The Arkansas City City Commission will have a special meeting today at 6:30 p.m. to reaffirm its commitment to building the Medical Office Building that will go with the hospital that is being built. They will have to convene the public building commission - which is made up of city commissioners and other community members - in order to make the move.
They may look at some plans for the building. It is not likely that they will pick an architect or construction company at this point.
I hope BS and News1 show up. Otherwise this town will all but disappear.
ReplyDeleteIf the Commission and City manager show up there will be plenty of BS.
ReplyDelete@3:57....Now thats funny right there! But very true.
ReplyDeleteNo Need to get excited this is all just formal BS,,,
ReplyDeleteWhat is BS is the fact that they sold the public on building a new hospital. Then do a poor job of designing and planning and now want to spend more taxpayer money. Nice bait and switch! Now that is BS!
ReplyDeleteMaybe they can go with a pit design - you just drive by and throw your money in the Pit!
ReplyDeleteOn second thought they will probably just do an automatic withdrawl from you bank account!
Those Good Ol Boys from ACI!
Always looking out for the City and your money!
Actually they did a good job of planning. The thing will be built with no additional money at all.
ReplyDeleteI know you naysayers wont admit it, but the hospital project and the MOB, is an example of local officials actually doing something right.
Its under budget, on time, and they havent even used any of the sales tax money yet.
Well maybe you missed the point!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the daily census of the current hospital?
The you can build it on time and maybe even under budget!
But, will the area be able to support all the things they want and all the jobs they hope to create with the new complexes?
Will insurance support those services here or continue to send them to the larger hospitals in Wichita?
I hope they are right and things work out the way the are planning!
Question JJ: If they finish the project without using all of the sales tax money, does it go back into the pot so the sales tax will fall off sooner?
ReplyDeleteSales tax will probably not end sooner. The sales tax money was designed to be a safety net for the first few years, it was not supposed to be used for construction.
ReplyDeleteThe hospital people said they thought they could possibly get by without it - the sales tax - but needed it for a safety net and for bonding rating etc.
If they dont have to use it the first few years then it will be used to pay off the hospital earlier, which would be a net savings for taxpayers in the long run.
They are hoping to get patients from around the area, not just ark city, so the number of patients should increase. The number of out patients will increase.
They will still be sending people to wichita for things like heart surgery and other major things.
They will be able to do more tests and such here.
They were saying last night that galitia (dont know how to spell it, the hospital in wichita) wants to open an office at the medical center campus, to have a presence in cowley county.
"Quote" by JJ
ReplyDeleteThey may look at some plans for the building. It is not likely that they will pick an architect or construction company at this point.
JJ, you must be drinking the cool-aid, cause it appears you buy everything Archer e-mails you.
Building commission with four new "citizen" members, with 5 minutes experience, helped them push thru the design-construction bid. But yet some folks can't understand why three of the commision members aren't respected.
BTY, McDonald's computer is now across the steeet on the West side. Course guess an ad doesn't have to be correct either.
JJ, you have completely missed the point! The city and hospital board convinced the tax payers to build a hospital based upon certain needs and a presented plan. NOT a hospital and a MOB building but ONLY a hospital! They sold us one thing and did another, it may be a "good deal" but it is not right.
ReplyDeleteWould you pay for new car but have them deliver you something different? I bet not! They should build the hospital and use any savings to pay down the bonds and save the taxpayer some burden. If they want a MOB then look for private investors or let the voters vote again. What they are doing now is BS! When do we start holding our Manager and Commission accountable?
I heard somewhere they want to buy a 2 million dollar MRI unit!
ReplyDeleteWhen all the other small hospitals in the surronding area rent one mounted in a semi trailer! (portable unit).
Do you really think that building a state of the art facility will bring that much business from outside of the area?
With the number of uninsured and elderly I am not sure that plan will fly!
we do not hold anyone accountable and never have that is the biggest problem in the country, Americans lay down and take the screwing government hands out with little action and think their bitching will cure the illness.
ReplyDeleteSome are even so nieve to think that Government knows best so why question them, We elected these officals to represent our desires reguardless of what they think,, Majority is always right,,, well the facts are the majority of us will not get off our ass to even go to a city meeting let alone stand our ground or confront in a public meeting with the accusations we make Anonymously,,, so just shut up and pour some sugar on it until your ready to get to a meeting and speak your mind, your endless babbling is contentious
so just shut up and pour some sugar on it until your ready to get to a meeting and speak your mind, your endless babbling is contentious
ReplyDeleteJune 30, 2010 4:17 PM
Didn't one of the last meetings result in "Wore Out" and then the discussion was ended?
Where should they go if they have questions?
Court?
Didn't one of the last meetings result in "Wore Out" and then the discussion was ended?
ReplyDeleteWhere should they go if they have questions?
Court?
June 30, 2010 5:45 PM
and you think a blog is the place to get questions anwsered ?????
I will tell you there is nowhere you can go to ask questions, you need to go to the meetings and receive the information personaly, anything else is conjecture and hear say fed by rumours and blind liberal Demoncrats
Me thinks if you didn't want the Public to question the/your plan?
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't have included them (taxpayers) in that/your PLAN!
then get off your sofa and do somthing
ReplyDeleteKick his ass seabass!!!
ReplyDeleteAre you gonna eat that?
ReplyDeleteGo to meetings. Also do your homework. Get educated.
ReplyDeleteThe city's website has a lot of information. Boring reading, but that is where you get facts.
Also, ask the city manager or your favorite city commissioner, for information. ask for the paperwork.
Ive been around a lot of city commissions in different parts of the country. This one is pretty open by comparison.
You do need to go to meetings, but you also need to do the reading. get the facts.
not interpretation and opinion,
JJ, you disappoint me! You think they are really telling you the truth or all the facts. The current commission members are very skilled at telling you and others just enough to sway their opinion. City Manager is only doing what he can to survive for a little while longer. If you trust them, you have drank the koolaid!
ReplyDeleteYou need to read what I wrote, not what you want to hear.
ReplyDeleteI said GET INFORMATION. I said nothing of trusting or listening. I said GET THE PAPERWORK.
What part of GET THE INFORMATION did you not understand :L)
and dont "trust" the news media to get it for you either. Im advocating citizen involvement. which requires a bit of work on your part.
Lighten Up Francis!
ReplyDeleteYour the news man! Go dig up the scoop! The average citizen can't get 2 seconds of quality time. The last meeting concerning the declaration of the "blighted" area proved that. The citizens had little voice and were quickly dismissed.
Hey 2:50
ReplyDeleteHe said get involved and don't trust the news media.
Then you tell him he's the news guy. He's not a news guy, he writes a blog. He's no more qualified or any less average than you.
He's not being beligerent (no need to "Lighten Up Francis!"), his point is that it IS difficult, but not impossible for citizens to get info.
Your grammar, spelling, and rants show that you may not posses what it takes to find the info, so you assume it can't be done. Nobody's gonna hold your hand. But it is possible.
Sorry I did not use all of my education to express and articulate my frustration with our city leaders. I always write on the blogs at a third grade level.
ReplyDeleteWell here is the deal as I see It!
ReplyDeleteIf the Hospital or the MOB are structured where the taxpayers could be the "Payers of Last Resort"?
Then the taxpayers who voted on the original proposal - have every right to know the risk invovled and any details/changes or leveraged Deals!
Which could increase the risk, result in failure or add additional or on going expense (paid for by taxes)as the result of those actions by the Hospital Board or ACI!
Otherwise you just handed them a blank check!
7:55 EXACTLY! Quote from JJ above "The sales tax money was designed to be a safety net for the first few years, it was not supposed to be used for construction. The hospital is basing there numbers on the "if you build it they will come theory" If it fails or fails to meet the revenue goals guess who will be paying? You got it the Taxpayers!
ReplyDeleteWell its not that hard to figure out!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the Players!
The Lowes project was similar in nature!
You can be pretty bold - if your goal is to get the backing of the taxpayers through the key people in Government and through use of the right public representatives - and if it fails its gauranteed by the taxpayers!
Sweet!
It just might even get BETTER:
ReplyDeleteRemember the warning by George Soros and Warren Buffet about municipal bonds in 5 to 10 yrs.
That if things don't change - States and Cities will go bankrupt - default on their insured bonds!
Then those big ol insurers many of the same people who just got bailed out - will have to be bailed out AGAIN?
Just PLAY IT AGAIN UNCLE SAM!
I said it before the vote - what sort of moron votes FOR a bond issue as a recession begins?
ReplyDeleteI said it before the vote - what sort of moron votes FOR a bond issue as a recession begins?
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't think the original modest plan to replace the hospital was wrong!
But, to build a Regional Medical Center with all the whistles and bells at (least as many as they can get) - motel and the likes - maybe overtime as the area grows or they become profitable!
Build it as an industry or to create jobs?
Build it and they will come?
You better hope they do!
Fortune-
ReplyDeleteMany economists are worried about inflation. But others say they're looking the wrong way.
By Heidi N. Moore, contributor
The national knowledge is creeping in that the good times of the stimulus may soon be over. The United States is running an 11% deficit and our gross debt is 83% of our GDP and may rise to 100% in as little as three to five years.
So when we saw a recent note about the "Keynesian endgame" from Scott Minerd, the chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, we decided to pay attention:
"At its core, the Keynesian theory says governments should be called on to prime the economic pump as needed. This works as long as the government has the ability to borrow money. But what happens when a government can no longer borrow money?"
The "Keynesian endpoint" is a time when so many governments are overextended with their own debt that they will refuse to float any more money to each other. This is particularly problematic for the U.S. because we generate debt of $1.6 trillion a year but savings of only around $500 billion, Minerd notes. The remaining money comes to us by borrowing from foreign governments, including China, which owns just over $900 billion of U.S. Treasurys; in total, foreign governments own a $4 trillion piece of us. Usually, when governments can no longer borrow, they turn to their central banks; but many central banks across the world seem to be acting oddly and hoarding cash.
Unsustainable? Yes. But Minerd argues that what will bring us to the point of trouble will not be inflation, as the Federal Reserve seems to think. The Fed has kept interest rates low partly to curb the threat of inflation and partly to encourage lending. We all know the risks of inflation: Rising prices make products unaffordable and drive down consumption.
But the real problem we should be wary of, says Minerd, is deflation. (He's hardly alone; economists including Paul Krugman and several of the regional heads of the Federal Reserve have warned against the same).
"It would take an unemployment rate below 6% to get the inflation rate to become a concern," Minerd tells Street Sweep.
Deflation is dangerous because it causes debt to balloon compared to real asset prices. For instance, in a deflationary environment, everyone will owe more in mortgage debt than their homes are actually worth. All household debt, in fact, is likely to be much larger than the value of the assets behind it -- which would make it harder for people to pay off their debt, push down consumption and spending, and generally create a toxic economic environment. Deflation can lead to a depression, or extend the current recession to unbearable levels, far faster than inflation can.
Even seemingly cautious moves, like requiring banks to hold more capital, could encourage deflation by encouraging banks to lend less. The Bush tax cuts are set to run out at the end of 2010, and costly healthcare reform is set to kick in next year, which adds additional pressure. Minerd believes that the declines in the Consumer Price Index over the past two months show that we're already starting the deflationary cycle.
The only way to get out of this, he tells Street Sweep, is to boost job growth; his suggestion is to repeal the payroll tax, which would encourage businesses to hire people and would encourage those who are employed to spend. It's not an idea that has been kicked around in Washington too much, and it may have many flaws -- but, as the economy shows few signs of true recovery, having the discussion can't hurt.