Mayor Franklin cutting over 200 more jobs (cutting fire/police hours as well). (Atlanta: fit in, closing)

[atlantagreg30127]

Well - more fallout from the mismanagement of funds last year from the City:

Atlanta Cutting 222 Jobs; Closing 22 Recreation Centers - News Story - WSB Atlanta

While on this round they will not directly fire the police and fire employees, they WILL reduce their hours, and put several fire stations on "brown out" status (semi-closed or closed part time). She also said that if there is a next round of cuts, she won't guarantee that fire/police won't actually be fired then, either. She did take a small pay cut though. How nice.

[brownhornet]

It's getting ugly out there. I have a good friend that recently was hired as a fireman... i'm going to contact him to see if he's being affected.

[BringBackCobain]

This is so frustrating. Deloitte told that idiot Franklin back in 2004 that privatizing trash and recycling would save the city millions. They were also told to privatize summer pool management. Those city council dingbats and Franklin refused.

Why? Maybe because liberals think the government should run everything, even if it is inefficient.

OR the mayor and council love being able to run a jobs program. Not too mention being able to put thier friends as department heads.

And another thing, why did we spend tens of thousands...if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to change street names/signs throughout Atlanta? Ashby to Joseph E Lowery. Simpson to Joseph E Boone. Bankhead to Donald Lee Hollowell.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Well - more fallout from the mismanagement of funds last year from the City:

Yeah, but there's not calling it a 'mismanagement', they're blaming it on the recession rather than admitting they're complete Dumb F$#K$!!!!!

Too bad Clark Howard isn't Black, he'd definately be the man for the job!

[bayarea-girl]

Are there any signs that Atlanta will rebound sooner than later? What are the projections for how long the recession is going to continue in GA?

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

This is so frustrating. Deloitte told that idiot Franklin back in 2004 that privatizing trash and recycling would save the city millions. They were also told to privatize summer pool management. Those city council dingbats and Franklin refused.

Yeah, America has tried privatizing many things in the name of saving money, and look how that has turned out for us. The privatization of the Iraq war, healthcare, self-governing of wall street, has left of all prosperous in these last 8 years. Let's privatize the fire department and police too, while we are at.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

Too bad Clark Howard isn't Black, he'd definately be the man for the job!

While he was hinting that he was going to run for Mayor next year, it's official - he's not.

Story: Clark Howard says he won't run for mayor | ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/12/03/clark_1204.html - broken link)

[atlantagreg30127]

[quote=BringBackCobain;6401519]

Why? Maybe because liberals think the government should run everything, even if it is inefficient.
[/QUOTE}

I hardly think that it matters if someone is Liberal, Conservative, or in-between. Idiots are idiots and crooks are crooks no matter their political affiliation.

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

Not too mention being able to put thier friends as department heads.

Now THIS is where you hit the nail on the head. Decades ago, Atlanta suffered from the Old Deep South "good old boy" system with positions being handed out as favors. Today, it's pretty much the same thing only on a minority level. Black Mayor, so the Police chief, Fire Chief, managers, financial managers, etc., are black. Few if any *really* important positions are given to anyone else. Try to find someone of Asian descent in an important City office, for example.

For years, completely unqualified people have been handed positions based on personal friendships and many believe race. This happened in the Good Old Boys days too, but, Atlanta was a small Southern city then and not growing at 55,000+ people per year (metro) either. The stakes were less then. With today's growth in the city and region, the leaders and those who hold key positions MUST be top-notch folks, regardless of their race, sex, or personal affiliations, in order for a city to thrive. Atlanta doesn't have that, so, it's well on it's way to becoming a dust bowl over time if things don't change.

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

While on this round they will not directly fire the police and fire employees, they WILL reduce their hours, and put several fire stations on "brown out" status (semi-closed or closed part time). She also said that if there is a next round of cuts, she won't guarantee that fire/police won't actually be fired then, either. She did take a small pay cut though. How nice.

So the city can just burn to the ground?

[BringBackCobain]

Originally Posted by onemanarmy

Yeah, America has tried privatizing many things in the name of saving money, and look how that has turned out for us. The privatization of the Iraq war, healthcare, self-governing of wall street, has left of all prosperous in these last 8 years. Let's privatize the fire department and police too, while we are at.

Wow. Where do I begin? Either its been so long since you have taken an economics class, or more likely you have never taken an economics class at all. My last econ class (macro) was less than a year ago. It looks like you need a little lesson.

1 of the 10 Principles of Economics: INCENTIVES MATTER.

What is the incentive for a company to be as efficient as possible? Profit. Greater efficiency will lead to larger profits. So, private companies naturally strive to be as efficient as possible, to reap the benefits in the form of larger profit.

Government run agencies, on the other hand, do not have an incentive to be efficient. They are not in the business for profit. They are simply run on tax dollars. With no profit incentive to be efficient, they become extremely inefficient. Example? The Post Office.

Police and fire offer a public benefit, which is an incentive for the government to run them. They are essential to the safety of society, thus it makes sense for the government to run them. They are not subject to a "for profit" application. Even if they were, my economics class taught me its not economically sensible.

Trash and pool management are offered on a privatized basis. The city would save millions if it privatized these services.

The government should have no say in Wall Street. It should be people's free choice to the way the want to invest their money.

Sandy Springs should serve as a model for the way Atlanta is run. Everything besides fire, police, and roads is privatized. Are they struggling because of the economic crisis? No.

Its called capitalism. It works. If you don't like it, move to Cuba and see how great things are down there.

I am glad that I could enlighten your ignorant views on this subject. Perhaps it was you who helped vote these people into office anyway.