BCC 7/20 - Shannon Armstrong
July 20, 2010
My name is Shannon Armstrong and I live in Lake Worth. I am the founder and President of the South Florida 912 group. I am very active with my church and in my community. I have 3 children, two in Middle School and one still in Elementary School. My children are 7th generation Floridians and we love living here in Palm Beach County. I am concerned about the spending here in Palm Beach County and the future for my children. My concerns have driven me to create the grass roots action group The South Florida 912 which has been very involved here in Palm Beach County. I am also a member of the TAB coalition.
“Quality of Service stays the same however we need to change how it is delivered.”
We are not asking to close the pools or let criminals out of Jail. We are looking at still keeping the quality of service we are used too. I just want some fresh new ways to look at its delivery. For instance, farming out, services. We can replace some city workers with contractors. The areas we can look at are maintenance, custodial, and EMT as well. Cities around the country are looking at ways to reduce cost and this has proven to be very effective. In the Wall Street Journal an article spoke about a city in San Jose, Calif that was faced with a $118 million budget deficit, “The city recently decided it could no longer afford its own janitors. So the city’s budget called for dropping its custodial staff and hiring outside contractors to clean its city hall and airport, saving about $4 million. To keep all its swimming pools open and staffed, the city is replacing some city workers with contractors.”
Cities and Counties across the country are looking at various options to help keep the quality service, people have come to expect. The key is with out reducing the quality. I believe, we can do that here. Palm Beach County has recently shown some ability to face our issues and move forward. People have been put in jail that have been fraudulent. The County has shown strength in the implementation of an Inspector General. Citizens in Palm Beach County are waking up and getting active. I am very encouraged by this and glad to be a member of TAB. We will continue with our meetings and reviewing the budget. I ask each of you.
Do you want to continue with the progress our county has been making? Do we start being at the forefront of responsible spending. Will we as citizens in this community be able to lift our heads with pride by making a difference here by making some reasonable changes, for example, contracted labor and responsible cuts in spending?
We at TAB are working at a collaborative effort. Together we intend to explore what has worked and what has not. The PBC Taxpayer Action Board is active and concerned, we are not going away.
We’re paying the TAB and we’re keeping TABs on YOU.