School Superintendent: Appoint or Elect?

There’s a citizen campaign developing to put a proposal on the 2008 ballot requiring the Marion County Superintendent of Schools become an appointed position rather than an elected position, as is currently the situation. Whether this gets off the ground is yet to be seen. The same proposal made the ballot in the early 1990s and failed.

Under the proposed change, the School Board would then be able to hire the Superintendent rather than him/her being elected by local voters. Obviously, there are pros and cons to having an appointed Superintendent vs. an elected one.

What do you think? Is this ballot initiative a good one?

Presidential Politics: Who’s Your Early Choice?

Let’s digress from local politics for a change of pace and discuss the current situation at the national/Presidential campaign level. Fox News released a recent poll. Click on for details:

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/071907poll1.pdf

In seven different head-to-head matchups, the poll shows the Democratic candidate tops the Republican. While this had been the case when Hillary Clinton was tested against Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, this is the first time she has the advantage over Giuliani.

By a 5 percentage point margin, voters say they would back Clinton over Giuliani (46 percent to 41 percent) if the election were held today. Clinton also leads McCain by 3 points (45 percent to 42 percent), Romney by 15 points (50 percent to 35 percent) and the yet-to-announce Fred Thompson by 9 points (47 percent to 38 percent).

In addition, voters think Clinton would do a better job than Giuliani handling the situation in Iraq (45 percent to 40 percent).

Obviously, it’s very early in the campaign. We realize a lot could change between now and the 2008 Election. However, we would like to gauge the current situation at our local level.

Who is your early-on choice and why? Give us your comments.

Also, please participate in our Straw Poll to express your early-on preference in the Presidential race:

http://www.insitefulsurveys.com/Survey.asp?SI=155328912733

Open Thread: It’s Your Nickel

{NOTE: This thread of the blog is full. You can continue to review the many, many interesting comments made to date on this thread. Please scroll up to: "Open Thread (August 17)” and begin using the new thread for comments or new topics you want to add.}

In case you are bored with any of the topics on our other threads, open your own discussion on a subject.

Tell us your issue, problem, what’s bugging you, etc. and others can blog in on it.

It’s your thread!

County Utilities: What's The Future Hold For Taxpayers?

The county utilities operation has been a recent subject of discussion at several County Commission meetings. A current hot issue being how to handle rate increases for water services (e.g., Spruce Creek). However, the entire utilities operation has been an ongoing source of problems for the county.

Local historians tell us from the purchase of Silver Springs Shores Utilities (SSSU) several years ago to the present, issue after issue has surfaced. Examples of the problems include inadequate due diligence by a former county commissioner and a consultant on the purchase of SSSU, controversy with a consultant on the substantial costs of upgrading SSSU, inadequate integration planning of newly acquired utilities, replacement of the head of the utilities operation, BCC dissatisfaction with consultant recommendations on customer rates for water, public outcry at proposed increases in the rates for water usage, potential fines to the county for excess water usage in certain areas of the county, etc.

The most significant problem the county faces would seem to be how to make utilities grow and improve financially. They have to expand and that expansion has a lot of dead space between major hookups created by future growth. Adding to the long-range financial issues of running the utilities is a somewhat related issue concerning solid waste disposal.

What creative ideas and suggestions would you give the county commissioners, and others who are responsible for the county’s utilities operation, to address the current and longer-range issues they are encountering? Give us your comments.

City Auditorium: Renovate or Demolish?

On July 11 a Blue Ribbon Committee has its final meeting to formulate a recommendation for the Ocala City Council regarding the fate of the Ocala City Auditorium (836 N.E. Sanchez Ave.).

The City Auditorium is 70 years old and the site of many memorable events for Ocala citizens and others. The facility is losing about $61,000 a year; is in need of at least $400,000 in repairs and even that will not bring it up to code. To bring it up to code will require an additional nearly $2.0 million. Importantly, it may not even fit in the city’s longer range plans for development, has possibly outlived its usefulness and could be demolished to make way for green space in Tuscawilla Park.

What do you think? Is the City Auditorium worth saving or should it go the way of “progress”?