Are you a bigot? According to Ron Littlepage you are

[Valerie Sawyer]

According to Ron Littlepage in this morning's FTU, anybody who had questions about the appointment of Parvez Ahmed is just a bigot. Here's the article. The FTU also persists in calling ACT for America an "anti-Islam" and "anti-Muslim" group, even after being contacted by the director of the organization and members of the organization in protest of this label. We've tried to explain we are not "anti-Muslim" but rather "anti-radical". There are even Muslims who are on the board and staff of ACT for America. I don't think they would be there if the organization were "anti-Muslim". Anyway, we continue to see what side of the fence the FTU is on, not just on this issue but on all issues where they have a choice of coming down on the conservative or liberal side. Here's a link to Ron Littlepage's article if you've not had a chance to see it.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/400904/ron-littlepage/2010-04-...

My comment is at the bottom of the article. The main point I wanted to make is that there are many, many Arabs/Muslims in our community here in Jacksonville who would be suitable for this position, all of whom do not have a cloud of suspicion hanging over their heads. I don't understand the push for THIS particular man.

Of course, what it all really boils down to is the fact that our City government has no place funding a "human rights commission" in the first place. This is what you get when the government decides to do everything except what they are supposed to do.

[Patricia M. McBride]

I wish you would join the city council group and post the information there as well. It would be very helpful. I am going to find the budget information and if it can be posted, I will put it on the city council group. There is a web site with all the information about the town hall meetings the city council is having and the next one if 5/6 at what used to be FCCJ on Beach Blvd from 6PM to 8PM. You can get a card and say your piece if you have suggestions for cutting the budget. I think you could add a great deal to the meeting and hope you will consider it. Thanks for offering to keep us abreast of the meeting where all the republican candidates for mayor will be. I think it would be a great thing to go to. Pat

[Valerie Sawyer]

Glad you like the letter, Patricia. Thank you. Supposedly all the Republican candidates for mayor are going to be present at the River City Republican Club meeting in May. When I get more info, I will pass it along. We think we need to make sure we go and ask all the hard questions. No more passes for any of these people. None. They will either do what they are supposed to do, or they don't get the job.

[Patricia M. McBride]

I also should have said that what I have written is my personal opinion as yours is. What we do as a group are those things Billie arranges that we all agree on and support. The city council involvement has to be supported or not depending on how everyone feels about what is going on. I posted a group for this trying to get people to get involved, but it is so, you voice an opinion and perhaps, as you said, take a look at the budget and ask why are we paying for this and to see if there aren't some things we can suggest they cut period. Right now, our mayor thinks it will be ok to double our garbage fee this year. Pretty soon, at the rate he is going, we will pay more for garbage pickup than we do in property taxes. I, personally, hope we get someone who favors the people of the city instead of his relatives and friends.

[Patricia M. McBride]

The letter is great Valarie. They will vote on this dude tomorrow, and I hope above hope they use some common sense.

As far as the budget goes, I got the information from the print out of the budget in the newspaper. The Human rights council is 66+ thousand (but maybe that doesn't include the cost of the full time workers). As far as the police department goes, they pay nothing into their own fund, they get the top end on the pay scale for this area, and when they retire (sometimes early), they get very nearly their full pay. When they sit down with the unions, they do not forcasting into the future to see what the cost will be and I have a graph with all the statistics on it from one of our city council men with all the numbers and projections if something is not done and 10 years from now, the budget shortfall will be about 200,000,000 if we continue on the current track. I am not saying these guys and ladies don't do a wonderful job, but I am saying right now unemployment in Jacksonville is 12.6% and all fo the city union workers including the police and fire department want it to be business as usual with raises and more benes all around (not realistic given the economy right now).

I never said they didn't do a good job, but I am saying something has to give cause they can't keep raising taxes and getting rid of some of the garbage like the Human Rights Council would be a good place to start after we get a new mayor. Hopefully, we wil get a mayor who doesn't think money grows on trees and feels some compulsion to cut spending rather than raise taxes every single year.

[Valerie Sawyer]

This is the letter I sent to the Jacksonville City Council members today.

Dear Council Members,

I am writing to once again voice my strong opposition to the appointment of Parvez Ahmed to the Human Rights Commission. Each of you has been given more than enough evidence to show that this man has at least a questionable tie to terorrist-funding-related groups. I can't help but wonder why there is such a strong push for this candidate from members of the Council, former mayor John Delaney and Mayor John Peyton. Jacksonville has a large, vibrant Arab/Muslim community. There are any number of men and women from that community who would be suitable for this appointment without this cloud of suspicion hanging over their heads. I cannot understand why this appointee has not been abandoned and a search started for a more suitable candidate. I hope you will listen to the people of Jacksonville and their wishes on this appointment. The bottom line is that a human rights commission doesn't even have a place in a municipal government in the first place, but if you are going to have one, please make sure that it is staffed with people who don't have questionable ties to people who flagrantly violate human rights. This is a preposterous nomination.

Thank you for your time.

[Valerie Sawyer]

No, I won't agree to go after fire & police. There is much more to it than what is being told in the media. One of the reasons the police budget has grown is because our crime situation has grown. The problem is not with the police department - the problem is with people who have allowed their children to run wild and turn this City into a nightmare. The extra expense for police officers is the price we pay for not demanding our officials throw people in jail and keep them there and for not demanding that parents be responsible for the actions of their children.

Keep in mind that fire & police is what a City government is supposed to provide. Also keep in mind that the money the City was supposed to be putting into fire & police pensions for years was actually funneled other places - like the Feds do with Social Security. So now that the City is broke in the pension dept, they want to try to villify the police & fire departments.

The truth of the matter is there is enough money in the City budget to give EVERY city employee the same pension deal the fire & police have. But also keep in mind that nobody else in the city puts their lives on the line the way police officers & firefighters do either.

I don't know where you heard that these commissions and programs don't cost anything. They have millions of dollars in the City budget. The Human Rights Commission alone has 17 full-time employees and a budget of over $1 million a year.

The City also spends millions on things like museums, the symphony, festivals, fireworks, etc. I wish they would let me sit down with that budget and a red pencil. Their money woes would be over quickly.

But anyway, I have already stated that if it becomes the official position of the tea party to go after fire & police, I will not be part of it. That makes us hypocrites. That would be equivocal to wanting the Feds to cut their support of the military.

Go after the superfluous stuff that government spends money on that is completely out of their jurisdiction; don't berate them for spending money on the things they are supposed to spend it on.

[Patricia M. McBride]

There argument is always that these programs don't cost anything compared to fire and police (I guess we should be grateful for that). And something does need to be done about the retirement programs unions have managed to get our fine city officials to agree to. No one ever does any of this outrageous stuff and actually looks at not only this year but 5 years down the road, 10 years down the road etc. I know they didn't because if they did long range planning on any of it, they would have been horrified and realized it couldn't be done. The other thing that worries me......how does the police chief raise his budget by 57% in 6 years and no one notices or does anything to stop or slow it??? Who was asleep at the wheel while this was happening or is this yet another union good deal?

[Valerie Sawyer]

I agree completely. The City government is drowning under the burden of ridiculous and useless committees, agencies and commissions. They need to go. We need to keep the heat on City government to get rid of these ridiculous programs before threatening to get rid of fire & police.

[Patricia M. McBride]

Actually Valarie, one of the things I always think when someone pulls out the racist card and uses it, they don't have a valid counter argument and name calling is all they have left to use. It happens on and on when Obama was running when everyone was singing his praises and didn't know squat about him. Unfortunately, there is enough resonable doubt about Ahmed that he should not be allowed to sit on this committee. I see another write up in the paper this morning about this situation and of course, the newspaper is slanting it towards him (instead of saying...gee there really are some valid questions, so let's move on to someoone who has no issues pending).

Personally, the city has a number of these taxpayer funded do gooder groups and the mirror state committees. If I had my druther, we would get rid of every single one of them (we can't afford them anyway).

[Valerie Sawyer]

Good for you, Patricia. We have to remember that our battle is on all fronts - local, State and Federal and, yes, it appears now even in the colleges and education system. We have much work to do. We have slept for far too long and we have just about lost our country.