I recently read an amusing article about meaningless words and phrases that should be removed from everyone's vocabulary. It contained the usual suspects -- "like", "literally", "changing paradigm", "outside the box", etc.
It made me think of a newer variation -- "Meaningless Words and Phrases That Could be Eliminated From Local Government Discussions." But, knowing how unyielding the local vernacular is to modification of any sort, I , instead, offer the following translation/response guide.
1) "Transparent" -- Buzzword #1 -- nothing could be bad if it is described as "transparent"! Generally used to criticize somebody else's work -- even though the speaker would probably do nothing different if given the opportunity.
2) "Seek Community Input" -- The speaker is seeking to avoid making a decision for which they could be criticized. This allows blame to be spread around based on the public opinion they will receive from the 7 people paying attention to that particular issue.
(First Rule of Thumb for Government Speaking -- When in doubt, repeat the phrases "Transparent" and "Community Input" as many times as possible!)
3) "People have expressed concern" -- Very similar to #1, except the speaker is unwilling to say that it is either their own opinion because nobody else was paying attention to the issue, or nobody was willing to be publicly associated with their own opinion.
4A) "It's a Process" -- A meaningless phrase used when the speaker doesn't have a constructive idea; or just wants more camera time. We need to spend less time discussing process, and more time discussing progress.
4B) "Evolve" -- Nothing has happened yet, we're not sure what will happen in the future either.
5) "Think outside the box" -- Speaker really has no idea what to say; but doesn't want to admit it. (I would say that Speaker should be put inside a box -- except that somebody is liable to interpret that as a threat and pressure the local constabulary to investigate a potential domestic terrorism risk.)
6) "Uncharted territory" --- I got no F'n idea what's going to happen!
7) "Deferred maintenance" -- Something we know we should have done previously -- but are now pretending to be surprised that we hadn't done previously (related to the Ben Franklin quote -- "a stitch in time saves nine")
8) "I Move the question" -- The speaker beat the guy in the brown jacket to the microphone at Town Meeting.
9) "Community School" -- Every school belongs to the Community, as does every dumpster, town office building, garage, etc. So what?
10) "When the High School was built we were promised..." -- We never would have built those schools if we didn't get a pool. Damn those washashores -- let them go to class in tents!
11) "I'm from Barnstable, and I swim in the pool every day ..." -- CLICK. I just stopped listening. Pay for your activities or stay home!
12) "There's never been a problem with pool users!" -- Maybe true -- But, given the job they have done screening pool employees, how well do you suppose they would screen customers off the street?
13) "Explore" -- Let's put this issue off.
14) "Celebrate" -- Put your happy face on and make the best of a bad situation!
15) "Come together as a Community" -- This hasn't been heard as much this year -- but if it was heard during a School Committee meeting last year, it was generally a sure-fire sign that the speaker was probably a moron.
16) "Budgetary Watchdog" -- The speaker generally has no concept of a budget. We've also seen that this "dog" is just as likely to hump a leg as bite it off!
17) "I have no pre-conceived agenda" -- Translation --- I have got the nastiest agenda you have ever seen!!
18) "We need to build support for increased local school funding" -- Speaker is delusional. The Teachers Union has killed any chance of an education override for the next decade!
19) "We need to build support for increased state school funding" -- Speaker is delusional. The Mass Legislature is not going to take money from Boston, Worcester, Springfield etc. and give it to Sandwich. Forget it .... move on ...
20) "We need to build support for another Canal Bridge" -- Pass the crack pipe! Is that really the best cause you can think of? Are you that desperate for attention?
21) "...Public Safety Complex ..." -- The current facilities are certainly embarrassing and deplorable, but will spending $30 million actually make the Public any safer?
22) "Rescue Boat funded with a Federal grant" -- Free ... except for the ongoing cost of operations, maintenance, and staffing. At least we will be ready for that annual boat fire, or the next time two dopes float away on boogie boards -- unless the Harbormaster, or one of the several USCG, Canal Patrol, or DEP Patrol boats docked in town don't get there first! (Does anyone recall we already own a Fire Station that we can not afford to staff?)
23) "It's for the students ...." -- Ha! Don't get me started ...
24) "Local newspaper ..." -- OK, it is printed on paper, and its Falmouth office is relatively local, but there ain't much news in it -- unless you want a picture of your kid's sports team; or want to check the police blotter to see which one of your neighbors got pinched last week -- or see whose mortgage is scheduled for foreclosure!
25) "I heard at the soccer/football field last weekend ..." -- AAGH ! Run ! Reality is not the same as repetition. I once had somebody tell me a long involved story they had "heard" about the School Committee at a soccer game ... you should have seen the expression when I pointed out that I was the Chairman ! And, there was the crazy soccer parent who complained to my wife that soccer league people were paid "way less" then School Committee Members. Not much reaction when my wife noted that her spouse was ON the School Committee and, most assuredly, was not being paid!
26) "It takes a Village ..." -- No, it doesn't. Pay attention to what is going on --- Stop passing the buck and clean up your own mess.
15 comments:
I think everyone's heads are still spinning from the election. As far as political speak goes, I'm tired of it. Everyone in gov't and public sector positions speak as if they are reading and writing the MCAS tests. Nothing plain about writing endlessly when a simple one sentence or a yes or no would do the trick. They seem to be just making circles with words to (1) hear themselves talk, (2)don't know the answer, or (3) they are trying to hide something. Either way I just can't trust any of them any more once they start babbling on. Give me one of those selectmen that can answer a simple question with a simple answer. For example: "How much is the new Safety Building going to cost my on my taxes" Answer: "It will cost property owners a lot, and for long drawn-out time, if you are just barely getting by now, I'd suggest you put your house up for sale and move to a cheaper town". Now that's information I could actually use. I'd respect them a whole lot more.
Where does the money in this town actually go? Nothing seems to last, everything needs to be fixed, and they still don't have enough money. It's frustrating as hell. I know it's not just Sandwich, it's everywhere, so there's really no point in packing it all in.
Thank you for giving me a place to vent anonymously! It feels much better.
The Truth Maker would respond to Brother Bob's meaning to words often spoken around various meetings here in the town of Sandwich. In some cases you have made a valid point in how you derived at your conclusions and I really enjoyed the one about the man in the suit, who also has stated many times that town meeting was to long. This person has also decided that the best way to perform that task is to not have special town meetings. Well we all know how that is going.
When it comes to granting any more funding for the schools, from any source, that on going discussion will be heard around the clock until eternity, with very few chances of any thing happening, for the same amount of time. The previous school committee can be thanked for there contribution to where school dollars should not have been spent, but did so regardless of the couter affect it had on the community of Sandwich.
What they did in this regard has already taken its toll on any further changes when it comes to progress in the world of educating our children that need it.
Like the preverbial elephant that never forgets , the taxpayer community shall also remain stead fast in how, why,and when dollars will be spent to support the ongoing process in the lack of progress that benefits the whole community.
One thing I take a little exception to is your comments in regards to our police and fire safety building.
I would like to think that we all will derive some benefit with a building that will bring our community safety too the next generations of citizens.
Just for kicks, why not just look at it from the New Jersey point of view. The coastal community has suffered a disater non have ever seen before and with the present dialog now in close to 20 years of discussion and no results. What do you think the town of Sandwich would would like with these buildings, now sitting on filled land would do to the whole town[community ] of Sandwich if they became a useless place, under water??
How would the police and fire departments function to keep the peace, among neighbors?
What will be the price to the whole community in dollars should such an event happen?
Just think a mere 100 miles difference in land fall we here in Sandwich would be facing problems that will take years to correct and in the meantime the town of Sandwich would have moved elsewhere to live. It would be survival of the fittess and who has a bigger gun to keep what they have left.
Some food for thought to your provoking and well thought out commontary, now smile
Glad you feel better. Somehow we thought $30M bonded over 25 years at 4%, total interest and principle $45M, was a better answer than lot's for a long time. We even translated that into average tax impact of under $20/mo in year one of the bond dropping to $12/mo in year 25.
Thanks, TM, I don't disagree both the current PD & FD stations are in a precarious location.
As part of the deal, I would like to see a very clear commitment to sell FD & PD stations ....along with East Sandwich FD AND Clark-haddad, and the Golden žTriangle.
As part of the initial funding for the STEM program (which will presumably require town meeting approval), I also want to see a commitment to consolidate town office and then sell the surplus property to private parties who will pay real estate taxes ---- no bargain-sales to non-profits who would utilize services without paying
It's also time to suck-it-up and settle the Johnson case. This is a huge budgetary bogey that will continue to grow
Until it is finally settled.
Why settle that case when the ins co believes they have a good case. Maybe to many hiden things will come out
The Truth Maker would concur on the selling off the buildings and that should be part of proposal presented to town meeting where by the sale of these buildings reduce the overall burdan to each tax payer over the life of the loan.
Just think what progress we would make in the proposed building of the safety complex that tells the community of Sandwich the town fathers are willing to place the unused buildings up for sale and all of the sales money would directly go towards the long term debt.
The message would be clear that they also understand the importance of such a move in selling the whole idea to every taxpayer whom will be paying the bills.
4% in today’s world? Really?
I can borrow a 30 year mortgage at a better rate than the town can borrow on a 25 year bond? How can that be?
My credits better? I have the ability to tax and raise revenues? What?
Ow about take anoth 100 bais poinds off the bond and another $5 million off the project costs? Better!
The last serious money Sandwich borrowed was at under 3%. Bud didn't want to set expectations with those rose colored glasses on. If the voters approve the project early next year, it will take the better part of two years to get engineering drawings bid and award the job. We wont borrow the money until 2015. God only knows what our friends in D.C. will have done to interest rates by then. I stand by Bud's conservative projection.
I wounldt vote to increase my taxes if my pants were on fire and the tax money was to be used to buy water.
Jim and the other Selectmen and Bud are sort of like my crazy brother.
He loves to buy new things and spend money but he doesn’t know the difference between needs and wants.
Here in Town we have a library but want a new one; we have a senior center but want a new one; we have police and fire buildings but want new ones. These are not needs – they’re wants.
That some folks are comfortable taxing themselves and their kids to death and accumulating debts to purchase needs not wants isn’t right and it isn’t prudent.
I am voting no and I am going to really work hard to influence my friends and neighbors to vote no too.
Addition to the High School – NO.
New library – NO.
Safety Compex – NO.
Senior Center – NO.
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
Here’s how big government folks like Jim seem to think about taxes:
The local tax and spender (Jim) asks: What’s another $250 on your tax bill for the Safety Complex? It’s not that much.
The state tax and spender (Deval) asks: What’s another 0.75% on your MA income tax to fix roads? It’s not that much. Let’s not forget the new proposal to tax MA car owners for miles driven too.
The federal tax and spender (Elizabeth) asks: What’s another 2, 3, 4% on your federal income taxes? It’s not that much.
The problem? It all comes from one source: me; Mrs. Taxpayer.
Jim – your $20 bucks more a month isn’t the only new tax I’m being asked to pay. Plus, nobody is increasing my income at a rate equal to how fast the tax and spenders like you propose raising my local, state and federal taxes. When is enough enough?
Here is the least talked about topic. The continued devaluation of the power plant. Does this make the rest of the taxpayers pay less or more? A public safety complex that improves NOTHING....a substation...a second library that can't even afford hours to be open.....high school improvements (ha).......a senior center.....a dopey million dollar boat that has no one to operate it ....What in the Wide World of Sports is going on here. Another Dr. No
To quote an astute observer from the past ..... You dont ask your inlaws for a loan until AFTER you have sold your piano!
As the assessed value of the power plant drops, homeowners will be assessed the difference. That's why nobody at Town Hall seems concerned about losing the plant .... The Town automatically raises everyone else's taxes to cover the shortfall.
They don't seem to want to discuss that issue while they are tangling with the safety building, library, boats, lawsuits, etc!!
Hey Bob - Any indication of how this issue (the safety complex) is going with the unwashed masses?
In my neighborhood sentiment seems to be running strongly against the project.
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