Author Archives: dunster

US Senate Bill 1: Registering Bloggers

There’s a bill moving through the Senate updating the requirements and restrictions for lobbyists. The update includes a section that affects certain bloggers. I have contacted my senators asking them to join the oppostion to the blogger section, and I encourage you to do the same.

The change is aimed at bloggers that receive money in order to encourage “grassroots” movements. Slashdot is talking about it, so is DownsizeDC, the Center for Competitive Politics, and a number of others. When you read the discussion about this bill, the debate seems to go like this:

Jane: They’re requiring bloggers to register as lobbyists! That’s crazy talk!
Joe: Don’t worry, it’s only bloggers that receive money. Most bloggers are unaffected.

I think this dialogue misses the point. To me, a lobbyist is someone who reaches out to politicians and office holders and tries to change what they think. If someone asks voters to contact their representatives, that’s not lobbying. When (if) the voter makes the call, that’s not lobbying either – that’s a voter expressing an opinion. This isn’t activity that should be regulated.

You can see the actual language of the bill here; click on Section 220. Check out the section about “registrants” in particular.

By the way: I wasn’t paid to make this post.

Windows 386 Saves The Day

A friend from work sent this one along. You’ll need Google’s video client to view it.

As the poster put it, “Microsoft sent this tape to retailers to explain the benefits of Windows 386. Boring until the 7 minute mark when the production is taken over by crack-smoking monkeys.” It’s easy to fast forward to the key point.

Thursday’s Arlington Town Summit

On Thursday the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, and the Finance Committee met in a “summit” meeting. The meeting talked about the current 5-year plan, the challenges and progress thereof, forecasts of post-plan budgeting (2011 and farther), and general big-ticket town expenses. My notes here are a complement to the meeting’s powerpoint presentation from the town website.

I think it was a good meeting. There weren’t any big revelations or breakthroughs. The value of the meeting was how it set the groundwork for future work.

A quick primer for those of you who haven’t tracked Arlington issues this decade: When the recession hit in 2001, the state’s revenue dropped. It stopped increasing state aid to towns, and actually cut the aid. This lead to a budget crisis. Arlington attempted to raise local property taxes (a Proposition 2.5 override) and failed. Some services were cut. Another override was proposed, linked to a 5-year plan (proposed by Charlie Lyon and known as the Lyons Plan). The 5-year plan was to limit health care expenses to 7% growth and salaries and expenses to 4% growth, and some revenue assumptions including growing state aid. Budget surpluses in the beginning of the period will be saved and spent to support budget deficits later in the period. The promise was made that if this override were approved, then there would be no other override requests in the 5-year period. The 5-year plan ends in 2011, and the subsequent budget projections are for large, growing deficits.

The early part of the meeting talked about the mixed blessing of the current plan. The stability was praised, but the limitations were not. As an example, Superintendant Levenson showed how with the 5-year plan that cost increases left the schools with a $700,000 gap, which was a problem. But, the 5-year plan enables him to plan exactly what he needs to do this year and anticipate what he needs to do to make ends meet next year.

The meeting moved on to talk about current debt and looming big-ticket obligations. The current debt levels were reviewed. A laundry list of possible upcoming capital items was displayed. Town Manager Brian Sullivan showed how growth of expenses were outgrowing revenue by about $1.8 million/year, and how that comes to a head when the 5-year plan and it.

Newly-sworn-in Representative Brownsberger spoke. He described his message as “good news/bad news.” The bad news was that predictions for state revenue growth were “anemic.” The good news he described was that health care costs are a dilemma for all towns and the state; “the state has to do something.” I couldn’t see how this qualified as good news. [At Selectman Greeley’s request, Browsberger also talked about legislation he had filed about Alewife. They were related to blocking the Uplands development and creating an Alewife management organization.]

Alan Tosti closed the main speakers. He noted that the summit was issues stacking on other issues. He encouraged people to not be daunted and to focus on a smaller, more solvable problem. The overall situation was not going to be resolved by a single person or single decision; the situation would be resolved by everyone solving the part that they were able to.

We then went around the table and anyone who hadn’t spoken was encouraged to add something. Points that stuck with me:

  • It’s unfortunate that the meeting wasn’t on cable so that more citizens can see the process.
  • We should have a hiring freeze now and use the time to plan for 2011, and not keep digging a hole.
  • We should look at “less regressive” taxes than user fees and property taxes. (I believe that it would be more accurate to call for “more progressive” taxes, but I’m picking nits.)
  • We should take another look at the Community Preservation Act. (I’m willing to look at anything, but. . . The CPA is gonna be a very tough sell.)
  • Several people talked about getting the state to commit to predictable aid levels or ratios.
  • Whether or not an override was a “given” in 2011.
  • Several speakers talked about the importance of costs savings through regionalization. (I’m a big supporter of this idea. We should work with area towns and pool resources on common needs.)
  • I spoke briefly: One of the benefits of the 5-year plan is that it gives us time to study. The decisions we make are informed ones, not rushed or driven by propaganda.

As we move through the 2008 budget cycle, I’m glad we’ve got this information to help us make decisions that help us in 2011.

Another take on the meeting by Bob Sprague at http://www.yourarlington.com/joomla/.

How Did I Miss This?

I guess I missed it because it was buried on page B6 of the Washington Post, and not covered at all by most publications.

The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006. Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year. On top of that, the entity’s total liabilities and unfunded commitments rose to about $50 trillion, up from $20 trillion in just six years.

Finally Finneran

Tom Finneran lost his job yesterday. He lost his job because of things that he did, things that he said, and his pride. I wish it had happened sooner, and the punishment more meaningful.

Finneran was a very powerful man in 2001. With a Republican governor in a state controlled by Democrats, he had no rival. His style of ruling did not tolerate dissent. He wasn’t someone who agreed to disagree. He wasn’t someone who respected opinions that differed with his. In his house you had to vote with him, on every issue, or there were severe repercussions. Committee memberships, fundraising, earmarking, and office space were all tools of his power. He was smart and skilled and was able to bend the state house to his will. He kept on winning his battles, year after year. He didn’t think he could lose.

In 2001, several voters’ rights groups fought the redistricting plan approved by Finneran’s house. They claimed the redistricting hurt minority groups. I don’t think that the minority groups were Finneran’s target. Minorities were just collateral damage as Finneran re-wrote districts to eliminate his foes and reward friends. Look at the original plan in October of 2001 – there were clear winners and losers, and the losers were reps who opposed Finneran.

Finneran thought that the lawsuit couldn’t harm him. His redistricting might be overturned, but that would be the worst of it. That is where Finneran finally made a mistake that could hurt him. He failed to realize that he was in an arena where he didn’t write the rules. In the state house, he could always make it so that his way was the right way. The federal courthouse was in his state, but it wasn’t in his jurisdiction.

He took the stand in 2003. He lied. He lied repeatedly. He brazenly said that he didn’t approve the redistricting plan. He said that he didn’t give input for it. He said that he had never seen the plan. He claimed not to even remember the name of the district that he represented. He took an oath to tell the truth, and he lied.

It finally caught up with him, and he pleads guilty. Now he’s a felon. He paid a $25,000 fine. He lost his job.

But his severance package is four times as large as his fine, and he already has a new job at WRKO. I guess it’s a punishment, but not much of one.

As the week’s events unfolded, I found myself wondering if he’d changed. Did he learn from any of this? Is he humbled? Did he learn the error of his ways? I looked to his statement on the courthouse steps:

At a very young age, my mother, who is now 86, taught me to admit my mistakes clearly and without hesitation, and I have passed that lesson on to my own two daughters. Today I acknowledge, clearly and without any hesitation, my errors in judgment concerning my conduct in court on that day.

Actions in 2001, perjury in 2003, admission of guilt in 2007. That qualifies as “without any hesitation”? Those aren’t the words of someone who has learned his lesson. Those are the words of someone who still thinks that he can make something false become true, just by saying it is so.

What a Day, What a Year

New Year’s is typically a time of reflection for most people. It happens on a schedule and is pretty unavoidable (birthdays too, I guess). You get close to the day and say to yourself “huh, these things have changed since last year” or maybe “I can’t believe it’s been another year and I still haven’t dealt with this issue.” I didn’t have that instrospective moment this December 31. I think it was because of work, mostly. I was very focused on short-term tasks and that kept me busy. The holiday rush was all new and all different and didn’t lend itself to deep thought.

Until tonight. I went out for a beer with people from IMlogic. It started my brain going and now it won’t stop. A year ago yesterday we got acquired by Symantec. A year and two days ago I had to have my dog put to sleep. I changed jobs, moving away from these people that I’d worked with more than two years. I started the hard work of building relationships with a new set of colleagues. I lost 15 pounds. I started working with the fraternity again. I watched friends have kids and lose parents.

Before I saw the IMlogic people, I was burning with thoughts about work. I’ve had a blog post idea on the back burner for a while about how hard it is when smart, well-intentioned people disagree. It’s one thing to be frustrated at a big company where it’s easy to show that you’re right, but difficult for any change to come out of it. It’s much more difficult when these smart, well-intentioned people have different ideas about direction and execution. My writing fails to describe what this is like. It’s hard. It takes everything you have. The specific issue today isn’t relevant. All that matters is that it’s important and defies easy resolution, so I keep turning it over in my head, trying to find the way through it.

The year-end thoughts didn’t displace the work. Everything just added on top. So, here I am at my keyboard when I should be going to bed. 2006. 2007. Grizelda. Friends. Where should the company go. What can I do to help it get there. How much of myself do I put into the job. What do I want out of the job. What do I want in the big picture of life.

How much thinking can you do about one day? About one year?

My 2007 Prediction: Pat Robertson Will Sound Like an Idiot

Look at that, I’m 1 for 1 in my predictions this year!  Key quote:

In May, Robertson said God told him that storms and possibly a tsunami were to crash into America’s coastline in 2006. Even though the U.S. was not hit with a tsunami, Robertson on Tuesday cited last spring’s heavy rains and flooding in New England as partly fulfilling the prediction.

So, this year’s prediction of “mass killing” will be. . . a multi-car pileup?  Or maybe a salmonella outbreak?

It blows my mind that people pay attention to this kind of drivel, let alone believe it.