The Great Gadfly

Where should we send the bill, Bill?

Gone, but soon forgotten 

Kidney stones are more easily passed than meaningful county ordinancesLast Wednesday, the 18th of July was a significant day for Cape Cod  and it passed with little public fanfare and even less media attention. Typical. Margo Fenn, who has retired as executive Director of the Cape Cod Commission performed her last day's duties with her usual efficiency. She made two public presentations that should have been accorded more coverage than they were: the first was  before the three county commissioners (identified in my rolodex as Moe, Larry and Curly) and the second was before the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates our so-called county legislature. Kidney stones are more easily passed than meaningful county ordinances., and the passing is less painful.

The Twenty First Century Task Farce

 In both cases Margo's subject was the Cape Cod Commission's interim report on their progress toward implementing the recommendations of the Twenty First Century Task Farce. Leave your comments unspoken...that was neither  a misspelling nor a Freudian slip. Margo was joined for the commission's usual tag-team approach to public presentations by Sharon Rooney. Her interim successor as executive director, John Lippman, attended the Assembly presentation.

 Two interesting statements emerged from the question and answwer periods which followwed Margo's presentation.

 1.   County Commissioner Bill Doherty (former Harwich selectmanm, now in second term as county commisioner) asked if the commission would give weight to the provision of "good-paying jobs" by applicants going through DRI review before the commission. He said, "You know, say...$80,000 a year."

2.   Fenn was asked if the implmentation of the task force review's comments and suggested changes was based solely on the majority report or on both the majority and minority reports.She answered without hesitation that the commission's recommendations were based solely on the majority report. 

As for the second point: the Twenty First Task Farce was made up of 18 appointed members: 12 drafted a majority report with their recommendations and 6 (1/3 of the whole) wrote a minority report. The task force voted unanimously to forward both documents to the Assembly of Delegates for their consideration and the Assembly voted in December of 2006 to accept the entire report.  Margo on her final day gave certain proof, and fortified this proof with her own words, that only those who agree with the commission will have access to the process by which we regulate growth on Cape Cod.  So much for their oft repeated cry of consensus-building.

 Now for the first point, Bill Doherty's utopian view of the world (Where is Karl Marx when we need him?): Is Doherty serious when he implies that unless a proposed project will pay wages starting at or averaging $80,000 the commission should reject it? Does he have any idea what an $80,000 job actually costs an employer? Has he ever created a significant number of $80,000 jobs? Who does he think will come to the Cape or expand here and still be able to affpord such high pay levels?

 Consider: 

 1.   By Doherty's reasoning we should close the both Hospitals, shut down our municipal governments except for the executive ranks, disown most of our tradesmen and banish virtually all retail establishments from Cape Cod, including banks such as the one Elliot Carr ran for two decades. His fellow county commissioner Lance Lambros, who operates a business in a building intentionally designed to avoid commission review, should relocate to where...Wareham? Plymouth? Does Doherty care? By the way, diplomat that he is, Doherty was careful to make Lambros agree out loud that his employees are paid far less than the $80,000 "good paying" jobs. Feel better now, Bill?

2.  $80,000/yr = $1,538.46/wk.!  That comes out to $38.46/hr.!

3.  $80,000 + the employers required 7.5% SSI contribution = $86,000/yr.!

4.  $86,000/yr. = $1,653.85/wk.! That comes out to $41.35/hr.!

If one were to add even a partial employer-paid health insurance and/or retirement benefit Doherty's jobs would cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 to an employer. Nice neigborhood! I wonder of Bill Doherty would respond to this challenge: Tell us what city, town, county or state within the United States sees $80,000 jobs created as an average, or as a condition of approval for new projects receiving development permits. I guess the Cape Cod Commission is destined to get worse, not better.

Kill the dog and the fleas will be taken care of.With sophisticated, knowledgeable, enlightened county such as Bill Doherty, who needs enemies. Remember, Bill Doherty was a county commissioner during the recent glory days of the disappearing surplus, when new programs were funded at the expense of reason and existing programs. Now the county budget looks like downtown Bagdhad after a hard weekend and there is no end in sight. I am beginning to think my efforts are aimed at the wrong villain...I should change focus from the Cape Cod Commmission to the county itself. After all, the commonwealth has just taken over county pernsions so the last obstacle to the dissolution of counties is gone...there is nothing standing between the Massachusetts legislature and the income from our registry of deeds except a midnight session and the stroke of a pen. And...the Cape Cod Commission is defined in law (Ch. 716 of the Acts of 1989) as a department of Barnstable county government. OOPS! Kill the dog and the fleas will be taken care of.

 Doherty has also hinted recently, actually he has more than hinted, that there is need of a county or regional housing authority to deal with our crisis in housing for low and moderate-income people.  In my opinion Doherty sees the threat to the county's survival and is desparately trying to defend it by making it larger and seemingly more necessary for Cape Cod's propserity. If he really wants the Cape to prosper, why doesn't he clean up the mess at the Cape Cod Commission? Why doesn't he find a way to generate $80,000 jobs, two or three thousand would be a good start, Bill. Or, he could make the commission do what it is commanded to do and provide for affordable housing for low and moderate-income persons.

Stop talking, Bill...start producing. Unfortunately, in your case talk is not cheap...it is proving to be very expensive.