This article taken from The Birmingham News.
Just Winging It Doesn't Work
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
THE ISSUE: One reason Jefferson County got into so much mess with its sewer financing is the lack of a policy to manage its debt.
Jefferson County did a lot of things wrong in financing its $3 billion-plus sewer program. Nothing more so than not putting in place a policy to manage its debt.
The county amassed more than $3.24 billion in sewer debt without many of the accountability practices that other municipalities use successfully to stay out of financial trouble. Without those guidelines in place, the county debt got out of control.
The most glaring omissions are policies limiting the use of variable-rate debt whose interest rates can increase, requirements that financial work be competitively bid, and a debt ceiling on how much the county could borrow.
Instead, as News business staff writer Russell Hubbard reported Sunday, Jefferson County officials kind of winged it, with no meaningful policy on what and how much they borrowed or how those financiers were chosen.
For most of the sewer work, the county also didn't employ a professional program manager to oversee the projects. That left the massive, court-ordered sewer overhaul in the hands of county commissioners and department heads who lacked the management background and skills for such an undertaking.
The result: The county took on more work than was required by the court consent decree or that it could afford, paid too much for the work and created a breeding ground for corruption that led to bribery convictions of county officials and contractors.
Likewise, in the absence of an adequate debt management policy, the county borrowed too much, put too much of its debt in risky schemes and paid far too much to lawyers and bond underwriters who didn't have to bid for the work.
Now, those poor decisions plus turmoil in the municipal bond market have brought the county sewer program to the brink of bankruptcy. Interest payments on the debt have more than doubled in the past three months.
This might sound somewhat akin to closing the barn door after the livestock have fled, but adopting a debt management policy ought to be among the reforms county officials need to embrace to help get and keep the county's financial ship in order.
Another needed reform is hiring a professional county manager to run the day-to-day activities of the county, freeing county commissioners to concentrate on policy-making. Shelby County has 15 years of experience with a county manager, and it has worked well there.
Unfortunately, a majority of Jefferson County commissioners are resistant to hiring a county manager. They like the power their dual roles of making policies and carrying out those policies give them.
Bills in the Legislature this year and last year to create the position of county manager went nowhere. It would certainly help the bills' chances next time around if county commissioners admit they need help.
Of course, there's nothing stopping county officials from adopting a debt management policy now. It doesn't require reinventing the wheel. Cities like Portland, Ore., have model policies Jefferson County could copy. Plus, the Government Finance Officers Association has information on its Web site to guide local governments in developing a policy.
We've seen how winging it worked. It's past time to try another approach.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
This blog
I admit it. The name of this blog is embarassingly lame. Naming things in a creative and witty way is just not something that I do well. Exhibit A: The name of this post.
Open to suggestions?
Open to suggestions?
Monday, May 12, 2008
The Parable of the Sower
I wrote a devotional for my small group and wanted to share it here. Enjoy!
Text
Mark 4: 3-9, 14-20 (parable also recorded in other gospels)
Key Passage
Verses 18-19
And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Discussion
Mark 4 describes an instance that is not uncommon in the Gospels – Jesus speaking to the multitudes in parables. He teaches them, He in His boat, and they on the land, about the varying responses to the Word of God. It is a familiar parable – a sower sows seed (the Word). Some falls by the road and is eaten by birds. Other seed falls on shallow soil and does not take root. There is yet seed that takes root but is choked by thorns and remains unfruitful. And finally, there is the seed that falls on the good soil, yielding a bountiful crop.
In Christ’s exposition of the parable to the disciples, He explains more fully the meaning behind each these “environments” on which seed is sown. I want to focus in on the third “environment”, where the seed takes root, but is choked by thorns and does not bear fruit.
Christ explains that these “are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Now, I believe that the people Christ speaks of here are Christians, those who have truly received the word of God in faith and can be called His. But, there are three things in this passage that cause these Believers to not bear fruit – the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things.
Scripture is clear that we are not to worry as the world does, for our Heavenly Father knows what things we need (Matt 6:31-33). He tells Mary that she is worried about many things when only one thing is needed (Luke 10:38-42). Paul commands us not to be anxious about anything, but to make our requests known to God in prayer (Phil 4:6). But here Jesus is explicit – if you concern yourself with the things of this world, His Word will be rendered powerless in your life, and you will not bear fruit.
Scripture also paints a vivid picture of the deceitfulness of riches and how money tends to cause people to forget about God altogether. It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom (Matt 19:23). And there is something about money that it tends to master those who have it (Luke 16:13).
The last of the three things, “desires for other things”, is I think the most interesting and also the most frightening. These other things are not necessarily immoral, but they are those little things that drag us away from God’s Word into the realm of the mundane and meaningless. It is not just sin that can encumber us as we run the race (Hebrews 12:1). It could be TV, movies, sports, the social scene, exercise – anything that can distract from the power that is wrought by the Word.
It is the will of God that we bear much fruit for His name. May we strive to be people that yield fruit abundantly.
Text
Mark 4: 3-9, 14-20 (parable also recorded in other gospels)
Key Passage
Verses 18-19
And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Discussion
Mark 4 describes an instance that is not uncommon in the Gospels – Jesus speaking to the multitudes in parables. He teaches them, He in His boat, and they on the land, about the varying responses to the Word of God. It is a familiar parable – a sower sows seed (the Word). Some falls by the road and is eaten by birds. Other seed falls on shallow soil and does not take root. There is yet seed that takes root but is choked by thorns and remains unfruitful. And finally, there is the seed that falls on the good soil, yielding a bountiful crop.
In Christ’s exposition of the parable to the disciples, He explains more fully the meaning behind each these “environments” on which seed is sown. I want to focus in on the third “environment”, where the seed takes root, but is choked by thorns and does not bear fruit.
Christ explains that these “are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Now, I believe that the people Christ speaks of here are Christians, those who have truly received the word of God in faith and can be called His. But, there are three things in this passage that cause these Believers to not bear fruit – the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things.
Scripture is clear that we are not to worry as the world does, for our Heavenly Father knows what things we need (Matt 6:31-33). He tells Mary that she is worried about many things when only one thing is needed (Luke 10:38-42). Paul commands us not to be anxious about anything, but to make our requests known to God in prayer (Phil 4:6). But here Jesus is explicit – if you concern yourself with the things of this world, His Word will be rendered powerless in your life, and you will not bear fruit.
Scripture also paints a vivid picture of the deceitfulness of riches and how money tends to cause people to forget about God altogether. It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom (Matt 19:23). And there is something about money that it tends to master those who have it (Luke 16:13).
The last of the three things, “desires for other things”, is I think the most interesting and also the most frightening. These other things are not necessarily immoral, but they are those little things that drag us away from God’s Word into the realm of the mundane and meaningless. It is not just sin that can encumber us as we run the race (Hebrews 12:1). It could be TV, movies, sports, the social scene, exercise – anything that can distract from the power that is wrought by the Word.
It is the will of God that we bear much fruit for His name. May we strive to be people that yield fruit abundantly.
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