While I am taking a breather during the Christmas break, I thought I would open this up for whatever is on your mind. Now is your chance to submit a comment that is off topic. If it is civil, I will approve it.
A few ideas: How can we be a better community? What was the highlight of 2012? Suggestions for future posts? What should we do differently in 2013?
Happy Holidays!
138 comments:
Your best Blog posting was http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2011/12/give-this-photo-caption.html
Just some common thoughts, but sometimes asking the question is more important than getting a response:
When does appointing a committee become an adequate substitute for actually doing something?
The single most important question to ask, however, may well be: at what point will public debt outreach the ability of the community - as we know it - to pay it back (did you notice how your property tax bill begins to resemble your mortgage obligation)? A corollary question is: should public pensions continue to be more generous than those in the private sector?
Any stock pickers out there? I bought Range Resources (RRC) in 2011 hoping to cash in on the natural gas boom. What a mistake! While the rest of the market spiked, its DOWN 15%. Worst, it has somehow, someway LOST money two of the last three years. It pays almost no dividend. My broker told me to dump it. What should I buy w/the money I have left?
Couple of things.
1. Is there any way to eliminate the silly notion that teachers (at least in the MTLSD) are under paid?
That was I believe true at one time, but with pensions, healthcare, tenure etc., there is plenty of evidence its not trio today.
2.Does anyone know how the board and commission arrive at the percentages for the raises they dispense. Are they based on cost-of-living, inflation or what? 3.5% annually seems to be the benchmark and then they work up PR down from there.
Interesting article for the Concerned parents that are looking at the math program:
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20121224/NEWS01/312240009/Educators-seek-way-grade-high-tech-math-aids?nclick_check=1
2:43 buy land north of Cranberry with convenient access to the I-79 corridor.
It's interesting that in the favorite Lebocitizens post referred to by 12:00pm we get an answer on whether PAWC is a public or private firm, which was brought up in the "the REST of the story" post.
Here's the definition Mr. Gideon to according to 11/22 - 7:15 am under the "Give this photo a caption":
"From the American Water website:
What is the difference between a publicly owned and a privately owned system?
Public systems are owned and operated by the cities or towns they service and are under the management of the mayor or other elected officials. Private systems, ranging from small cooperative associations that provide service to as few as a dozen families to large corporations that own several water service companies, are operated, and sometimes owned, by private-sector companies. Whether public or private, all water utilities must abide by the strict water quality standards established by the EPA, as well and state and local regulations."
There's a lot of great stuff and interesting facts buried in Elaine's blog. Some funny writing too!
Here are ideas for school fees:
Nurse—office visit $40
Nurse—day stay $50
Academic Costs
Books $500-$900 (Varies by class/courses)
Science lab (per term) $50
Technology fee $150
Tutoring including music lessons $45/hour
Athletics/Activities
Each sport and club $75
Transportation Actual Cost
Emergency Services: Similar to an AMBER Alert, the state police would activate a “Silver Alert” upon request if a person, age 65 or older, is reported missing to a law enforcement agency and that agency determines that certain criteria is met. The criteria includes: the person is missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances or the law enforcement agency believes the person is in danger due to age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather conditions; the person is in the company of a potentially dangerous person; or there are other factors indicating that the person may be in peril. Finally, there is information available, if given to the public, may assist in the safe recovery of the missing person.
8:39:
Maybe it’s too much eggnog that makes me slow on the uptake, but I don’t get what you are saying.
I live in LEBO and have no choice regarding my water supplier; it is a utility known as PAWC. As a consumer, I can choose where to spend my dollars in the world of real competition as opposed to the single-choice utility supplier known as PAWC.
Now, here’s where it gets dicey, PAWC may be privately held but in a certain kind of way I have no other option and so there is no price competition. If there were, I would choose a lower cost option, or a supplier that doesn't give away money. A utility that gives away its’ monopoly dollars to the internally politically pressured recipients of its’ choice or any recipients certainly is taking advantage of a “tax credit” (paid for by tax payers who have to fill in the monetary void left by the credit) and that additional funding provided by the monopoly dollars collected by the consumers of the monopoly.
In the end, the consumer is being screwed over JoPo’s political aspirations. Things that make you go “huh”….
Blog readers: With respect to the post of December 26, 2012 8:39 PM, there may be some confusion there.
First, the thread on November 22rd of this year was titled "No Peace on Thanksgiving", not "Give This Photo A Caption." What the poster of December 26, 2012 12:00 PM was referring to occurred on Monday, December 19, 2011, not 2012. Second, with respect to my post of December 22, 2012 12:26 PM; my point was directed to American Water's corporate organization, not whether the water system was public or private. American Water is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as a publicly traded company. As such there is quite a difference between a publicly traded corporation and a privately held corporation.
I do agree that there are always interesting facts adduced in this Blog, and some of the writing is indeed funny. But occasionally the syntax on these anonymous posts is confusing. We could all stand to proof-read our stuff before posting it, and I'll include myself in that list!
10:54 PM, that is exactly what happened here. A woman was spotted and returned safely to her home, thanks to Charlotte Stephenson who read the "Silver Alert" on Lebo Citizens. I think you have an excellent idea.
Elaine
3:18 pm ask your broker to send you his firm's recommendation on Range Resources in writing. Compare that recommendation to his "dump it" recommendation.
You may find the losses you refer to are not operating losses but write-downs of reserves that were not economical because of low natural gas prices in the first 2-3 quarters of this year. If prices go back up, the reserves may be added again and the losses reversed.
A constitutional amendment granting every American the right to privacy.
We need the TRUTH from the U. S. media...it's long overdue.
OK to review the comments regarding PAWC and whether or not it's a public or private company.
Under the Elaine's initial post "The REST of the story on the grants to the Girl Scouts and MLFE from the water company someone wrote: "PAWC is a private company. They can do whatever they want with their profits.
December 22, 2012 10:49 AM
Then someone added: Yes it is a private company, but it is not like the consumer can go out and buy their tap water from another company, can they? in effect it is a monopoly. December 22, 2012 11:54 AM
Then Mr. Gideon responded and said this: "PAWC is a division of American Water, which is a publicly traded for-profit corporation (NYSE symbol AWK) whose last stock price was $37.05 per share. As such it is not a "private" company."
As a follow-up 8:39 am submitted some info that appeared last year in the Posti/Ostergard photo comments which describes PAWC own definition as to whether they are a public or private company.
Whether they are private or not, I agree with 11:40. Given that I have no choice where I get my tap water from, I don't like PAWC distributing grants and getting credit for it from their customers water payment money.
Let say you're a PAWC customer and you don't like the Girl Scouts. You rather a grant went to the Boy Scouts. But, you don't get a say and can't get your tap water from somebody els, you have to use PAWC.
That and if the PAWC is charging only for the TRUE COST of providing water to their customers (Rates Information
Pennsylvania's American Water’s rates are based on the true cost of providing water service to our customers.") where are they getting the grant money from?
Yes, I heard it's a tax credit to PAWC. How come the customer doesn't get a tax credit too? Supposedly we're only paying PAWC to deliver water.
Let's make water service companies non-profit, tax exempt.
For PAWC to pay taxes it gets it's money to pay taxes from us the customer.
Probably what I'm getting at is clear as mud, but I can't figure out a way to say it better on this small screen.
To 3:18pm on 12/26 who was looking to invest in the gas boom: You were smart to dump Range Resources. Its a DAWG. Its bleeding cash. Look to buy Exxon Mobil (XOM). It recently bought XTO which is a hugely successful natual gas producer. Exxon is up UTD and pays a great dividend.
School Board Alert. Three cities in California have declared bankruptcy to reduce government pension payments.
Didn't one of the Reallebo girls tell the school board once that we should be more like California schools?
Europe's banking system is four times as large as the U.S. banking system, and stuffed with government debts that will never be paid.
This is not the failure of a single bank. This is the failure of the world’s largest banking system.
The paper currency system we have has no limit on the bailout that will be organized. The European Central Bank rules against bailouts will be changed. The Federal Reserve will not allow U.S. money-market funds to lose $500 billion. It cannot allow Europe's entire economy to collapse. Inflation, a panic out of euros and dollars will be tolerated, but not a complete collapse.
Seems to be someone enjoying bashing Range Resources. Perhaps they think investing in green-energy companies is a better deal.
An excerpt from a Wall Street Journal editorial today titled: "Silicon Valley's Green Energy Mistake
Political venture capital turns out to be a loser.
"When Silicon Valley was committed to addressing market needs, it enriched the world with Intel, Apple, Google and Cisco. When venture investors tried to profit from political agendas, they saddled taxpayers with stinkers like Abound Solar, Range Fuels and the infamous Solyndra, which went bust last year after receiving more than half a billion dollars in federal loans.
Success has proven elusive even for the smartest guys in the solar-heated room. Five years after Al Gore joined the prestigious venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins to back environmentally correct companies, the collaboration has yielded few successful exits for Mr. Gore and his partners, along with some spectacular disasters.
This week brought further embarrassment for a Kleiner-backed and taxpayer-subsidized project called Fisker Automotive. In an interview with Delaware's News Journal, the head of the state's economic development office, Alan Levin, discussed the $21.5 million that was provided by the state in return for a Fisker promise to build green cars there. "All we want are the jobs or our money back," Mr. Levin told the newspaper.
Fisker, an electric-car maker, is currently not making any cars due to various design and production problems. Last year the Department of Energy stopped lending money to Fisker after the company missed development deadlines, but federal taxpayers were already on the hook for more than $190 million. Fisker's problems have lately been exacerbated by the October bankruptcy of a key supplier, A123 Systems,which also received federal loans."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323401904578159660625274422.html?mod=hp_opinion
Range Resources may or may not be a great investment, but as a taxpayer wouldn't you love to see the money back from those federal loans.
This post: (Source cited)
Karl Marx identified four stages of history. Each was characterized by a different relationship between society's members and the means of production. As always in Marx's theory, the economy was the central element. His historical stages in sequence are:
(1) Primitive Communism
(2) Slavery
(3) Feudalism
(4) Capitalism
Marx saw these four stages as necessary preconditions for the emergence of the final stage, socialism, in which economic inequality and conflict would disappear. This would occur in two phases: First, after the succesful "revolt of the proletariat" the new "dictatorship of the proletariat" would oversee the destruction of capitalist institutions and resocialization of society's members. Second: The utopian state of communism would be ushered in.
Communism failed in the U.S.S.R. and China is moving toward capitalism. This country, more or less, has sort of followed along these four stages historically. Now, with the election of Barack Obama, and with the country on the verge of possibly taking the first steps toward socializing healthcare, is it fair to say that the United States is in the beginning stages of the transition to socialism. As radical and crazy as it might sound, could the United States of America be on the road to communism? If someone asked an average American 50 years ago if it was inevitable that the United States would elect a black man as president, they would have probably gotten a resounding "NO" for an answer. Do you think that it is inevitable that the United States of America will eventually adopt communism?
SOURCE: http://www.historum.com/philosophy-political-science-sociology/8559-communism-inevitable.html
Wow. Heavy stuff. Turf seems pretty tame compared to communism.
Dave Franklin
Only if you think it's OK to force people that don't want turf to pay for it.
318--nice try but what does range stock have to do with the rest of this post? You wouldn't be trying to bait someone, would you? Maybe someone in lebo who works for the company? That's weak and you're demonstrating pretty low intelligence.
Also, your info regarding the stock isn't correct. Try again. And Exxon bought XTO a long time ago, not recently. Now run along.
10:31, first, no one is forcing you to do anything, but let me ask you this - do you use the ice rink, the tennis courts, the pool, the library? Ever take a bus or go to a museum? Has NASA ever offered to fly you to the moon? Let's not even discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. My point is this - every day your tax dollars (and mine) are spent on things that you (and I) may not want. That doesn't make those things wrong.
Dave Franklin
Talking about intelligence... does anyone think a certain resident has a one track mind?
Is it coincidental to be discussing Range Resources after a lengthy debate over PAWC, Mrs. Posti, and the first posted comment on this string?
Look at the SD and what it has become. Read Franklin's posts.
Socialism is already in Mt Lebanon and it's already failing!
Mr. Franklin your comment is spoken like another lawyer, involved in politics, that confuses his own argument and the community about the need for turf and space and turf and space. Now you need a committee of your buddies to tell you us you think. I pity your fellow shareholders.
Yes our taxes do pay for many things that an individual may or may not use. But, because things like a pool I may not use exist that isn't a justification for building another one.
I like to ski... should I demand the municipality build a chalet, slope and chairlift?
I thought the same thing, 11:15 PM. In fact, if you go back to last year's post listed at the top of the comments, scroll down to 4:44 PM on December 20, 2011. My good buddy, Rob identified the photographer of that picture. Is Rob "bring[ing] Jim Cannon into this" again?
Elaine
Sure, but you'll have to get in line behind Elaine's skatepark, Mr. Lewis's extra lit tennis courts, Commissioner Fraasch's dog parks and someone's redesigned holes at the golf course.
Dave Franklin
We're not building Elaine's skateboard park, so you lose on that argument,counselor. Scott Twp got it.
I'm told that the tennis center and the golf course pay their own way. Redesigned holes may increase and speed up play, generating more revenue. Is it a crap shoot that will happen, sure. But what business investment isn't. Are you going to argue that a turfed field will bring in enough revenue to pay it's way... show me the numbers, make your case. Persuade me!
I'm not any more a fan of the dog park than I am artificial turf.
Mr. Franklin, Elaine's skateboard facility, Mr. Lewis' tennis courts and the golf course all make monetary contributions to the community. Your organizations just mooch from your neighbors and can't keep your accounting honest.
The skatepark is being built in Carnegie with 85% of the costs donated so far. http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2012/08/pitcher-park-going-to.html Fundraising continues.
Dave, that ship has sailed. I have moved on. You need to, as well.
Elaine
Mr Franklin, are you using Youth Sports as a vehicle to exploit the middle class of Mt Lebanon so that you can acquire and solidify YOUR economic and political power?
Sorry, I can see the sign (with Joey Gillen's logo design) for the skateboard park as I drive up Forsythe. Always thought that park was Scott's.
Elaine, I know that the skate park is being built in Scott. However, we would have been required to provide the land and the annual maintenance - things that I'm sure many like 10:37 wouldn't want to do. If you honestly believe that the golf course and tennis course provide any meaningful revenue to the community you're fooling yourself. They break even for the most part and in good years they show a profit. That's great. But personally I don't believe that township recreational facilities exist for the purpose of making money. They exist for the use and enjoyment of the residents. Sure, they need to help pay for themselves in many respects, but they're not built to create revenue. If they were, the fees would be much higher, and there would be a greater effort (I would hope) to maintain these assets on a regular basis (the golf course is a disaster that needs something more than an influx of cash every other decade). Nearly everyone on the Parks Advisory Board supports a plan to turf a field. Not because they are sports people, but because they understand how it will benefit the community, now and in the future. You guys can use me as the symbol of the turf battle, but there are thousands who support the idea and they represent a diverse mix of our population.
Look, my original comment comparing turf to communism was a joke. Lost on the anonymous curmudgeons for sure, but an attempt at humor nonetheless. It took all of 10 minutes for strangers to question my intelligence, my professional abilities, etc. Simply over a joke about turf.
A sad commentary I suppose. The cynicism in our community has reached a new level. I used to think that it only existed on this blog and in the comments of a few people at public meetings, but sadly it's taking hold elsewhere. Arguing for the sake of arguing, attacking people rather than offering solutions and ideas. It's a shame.
My grandfather (quoting someone, I'm sure) used to say "A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." He lived in Mt. Lebanon for almost 75 years. Those words have never made more sense to me than now. There are a growing number of people in this community who simply can't be happy. Take the post about the PAWC grant. We demand alternative funding sources to ease the burden on taxpayers, yet when they appear we question the motives of the provider. The love of conspiracy is nuts. Raise your hand if you've never sold a hoagie, or a raffle ticket, or a Girl Scout cookie at the office. How about companies (many of them public) who match contributions to charities or your college alma mater? Mrs. Posti took advantage of a program that was designed to benefit organizations like MLFE. Good for her. If someone other than Mrs. Posti secured this grant, they would be championed by this blog for being able to capture funding from their employer, and I'm sure the employer woukd be praised as well. Instead, the cynics think that is all part of some vast conspiracy to steal their tax dollars and gauge their utility rates, all in the name of I don't know what.
Someone else once said, "A cynic is a a person searching for an honest man, with a stolen lantern." Seems we have a lot of folks looking for that guy lately.
Dave Franklin
Mr Franklin, Bourgeois socialism has no place in Mt Lebanon.
Range has a problem...cheap gas. They can't find it, drill for it, extract it, get it to market AND make a profit at current prices. Exxon can. Plus, Exxon has the ability to keep the price low due to its vast capacity. Range and others like Noble and Ensco are doomed unless they cut costs, merge or sell out.
Typically, Mr. Franklin and I are on polar opposites on current issues and direction of this community. However, I believe that we are kindred spirits in that we offer ourselves as volunteers for this community.
With that being said, the pretext of this thread was to offer some positive direction for the upcoming year. My wish is that we all stop the ongoing backbiting and anonymous character assasinations and use this energy to improve our community.
It has been my experience that those who complain from the fringes often contribute nothing more than words and opinions. To these folks, I ask them to do a little introspection and try to find a constructive vehicle to improve our community.
Mr. Franklin:
You are obviously a sincere individual who believes passionately in your own causes; being a lawyer I think it is fair to expect as much from you. Also, being a lawyer, you were trained in the art of evidence; to advance that which supports your case, and to suppress that which does not. I'm not a lawyer, but I have a number of professional acquaintances who are, and will will testify that such a process is "law school 101." I would like to ask you a few questions, based your first paragraph to Elaine of December 28, 2012 7:38 AM:
"But personally I don't believe that township recreational facilities exist for the purpose of making money. They exist for the use and enjoyment of the residents."
If recreational facilities exist for the enjoyment of the residents, why must the municipality own them? Would they not provide the same benefits to the public if they were privately owned and operated? Would you object to selling the golf course, for example, to a company that planned to operate it with the intention of making a profit? If you believe that the municipality must own recreational facilities because they benefit the community, then please explain why municipal ownership is better than private ownership and how you measure the benefits? Is there a point at which a particular recreational facility becomes a liability to the community and should be terminated, and, if so, how would that be determined?
"Nearly everyone on the Parks Advisory Board supports a plan to turf a field. Not because they are sports people, but because they understand how it will benefit the community, now and in the future. You guys can use me as the symbol of the turf battle, but there are thousands who support the idea and they represent a diverse mix of our population."
How did you arrive at "thousands"? How will turfing a field benefit the community? Please be specific and offer credible evidence, not anecdotal. I am particularly interested in how this "benefit" is drawn into the "future."
"Arguing for the sake of arguing, attacking people rather than offering solutions and ideas. It's a shame."
As far as offering solutions and ideas, I would like to think that I have done just that in direct correspondence with various members of the Mt. Lebanon Commission. But what I find is a depressing tendency toward discounting any free-market solutions to local problems, even when there is clear evidence from other towns in other states that have successfully adopted such tactics. This "not invented here" mindset is what permeates government at all levels - except in some places that have actually tried various market-based ideas, such as in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and Indianapolis, Indiana.
Finally, the PAWC grant does not bother me. And as far as local benevolence is concerned, I have purchased many boxes of Girl Scout cookies and Boy Scout popcorn. But those are voluntary exchanges. Taking tax money from me under the threat of law to benefit a minority of rather well-off residents is in a different category. You may cheerfully pay taxes for field improvements, but your attitude toward doing so is neither here nor there. There is a moral issue at play here, and I think it is immoral to take money from people to benefit special interests under the pretext of "the greater good," or as Mr. Brumfield once wrote me "the collective" good, when the individual may have had a higher purpose in mind for it. Anyway, that is how we libertarians approach such things.
I hope the readers of this Blog will let you address these points without jumping down your throat.
Richard Gideon
Dave,
My husband always said that there is truth in jest. This post is about what is on your mind. Sorry we did not get your joke. I wish I had a sound bite of Sheldon Cooper's laugh at his attempts at humor. I would insert it here.
Perhaps we got confused since you are Mr. Lebo Fields. Or perhaps it is because of your petition for artificial turf that gave us the impression that you are "the symbol of the turf battle." Yes, I am sure there are thousands who are in support of turf. You merely represent them all.
In any case, I apologize for all the curmudgeons out there. And to your credit, you waited a whole 23 comments before bringing up turf. It must have been difficult.
I say, "Enjoy your vacation, Dave." Check out The Flying Fish Cafe. It is one of the best restaurants down there.
Elaine
Mr. Gideon,
I'll do my best, but I'm not going to try to convince you or attempt to change your mind. It's obvious that we have different views on what it means to live in "a community" like Mt. Lebanon and that's fine. I'm happy to offer my responses to your questions as best I can.
I don't know "why" municipalities must own recreational assets, but I can assume that it is due in large part to the fact that most communities want to provide these offerings to attract and retain residents, and more simply, to improve the overall quality of life for their residents. Further, private enterprises are typically operated for a profit, and the owner expects to be able to make a living (or a living for others) by owning a business. Just looking at the cost-benefit of operating a community pool, the tennis courts, or the golf course here in Lebo, I would quickly conclude that it doesn't seem to be the type of profitable enterprise that one would want to own outright. Ad hoc committees and our own muni staff have concluded that most of these facilities are already operating on lean buddgets and are at the maximum end of their potential fee schedule. Stated simply, there is no money to be made in operating community rec facilities, so I think you would be hard pressed to find someone willing to take them on. Not to mention, if I owned the golf course (or any other facility) as a for-profit entity, I would have to pay property taxes, which would significantly cut into my ability to break even, let alone turn a profit. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's the goal of any business.
The idea of government owning and/or operating recreational facilities is not limited to Mt. Lebanon, and I give you the state and national parks as examples. Add to that the thousands of public beaches, golf courses, ice rinks, walking trails, etc that are funded by your local, state and federal tax dollars, and I think it is clear that folks much smarter than me have concluded that these resources and assets are worth having, despite the fact that they may not be used by 100% of the poulation and may not make good business sense. If that's socialism by someone's moronic definition, then so be it. Call me a socialist.
I don't know how to measure the benefits of these facilities other than to perhaps to gauge people's willingness to move to and remain in a specific community. I apologize for not having statistical evidence to support this premise, but I think your experience and my experience would both tell us that home buyers look for and move to a place that they (a) can afford and (b) want to live in (or a raise a family). Notably, I have yet to meet anyone who has moved to Mt. Lebanon becasue it was a cheaper alternative to another community in Western PA. I take from that at least some of the people are choosing Mt. Lebanon (and its cost) over neighboring communities because of other things like the school system, the focus on public safety, and yes the recreational facilities and programs.
I do believe however that some of these assets do have a lifespan, which is likely dictated in large part by the public cost to maintain them. I love the golf course. It has provided my family with employment, lasting friendships, great moments with family, and a not too shabby golf game. Sadly though, it takes bags of money to maintain a golf course, even before someone shows up to play on it. And if you don't maintain it, no one will bother to show up, only adding to the losses. In my opinion, this beloved asset may have run its course (no pun intended) and alternatives for its future use should be on the table.
(Continued)
Dave Franklin
(Continued)
I suppose one thing that bugs me though Mr. Gideon is why don't we see the same response or backlash when our governments elect to fund museums, libraries, educational programs, passive parks, playgrounds, dog parks and other non-sports related assets. I realize it's not socially acceptable to argue against funding cultural amenities or playgrounds in our communities, but I don't see how your analysis is any different.
How did I arrive at thousands? Again, no statistical proof, but simply a product of living here for 45 years and being involved in coaching and organizing youth athletic programs for the last 25. A large crowd showed up at the town hall meeting to support turf, a few hundred more signed a petition, the sports associations and their members support it, and 3 of the 5 commissioners support it. So without any hard evidence, I'm still pretty comfortable that a least 2,000 people (and many more) support the idea. You'll have to take me at my word.
How does it benefit the community? See my first response, but also know that a turf field will increase recreational offerings for kids and adults (Dave Donellan can support this conclusion), it will reduce stress on our aging and under-mainatined grass field inventory (Rudy Sukal can support this conclusion), it will likely save us money in maintenance expense (Rudy Sukal can support this conclusion), it will attract at least some sponsorship revenue (I can support this conclusion, because I talked to the sponsor who is only interested in sponsoring a new turfed field), and it will drive additional funding from the sports groups (see the YSA proposal). And further, there is certainly some element of "keeping up" that is critical to this conversation. Whether we choose to accept it or not, we do compete with USC, Cecil, Peters, S. Fayette, etc for new residents and their EIT. Winning or at least competing in that race will help us fund things like street repairs, best in class public safety departments, and the other non-recreational components of Lebo, plain and simple. I f we can't attract people to live here and stay here, all else suffers as costs continue to rise. You may not like to hear it, but the 20/30 something homebuyers are looking at fields, pools and other amenities before making their decisions (anyone at Howard Hanna can support that conclusion).
Elaine, I'm not sure what the Flying Fish Cafe is, but the turkey sandwich that I made myself and ate at my desk in Pittsburgh was pretty good.
Mr. Franklin,
If you have 2,000 folks that support your sports program then you need to tell us what those folks are willing to pay in fund raising dollars to support your choice(s). So before we embark on another boondoggle Twin Hills/McNeilly project, just what is your fund- raising goal and who can support your conclusions as to how much you can raise to install and maintain turf in the future? The school district can support their conclusions with a study, can you? Or, are you just passing the expense of your wants and privelege to others so you can maintain your lifestyle without giving others the opportunity to attain your level of success?
Here's a perfect example of why I love to read Mr. Franklin's comments, opinions and sarcasm.
He's miffed, insulted and critical that someone might have questioned his intellect, by suggesting he has a one track mind.
Yet about 7 hours after feigning self-righteous indignation he feel it's perfectly acceptable to write: "If that's socialism by someone's moronic definition, then so be it. Call me a socialist."
From the Free Merriam-Webster online dictionary:
Moron
Pronunciation: \ˈmȯr-ˌän\
Function: noun
Etymology: irregular from Greekmōros foolish, stupid
Date: 1910
1 usually offensive : a person affected with mild mental retardation
2 : a very stupid person
— mo·ron·ic \mə-ˈrä-nik, mȯ-\adjective
So he can go around calling people retards- that's OK, he is after all Dave Franklin.
Mr. Franklin also offered a claim that turf is more economical than natural grass fields. He has been asked time and again to substantiate his claim, not in a yearly comparison but over a twenty or thirty year life spam of a playing field. He states: "it will likely save us money in maintenance expense (Rudy Sukal can support this conclusion)".
Maybe he or Mr. Sukal can spell out how he arrived at this conclusion?
Sure, perhaps maintenance grass to turf is less expensive on a yearly basis, but once you factor in replace the articial turf every 8 to 15 years, in my opinion his claim doesn't hold up.
Being the moron that I am, I'd like to see the hard numbers, Dave!
Oh, also Dave, I think I got the tongue-in-cheek humor of your first blog, but again since you've decided I'm a moron, take pity on this poor soul and explain the joke!
My wish for 2013 is that 1,700 more people sign Mr. Franklin's petition to keep him an honest man. https://www.change.org/petitions/mt-lebanon-commissioners-approve-a-plan-to-install-synthetic-turf-on-middle-and-wildcat-fields
He is counting dears the way we count deer - more than once !
Driving past Boyce Middle School Field every single day of November and December - not seeing it used year round. No activity whatsoever.
Can we stop Blogging about turf now ?
Kirk Mudgion
Another question for Mr. Franklin.
Can you point out where anyone suggested the municipality expects or reaps a PROFIT from the tennis center or golf course.
It was suggested making improvements to each might bring in more revenue, but revenue isn't interchangeable with the term profit.
The only people making claims of profiteering from our recreation facilities are those that claim buying turf and lights will keep our property values high.
Just want to interject for a moment. First, to the investment genius who, for some unknown reason, feels compelled to display their complete ignorance of the natural gas industry, might I suggest getting a copy of our annual report? If you'd be kind enough to call me or email me, I'd be happy to walk through it with you. Range is doing just fine, thank you.
Second, to Mr. Franklin: Dave, I do, in fact, object to a lot of things being funded by government including libraries, recreation and the list goes on (you mentioned Iraq and Afghanistan, neither of which have a place in a discussion regarding municipal spending but I'm happy to discuss each in person). But a library serves a purpose and can be used by anyone of any age, and in our community, it is. That can't be said of artificial turf. While I admire your zest for your cause, as I told you when we met over coffee, if there is a "shortage" of field space, the solution is simple--parents need to say "No" to their children. That's it. Problem solved. See, look how much money I just saved...You can argue the alleged need for an artifical surface but in an honest debate, you know full well turf is a luxury.
Like others here, I'd be interested to see how much those thousands of supporters to which you refer would be willing to pay for a new field. And for the record, if Lebo would use some sense and actually arrive at a plan for a dog park instead of simply harrassing dog owners at the parks, I would be happy to get involved in the fundraising.
Mr. Franklin also called connectors here curmudgeons which the online dictionary defines as: "An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions."
Is this a blanket you throw over anyone that may disagree with you, Dave?
Who is really resentful and stubborn here Mr. F. I submit you're the real curmudgeon!
Sorry, Mr Gideon. You didn't get your wish. The anon cowards show up with their clanging cymbals to disrupt any sort of meaningful adult discussion.
If the thousands of people who want turf would please carry their conversation over to Dave Franklin's blog, I would appreciate it. It is lebofields.blogspot.com. His last post was dated August 24, 2012.
Dave, I saved you the trouble of writing in again to say that I can have my blog back.
Elaine
Oh yeah 5:47, calling people moronic and curmudgeons is meaningful adult discussion.
Here's something adult and intelligent. Mr. Franklin claims 2,000 (or more) support his turf idea. It should be very easy to get there signatures.
Elaine and friends got 4,000 signatures and have the evidence to prove it in an effort to reduce the cost of the high school renovation.
The board pretty much said we don't care.
But we're suppose to fall all over ourselves buying turf because Mr. F is "comfortable" with his imaginary 2,000 supporters guesstimate!
Well, since we can bring up any topic, I just saw the NEW Penn Hills High School on the news. It is very high tech and was built at a cost of $86 million. If I'm remembering correctly, our cost for a new school was around $132 million. I'm feeling again like I was taken.
Anon cowards, banging cymbals, disrupting adult discussion... written by... oh no... anonymous 5:47.
5:47, that's a fine old English surname isn't it? Or is it French?
Who of course offered up so much in the way of facts and meaningful adult conversation!
Elaine, did you see the letter in the Almanac? It sounds like Lebo.
Did BP taxpayers get what they paid for?
And we thought the new Bethel Park High School was going to cost $74M that went up to $78M and no more. That is what the taxpayer was told.
Well, guess what folks? The new high school cost is up to about $88M, which is already $10M more than projected.
The culprit is called “change orders.” At every monthly school board meeting, we hear a list of change orders, with a big dollar sign by them. The few taxpayers who attend the meetings see the initial cost of the new building escalate right before our eyes and can’t believe it. One questions, was there enough scrutiny given to the architect’s proposals and costs in the beginning?
For instance, how can fire proof walls be in the plans, but not fire proof doors to go with it? This change order totaled about $75,000 to correct. Another example was a sump pump was needed to control the streams of water that run under the ground in the pool area, plus $350,000 dollars to treat the soil with limestone from West Virginia. It was well known that these streams or water existed beforehand, but the school was built there anyway. This is the only indoor swimming pool with a manhole in it. And the list of change orders goes on and on...
Extra dollars were spent to study why the roof covering the auditorium area makes noises. It was finally determined that this noise results when there are temperature changes that cause expansion and contraction because of the type of roof that it is. There is no remedy. One would think that the designers of the school should have known this characteristic and perhaps chosen another type of roofing. Sad indeed, especially when great care was taken to achieve the greatest acoustics for the auditorium. When it rains, these noises can overshadow a performance.
At the same time, they cut corners in the wrong places to keep costs down. For instance, in the area of the four story staircases, the state’s minimum requirement is only 6-feet wide. This minimum of 6-feet wide was installed to accommodate about 1,750 students, book bags and all! This provides only a width of 3-feet going up the stairs and 3-feet wide down. No wonder students complain about the stairs being so congested!
One of the reasons given to push for this new high school was that students won’t have to carry coats around as they did with the old campus-style high school. But, guess what? Students are still carrying their coats due to the inadequacies of the new lockers.
There is an old saying, “you get what you paid for.” But did we?
Nita Potocar Bethel Park
6:21 are you sure on the Penn Hills HS price tag?
The Trib headline about it said: "Penn Hills’ $58 million high school built to wow"
Here's a new topic and one for which I gave no answers.
Many suggeste putting an armed police officer in every school to stop school shootings.
Today though New Jersey had three policemen shot by a man that got hold of a gun... IN THE POLICE STATION. A station full of armed officers.
I know this is going to give the anti-gun lobby "ammunition" to do away with guns, but I'm wondering if putting a $40,000 to $80,000/year officer in each and every school is physically or financially possible solution. Especially since many districts have or are looking at cutting teachers.
Like I said I don't have any answers, just an observation and question.
Uh-oh Dave hold that turf.
This just in from the Trib. "1st-year McKeesport bowling program starts quick in high school league
McKeesport Area High School is rolling out star players in a time-honored sport that‘s new to the district.
Making a name for itself in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League, McKeesport Area‘s bowling program started fresh this season, drawing on students who were active in local leagues and others who are new to the sport."
Damn, we've been caught with our pants down once again. A high school league and our precious little Devils don't have their own latest and greatest alley. Oh the humanity! Now no one's going to want to buy a house here."
We can't let - gasp - McKeesport get ahead of us. If 'they' have a bowling team how long can we go without a team and a proper facility?
Penn Hills High School Trib article is here:
http://triblive.com/mobile/m/3153094-96/students-building-elementary
Elaine
Investors,
12/28,11:44AM is right about Range and its smalltime peers. Exxon's purchase of XTO ensures cheap natual gas indefinitely. It transforms the industry from low volume/high margin to high volume/low margin. This dooms nonintergrated, high cost outfits like Range. It explains why they won't pay a significant dividend or a PA severace tax. They can't just afford it. As for the statement that "Range is doing just fine" because their annual report says so...FUNNY! Buy XOM.
944, You're kind of an idiot. There is no severance tax in the state. It's called an impact fee and it has nothing to do with affordability--it's mandatory based on production. FUNNY! And according to public records (you know, it means anyone can see them) Range paid what they owed. FUNNY again. Grow up and go play somewhere else. This is pathetic.
Jeff Ventura, Range’s President and CEO, said, “We accomplished much in the third quarter. Our record 47% production increase coupled with the 12% reduction in unit costs reflects the high quality of our asset base and exceptional operational performance by the entire Range team. We continue to fine-tune our drilling and completion process in our core plays seeing improved well performance and greater capital efficiency. Of particular importance were two wells, each producing in excess of 1,000 barrels of liquids per day – one in the super-rich Marcellus and one in the Horizontal Mississippian oil play. Substantial progress was also made on the infrastructure and marketing front, as we executed a historical agreement to become the anchor shipper on the Mariner East project which will allow us to store and sell propane and ethane along the east coast and to the international markets. Our $190 million of non-core asset sales so far this year reflects our long-standing strategy of high grading our assets and protecting our financial position. With three quarters of the year behind us, 2012 is shaping up to being the “inflection point” year we had anticipated."
Stay tuned for the fourth quarter report.
OK, it's December 29th and I doubt the commissioners or SB directors are going to be holding any public meetings on Monday, so what happens on the Joint Maintenance Agreement and the expiring 6 month extension? Is the YSA paid up?
Are Brumfield, Linfante and Bendel going to pressure Kluck and Fraasch to join in tutfing without a new JMA with some teeth in it?
Then what about the sign ordinance? Who get the "revenue" from the signs? (Mr. Franklin did we build fences around our fields to 'profit' from them?)
Franklin also mentions someone waiting in the wings to buy naming rights to a turfed field. If it's a school district field, but the municipality turfs it, who gets the naming rights revenue? The SB, muni or the YSA
I wonder if Petland would like to have their name on the doggie park?
8:37 AM, you will only get answers if you file RTKs. Then you can hear Mary Birks preach about new legislation pending which could reimburse school districts for RTK costs. In her report from the latest school board meeting, Mary indicated as such.
Elaine
Why does Mt Lebanon have a $95, 000 per year PIO and MtL? Authoritarian regimes often control the communication channels in order to pollute the minds of the innocent masses with propoganda. Is Mt Lebanon doing the same thing?
Ahhh...here's the info on Range from my broker. Earnings growth down 40% for the year. P/E ratio 240 (that's not a typo) and a dividend yield of 0.26%...Exxon's dividend yield is 2.68%. There is no severance tax in PA not because Range and company are greedy but because they knew it would eliminate what's left of their margin at current prices. Interesting story in the paper today. Chesapeake dumping billions in shale asets! Buy XOM
Ok, I don't know what is going on here, but this blog is not about stock purchases. I get the feeling that the negative comments about Range Resources is from Team Posti. Please stop.
Elaine
But Elaine, this is what they do.
We saw it with James Fraasch's finance analysis, Maatt Kluck's Town Hall, Stephenson, Cannon, Bies, Wertheim campaign, Taylor and you and the concerned citizens.
They actually believe that Jo looks like a better leader by continuing to knock her brother by going after the company he works for. Not owns mind you, just works for.
We're seeing it now. YSA front man, Franklin will knock the tennis center, pool, golf course and the as yet unbuilt dog park as justifications for his turf project.
Mr. Franklin has answered my questions (and a few I didn't ask!), and Blog readers may draw their own conclusions from them.
Let me say that Mr. Franklin is 100% correct; it is obvious that we have different views on what it means to live in a community like Mt. Lebanon. These differences are not just differences in how to properly govern the community and its assets; they are bedrock differences in just exactly what is the role of local government - or any government, for that matter - in the lives of community residents. Mr. Franklin represents a popular view of government based on "positive law," in which the collective takes precedence over the individual. My arguments are based on "natural law," which posits that individuals have certain inalienable rights that cannot be nullified by other individuals acting collectively under the name of "government." (After all, governments are not disembodied entities; they are simply groups of people with guns that set the rules for the vast majority of other people, and as such governments have no more moral authority than any other moral individual.) The easiest way to explain the differences between us is to refer to Mr. Franklin's support for such things as fields, parks, the local library, the recreation center, the golf course, etc. How can anybody argue against such things? I maintain that the argument is not whether such things are desirable, but whether it is necessary for a local government to own them. Mr. Franklin says it is, because none of these things could exist in the private market. He therefore advances "positive law" when he says it is required that all who live in the community must pay, under penalty of law, to support them, whether they use them or not. My argument is that a public golf course, for example, may exist outside the boundaries of Mt. Lebanon, serving the residents of this community and others as well, and operate at a profit. Is it therefore more important that we must have entertainment venues located in and owned by the Municipality on the grounds that they could not exist privately within our borders, or that the residents of Mt. Lebanon have at their disposal a variety of entertainment and cultural facilities regardless of where they are sited or who owns them. Am I less well off because Phipps Conservatory is located in Oakland and I must pay to get in, and not located in Mt. Lebanon and supported by my neighbors' taxes? Are we better off if the library is "free" to all residents (and non-residents can walk in, sit down, and read a book as well)? Quite literally, the library is not free; it costs money to run and maintain it. (In some towns out west local libraries have become, if not privatized, self-sustaining public entities, with fees for things like book rentals and library cards. User pays - user benefits.) Is it out of line to suggest that many of our local non-essential amenities might be privatized or converted into Public/Private Partnerships? Would my house be worth less if Mt. Lebanon's golf course were privately owned - assuming some company decided it could be run at a profit? I think not; and like Mr. Franklin I too have asked my local real estate agent neighbors about such things, and their consensus is that it is the schools and the availability of amenities that draw people here, just as Mr. Franklin said - but when I ask them if it would make any difference to sales if the amenities were publicly or privately owned the answer has always been "no."
So you see, the debate comes back to you, the Mt. Lebanon resident, and who has your best interest at heart. The collectivists say they do because they will take your money and use it better than you can yourself, on amenities that are nice to have, even if a majority of residents do not use them. I say, no; you, the owner of your money, are entitled to keep as much of it as possible and use it as you see fit.
I thank Mr. Franklin for taking the time to respond to my questions.
Happy to oblige Mr. Gideon. Wish there were more like you around to discuss and debate the issues. Happy New Year.
Dave Franklin
Mr. Gideon, I agree with much of what you say but I'm befuddled that you're content that Mr. Franklin answered your questions.
Perhaps your questions didn't dig deep enough. Mr. Franklin justifies his turf idea by stating "it will likely save us maintenance expense." he states Mr. Sukal can support this conclusion.
He may or may not be right, although all evidence I can find suggest the cost to install, maintain and repair and replace turf over 20, 30, 40 years is way more expensive than a properly cared for grass field.
I doubt that once we build a turfed field, once the turf reaches the end of it's useful life we're going to abandon it.
Plus the fact that we already have amenities that we must maintain shouldn't be used as a rational for creating more.
Mr. G, you and Dave seem to be close on say the golf course. You think it should be privatized, Dave hints that maybe it's usefulness compared to cost may justify abandoning it.
Moron, curmudgeon that I am, I can see the logic in investigating the possibilited. Love the course being close by but like having an expensive summer home, yacht or even exclusive country club membership letting one of these things go might be a topic for discussion.
Do we sell the course to developers? For the extra income would we be better off with the increased traffic and student population a housing development might bring.
Or can we find a private concern to take it over freeing up muni funds for turf or dog parks.
These are the questions that need to be answered not with 45 years of seat of the pants speculation.
It comes down to what we can afford and what we want as a community.
9:35 ask a good question. Do we really need a $95,000 PIO and MTLmagazine in this day an age when information can be distributed in seconds throughout the community via the Internet and cable?
Is $95,000 the real PIO salary?
1158--you hit it. The discussion isn't about natural versus collectivist. It's about affordability. Ideology is meaningless if there's no way to see it to fruition. I posit this community cannot afford additional financial burdens. People like Franklin adopt the same short-sighted elitist attitude as Posti: "if you can't afford to live here with the rapid-fire tax increases, then move". My response: "you first". I don't recall asking for higher taxes for things we don't need. If Mr. Franklin wants to voluntarily kick in an extra 100k to the municipal coffers, and get his "thousands" of supporters to do the same, then go for it. But stop with the empty rhetoric and amateur attempts at propoganda. Please.
The reality is, lebo is not an elite community. We do not, in fact, compete directly with USC and Peter's. We now compete with Castle Shannon, Bethel Park, Scott and the like, insomuch as there is an actual "competition". We are in that oh-so-despised second tier precisely because of the "if you can't afford it, then leave" mentality. Those small-minded, selfish people in town who want want want should delve into some world history and read read read. Their approach ALWAYS fails.
I think that we should sell the golf course to a developer, build the new kind of housing that folks move to areas like St Clair and Peters township for instead of lebo. We can generate more taxes and use the monies to upgrade and maintain facilities.
I would also cut the Mt Lebanon police force,
2:35 it's not that I disagree with Mr. Franklin or anyone else for that matter on turf, dog parks, golf, deer hunts etc., etc.
It all comes down to whom we are building it for and whether we can afford it or not.
Not so many years ago MTLSD had over 8,000 students. Now we have 5,200 or so.
So should we be building things for a dwindling kid population or maybe think about amenities for an aging population?
It's ny opinion that the audience the Bower Hill/Washington project was looking to attract weren't 20/30 somethings looking for turfed fields.
People looking to buy $500,000 plus condos are probably empty nesters looking for libraries, theatre, tennis and golf social activities and events.
I don't know many seniors, middle age people that are all that interested in soccer and lacrosse.
I'm sorry, but to borrow a marketing campaign from the auto industry... This isn't your fathers (or grandfathers) Mt. Lebanon anymore. And USC, Peters and North Fayette, Cranberry hick farms either.
To Mr. Franklin:
I hate to disrupt the continuity of blog entries, but I must correct your idea that the Pitcher Memorial Skatepark is going to be built in Scott.
In fact, Mary Pitcher announced in August that the $600,000 skatepark would be constructed at Carnegie Park, which lies on Forsythe Road in the borough of CARNEGIE (I attended this event). A very attractive site in the park has been selected.
Also, though the skate park will receive a substantial monetary contribution from the Ken and Carol Schultz Family Foundation, some very successful local fundraisers have taken place.
Carnegie residents of all ages, as well as local officials, are looking forward to the skate park's opening. You can be sure that Elaine will post that date on this blog.
Quotations for Curmudgeons http://www.quotegarden.com/curmudgeon.html
Is this where you get your material, Mr. Franklin ? Your 2 quotes are there. We wish you were more like Mr. Gideon. Happy New Year !
If he did 9:37 he should have read a little further. He would have come upon this gem.
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." ~George Bernard Shaw
Elaine, you posted this earlier and apparently everybody missed it... "8:37 AM, you will only get answers if you file RTKs. Then you can hear Mary Birks preach about new legislation pending which could reimburse school districts for RTK costs. In her report from the latest school board meeting, Mary indicated as such."
The legislation pending, just whom does it propose will pay the reimbursement to the district for RTK costs? The state, the Feds?
So, let me get this straight. The proposal from the rocket scientists in Harrisburg is that they will use Pennsylvanians' tax payments to reimburse school districts for the cost of providing information the residents have the right to know in the first place.
Plus those same taxpayers footed the bill for district software that was suppose to reduce the cost of ansewering RTK request.
Great, not only will we get coming, if this legislation passes, we'll get it going too!
I hope our newly elected state senator votes no on this absurd idea.
1:03 AM, do you remember when the PG ran this story, after the RTK law was passed? http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/new-right-to-know-law-costly-mt-lebanon-schools-say-237205/
This is my favorite part of that article:
At this week's meeting, school board member Daniel Remely suggested the district make the names of the requestors and the costs of performing the requests available for public review.
Like that was some kind of threat. That is when I offered to publish the requests which were denied. We never heard anymore about it, did we? in fact, Josephine Posti encouraged us to file RTKs during her presidency.
Here is one I would like to find out, but it would never be granted. What is the status of the $900,000 grievance?
Elaine
How much has the district spent on RTKs, or rather, how much have they frittered away by instructing their attorney to write denial letters? That's what should be public. That amount should then be offset in the budget somewhere by cutting teaching positions. Let's then see how long it takes for the union to straighten out the board. I mean, the union runs things anyway, right?
The union runs our super Super.
Somehow we need to get rid of the mindset that the school district is an independent entity, that we are only customers for the brief 13 years that our child attend it.
The administrators, the teachers and the board (thus the district) only exist because WE THE PEOPLE allow it too. We are not subservient to them, they are to us.
This is exactly why the PSBA and NEA are so opposed to charter and cyber schools. They give parents a choice.
Exactly. But how do you take back what the school district and the union have taken? One way is to get rid of the funding--move people out, no taxes, no money. The screw, er, school board is doing what it can to keep younger, less prosperous families, single people and renters out of the community. Eventually, even the Posti propogandists will have a hard time justifying keeping open all the schools and retaining all the teachers. I can't believe how stupid the union leaders are. Wouldn't you want to maximize the number of kids in the schools thus creating more school jobs abd increasing union membership? Makes one wonder who's leading who by the nose.
5:16 there's no wonder... The rule of the day is "I'm getting mine!"
When the union gets theirs they retire and move.
I'm no prude but is it wise for mr. Remely to be advertising for Sassy Sensations on his billboard ? Is S.S. Mr. Franklin's sponsor for the turfed field ?
Sure it is.... if all you care about is the bottom line.
It's no different than the school district whoring out public spaces for ad signs and naming rights under the auspices that they're doing it for the children.
Remely's building is a private business concern and essentially making money is the prime directive of such a concern. He right to maximize his income as long as he stays within the law and codes.
Bombarding students with sales pitches, and that's what naming rights and field signs are basically, have no place in our schools.
We've allowed our schools and recreation to turn into private businesses all in the quest for ever increasing quest for more and more money to feed the beast.
I have had a couple of personal emails asking about the billboard. Yes, it is true. It is that monstrosity at the corner of Mt. Lebanon Blvd. and Hoodridge. I don't know what Remely was thinking, especially if he wants to run for a higher office. Women petitioned the School District to return funds from fundraising with Chick Fil A but it is OK to objectify women in a billboard. I don't get it either, 9:17 AM.
Elaine
Gee maybe the municipality should follow Dan's lead and put up similar boards in the public right-of-ways in high traffic areas like Cochran (near Manor Oak), Cedar (near the proposed dog park) and the islands at Cedarhurst and Mission Hills.
The revenue they generate could fund turfing all the fields we could want.
Then while we're at it construct giant wind turbines all over the municipality. It'll keeping the enviromemtalist happy with non-polluting power for things like lights on all the fields.
Chick Fil A and the billboard???? apples and oranges, what is the comparison? You are really reaching to try to connect the two.
I too believe that the billboard is a monstrosity but really?
BTW, Sassy Sensation is patronized by women, so maybe they are objectifying themselves??
Wow! Sassy Sensations is being advertised by the Republican candidate for the House of Whores in Harrisburg. Good going MLRC.
While I don't patronize Sassy Sinsations I don't understand the big deal over their advertisement.
Especially considering the popularity of the Fifty Shades Trilogy. Might suggest that there may be a large group of women in Lebo that need a little relief, if you get my drift.
SS is probably run by an individual(s) that took the initiative to open their own business to make a living. They have as much right to advertise as anyone.
The ugly (IMO) sign board in an area like Mt, Lebanon Blvd is the problem. It's out of place and not very aesthetic. It's legal though and Remely took advantage of it. Again, IMO pretty much what the board did when they set the HS project limit just under the referendum limit. They could, so they did.
I consider it a warning bot to support Remely for any future elective offices.
As for the "House of Whires" comment it may be unsavory but IMO quite appropriate considering how much is spent by lobbyist in Harrisburg.
Pretty funny, 2:33 PM. I almost hate to change the topic...
However, I think the increasing traffic in this town must be addressed. Rush hours on the major routes, as well as around the high school in general, are a nightmare.
On top of that, parking infractions are creating problems on many streets. Police need to ticket cars parking the wrong way and/or on the wrong side, as well as parking in front of fire hydrants. Speeding is another issue that must be looked at.
This is becoming a serious situation, particularly on the arterial streets that feed into the main drags.
Let's remind everyone of the parking laws BEFORE a disaster occurs.
4:02 couldn't agree more with you comments on traffic.
The disregard for speed limits, traffic signals, school zones here astounds me. Watch the mad rush around any of our schools at the end of the day.
Illegal parking, left turns, speeding. Much of it by "moms" that will stand up at a school board meeting and claim they're there for the kids.
I, too, have heard horror stories about the traffic jams around the schools. Does know one understand the concept of carpooling? It can really work!
As for those who live on the arterial streets, they have my sympathy. Not only do they have to put up with the noise and fumes from speeding cars, they can't enjoy their own front yards.
Mount Lebanon used to be a destination, now it is a drive-through. Peters is a destination.
How about a LeboAlert telling us when our garbage is going to be picked up? We have had it sitting out there since Friday evening.
Elaine
From the Trib:
http://triblive.com/mobile/m/3220193-96/2013-trends-changing
2013 trends: With the good may come the bad
"“Mobile communications offer major opportunities to advance human and economic development — from providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes,” wrote Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice president for sustainable development."
"Stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes"... seems Elaine has been ahead of the trend and that's good.
Unfortunately, the board and certain individuals can't deal with or know how to handle the immediate scrutiny, analysis and feedback... and that's bad.
Has anyone heard anything further on the trash collection issue Elaine raised? We, too, have been waiting patiently since Friday evening (normal Friday collection delayed a day for Christmas).--Neil Berch
When the commission voted to authorize advertising on the fields, I wrote then that we would start seeing ads from Cheerleaders and Budweiser. Close enough with Dan the Man's billboard. As far as I know, Sassy is owned by a woman. So much for the objectification argument. I don't think it's who is on the billboard but rather where it is. Dan the Man getting classy with Sassy. What a boob. I sincerely hope the opposition is snapping photos and designing campaign literature. Oh, and to an earlier comment, I agree--way to go, MLRC. You were teetering on the edge of irrelevant. Now you've pushed past it and become imbecilic. Seriously, as the local "official" committee, how in the Sam Hill did you not sit down with your odd-os favorite to discuss something as basic as image? And I thought the committee was a joke two years ago...you've come a long way, baby. I may have to switch parties to the Lunch Bag party (remember the unknown comic on the Gong Show?)
Some want turf but we can't pick up the garbage.
I called the township yesterday when I saw crows pecking at my trash. I knew they were there for lunch. The person who answered the phone said that Waste Management told the township they weren't going to pick up trash today (Monday December 31st) and that someone from the township was trying to contact someone higher up at Waste Management to convince them to pick up trash today (December 31st) She said trash wasn't picked up Saturday December 29th due to weather conditions (very understandable). She said to leave the trash out until people are notified by a Lebo Alert and/or the township website on what to do. Nothing on their website today and the last Lebo alert -
12/26/2012
Garbage and recycling pick up is delayed one day this week due to the Christmas holiday. Waste Management is going to have to dig out the trash cans since there's been so much snow. Wow a Lebo alert would be helpful about now. Who ever does the Lebo Alerts is excellent at getting them out when they are promoting the Mt Lebanon Magazine. Does anyone know who is responsible for the Alerts?
I know who. According to the latest MTL Magazine, they are from the Public Information Office, Susan Morgans, editor in chief or online editor, Laura Pace Lilley. They use Twitter, Facebook, LeboAlerts, and YouTube. This is in addition to Lebomag.com and mtlebanon.org.
Elaine
Does anyone know when the school board is going to put the Finance committee back together? I'm getting very worried not knowing what's going on with the finances. The committee was a wonderful recourse and there was transparency. Who decided to dismiss this very relevant and important committee? What a terrible decision that was. Just a thought as I was about to submit this post...what if they aren't putting the committee back together because the school board doesn't want us to know what's going on finance wise.
3:54 wouldn't that be the PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER'S responsibility?
Back to the state house seat. "The 42nd House District includes all or parts of Bethel Park, Green Tree, Mt. Lebanon, Scott, Rosslyn Farms and Thornburg." according to the Trib.
I certainly hope one of the other areas have a true republican stepping up, because the MTLRC is a joke.
Party elected officials sit on their thumbs every time the SB democrats and Rinos find an excuse to bash Gov. Corbett. Why would we send any one of them to Harrisburg, considering the mess they've made of the school district or the their commitment to the party principles.
Miller maybe the closest thing we've got to a real republican!
Maybe the township didn't pay the Waste Management bill yet. I smell a fee...you know the story give the residents a taste of what not getting your trash picked up feels like and then impose a fee. People will gladly pay a fee to have their trash picked up. Just kidding I'm sure all bills are paid on time.
Thank you for that information, 3:54 PM. When I shovel my sidewalk, I clean off the garbage can while I'm there. I was wondering when the recycling will be picked up. It would normally be this Friday, but with New Year's Day, it should be this Saturday. But, are they off a week now?
4:16 PM, Josephine Posti eliminated the Audit and Finance Committee when she became president. The last meeting was when A&F chairman James Fraasch was still on the board. Elaine Cappucci seems to be following Posti's lead.
Elaine
4:16 you could always file a RTK, but I'd wait for The reimbursement legislation to be passed that Birks is talking about.
That way the district can spend your tax dollars fulfilling your RTK then send to Harrisburg for a reimbursement from -- ta da -- your tax dollars sent their.
That way we pay twice for budget information we should know as a matter of fact.
Does anyone hold the pio accountable for anything?
Sure they do 6:01. You think that if the PIO presented BOTH SIDES of an issue, made an unbiased presentation of the facts they keep their job long?
The PIO should spend more time focusing on COMMUNITY matters and less time worrying about who's who on the Pittsburgh legal scene.
$95,000 a year? For what? The details about the last law firm tea party?
How does the PIO select interviewees for feature articles?
What difference does it make if you had an alert about the garbage? would you do anything different? just asking. I probably would just leave the cans out.
I think i get way to many lebo alerts.
Yeah, you're right 8:03 let's keep it a secret, wouldn't want to overtax the PIO.
Yeah, you're right 8:03. It's such a secret, that your ten year old could pretty much figure out what happened.
Sorry that you need the lebo alert to figure it out. What would your Grandfather have done?
That's it don't worry about the 'customer'. Rather tan taking 10 minutes to send out a simple message that a 10 year old could in do in 3, it's better to leave everyone guessing as to whether their street was missed or the truck is coming tomorrow or not until the next scheduled day.
My grandfather probably would've carried the can back to the house and missed the pick up for the week.
When is the recycle pick-up?
9:35 suggest you ask your 10 year old.
This is a bit belated, but I jut found this blog and I wanted to gripe about property taxes. The school district needs to systematically go through the 2013 assessments and appeal the many, many homes that are under-assessed. That will not be a popular thing to do but fairness demands it.
My house is assessed within $6,000 of what I paid for it in 2011. That would be fine except that almost every other house near me is underassessed by $30-70,000. That translates into thousands of lost tax dollars that people like me have to cover. My next door neighbors both bought their houses within a year of when I did, one for $2,000 less and one for $12,000 more. The first is assessed $50,0000 under the purchase price and the second is assessed around $70,000 under. There are tons of houses nearby me and throughout the district that are similarly--and obviously--underassessed.
Those "lucky" houses diminish the tax base and raise the millage rate for everyone. Since the appeals process only takes sale prices--and not assessed values--into consideration, people in my situation have no recourse. The district does though, and it needs to step up and do the right thing. The assessments should distribute the tax burden fairly and consistently. Right now it functions like a sweepstakes for some and a shakedown for everyone else.
-JW
JW, I don't know if you just discovered Bloglebo as well, but you might want to view the excellent analysis of the Lebo reassessment done by Tom Moertel and James Fraasch.
That's gold in them thar hills, if the board had the cajones to go after it.
The commissioners by the way had an agenda item to hire a consultant to do just what you suggest. Don't know if it went thru though.
JW, You could have used sale prices back to 2009 to appeal your assessment. The best properties are those that are similar to yours in your neighborhood, but you can use sale prices of properties anywhere in Mt. Lebanon.
The only parties that can appeal assessment values upwards are the municipality and the school board. You can only appeal your assessed value downward.
@6:25 - I did read Bloglebo's coverage, which was excellent. Unfortunately, the assessments have been out of the news there lately. Here's hoping that the commissioners do hire a consultant. Chris Briem's already done most of the work.
@9:41 - You're missing the point and I realize how the appeals work. The problem is that a large number of houses are moderately to ridiculously underassessed. Every house near me that has sold recently has sold for around $200k. My house is assessed at $200k and all of the other houses are assessed much lower than that, most of them around 75% or less of their 2009-2011 sale prices. Their sale prices support my 2013 assessment value, and I can't use their assesment values to lower my assesment. So even though we all bougtht houses for roughly the same price, my taxes are several thousand dollars higher than everyone else's. I can't get my assessment lowered (since it's basically accurate) and I can't appeal the assessments of all of the houses that aren't paying their fair share. The district can. That they haven't done so yet is unfair and infuriating.
-JW
So it's the commission's fault the county-mandated assessment system is a failure? Seems you're misdirecting your ire.
JW I didn't miss your point. If the houses around you support your assessed value you need to enlarge your search for other Mount Lebanon sales of houses that support a lower assessment at about 75% of the assessment on your house. Your other choice is to wait to see if the school board or the commission will appeal your neighbors assessments upward in an election year.
@J-Wow - It's not the commission's fault that a significant portion of the tax base is underassessed. But it is their responsibility to correct the problem so that the tax burden is distributed in a way that's fair to everyone. They're the only ones who can.
@2:44 - Given that I bought my house during 2011 for just about the assessed value, that sounds like a loser of an argument. It would also be dishonest. If I did succeed in convincing the appeals board that my house is worth $50,000 less than what I paid for it less than two years ago, I would save myself some cash but I would just be making the real problem worse. And I would be doing so at the expense of all other taxpayers in the district.
To whom does the commission owe a responsibility? The people who through some fortunate quirk of the assessment process were assigned an undersized share of the tax burden? Or to every other taxpayer in the district who must pay more if those inequities are preserved, but most especially those taxpayers who were unlucky enough to receive accurate assessments?
-JW
JW, you are to be applauded for your prospective. You think you house is accurately assessed and you're not going to try and get it reduced because your neighbors aren't.
Those croticizing you are typical of the mindset here in the bubble of I'm going to get everything I can, whether its fair or might have a negative impact on someone else.
I'm disgusted with the me generation.
@JW, It sounds like you are hiding behind the honesty word to avoid doing the work of appealing your assessment. If you aren’t willing to stick up for yourself, why should someone else?
Hint: Because the deadline to appeal your assessment is long passed and you didn’t do the work in the first place.
JW, sorry for that last person's rudeness. Unfortunately, he is correct. I know that you are a new reader of Lebo Citizens, but we did discuss the appeal process at length here on the blog. Our only hope is that the school district and the commission go after the under assessed properties.
Elaine
I'm told you can appeal your assessment anytime you so desire, that you could appeal each and every if you were so inclined.
Need some legal beagles to confirm that.
Hey a topic.
Why in this day an age, and especially since we have the county taxing region do students with part time jobs need to file a form to get their entitled refund to the Local Service Tax (that $52 automatically taken from their paycheck) if they make under $10,000?
Now that taxes are collected by firms like Jordan and at the end of the year the student sends in a W2 with their required tax return can't Jordan spit out the refund automatically?
Or is this a subtle scheme to keep money the communities aren't entitled to.
The students involved in getting a degree, away from home and these days no end of the year pay stub, forget about it or find the refund is too much trouble and the municipality gets to keep the money... conveniently!
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
You have to have your parents signature to go on a school field trip but not to get an abortion.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
An 80 year old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a Muslim woman in a burka is only subject to having her neck and head searched.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
A seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for calling his teacher "cute" but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
The Supreme Court of the United States can rule that lower courts cannot display the 10 Commandments in their courtroom, while sitting in front of a display of the 10 Commandments.
Amen!
Pennsylvania's natural gas boom has created over 102,000 jobs, lowered utility bills, and helped Pennsylvanians like Jim VanBlarcom – all without contaminating the water supply. Yet Matt Damon's new, Middle East-funded movie Promised Land smears not just the industry, but the real, live Pennsylvanians who benefit from this tremendous opportunity for our commonwealth.
And best of all, we, the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, helped pay for the flick through $4 million in special tax credits.
Thank you to the member of the MLRC who voted for this useless tax credit when he served in the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Jim VanBlarcom doubled the size of his dairy herd using the royalty money from leasing farmland to the drillers.
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