"Is this Leadership?"
I follow Commissioner Graham's blog and appreciate his willingness to let the citizens know what's on his mind. In his most recent posting he informs us that he has joined a church in Nevada, Mo. (That is a personal choice, obviously not a requirement that a city official attend one of the local 50 some churches.) More importantly though he tells us that he's "come to the realization" over the past few weeks that youth from our community are leaving not for big cities, but adjacent small towns that are growing. He admits that this is something Fort Scott can not afford. I am glad that you realize this Commissioner. Did you really just come to the realization though? (Wow. I could have sworn I saw him at the Candidate Forums last Spring. Well I know I did, because I remember I had to explain to him what the word "annexation" meant.) I ask this question of you Commissioner because you did not question or recommend any changes to the budget submitted by the City Manager wherein there is only $15,000 budgeted for Economic Development. (Is that because there was again a carryover?) So I ask where are your priorities? I think the answer to that lies in this statement previously on your blog...
"The irony in all this is that my father has had to pay Jim for my rent on all but maybe two or three months of the year and a half I have been here. I don't particularly like admitting that, but if you seek proof, it can be provided. Why do both of my vehicles have Saline county tags? Because they are not my vehicles...they come from what I like to call the Ed Graham Welfare Agency & Used Car Lot. There is a reason I am leaving a career that I have only been in for a few years and managing a movie theater, and that reaon is this: my pride is a hurtin', and I'm desperate to detatch from the financial teet of my father. At 25 years old, my wife is the primary breadwinner in my house, bringing in twice the income I do, and she doesn't make much. I am tired of having to ask my dad to pay my rent for the month, which I have had to do EVERY month for over a year now, and since this shop goes the way of the dodo in six months anyway, I figure I would save him the cost. So there you have it......I'm not a crooked politican, however I am a 25 year old man leeching off my father like an 18 year old, but that won't last for much longer now.Well, I'm off to Joplin for date night with the wife...have a good weekend everybody, and go see Batman Begins if you haven't already!" -Nick Graham at www.nickgraham.org
So I ask what do you say to the jobless youth of Fort Scott, or the family without transportation, or the Business Owner trying to pay his rent? (All without the benefit of a "family welfare agency?") Do you say, "We'll you really need to stay here in Fort Scott 'cause were gonna have a new movie theater that I'm gonna manage, and a new pool if me and my friends get our way!" You admit that you yourself have been struggling with employment and the local economy. But since you always tell us about what new DVD or Action Figure is available out of town, or what you do for entertainment out of town and you have the benefit of your father to support you otherwise, it might be hard for you to understand that a movie theater and a new pool doesn't mean much to the unemployed or poor. Jobs do. Although I agree that I heard from the public during my campaign about the lack of entertainment, I also heard what you apparently have just come to realize. Perhaps you are thinking that the reason that family members of the City Manager, HR Director/Theater Director/Airport Director/Community Center Director/Reserve Lieutenant Police Investigator, Mayor, Ecomomic Development Director, Streets Supervisor, Fire/Police Chief all have jobs with the city is because unemployment is so low here that no one else needed a job or was qualified? Does the Nepotism within the city lead you to believe that? I know that Commissioner Keating once said that it wasn't nepotism. Well then, what's your "take" on this portion of the city employee handbook?
City Employee Handbook Article III Section 8 "Nepotism. In order to avoid favoritism or the appearance of favoritism based on family relationships, no one shall be employed in a department where the supervisor or department head is a member of their immediate family..."
I just hope this issue is something that you really do realize and plan to take seriously. Don't add it to your list along with the Eastside emergency protection as "something we are gonna hafta look at someday." Make it a priority. (-and how about breaking down and paying the high price to tag your cars here in Bourbon County like the rest of us too? Surely you can pass up a few CD's for that! ;)
"The irony in all this is that my father has had to pay Jim for my rent on all but maybe two or three months of the year and a half I have been here. I don't particularly like admitting that, but if you seek proof, it can be provided. Why do both of my vehicles have Saline county tags? Because they are not my vehicles...they come from what I like to call the Ed Graham Welfare Agency & Used Car Lot. There is a reason I am leaving a career that I have only been in for a few years and managing a movie theater, and that reaon is this: my pride is a hurtin', and I'm desperate to detatch from the financial teet of my father. At 25 years old, my wife is the primary breadwinner in my house, bringing in twice the income I do, and she doesn't make much. I am tired of having to ask my dad to pay my rent for the month, which I have had to do EVERY month for over a year now, and since this shop goes the way of the dodo in six months anyway, I figure I would save him the cost. So there you have it......I'm not a crooked politican, however I am a 25 year old man leeching off my father like an 18 year old, but that won't last for much longer now.Well, I'm off to Joplin for date night with the wife...have a good weekend everybody, and go see Batman Begins if you haven't already!" -Nick Graham at www.nickgraham.org
So I ask what do you say to the jobless youth of Fort Scott, or the family without transportation, or the Business Owner trying to pay his rent? (All without the benefit of a "family welfare agency?") Do you say, "We'll you really need to stay here in Fort Scott 'cause were gonna have a new movie theater that I'm gonna manage, and a new pool if me and my friends get our way!" You admit that you yourself have been struggling with employment and the local economy. But since you always tell us about what new DVD or Action Figure is available out of town, or what you do for entertainment out of town and you have the benefit of your father to support you otherwise, it might be hard for you to understand that a movie theater and a new pool doesn't mean much to the unemployed or poor. Jobs do. Although I agree that I heard from the public during my campaign about the lack of entertainment, I also heard what you apparently have just come to realize. Perhaps you are thinking that the reason that family members of the City Manager, HR Director/Theater Director/Airport Director/Community Center Director/Reserve Lieutenant Police Investigator, Mayor, Ecomomic Development Director, Streets Supervisor, Fire/Police Chief all have jobs with the city is because unemployment is so low here that no one else needed a job or was qualified? Does the Nepotism within the city lead you to believe that? I know that Commissioner Keating once said that it wasn't nepotism. Well then, what's your "take" on this portion of the city employee handbook?
City Employee Handbook Article III Section 8 "Nepotism. In order to avoid favoritism or the appearance of favoritism based on family relationships, no one shall be employed in a department where the supervisor or department head is a member of their immediate family..."
I just hope this issue is something that you really do realize and plan to take seriously. Don't add it to your list along with the Eastside emergency protection as "something we are gonna hafta look at someday." Make it a priority. (-and how about breaking down and paying the high price to tag your cars here in Bourbon County like the rest of us too? Surely you can pass up a few CD's for that! ;)
posted by Thom Prue @ 10:57 AM
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