Huntington City Council 3.28

Huntington City Council commenced for a regular meeting Monday. The reason I didn't blog beforehand was I didn't know I was going to till about 5 this afternoon and didn't have time to post about it. Two citizens talked during the Good and Welfare. the first one held up an ad and promised to attend every meeting holding the sign. The second man was mad because the City Council didn't inform him when one of the city's board meetings was.

Councilman Ritter mentioned the city's final budget was passed Thursday and the council has done a good job coming up with the members.

One of the ordinances brought to the floor concerned police cameras dispersed across the city. 4 new HD cameras were bought The police want the cameras so they can detect the crime, even when the personnel are not able to be present. Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook expressed his gratitude to the council in being able to continue fighting crime in Huntington with the cameras aid. The second citizen had a differing opinion. He said they were spying on the citizens by putting these cameras in. He's against the drug dealers and the like, but the police don't have a right to invade privacy. The man then went on a tangent that somehow lead to him talking about evolution in schools. He concludes his rant by calling Councilman Ritter a their and a liar. Ritter gets irritated but then the man left the room.

Afterward, I interviewed Deron Runyon, Finance Director and Skip Holbrook, Police Chief.

I tried going to the meeting last night. The doors were locked. I tried two different entrances and both were locked. It looked like people were attending the meeting. The lights were on in the lobby and in the room. i couldn't find another entrance to the building so I ended up going home.

I'm going to Parkersburg's City Council meeting tomorrow night. The minutes are on the city council website:
http://www.parkersburg-wv.com/meetings/meeting_23mar10_citycouncil.pdf

Parkersburg just passed a user fee similar to Huntington's in March. It's 2.50 a month to cover city costs. This is nowhere near as steep as Huntington's, which just passed a 1 percent occupational tax. Still, citizens are complaining. The agenda allows time for public forum so maybe someone will bring up the issue again.

Faculty Senate Meeting

Part of the Faculty Senate meeting today was spent arguing over wording about when a candidate files for tenure or a promotion. Almost a half hour was spent arguing about the wording in this section of Faculty Senate agenda. After awhile, even the senators involved with the debate got tired of discussing the issue. One senator from COLA called the motion "tiresome" and even the woman leading the meeting said she had never been so relieved to have a motion be moved from the floor. A few minutes later, another senator said the schools and the Senate needed to be more in communication with each other to prevent such mis communications in the future.

The second part of the meeting contained president Stephen Kopp presenting a power point about professor's salaries and how Marshall University compares in relation to other schools with professors salary. He said a pay raise of $1,227 was granted to faculty this year. This raise did not include the medical school because those employees most likely have other income sources. The School of Journalism and Mass Communications was the lowest in payouts given to faculty.

To: Burnis Morris
From: Kristen Hainkel
Re: Major assignment 5
Date: 3.17.2011

Subject: Huntington’s proposed 2012 fiscal year budget

Scope: I will analyze three years worth of Huntington’s fiscal year budgets. Along with the overall budget, I will analyze the changes in the Police and Fire Department.

Need: This budget affects everyone working in the city of Huntington. Their department could face layoffs, which causes someone to lose their job. Or a department could not have as much funding, which causes the agency to possibly not be able to serve the public as well as they did before.

Methods: I will be analyzing the 2011, 2010, and 2009 fiscal year budgets of Huntington. I will be compare and contrasting how the budget changed. How much percentage increase or decrease did it change over these years? Did any department receive any significant cuts?

Sources: The main source will be the 2012 fiscal year budget. Also I will interview city council members to about the features of this budget.

Presentation: A main story about the budget. This will focus on what the budget contains and how much a change it is from the previous year. The story will be accompanied by a sidebar depicting how the budget affects one particular department.

Follow Up: The mayor will adopt a budget before the end of this month. It would be timely to follow up with a story explaining the differences between the proposed budget and what the mayor officially adopted.

Faculty Senate Meeting

Marshall University Faculty Senate is meeting at 4:30 pm today in room BE5. I'm attending this for my second meeting requirement in assignment 1.

City Council Meeting 3.10.2011

The last city council budget meeting of the 2011-2012 fiscal year took place Thursday. Many elements of the proposed budget were brought forward including: funding a new grad position to help the city in its day to day functioning, the Parking Board, and the Fire Department. Huntington's mayor Kim Wolfe and all 11 City Council members were present, although two arrived late. The members asked the boards presenting many questions to get more information or clarification on a topic. Mark Bates of District 6 lead the meeting.

The first topic was a the creation of a new graduate student position within the Planning and Zoning Appeals board. James Baldwin, head of the board, proposed a need for the position. The city is under a state mandate to update their comprehensive plan.  It's a plan that outlines how the city plans to grow within the next ten years. Huntington's hasn't been updated since 1998. Currently Baldwin uses interns to help him with this task, but it isn't enough manpower or experience. Russell Houck from District 8 said he was not opposed to adding the position, but he didn't want to cut someone else's job in the process. The council voted to take the 6000 salary from money set aside to tile the downstairs floor.

Mike Wilson of the Parking Board sat before the council in the middle of the meeting. He said he didn't want to sound like a broken record because not much had changed with the board over the past few years. He said the board was able to save $42,000 without any action last year. They also completed all the projects set out in 2010. The one project going on with the Parking Board is replacing the city's meters. The meters are outdated and also get vandalized frequently. Mark Bates mentioned a constituent wrote and asked him recently why Huntington couldn't do away the Parking Board altogether. Wilson replied the board's job was to "make sure people have adequate parking downtown."

The Fire Department was the final section analyzed in the budget. Fire Cheif C. Creig Moore told the council his budget was "bare bones". He has a five year plan in place for the department to improve. He noted the department is short 8 positions total. Three officers are going to retire this calendar year in September and November. After a involved discussion between councilman Steve Williams and Moore abouthow the fire department could better manage their personnel, city attorney Scott McClure broke out a law book to cite a state law.He said the city can't require a firefighter to work more than 112 hours in 14 days.

City Council Meeting

The Huntington City Council is having the last meeting for the 2011-2012 budget today at 4:30 p.m. I plan to attend. They will be discussing the Huntington Fire Department budget and whether the city can afford to have the amount of money for the Fire Department. After today, the budget will be officially voted on and put in effect.

Girl Scouts

For The United Way Project, I am covering the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council, which has troupes all over West Virginia. The organization teaches girl to build self esteem and have leadership skills in their communities. I found the following information in preliminary research:

• Susan Thompson, Executive Officer
• The Service Center (That oversees all of the troupes) is located in 210 Hale St. , Charleston, WV 25322 
• The phone number for this branch: 304.345.7722 
• Total revenue: $6, 539, 579, Total expenses $6, 282, 595, Total assets $4, 747, 920  (Numbers from 990 IRS Tax 2009 form)
• No one is paid who works for Girl Scouts 
• The website is www.bdgsc.org  

I plan to find out what makes the Girl Scouts special. Some question I intend to answer in include: Why do girls stay in the organization so long? Are they only known for their cookies? Why are the girls and adults so involved in the organizations. What benefits do they get from participating?

No left or right

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/10/beyond-left-and-right-its-about-reality_n_821582.html

Article i think everyone should read. Let's be objective!

SEC company search

 In The Securities Exchange Commission website search, many documents about companies with stock can be found. One example is the Coca Cola company. One is called "Certificate of Incorporation." The document states what state the company's office is located in and how it intends to make money while staying within the rules of the SEC. This particular one filed October 7, 2010 and is in the state of Delaware. The eighth section of the article lays out all the employee's responsibilities while working for the Coca Cola Cooperation. 

State of the union reaction column

Unity and innovation were the overtones in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday.

The tragedy in Tucson started off the address. Obama used this event to illustrate a point of unity. I predicted he would use it as an example of how politicians need to work together. Differing views should not matter. We are all Americans and human, and there’s no sense to physically hurt someone because they don’t wear the same glasses another does.

He also referred to debate in American politics: “The debates have been contentious: we have fought fiercely for our beliefs. And that’s a good thing.” Yes, Mr. President, it is a good thing. But also remember opposing views can’t be so wrapped up in attacking the other side that no actual laws get passed.

In relation to this concept, he praised the Congress for being able to pass a tax cut bill in December. Occasions like that should happen more often. It’s nice to see the parties working together for the benefit the American people. But it shouldn’t be such a shocking rarity. Isn’t government’s purpose to serve its people, not the other way around?

Finally, Obama alluded to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to round out this concept near the end of the speech. While he didn’t name the law, he stated the jest of what it means. It’s a huge victory for equality. It is unfair to have someone hide how they are simply because someone else has a stigma attached.

The second theme of the address was innovation and developing new technology to restore America’s superiority. “We need to out innovate, out educate, and build the best of the world,” he said.

 Obama tied this in with job creation. While I said he would talk about how to create jobs, it was not in this fashion. Still, it was interesting to hear his proposals. He said something to be done to keep from businesses from shipping jobs overseas.

One way to keep the jobs on the home front is to strengthen the economy. Obama alluded to the deficit and how to lower it. He proposed a freeze in domestic spending. It’s a good idea to set a limit so the deficit doesn’t get any worse. He also addressed the pork barrel legislation that a lot of congressmen try to pass. He warned them he would veto it. While it was a strong warning, I doubt congressmen will deviate from that. Finally, he talked about increasing taxes for the richest 2 percent of Americans. This will increase revenue but it may not be the only solution.

Obama touched on the war on Iraq. It was section of an overall view on foreign policy and seemed like an afterthought with the emphasis on restoring American supremacy in the world and learning to work together.
“100, 000 of our brave men and women have left with their heads held high: where American combat patrols have ended: violence has come down, and a new government has been formed,” he said.

In 2009, Obama set a timeline for the Iraq withdrawal and it’s apparent that promise has been kept. Regardless of mixed emotions of how the war started, it is reassuring to see the government follow through on a big promise it made. It shows some semblance that serving the people is the government’s priority instead of seizing all the power for oneself.

Overall, the president performed well. He looked self assured and made the words on the page believable. He commanded the respect of the dignitaries in the room and it was given.

Unspeakable errors

Today in JMC 414, we talked about articles published in the Parthenon. They had many errors in them. However, some mistakes seemed more unforgivable than others. The men's story pulled from the wire had a wordy lead. The time elements was not where it was supposed to be. The rule of thumb is to keep it as close to the verb as possible. At the end after WOWK TV, it said would be broadcast on the Capital Classic Network. It wasn't necessary. On the women's story, the Capital Classic was not capitalized. It seemed like sheer laziness to me. How can it be capitalized on the men's and not the women's? It's right there in front of your eyes!

Obama prediction column

The yearly State of the Union address is upon us in a matter of days. It’s the speech where the current president tries to balance optimism and reality of the situation. They also try to provide an accurate self-assessment of how the past year went and where the country is going in the forthcoming year. President Barack Obama has a mixture of both to talk about in this speech. Some of the main topics he touches may be: the economy, jobs in America, the war in Iraq, and a theme of unity and acceptance.

Obama should mention a note on the economic situation. The United States spending budget deficit is upwards of $1.32 trillion dollars (usdebtclock.org). And if the deficit is continues on this same track, it could compose as much as 6 percent of our gross domestic product by 2020 (Christina Romer, NY Times). The government has to find somewhere to cut spending. He should propose tax cuts to bring more revenue to the federal government. Spending should be focused on decreasing our debt, not on all the extras thrown in using pork barrel legislation. It’s the reasoning applied to one’s personal finances: pay off the debts little by little, and limit spending on extraneous things for a while.

In relation to the economic topic, jobs are becoming harder to find these days. The unemployment rate is approximately 9.4 percent at present. This is a similar situation to Franklin D. Roosevelt, although he endured much  worse. When Roosevelt took office in 1933 at the tail end of the Great Depression, the employment lurked about 25 percent. It rose and fell throughout the remainder of the decade, and finally fell below 14.1 percent in 1941. (www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief1.htm) President Obama should propose some new way to create more jobs for these people or get the jobs to stay the U.S.

Obama should touch on the progress of the Iraq war. He set a timeline to withdraw most of the troops from Iraq (according to a Washington Post article, a third of 142,000 troops will remain there till the end of the year for training purposes.) Public sentiments for this war have not been favorable and want it to end as soon as possible. Nixon faced a similar situation with the Vietnam War back in the 70s. In his 1970 State of the Union Speech, Nixon said he wanted that era to be remembered, as a time not plagued war, but a generation who achieved peace for the future to enjoy. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The Vietnam War is mostly looked back upon with not much fondness.

A few events in recent months have taught the American people that unity and cooperation is important. The shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and others shows how we all need to work together one unit. We don’t need to judge anyone based on his or her differences or political party. The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell may also be a tool to illustrate this. Gay people shouldn’t have to hide who they are in the military. If they can perform their job just as well as the heterosexual person serving alongside them, that shouldn’t matter. Again, it’s attacking and judging people who are different from us.

Finally, Obama should keep America’s confidence up by providing set plans to improve our country. Some of the voting public was skittish about his lack of experience during the 2008 election. John F. Kennedy had to face the public’s same reservations back in the 1960s. But he turned out to be a good President, leading the country through tumultuous times such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Obama can do the same. 

New York Times Blogs

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/ 

This blog is about any aspect of New York City life. It talks about government, schools, pictures of the city, and general life things. The overall theme currently in the blog is posts relating the winter storm such as school closings and travel advisories. I liked the post of the same street on different days. It seemed in the January picture the city was quicker to plow the street.

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/

This is the NY Times college sports blog. It's in a transition between football and basketball season, since the national championship game took place on Monday. It's a mix of football and basketball stories. It's not just game stories; there's pre games, stories about bowl games TV ratings and how scalpers can raise the prices to the national championship game.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/


This blog is run by Robert Mackey. He posts both US news and international news. In several of the posts he added some sort of visual aid, whether it be a picture or a video relating to or from the event he's writing about.

Maureen Dowd

I read several columns by NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd. Her writing was excellent and drew the readers in with every word. She gives vivid descriptions of what she is writing about, whether it be about her brother's unique collecting hobby or a disobedient colonel. After reading a few pieces, one aspect of her writing style stood out to me. She starts with a strong, thought provoking sentence. I thought, "What does she mean by this?" and am rewarded with a rich, well documented story. As a writer, I've found one of the hardest things is to find the right beginning. And she does it incredibly well. For example, on her column "Usurper In Chief," she begins with a seemingly simple sentence: "He can't handle the truth." Another simple sentence follows" "At least not when he's facing the brig". Then she reveals who 'he' is: Lt.Col. Terry Lankin, a disgruntled colonel is wrapped up in a conspiracy theory that President Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States.