The City of Richardson's 2011-2012 Proposed Budget is available for review on the city's website.
The most important item on my own wish list does not appear to have been granted. I said, make sure the budget is "balanced." By that, I meant the line labeled "Net Budgeted Revenues" ($186,906,381) should be greater than the line labeled "Net Budgeted Expenditures" ($188,561,154). You do the math.
After the jump, a rant and a question.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Open Mike Night: Goals
The Visitors Section of the Richardson City Council meeting sometimes is the best part of the show. Sometimes that is because of the amusement it offers, but sometimes because of the thoughtful and thought-provoking ideas offered. Monday night's lineup included some of the latter.
Andrew Laska offered his suggestions for the Statement of Goals for the 2011-2013 council term. You know the routine for such documents -- Vision, Mission, Priorities, Goals and Action Items liberally sprinkled throughout with Snooze. Even the best of these efforts are often painful to read. Worse, Richardson's past efforts weren't among the best of these efforts.
After the jump, my own rant about Richardson's past efforts and Andrew Laska's recommendations.
Andrew Laska offered his suggestions for the Statement of Goals for the 2011-2013 council term. You know the routine for such documents -- Vision, Mission, Priorities, Goals and Action Items liberally sprinkled throughout with Snooze. Even the best of these efforts are often painful to read. Worse, Richardson's past efforts weren't among the best of these efforts.
After the jump, my own rant about Richardson's past efforts and Andrew Laska's recommendations.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The Queen of Rage
Newsweek is catching a lot of criticism for its cover photo of Michele Bachmann. Some think it's an unflattering angle (true enough). Some say it shows her with crazy eyes (maybe, but crazy is in the eye of the beholder, no?). The caption, "The Queen of Rage," has made some ... how should I put this, crazy with rage? And some predict that the Newsweek publicity will end up working to the advantage of both the magazine (buzz) and candidate (sympathy).
Bachmann herself seems unperturbed. "Aha. Well, we'll have to take a look at that, won't we?" she said when a follower told her about the cover. Her reaction was described as being thoughtful and serious and "hopeful," even.
Hope. I've heard that word before somewhere. Maureen Dowd says Bachmann is stealing Obama's mantra, quoting her as saying at one campaign stop in Iowa, "The power behind our campaign is hope and a future. That's all I believe in."
Fair enough. Keeping all this in mind, I know how Bachmann can exploit this advantage throughout the campaign. Think Newsweek meets "Obama 2008." After the jump, the "Bachmann 2012" campaign poster.
Bachmann herself seems unperturbed. "Aha. Well, we'll have to take a look at that, won't we?" she said when a follower told her about the cover. Her reaction was described as being thoughtful and serious and "hopeful," even.
Hope. I've heard that word before somewhere. Maureen Dowd says Bachmann is stealing Obama's mantra, quoting her as saying at one campaign stop in Iowa, "The power behind our campaign is hope and a future. That's all I believe in."
Fair enough. Keeping all this in mind, I know how Bachmann can exploit this advantage throughout the campaign. Think Newsweek meets "Obama 2008." After the jump, the "Bachmann 2012" campaign poster.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wrestling Card From Ames, Iowa
Tonight's GOP Presidential forum was more fun than a professional wrestling match. The big winner? Probably President Barack Obama. The Republicans were too busy trying to take each other down to land many blows on the man in the White House.
After the jump, my quick takeaways on each candidate.
After the jump, my quick takeaways on each candidate.
Cool Enough For You?
The streak of consecutive 100-degree days is over at 40, two days shy of the all-time record set in 1980. The Twitterverse is filled with Dallasites who are disappointed. It seems like I'm the only one who is happy. Today is more comfortable than any day since sometime in June. The threat of brownouts is lessened. We'll get to talk about something other than the weather again.
Was it just me or did anyone else find it unseemly to be cheering for the streak to continue? Was there also open cheering for the Mississippi River to rise just another few inches to top the sandbags? I wanted to say, "Hello?!? Do you know people are dying from heat stroke?"
All for an arbitrary record. If, like the whole rest of the world, we measured temperature on the Celsius scale instead of Fahrenheit, we'd have a whole different set of streaks to compare to. Does anyone even know what the longest streak of days over 40 degrees C is? Is anyone even aware that if we used the weather station at Love Field instead of DFW Airport for the "official" statistics, this streak would have been broken in mid-July? Who spent the last 40 days all at DFW Airport anyway?
On the other hand, the streak did give me one good memory. That was a tweet from a forgotten wag who said, "The last time the Heat was this bad in Dallas was during the NBA Finals." It warms my heart recalling that.
Was it just me or did anyone else find it unseemly to be cheering for the streak to continue? Was there also open cheering for the Mississippi River to rise just another few inches to top the sandbags? I wanted to say, "Hello?!? Do you know people are dying from heat stroke?"
All for an arbitrary record. If, like the whole rest of the world, we measured temperature on the Celsius scale instead of Fahrenheit, we'd have a whole different set of streaks to compare to. Does anyone even know what the longest streak of days over 40 degrees C is? Is anyone even aware that if we used the weather station at Love Field instead of DFW Airport for the "official" statistics, this streak would have been broken in mid-July? Who spent the last 40 days all at DFW Airport anyway?
On the other hand, the streak did give me one good memory. That was a tweet from a forgotten wag who said, "The last time the Heat was this bad in Dallas was during the NBA Finals." It warms my heart recalling that.
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