Oriental's town manager submitted a grant proposal last Friday seeking Boating Infrastructure Grant funds to use in addition to town funds for a new town dock at the foot of South Avenue.
This proposal will make best use of the end of the town's right of way leading to the harbor. It represents the culmination of the effort to reestablish public access to public trust waters and protect public use of this area.
There is no guarantee that the grant will be awarded, but initial reaction seems positive.
An ancillary benefit of the town's request for a CAMA permit for the pier, is that the permit will also be issued to cover a bridge over the upper reaches of Whittaker Creek to be used for a bicycle/golf cart path connecting White Farm Road with the village of Oriental. Such a connection was included two years ago in the Comprehensive Transportation Plan for Pamlico County.
The Town of Oriental needs to have its own Comprehensive Transportation Plan in order to seek DOT funds for bicycle and pedestrian paths.
By the way, the town's new Gator will make it possible for public works personnel to access the proposed path for maintenance.
Keep up the good work!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Austerity Advice
Here's a graphic survival guide from the New York Times for our coming period of austerity.
Gator Aid
I've been reading up on the John Deere Gator line of utility vehicles.
Those who attended last week's meeting of Oriental's Town Board learned of the town's recent purchase of a John Deere Gator utility vehicle. As we learn more about the vehicle, I think we will conclude that it is the right size and mix of capabilities to expand the ability of our public works department. It is also likely to save money. Just using it as the vehicle for reading meters will result in a substantial fuel savings.
And it does so much more. It is a dump truck. It can tow a 1500 pound trailer. It goes off road and can access areas requiring maintenance that are inaccessible by our current pickup trucks.
I think it will be a force multiplier for Public Works.
Those who attended last week's meeting of Oriental's Town Board learned of the town's recent purchase of a John Deere Gator utility vehicle. As we learn more about the vehicle, I think we will conclude that it is the right size and mix of capabilities to expand the ability of our public works department. It is also likely to save money. Just using it as the vehicle for reading meters will result in a substantial fuel savings.
And it does so much more. It is a dump truck. It can tow a 1500 pound trailer. It goes off road and can access areas requiring maintenance that are inaccessible by our current pickup trucks.
I think it will be a force multiplier for Public Works.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Coburn: Destroy to Save
In a 1968 report by AP correspondent Peter Arnett concerning the fate of Ben Tre, a provincial capital of Viet Nam, an unnamed major observed that "to save the town it became necessary to destroy it."
This sort of logic happens in war. Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, in concert with Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, has brought the concept to Medicare.
Last month the two senators joined in an effort to reduce medicare benefits in an effort to "save" the program. Once they get through "saving" it, though, it will not be possible to see the existing program through the rubble.
I remember last summer during a series of town meetings, one Republican critic of health care reform shouted: "keep the government's hands off my Medicare." I join in that sentiment.
This sort of logic happens in war. Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, in concert with Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, has brought the concept to Medicare.
Last month the two senators joined in an effort to reduce medicare benefits in an effort to "save" the program. Once they get through "saving" it, though, it will not be possible to see the existing program through the rubble.
I remember last summer during a series of town meetings, one Republican critic of health care reform shouted: "keep the government's hands off my Medicare." I join in that sentiment.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Standard and Poor Showing
So Standard and Poor's has downgraded US long term debt.
That plainly represents a political judgment rather than an economic one. S&P explains it this way:
“In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government’s ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging (ibid). A new political consensus might (or might not) emerge after the 2012 elections, but we believe that by then, the government debt burden will likely be higher, the needed medium-term fiscal adjustment potentially greater, and the inflection point on the U.S. population’s demographics and other age-related spending drivers closer at hand.”
Pardon me if I don't genuflect toward the rating agency that gave a triple A rating to bundled sub prime mortgages. That mistake helped bring our entire economy to its knees. And, as Robert Reich points out here, if S&P had done its job and accurately assessed the risk, the bubble wouldn't have been so large and so destructive.
The downgrade could be very bad news for every American with any debt. It is a direct consequence of S&P's previous failure, coupled with irresponsible Republican intransigence.
We won't know until Monday how this news will affect the market for US Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which have been trading at very low interest rates. We also won't know until the Asian markets open Sunday evening (our time) how equity markets will react.
That plainly represents a political judgment rather than an economic one. S&P explains it this way:
“In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government’s ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging (ibid). A new political consensus might (or might not) emerge after the 2012 elections, but we believe that by then, the government debt burden will likely be higher, the needed medium-term fiscal adjustment potentially greater, and the inflection point on the U.S. population’s demographics and other age-related spending drivers closer at hand.”
Pardon me if I don't genuflect toward the rating agency that gave a triple A rating to bundled sub prime mortgages. That mistake helped bring our entire economy to its knees. And, as Robert Reich points out here, if S&P had done its job and accurately assessed the risk, the bubble wouldn't have been so large and so destructive.
The downgrade could be very bad news for every American with any debt. It is a direct consequence of S&P's previous failure, coupled with irresponsible Republican intransigence.
We won't know until Monday how this news will affect the market for US Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which have been trading at very low interest rates. We also won't know until the Asian markets open Sunday evening (our time) how equity markets will react.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The Wrong Trousers
Last Tuesday, America put on The Wrong Trousers, programmed by a larcenous penguin (played by Eric Cantor) to steal prospects for middle class prosperity. The larceny is nearly completed when Wallace (in the role of America) is awakened by an alarm (stock market decline), starts removing the trousers and begins an effort to bring the larcenous penguin to justice, aided by Gromit (played by Paul Krugman, Brad DeLong, Mark Thoma and others).
Watch the movie. It's more entertaining than actual events. Let's hope America wakes up in time, finds the correct trousers and celebrates with a bit of cheese..
Watch the movie. It's more entertaining than actual events. Let's hope America wakes up in time, finds the correct trousers and celebrates with a bit of cheese..
Prediction and Governing
Last May I posted the observation that governing is prediction.
Various studies have concluded that, in general, liberals are better prognosticators than conservatives, especially if they have no law degree.
Now David Frum of the Wall Street Journal has joined the chorus.
"Imagine, if you will," Frum asks, "someone who read only the Wall Street Journal editorial page between 2000 and 2011, and someone in the same period who read only the collected columns of Paul Krugman. Which reader would have been better informed about the realities of the current economic crisis? The answer, I think, should give us pause. Can it be that our enemies were right?"
The main problem I see with Frum's observation is the assumption that someone whose research and analysis of facts and trends differs from one's own is thereby an "enemy." We should all be seekers of truth, not seekers of vindication. The proof of the pudding is in the accuracy of resulting predictions.
Krugman's predictions are accurate. Wall Street Journal's are not.
Various studies have concluded that, in general, liberals are better prognosticators than conservatives, especially if they have no law degree.
Now David Frum of the Wall Street Journal has joined the chorus.
"Imagine, if you will," Frum asks, "someone who read only the Wall Street Journal editorial page between 2000 and 2011, and someone in the same period who read only the collected columns of Paul Krugman. Which reader would have been better informed about the realities of the current economic crisis? The answer, I think, should give us pause. Can it be that our enemies were right?"
The main problem I see with Frum's observation is the assumption that someone whose research and analysis of facts and trends differs from one's own is thereby an "enemy." We should all be seekers of truth, not seekers of vindication. The proof of the pudding is in the accuracy of resulting predictions.
Krugman's predictions are accurate. Wall Street Journal's are not.
Curmudgeon Status
I've been warned.
A couple of days ago during the morning status report at The Bean, one of my colleagues spoke up:
"Unless your blog posts become more emotional," he warned, "we're not gonna let you renew your curmudgeon's license."
I tried to think of a response. Finally I mumbled: "I yam what I yam."
It was a weak riposte.
A couple of days ago during the morning status report at The Bean, one of my colleagues spoke up:
"Unless your blog posts become more emotional," he warned, "we're not gonna let you renew your curmudgeon's license."
I tried to think of a response. Finally I mumbled: "I yam what I yam."
It was a weak riposte.
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