If you Can't Afford To Live Here...

  Can Fernandina afford to limit services for our youth?  The biggest criticism I have heard about our town in my 20 plus years here has been the lack of entertainment opportunities for our youth.  I guess it doesn't matter if you're the Great Hooha.  He's got his, tough luck kids!

  The Great Hooha - Tim Poynter for those who don't know of his lack of concern for our traditions, being from Cincinnati or some other such God forsaken place - wants to know what we can afford.  Well, the first answer that flies to my mind is if all the business people, especially those holding public office, acted as the stewards of the community they are supposed to be we would be able to do a lot more for those who need it.  Other restaurateurs are told $550.00 per seat but the Great Hooha pays none.  When you're counting your nickles and dimes $30,000.00 is a lot of money.  When you have to beg money from the citizenry to honor our traditions, our veterans and our forefathers it is even more money.  The Great Hooha himself bragged about his "early" donation of $1,000.00!

  I call balderdash on his homunculus self!  I say the Great Hooha made a three per cent (3%) investment of what he owed the city in hopes that no one would know of his scheme to avoid impact fees. 

  I call double balderdash on the idea that we cut money by cutting programs from children but we continue to mortgage and spend in the wake of the financial woes that have beset us.  Three California towns have filed bankruptcy recently, but only two because of overspending and declining revenues.  Lucky for us!  The third one filed because of an airport lawsuit...  Oh hell, what do we do now?  We have a lawsuit over our airport we've lost at every turn and continue to spend good money after bad trying to get it back.  Gamblers call that doubling down.  I hope voters will call it irresponsible actions by commissioners and city lawyers!

  Reading the reputedly responsible views of the Fernandina Observer I learned that franchise fees are different than the taxes the commission is talking about raising.  Triple balderdash it is!  We pay money to an independent - wink, wink - company who our government gives an exclusive franchise to operate within our city limits.  They in turn give that money to the city for the privilege of operating within the city.  By any other name that is a tax!  Yes it is a tax collected by a middleman who probably gets to keep a few cents per hundred to add to their burgeoning bottom line but city government is taking our hard earned money in the guise of a franchise fee.  I thought the franchisee paid the fee to the franchisor.  We are the city of Fernandina and yet our elected leaders are tapping us like a bottomless well.

  Sorry, I digress.  We are using franchise fees to pay for Forward Fernandina so that is okay in the Great Hooha's way of looking at things.  It isn't raising taxes to pay for this program its raising franchise fees.  As he told us some time ago, speaking from the mount to us peons below, "if we can't afford to live here leave!"  I guess we could apply that to the increased franchise fees and if you can't afford them just disconnect the electricity.  After all refrigeration, lights, air conditioning and the other modern conveniences are not all that important.

  What is important?  Simple question and a sensible one too.  Downtown!  That's what is important.  The trouble is all you people who don't have businesses downtown, or live down here need to realize its your obligation to pony up to make sure we stay on top down here.  You peons be damned!  Think about it, not just oh gee whiz we've been talking about this for so long, etc, etc, etc.  Forward Fernandina, what does it do for your neighborhood?  The franchise fees, what are they going to do for your neighborhood?  Does the waterfront come alive off Atlantic, or off Citrona or even Jasmine?  Does a library that is the responsibility of the county really have to be downtown?  Does it have to be downtown at the expense of $50 for every man, woman and child in Fernandina?  And, on top of it, since we are borrowing that $50 we have to pay interest on it too!  That is not responsible government!

  Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their community!  Step back Great Hooha because you have proven you aren't good and this isn't a community you belong to, you see it as your servants.  Your affection for Forward Fernandina is almost incestuous!  It makes me wonder if the first word is really Forward and not another f-word.  From you, I wouldn't doubt it for a minute.