Barnas wants taxpayer funded political mailer
Mailboxes everywhere are filling up with political mailers, but one in particular may grab the attention of High Springs residents.
Speaking during “commissioners comments,” a time reserved at the end of the city commission meeting for commissioners to speak on any issue they please, Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas asked the commission for approval for the City to mail a positive spin political mail piece to all residents.
According to Barnas, the real news of High Springs’ success wasn’t being portrayed by any media outlet and the city needed to send a letter informing residents of all their success. Barnas asked the letter be signed by the Mayor Dean Davis and tout such successes as purchasing a new fire truck and spending a nearly $300,000 bequeathment to improve the fire station.
Barnas asked for the mailer as it would present city affairs as being in order, which would presumably favor the November candidacy of Pat Rush, who supports the current majority’s direction of High Springs.
The suggestion of the City using tax dollars — a mailer costing $0.60 sent to 5,000 residents would cost $3,000 — solicited laughter from the audience, leading Mayor Davis to ask, “What’s so funny?” Responding to the question, two citizens stood up with their hands raised and began to approach the podium to answer the Mayor’s question.
The Mayor immediately hammered the gavel so loud several in the audience jumped — much like Davis has done in the past — saying “You’re both out of order!”
“You asked a question, we’re just trying to respond,” the two men echoed.
Later on his website Barnas said the two citizens wanting to speak “put on the buffoon hats” and looked “like to two jack in the box figures these two popped up out of their seats.”
Eric May
Former elected official Eric May provides readers a view on government they rarely get: one from the inside. Eric currently works for a political consulting firm handling all forms of political media and communications. He is married to his beautiful wife Jenna, who both enjoy serving actively in their church and community.
8 Responses to Barnas wants taxpayer funded political mailer
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If you're looking for an awesome local church, I highly recommend you check out Impact Family Church. They're located between High Springs and Alachua, and just twenty minutes from Gainesville. They preach an uncompromising Gospel that is relevant to the entire family. Check 'em out!Tags
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I’m starting to think there is enough material here for a TV show–but I’m not sure if it would be a sitcom or a tragedy.
If this trio voting majority thinks the mailer is such a good idea, let them pay for it out of their own pockets or from contributions from their supporters – just like other political candidates do. I would not want any of my tax dollars used to circulate their spin on possibly the only two good things for which they lay claim. The big picture of this trio’s efforts tells a completely different story. This trio is hoping you will remain totally uninformed about all the negative things they alone accomplished. Such as;
1. Put our City close to the verge of oblivion.
2. Spending money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need (i.e. their Dispatch Project)
3. Cause and/or accelerate the terminations of our valuable human resources and their intellectual property necessary to run our City professionally (City Planner, City Lawyers, City Manager and City Engineer.
4. Lowering the morale of City employees to a point where they could invite a union to represent them.
5. Caused so many lawsuits that the City’s insurance underwriter for liability coverage for the Commission, has increased the City’s annual insurance liability costs from; $13,754 in 2011, to a projected premium of $237,949 in 2013.
6. Not being properly monitoring critical infrastructure items (i.e. Water and Sewer issues) or providing necessary maintenance or funding reserves thereby exposing the City to unreasonable risk and astronomical costs caused by total system collapse.
Finally, it appears they “want to promote Commission candidate Pat Rush.” Mr. Rush as you remember owned Pat’s Place Coffee Shop next to The Great Outdoors. He was the sole owner and therefore made all of his businesses’ decisions. Who then could he blame if he ever went out of business? No one! Well, Pat Rush did go out of business.
Now the question is why this trio of commissioners would support a candidate who couldn’t manage his own business to help manage the City’s business? My thinking is that the trio thinks that he would be a perfect fit to perpetuate their failure-oriented ways of managing.
The Trio certainly doesn’t want the other candidate BYRAN WILLIAMS to win because that would put another seasoned professional on the commission willing to accept the task of helping to restore our City to the positive reputation it once had.
So don’t forget to vote on November 6th and go to the last page, Page 4 on the Ballot, and vote for the only real choice to save our City . . . BYRAN WILLIAMS.
Reminds me of this lovely 2003 bulk mailer one of their darlings created back when. I keep it in my bible to remind me that in spite of that attempt to villify decent people that something more poweful and, meaningful prevailed beyond their ugliness and, intention to create duress toward others. Bob Barnas is an ignorant self loathing man evidenced on his web site that rotates his bullying de jur.
Just one more example of why anyone considering a move to the outlying towns of Alachua County would think twice before considering High Springs.
if we, the City of High Springs, have an extra $30,000, it should be divided evenly between all the non-union employees that recently took a pay cut
Anyone know if we can now? Earlier today I saw the Mayors wife riding him into town, on the sidewalk, via a Golf Cart. And, some time ago I advocated that we as a community all should be able to.Can we now? Or, is this a special privilige for them to do so without retribution? I love the idea for us to be able to drive our golf carts and, what with all those medical scooters in and, around,it shows a need for a slower way around town.It does have benefits! I just don’t want or, can afford a citation if I head into town with my own golf cart.Should I consider this an example of a positive change I am not aware of? Or am I risking not being overloked by our police and, cited if I do?
This majority is killing our city. The dispatch center needs to be with the county, the cap on spending admendment may kill the sewage system as they want but will put us in jepordy if we have a real emergancy like a well failure. Multiple months without water will put this town in the grave. I think in their rush to retribution against their percieved enemies they don’t care about the citizens who they are supposed to be representing. This is an evil majority. Not christian at all.
Baryard cries himself to sleep every night wearing his dress blues and clutching an empty bottle of pink zin. From a psychological standpoint, his outlandish and egomaniacal behavior can only be fueld by an intense hatred for himself. From that standpoint I feel a little sorry for him. Operative word being “little”…….