the pieties of "compassion" — are not just games. They are ways of imposing power by evading issues of substance through the use of seductive rhetoric."-
"People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do"-
”One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.”-
“Talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty.”-
"Not only does the passage of time produce knowledge, it also produces ignorance... As the passage of time removes people with first-hand knowledge of an earlier era, they are replaced by people ignorant of those times and therefore easy targets for demagogues.”

“It is amazing how many people think that the government's role is to give them what they want by overriding what other people want.”-
"The desire to order other people around and make them conform to one own’s vision takes many forms."-

“The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied. They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer - and they don't want explanations that do not give them that.”-

“The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers.”-
“Those who have created nothing have maintained a constant barrage of criticism of those who created something.”-
“Why can't the talkers leave the doers alone? Perhaps it is because that would leave the talkers on the sidelines, with their uselessness being painfully obvious to all, instead of being in the limelight and "making a difference"

Quotes of Thomas Sowell

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO BE INVOLVED AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE !

Well the line has been drawn and the challenge has been declared. Inside Buffalo says, “All you Buffalo Blogspot commenters who either post anonymously or post with a moniker/name volunteering to help clean up Buffalo or do other good deeds... Join Now!”

So I did.

But what about the rest of you blog readers and anonymous posters will you?

Recently a person made an interesting analogy at a C of C meeting that I think may be applicable here. It was about a team of huskies for a dogsled. When the dogs are un-hitched from the sled and they are tied out they sometimes snip at each other a little bit. But when they are hitched up to the sled they all pull together as a team. Nothing else, they just pull together. Their instincts kick in and they work as hard as they can to pull that sled in the right direction.

Here is a chance for all of us to hitch ourselves up to the sled and start pulling the sled in the right direction as a team. The gangline consist of lead dogs, point dogs, swing dogs, wheel dogs, and team dogs. There should be an opportunity for everyone that joins to find a good fit for this mushing effort.

Even though we get tied out to our stakes and sometimes snip at one another now and then, we can still be like a team of huskies and get ourselves hitched up and pull this sled together. It is time to let “our” instincts kick in.

Here is the link to the article that has the opportunity to sign up as a team. Let’s go mushing!

Click Here to Join the Effort

TODDLER’S DEATH CASE REOPENED $10,000 REWARD OFFERED

Here is a link about the story that aired on channel 4 KFOR 10 o'clock news on March 10th.

Click on the link below to read

KFOR STORY LINK

This link will jump you to the recorded newscast.
This story begins around the 4 minute mark.
VIDEO OF NEWSCAST

HEY PEOPLE LOOK AT THE CIP

This is a snapshot of Buffalo's CIP created back in 2004. The items checked off by green were already in the works and therefore were completed. The board voted recently to do the golf course irrigation system at Doby Springs Golf Course next.

click on document for larger view

Click on the link below to see for yourself

CIP PROJECT ARCHIVED BY INSIDE BUFFALO

Let's keep shooting at the messenger its more fun than reality.

Town "BORED" meeting held.

Audits aren’t interesting!

Here is link to new articles.

HOT NEWS ARTICLES

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT

CLICK HERE

DOBY SPRINGS "HAZARDS"

Unified Decision

The Town Board, by a vote of 3 to 0, approved a budget for the Police Department for the remainder of the fiscal year. Forty Thousand was allotted for the period of February 1st through June 30, 2009.

Immediately after the budget was approved, the Board, again unanimously, set a pay scale for a full time police officer. The amount was set at $1800.00 plus benefits.

Lastly, Trent Maggard was subsequently hired as a full time police officer for the Town of Buffalo Police Department. This was also with a resounding collective vote of yes.

Tommy Painter was then commended by Chief Murrell and the members of the Board for his continuous service as volunteer reserve police officer.

Chance Brown’s service on the board will be shortly coming to an end as he has chosen to divest his time in other interests and thus elected not to run for the seat again. However he can rest assured that he had a positive impact on the implementation of the renewed Buffalo Police Department and can be proud of that legacy which he leaves behind.

Doby Springs Nature Trail

MAYOR....I FEEL LIKE YOU'RE NOT "PROFESSIONAL"

The Mayor says the new Police Chief is not "professional". Those lucky enough to be present at the meeting got to witness a verbal reprimand of the Chief of Police that was presented by the Mayor of Buffalo. This happened in open session.

Oh by the way, there was not an agenda item for the disciplining of employees anywhere on the listed agenda. If it would have been on the agenda for the meeting it would have been done in executive session not in the public forum which it occurred. Apparently the Mayor has deemed the Police Chief demoted to only be the city's ordinance enforcement officer. The Mayor has issues with his authority to investigate crimes and uphold the laws of the state. Obviously the Mayor has a vendetta for the new Police Chief.

All he was trying to do is get more help in way of budget approval. All he wanted was to hire one police officer to assist in the protection of the citizens of this town. He was originally led to believe he was hired to be the Chief of Police for the renewed police department. He says he can’t provide the police protection that the town needs without the additional assistance of hiring one additional police officer. He has presented budget proposals that are thousands of dollars less than the previous Sheriff’s contract. Furthermore, the budget is even more thousands of dollars less than the former city police department’s budget prior to when it was relinquished to the county.

The Police Chief tried on several occasions to bring the discussion back on topic of the agenda, only to find himself defending his employed position as the Chief while standing in front of the public body.

“Discussion and possible action to establish the amount for salary and benefits for a police officer” was the agenda item.

How does this agenda rationalize the public ridicule he went through is beyond reason.

Mayor was your conduct “professional”?

Is the silence by the rest of the board members acceptance of the Mayor's stance?


CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARTICLES
http://insidebuffalo.net/fiasco.htm
http://insidebuffalo.net/daMoney.htm

THE GOSSIP GAME

CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE ON INSIDEBUFFALO
CONTRIBUTED BY ONSIDEBUFFALO.

http://insidebuffalo.net/index-17.php

Who’s Gonna fill their shoes?

My family owned and operated a café for more than fifty years in Buffalo. It was started by my late grandma and grandpa Harper. It was then handed down to their children and so my dad and uncle ran it until they retired from it. It was put up for sale and never survived after that. But how did it last the first fifty years? It was family. It literally was a family restaurant. Roots that ran deep. So the help often consisted of cousins, sisters, brothers, moms, dads, aunts, and uncles. The elders of those retired and the younger choose different careers. Most moved away, some lived out their lives here, and a few continue to do so. So the significant aspect of this is, the younger ones that choose a different career and leave Buffalo behind are having an impact on the survivorship of our businesses.

Many of the existing businesses of Buffalo have roots that, in a sense, make them a family business. Whether they took over from their parents or they bought a business and have children themselves. Take a moment right now and think about how many businesses that this applies to in this town. Now then, this situation is even more aptly applied to the farming/ranching community around Buffalo.

So here we have these family businesses all around us that reveal that their survivorship is reliant upon the younger ones....the children, to take over the reins. But remember, like most, the young adults choose different careers and end up moving away. The business runs its course and eventually closes its doors leaving empty shoes to fill. So take a few moments and imagine 10, 15, 20 years from now who will be operating the stores and businesses that you take for granted will always be there????

If no one is here to take over a business, what do we do? We recruit the other people of the world that are “moving away”, to come to Buffalo. That we can do. But getting them here is not the journey. It is just the first step. It is the planting of the seed. Supporting them so that they establish their roots is the blueprint for survivorship of Buffalo. If we don’t the venture was wasted. When lack of support of these business enterprises causes them to give in, then I wonder…..“Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?”

APPEARANCES FROM THE AUDIENCE, MAN DID THEY EVER!!

My there were a lot of people at the board meeting. And everyone who stayed got to witness but maybe not hear a public tongue lashing let loose by several audience members concerning blog posts and online magazines. Do they hope for the town board to pass a city ordinance to ban these computer websites? It is hard to figure out how the appearances from the audience portion of the meeting are to be used for public outrage for what is written online. Nevertheless, people where able to speak their mind and that is a good thing. If what is written on these pages upsets people to the point of trembling and shaking because they are so upset then please refrain from reading here. I again apologize for upsetting those of you. The town board meeting is still not the venue to be used for such activity but there is no surprise to say the least. Appreciation goes out to the very few people that took the time to raise their concerns in a civil manner after the meeting.

Addressing the issue raised tonight from a concerned individual demanding a retraction for previous posts there will be none at this time until the necessary studies are made. I did my homework and we are not out of the woods yet. If you felt misled by the posts I didn't mean to do that. I still firmly believe that there is a capacity issue and until the board takes the steps to fully address that situation it will always be up in the air. The core of the expense will be for earthwork related items which have not been fully addressed. The "total" costs for upgrades for the facility have yet to be determined. The sum of these is what I have predicted to be expensive. The fines did not reach six figures in itself and that may be what the retraction demand was for. As stated in the original post I would prefer to eat crow but now it is too early to set the table for that meal.

Furthermore, we all live in the same 73834 zip code. I don’t see it being divided. Obviously there is frustration with a lot of things going on and that only shows that people care. Ganging up on people seems to be a routine approach here lately. I am an individual writing what I believe and I don’t expect everyone to agree. This is the venue I choose to use. This week alone 208 different individuals have looked in on this blog. I believe it is useful.

The cat is out of the bag, and since this the first time anyone has eluded to the blog author it is now fully disclosed in the blog profile. I find it amazing that it took this long for a request of it to be revealed. My apologizies to Inside Buffalo for bearing the brunt from all of my posts.

I will share my thoughts on the extra police officer and others thoughts at a later time.

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR!

At the last January 7th board meeting in which Mr. Bishop was absent from, the Mayor recused herself from the agenda item regarding the modification of a city ordinance that causes the City Treasurer and City Clerk to, in general, get a raise every time raises are given to the town’s laborers. The Mayor removed herself because of the conflict of interest regarding this issue and the fact that it affects her mother-in-law the City Treasurer. Because of this, the board no longer had a quorum and thus couldn’t address the issue at that time. That is exactly how that situation should have transpired.

The goal is to remove the stupid language of the ordinance prior to the filing period of the City Treasurer’s office this election period. Apparently this move is meeting resistance from the Clerk and Treasurer’s office. It was requested at the last meeting for this to be on the next (January 21st) meeting’s agenda for another attempt to bring this to a vote of the board. The City Clerk left it off this week’s agenda. After all, the more delays there are, the less likely to get any language changed before the filing period in February. An addendum to the agenda had to be posted. This is after persistence from a Town’s Trustee who is elected to address these types of issues, of which the clerk and treasurer cannot vote on. Since they can’t vote, they leave things off and continue to have selective memories. That is the typical underhanded political maneuvering that we have all come to love and expect from the city staff.

Speaking of being selective, that brings me back to the Mayor and her relationship with her elected mother-in-law, the City Treasurer. As mentioned earlier, the Mayor removed herself from the issue and caused a momentary lack of quorum for the meeting. A possible change of the ordinance could have had a negative impact on her mother-in-law’s salary and was unable to proceed. But think back a few weeks earlier when the Mayor chose to continue to participate in the pay raise that affected her mother-in-law the City Treasurer. Since this was a positive impact she continued to participate and influenced the success of the pay raise in which she had a conflict of interest. So the City Mayor remains seated in positive actions for her mother-in-law the City Treasurer and yet the Mayor decides not to participate in the things that have a negative impact on her mother-in-law the City Treasurer.

But is there any surprise here? This is the same “Trustee” that is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the hospital of which is getting a new clinic in City Hall, at the taxpayers expense, due to her participation, guidance, and leadership.

If there is an “appearance” of conflict of interest, is it better to recuse oneself and remove any doubt that may linger? Recusing oneself should be done in its entirety which includes the discussion part of it. Participating and then abstaining on the vote is not the same.

These are the types of things that remind me of what happens to Buffalo when the wind blows from the East …. It stinks!!

Board Voted to Move the Buffalo Police Headquarters Clear Out to the Municipal Airport

In what may prove to have been a hasty move Wednesday night the board voted to move the Buffalo Police Headquarters clear out to the Municipal Airport. In order to provide a secure work environment at city hall the board passed a motion to move the Buffalo Police Department to the Municipal Airport north of Buffalo. Evidently this action was taken without any involvement or knowledge by its very own Airport Board. So after all of the hard work to get the Town of Buffalo’s police department restarted they immediately cast it out of the city limits. Granted, it is city property and it is a city owned building. So,they do have that right bestowed within themselves to do this if they so choose to, BY GOSH! With no opportunity for input from the Airport Board and little opportunity from citizens concerned about their safety with the police department residing out of the city limits we have been NIKE’d. They “just did it”.

With the new clinic being put in city hall there evidently is no other alternative to provide a separate police wing. The separate area is needed so that the staff at city hall can work comfortable without potential concerns of criminals being brought through their halls for interrogation. There are times when suspects need to be separated during interrogations and placing them in an occupied office poses a risk.

Shortsightedness and selfishness still exists with our City government. When they were making the decision to remodel for the clinic they were also bringing back the Police Department. Why didn’t the staff and board raise these concerns then? Would that have jeopardized the clinic implementation? Is there so much focus on the clinic that they failed to realize their very own needs. So a knee jerk, selfish move is to grab another location that they happen to own and use it without any consultation with those involved. (Airport Board and citizens that may be concerned about a police department that doesn’t reside in the community)

They further distanced themselves from any consideration that citizens may have, (about the police chief and/or officers being stationed out at the airport), by reacting without considering other alternatives. Their predicament is a result of bending over backwards to accommodate the new doctor and the new clinic. Is there a better solution to this problem than to permanently place the Town of Buffalo’s Police Headquarters out at the Municipal Airport? Isn’t there some place within Buffalo that can be used for the police headquarters?

In other news the City Manager brought about an official complaint which was levied against one of the town’s reserve officers. Evidently Joe has visual radar and deemed the reserve officer drives to fast. He formally reported the fast driving allegations to the new police chief causing an official permanent document to be filed against the officer. Coincidentally, this is the same reserve officer that backed into the new city police vehicle with his own personal vehicle thus causing minor damage to the new cop vehicle. It should be noted that the reserve officer made the necessary arrangements to have his personal insurance cover all of the expenses of the needed repairs. Well, at least he is paying for his mistakes.

Harper County Highly Ranked for Overall Rate of Cancer

Is the Onside Buffalo five state map recognized by some of you out there? Why is Harper County represented by red? Does Buffalonian hit the nail on the head? Other people seem to have similar concerns. By the way, the map was put up on the Blog well before Buffalonian responded about their concerns. The above map is a close up of Oklahoma and gives more details on the data of the mainpage five state map.

To read Buffalonian's comments and others. Click on the link below.

http://onsidebuffalo.blogspot.com/2008/12/picture-says-thousand-words.html

FILING PERIOD IS OPEN

There are two full term board slots and then one to fill the remaining term of the recently vacated board position. The dynamics of the board could really change for the better or the people’s vote will be banal and status quo will prevail.

It is time for you to challenge yourself to step up to the plate and make a positive impact for Buffalo. Or encourage someone else to run for office.

This should not be a popularity contest. These are demanding positions and they deserve to be occupied by persons willing to commit lots of time and put forth honest efforts toward the issues that will be encountered.

Also the Town Treasurer's position is coming up.

Who is willing to stick their neck out? Is anyone out there up for the challenge?

Superintendent’s Contract Renewal Passes

The Buffalo High School Board voted to renew the Superintendent’s contract by a vote of 3 to 2. Hudson, Pearson, and Bowles voted in favor of the renewal. Weder and Olson voted against the Superintendent's contract renewal.