OPINION: Lack of money kept local government at low-ebb during 2010
Compared to some years, 2010 was relatively quiet on the political front in Jackson County. One of the main reasons for that is that most local governments don’t have the money in this recession to launch a lot of new programs. And the private development sector continues to struggle, so controversial rezonings have been at a low-ebb. (Although the recent Hwy. 124 rezoning near Publix seems to have hit a nerve with some area residents. But during 2010, such a backlash has been rare.)
For the most part, the major local controversies in 2010 revolved around cuts in government personnel. Unlike the private sector, many governments had been slow to respond to the recession. All government bureaucrats have ever known is how to spend more money each year; most had never had to actually cut spending.
That changed in 2010, especially in local schools and even the county government. The Jackson County Board of Commissioners actually cut some positions after months of dancing around the financial problems. It also had furlough days in 2010 — that didn’t seem to make much difference in the actual non-emergency services the county provides. Much of what local governments do could be done in four days a week.
Local schools also made cuts. The Jefferson City School System cut its elementary and middle school Spanish program and made steep cuts in other areas as well.
Even the Jackson County School System made cuts, although not enough. The system crashed in fiscal year 2009, ending that year over $900,000 in the red. It had no choice in FY2010 but to make some real spending cuts.
To its credit, the system did pull itself off the financial iceberg in the last year. Still, one gets a clear feeling that some county school system leaders have an inflated sense of entitlement and little regard for controlling taxpayer funds.
If there was any kind of consistent controversy in Jackson County in 2010, much of it revolved around the JCSS.
At one point, system leaders pushed for the Jackson County Board of Education to go ahead and approve the process to start construction of a new building on the campus of Jackson County Comprehensive High School for a second gym and a music facility. The BOE put the project on hold because of all the other cuts the system was making.
But it’s still not clear if that project is really needed, or is just more fluff and costly overhead for the system. At its core, the project is a political payback to patrons of the JCCHS who got upset when the BOE funded some lavish facilities at East Jackson High School.
In addition to that issue, JCSS leaders saw a flip-flop on the BOE in the hiring of a coach, and two other coaching controversies. Those led to the resignation of the head football coach and athletic director at EJCHS and the resignation of the girls’ softball coach at JCCHS. Coaching issues seemed to dominate the JCSS in 2010.
And there were other issues in the system last year as well, such as how to handle teachers who retire, but who want to come back and work part-time in the system.
In all of this, from financial problems to coaching problems, JCSS leaders appeared to be constantly playing catch-up. Rather than getting out in front of issues, school officials dilly-dallied around and ignored problems until they blew up.
There is a serious lack of accountability in the system that showed up in 2010 and which portends future problems unless leaders get a grip on what’s going on around them. The system appears to be a rudderless ship, moving around in circles without a captain in charge.
If there is any silver lining to the economic downturn, it is that governments at all levels have had to cut back and shrink. For the first time ever, local governments have had to set priorities, something they seldom had to do before when the money was flowing in at double-digit rates. (And they NEVER seemed to cut the property tax rate in good times — they just spent more.)
The recession has also exposed cracks in local government leadership. Anyone can manage during good times; but under the stress of the recession, the really good managers stand out and the bad managers struggle.
There were other events during 2010 that made news. Unemployment was high all year; some local elections were held, but didn’t seem to generate much interest among the average citizens; another bank failed; the county tax digest fell over five percent, although many think local property values are still inflated; and there was the usual bad behavior issues of a few public employees.
Still, 2010 was not a turning point year for Jackson County. And with all the pent-up demand, 2011 could turn out to be more controversial than the past 12 months.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
That changed in 2010, especially in local schools and even the county government. The Jackson County Board of Commissioners actually cut some positions after months of dancing around the financial problems. It also had furlough days in 2010 — that didn’t seem to make much difference in the actual non-emergency services the county provides. Much of what local governments do could be done in four days a week.
Local schools also made cuts. The Jefferson City School System cut its elementary and middle school Spanish program and made steep cuts in other areas as well.
Even the Jackson County School System made cuts, although not enough. The system crashed in fiscal year 2009, ending that year over $900,000 in the red. It had no choice in FY2010 but to make some real spending cuts.
To its credit, the system did pull itself off the financial iceberg in the last year. Still, one gets a clear feeling that some county school system leaders have an inflated sense of entitlement and little regard for controlling taxpayer funds.
If there was any kind of consistent controversy in Jackson County in 2010, much of it revolved around the JCSS.
At one point, system leaders pushed for the Jackson County Board of Education to go ahead and approve the process to start construction of a new building on the campus of Jackson County Comprehensive High School for a second gym and a music facility. The BOE put the project on hold because of all the other cuts the system was making.
But it’s still not clear if that project is really needed, or is just more fluff and costly overhead for the system. At its core, the project is a political payback to patrons of the JCCHS who got upset when the BOE funded some lavish facilities at East Jackson High School.
In addition to that issue, JCSS leaders saw a flip-flop on the BOE in the hiring of a coach, and two other coaching controversies. Those led to the resignation of the head football coach and athletic director at EJCHS and the resignation of the girls’ softball coach at JCCHS. Coaching issues seemed to dominate the JCSS in 2010.
And there were other issues in the system last year as well, such as how to handle teachers who retire, but who want to come back and work part-time in the system.
In all of this, from financial problems to coaching problems, JCSS leaders appeared to be constantly playing catch-up. Rather than getting out in front of issues, school officials dilly-dallied around and ignored problems until they blew up.
There is a serious lack of accountability in the system that showed up in 2010 and which portends future problems unless leaders get a grip on what’s going on around them. The system appears to be a rudderless ship, moving around in circles without a captain in charge.
If there is any silver lining to the economic downturn, it is that governments at all levels have had to cut back and shrink. For the first time ever, local governments have had to set priorities, something they seldom had to do before when the money was flowing in at double-digit rates. (And they NEVER seemed to cut the property tax rate in good times — they just spent more.)
The recession has also exposed cracks in local government leadership. Anyone can manage during good times; but under the stress of the recession, the really good managers stand out and the bad managers struggle.
There were other events during 2010 that made news. Unemployment was high all year; some local elections were held, but didn’t seem to generate much interest among the average citizens; another bank failed; the county tax digest fell over five percent, although many think local property values are still inflated; and there was the usual bad behavior issues of a few public employees.
Still, 2010 was not a turning point year for Jackson County. And with all the pent-up demand, 2011 could turn out to be more controversial than the past 12 months.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
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#1
former jcboc employee
on
01/05/11 at 06:01 PM
[Reply]
the county mamager made a statement previously when the county employees were forced to begin taking furlough days that if he had to take furlough days, that would be a breech of his contract because he was hired in at set dollar amount per year. hey, do you think the employees' contract was breeched because they were hired in a set dollar amount for a set number of hours per week, plus, all of the salaries were already in the 2010 general operating budget.