Un-believable!!!!!! City of Naples, politicians and managers can't forcast budgets and spending so people must loose their jobs, what a shame, what a black eye for the city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make everyone take 1-2 weeks of unpaid time off, that will save the city considerable amount of money and will enable people to keep their jobs.

Better then not having any job at all.

Did the same over-achiever write the cutlines for both pictures?

I know. Let the proceeds from the Naples Wine Auction fund the continued employment of the Naples employees. . . .

After all, if you have the money to drop a couple of thou on a bottle of red, you ought to be able to afford the property taxes it takes to keep a low-level public employee gainfully employed.

Of course, if you have your own private staff of employees to see that your needs are met, you have little incentive to fund the public sector. Doing that would, in effect, be providing help for the worthless scrum at the bottom of the economic pile. Not everyone can be a captain of industry and a philanthropic giant. Those who can't need to move elsewhere, because the city isn't interested in funding the positions that make the community, as a whole, vital and self-continuing.

Am I being too simple-minded about this? Would the city REALLY want to see Chris Hanson get off his pedophile kick and bring a camera crew to Gordon Drive to photograph the homes as he intones solemnly about the low-level employees being let go because of "hard times?"

I know Trecy Brock she was working the day the 911 call came in where her Mother & Father were in an accident and Father pasted away later at the hospital.

Hang in there Tracy thing's will work out you are a tuff woman.

Why has there not been an issue with the poor planning by the Finance Director. A couple of months ago she says the City is only going to be short $1million. Then it balloons to over $3million. Yet no one calling for her head for not making proper budget forcasting.
For months every government agency in the area was planning for tough budegt times. But not Naples, they were immune. Oops, I guess not.

I like the idea of shared sacrifice to help your fellow worker keep their job, home and pride. Would other city workers within their departments be willing to do this? This is the new world our leaders and government (un)regulators have led us into.

Unions still exist in the Right-to-Work State of Florida???
What exactly do they do other than collect dues?
Seems to me that this would be a good time for them to take a stand!
Instruct all of of their members to work 2 weeks without pay so that their "Union Brothers" can keep their jobs...
Otherwise pack it in.

She states she is afraid of the uncertainty of the situation.

Yet, in society today, all jobs face this same uncertainty. This is something I totally accept, and even relish, as I know if I don't perform I will be terminated.

Welcome to the reality of today's workface.

Nothing is certain. EVER. Work hard, and hope your best is better, and better, and better.

Never give up, even if everything is uncertain.

Where are all the bloggers who always complain about government being "fat". Now they take steps to trim down, and the complaints come. Yes, it is bad for those who are being laid off, but many of the taxpayers whose money make up the city's budget are also being laid off. Unfortunately, positions with the title "aide" are often the first to go.

What is the real shame is the city made no attempt to offer buy outs to the older employees first. This would have most likely opened up a number of positions and saved the city a large amount of money. This may have very well removed the need to lay off people.

Just like the lay offs in Lee County it is the people that do the actual work that loose their jobs while the over paid bureaucrats making the big bucks get to keep their positions.

I must agree that someone in the finance department needs to answer for this. Just a couple months ago the claimed that the city would make it through without layoffs.

I hope that the mayor and city council take a hard look at just how the city is being run by their boy Moss.

swfll..buy outs????????

R U kidding?

There's no money for buy outs.

Especially taxpayer's money.

Typical insanity. Lay off the people who actually WORK for a living, while the piggies who make three times the salary for one tenth of the work get to sit on their butts and choose who gets the axe.

I wouldn't say the government is "fat" either, ed.

Right now, I would say government is on a serious diet with the budget situation of Florida right now.

Universal healthcare has been working in every developed and many developing countries for a generation. It works because there is no middleman HMO trying to make a profit off the tax funded program. This woman should not have to be worried that she could get sick and lose her home. The health insurance/HMO industry is killing us.

Universal health care is simply closing the gap between Medicare and Medicaid by including all people in between. Instead of paying our monthly insurance to a private corporation,we have it deducted from our paycheck as a social health care premium.

It will probably cost us each a lot less to share the burden in large healthcare pool than the way it is run now.

To: #15
You will die will universal health care; ask most Canadians. You will never make it to see the doctor.

Six years ago there was the rise of the "no growth" movement.

Although silent now, that movement made it hard to do business here.

Reduce bureaucracy, and red tape. Encourage businesses to locate here. Encourage year round residency etc.

billylaederdale..back to the point.....this is not red tape...this is a tight budget year for government.

beetlejuice
The fat is at the top. Look at the outrageous pay Moss receives. Then he brought his puppet from Marco and paid him a high price. The fat is not at the lowest levels. The average City Manager in Florida makes $72,000 per year,with benefits he is over $200,000. You do the math. The cuts come easy when you are not losing yur job

Whatever notstupid....a city manager lasts a max of about four years...then he's ousted or leaves for another position.

U R comparing apples to oranges...when the requirements of a City Manager are a wee bit higher than a Solid Waste Worker who answers a phone all day.

There are 22 employees that will be jobless next month and some of them are middle management. Not all the stories are like Mrs. Teal's. In some cases, you had to wonder what they did for 40 hours a week anyway and their cut was long overdue.

times are hard. I have had my home on the market since January, priced low, but how can you compete with short sales and foreclosure prices?

My home equity loan, which I've been living off of for my meds and health insurance, just cut me off saying since my home has depreciated they will no longer give me funds.

I never thought, in a million years, I would get sick and this would be my life. I am educated, loved my job, enjoyed life and BAM! Things sure changed. If I could get my home sold I wouldn't feel so low. I would have some money to help me pay for things.

I'm sorry to all feeling the crunch. Hopefully things will get easier. I've been told when one (or 10 in my case) closes another opens. I'm waiting for a door to open...

actually, sancho, in canada there are several people that have my rare disease and they get all of their meds free. If I want to try the "experimental" chemo for my disease it's over $5k a month. In Canada it's not experimental and they get it for the illness. they are feeling much better than I am on this drug. They never complain about finding a doctor, getting an appointment or even getting diagnosed with this hard-to-diagnose disease.

I would enjoy universal that's for sure. When you get sick you will see just how bad it is here. I don't mean sick with a cold. I mean sick with an illness that can't be cured or something that can kill you over night. It's not fun.

Very scary. One trip to the hospital could wipe them out in an instant. It does for many because of current U.S. healthcare system.My health insurance premium just went up 21%!

Why does Moss not ask his former employer the City of Marco Island to hire some of these people? I understand the City Council is going to approve the hiring of 8 new positions. That little city is flush. Moss should propose to purchase the electric utility. That's one of the things Marco is doing to find alternative revenue. The people of Marco have plenty of money are are happy to pay for services via assessments and fees. My Lord, they even invented a new term for it called "Pilot". Suggest the Naples City Council attend a few Marco budget meetings to learn how it is all done.

There should be a better solution for the health care system. It is so sad to see people loosing their homes because their son got sick ..Come on, America is not that poor to let it's people suffer from illnesses.

When the Government runs Health Care people die. I lived in Canada for 5 years. Yes, there are people that get medications that are not available in the US. There are also a lot of people refused treatment because the benefit is not worth the cost. Of course we do not need to go north of the border. The current case in Oregon is where we are headed if we let the government run the whole system.

Oregon Medicaid has told an ill gentleman that it will no longer pay for his treatment, but will pay for ASSISTED SUICIDE which is legal in Oregon.

God help us, the government won't

Universal healthcare could provide a minimum of services to a maximum of people. Then you have the wealthy sick able to pay for superior service without the wait, and no lack of doctors who would be willing to work outside the system. Look at how many won't honor certain insurance companies and dropped Medicare/Medicaid patients altogether.

Naplestango

The two tier system you are describing is how wealthy Canadians operate. They come to the US to pay for their health care that the Canadian System will not or cannot provide.I can't for the life of me understand why Americans who charge that their government has screwed up Social Security, National Security and almost everything else want to put their life and health in the hands of the same bureaucrats. But then I guess they are really happy with how Medicare works for the people it covers. If they are, they have never experienced the massive waste and fraud in the system.

Let's start a blimp factory. Maybe at the Naples or Immokalee airports? Read the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/wor... Such a factory could provide employment for the likes of Ms. Teal.

We then could use blimps for inexpensive, alternative, in-state travel as well as sell them out of state. Tax income would rise and we could afford our school custodians, our teacher raises, our school, county, and city employees' salaries, our citizens' mortgage payments and health care.

Any investor interest? Instead of becoming a cab driver or a bar tender during hard times, people could fly intercity, maybe even intracity blimps for a living. Get to the east coast without crossing the Alley! Where are the Van Arsdale PBA airline entrepreneurs?

oh yea, lay off people, but built a muti million dollar parking garage, maybe the mayor and the zoo crew should give up thier 12k a year.

Universal Health Care??????? Sure???

Government can't get your letters in the correct box and to think anyone would consider allowing them to manage our health care????
Anything, anything, anything you can get government out of should be the answer! Begin with Aligator Alley, just think of the problems and expense eliminated by this move,trucks, other equipment, employee insureance and retirements, law suits, etc. then there will not have to be any lay-offs!!!!!!!

Kevin Rambosk has 2 pensions, 1 from City of Naples, and 1 from the Naples PD, makes a 6 figure income at the Sheriff's office and his wife is a secretary and makes over $90,000.00 from the city of Naples.

Statistics from the Labor Department released Friday: 51,000 jobs cut in July, bringing the total for the year to 463,000 total so far. Does anyone think Naples is immune to job cuts?

Beetlejuice, you're correct on all counts!

Wheather you are sick or healthy in good times or bad it seams we learn to get by. A lot of times it's not easy. But who say's life's easy , I know mine has not been and I am sure other people's life are not either.

#10 ed34145:
You are correct about the position with the title "aide" being the ones to go, and its regularly rather that oftenly.

The big bosses, like Directors, and Supervisors get to keep their jobs with the "fat" salaries and for what pupose if the "aides" have been terminated therefore these managers have no responsibilties to justify their pay. They should let go of the Fat Sit-Around Chiefs and keep the Public Serving Working Indians.

Soo, someone argued with me that cutting someone's pay wasn't a good idea. Ask any one of these folks, if they would have rather had a cut in pay instead of being laid off.
Cut the entire, Collier Counties Staff by 10%-15%. More than likely it will be temporary. Rather than let people go.

There is something wrong when a US Citizen who pays State, Federal and local taxes ( depending what state he lives in ) loses his job, drains down his savings paying Cobra benefits that run out the day before a huge medical bill hits and is totally financially destroyed. Compare this to the illegal immigrant who walks into the country and drops her "anchor" baby while receiving full medical benefits paid for by the tax dollars of the above. Why is it that the only people whining about "Universal Health Care are the people who "have" medical benefits". The "haves" always judge what the "have nots" will not have.

my cousin in England, says (besides fuel costs) universal health care is the worst thing they have.

Thirty-two jobs cut for a savings of $2.3 million averages out to $71,875 per job. Wow! those are some great salaries and benetits.

How many total are employed by the city?

Very interesting article here on city employee salaries...

http://lakecityreporter.com/articles/...

Universal Health Care = the people who work at the DMV deciding if you get a liver transplant.

What about all of the "per diem", non -union employees that the City of Naples seems to have on hand and keep busy?

I have never hard such outright lies about the Canadian healthcare system as posted here by #16 Sancho...#9 naplesconsevative...#44 Justiss1962 and #45 roadhouse

pure propaganda that comes from the AMA/insurance company lobbyists and Fox news and repeated by those that got theirs and have not faced a problem similiar to Freshface....

naplesconservative..your statement is an outright lie as it is against the law NOT TO TREAT a patient regardless of their condition...my dear friend with terminal cancer was given the best of care and medicine to keep him comfortable and he died in peace in his wife's arms..AND IT DID NOT BANKRUPT HIS WIFE for more than 4 years of intense care
as for the wealthy they will do what they want...like the rich Americans who are flocking to Asia for their operations..is this a reflection on your health care???
you certainly did not pay attention when in Canada

sancho....your statement is just ignorant

Justiss..ask a Canadian that just went through a knee replace...a hip replace and a wife with ovarian cancer if we waited that long for surgery...6 weeks for te knee...5 weeks for the hip and 9 weeks for the cancer but that included two ultra sounds..two CA125 blood tests ..an MRI and the referral to two specialists
and our total cost was $35 for parking

what a stupid statement that our doctors are average when every state in the union is up here trying to poach our doctors who are amongst the best trained in the world

roadhouse...is that any better than a pencil pusher in the insurance head office overruling a doctor and refusing the operation because it does not meet the bottom line..or the cost will impact the executive's bonus

why do you think that the AMA/health insurance companies ave more lobbyists in Washington than all the others??..they do not want o give up the gravy train when regulated health care comes in

the fact remains that the most wealthly country in the world and the only country in the indutrial world does not have any form of universal health care and 45-50 million of your citizens have no health care insurance of any kind and are suffering for it

God forbid that any of you smug people find themselve in Freshface's position or suffer a debillitating illness that wipes out your insurance cap

I have never seen so much ignorance on the subject of universal healthcare.
Keep listening to pillpoppin Limbaugh and see how much he does for you when you are broke sick and out of insurance.
And see how much our local greedball medical community will do for you.
You are all a bunch of fools.

While universal healthcare may have some problems, it's far and away better in every way than what we have in the U.S. now. ALL countries with universal healthcare have lower medical costs and healthier citizens.

Thousands die in U.S. each year because they can't afford a doctor's visit for diagnosis, much less treatment. Medicaid is usually too little, too late.Private insurance for Americans is much too costly and covers less and less each year. Insurance companines don't want to cover sick people, either.

people need to get over themselves and if they need a job with insurance, get one. McD, Walmart, etc offers insurance. suck up your pride and get a job ANYWHERE, don't cry about it.
enough with the "universal health care," we can't let that happen here.

Hey why don't we do the math, if not everyone is covered now, and Universal covers everyone, and Universal is supposedly cheaper, what's going to give? Am I not going to be able to get surgery because my condition isn't life threatening or what? Or will I have to wait 4 months longer to get surgery because all the people who sit around, do drugs, and leech off the system want to get fixed up after destroying themselves.

NeeDutz,re #41 you cousin dosn't know what he's talking about, one of the best things that we have in the UK is the Health Care system, i should know. I've had a brain tumour and cancer and have been dealth with without fault.I have also been in hospital in Naples where my care cost $20000 for a weeks stay

steve before you criticize someone for not knowing the whole story read this.
he has was diagnosed with colon cancer but the drs told him that it wasn't life threatening and to come back in a month. Time and time again this is what he was told, for about 6-8 months. hey guess what, now he needs his large intestine removed, which he is on a 6 month waiting list...2 months to go, i hope he makes it.
his wife, herniated a disc in her low 4 years ago, again not "life threatening". They gave her injection after injection because of the 2yr waiting list for back surgery. Now she can barely walk because of the increased nerve damage that was sustained due to the bulging disc compressing the nerve.
If your diagnosis is not life threatening, you are put on the back burner.
Not a nice thing to say, that my cousin doesn't know what he's talking about.

Ok,I have it figuard out. Pass a moratorium in Naples. That if you do not have the ability to at least earn $80,000.00 year you are not aloud to take up residency. That way Collier county can raise the taxes back up to what they were. People wont be layed off.

Sound like a good Idea?

But of course every one in Naples here now that doesnt make that much will just have to move away.

Will be able to cut crime by doing this. No worry about having no one with out insurance. Will be able to cut schools down. Less teachers. Close some schools, will not need them. Save on electric to operate schools. Less busses and feul cost for the schools.

What do you think?!!!!!

NeezDutz, your first entry appeared to be an 'off the cuff' remark from someone who resides in the uk, you should of qualified it by saying that they were being treated by our National Health Service and have first hand expeirence, yes indeed it is not all things for all people, but i can assure you it's not the worse thing we have, in fact it is very good. People who are not terminal are in some cases i regret to say put on the 'back burner', because there is not a bottomless pit of money and quite rightly people who are terminal should go to the front of the queue. But as in all countries we have the option of buying insurence or paying for private health care

Here is a thought, how about the city cuts out wasting millions on the landscaping of medians and roadways and then these people can keep thier jobs?

My bet is the city will run just fine with fewer employees. Just like the public sector has done. And it's about time. It's not a lifetime employment contract.

BignRich:
You are right on! And she's not the only one that got the AX for good reason. Many are "assuming" that ALL these cuts were bad. The taxpayers of Naples should be happy that some of the deadwood is getting thinned out.

Moss Base salary = $177,000.00
38% Benefit Package = $67,260
car allowance = $500.00/month
cell phone allowance = $100.00/month
Moss also gets 34 personal days
and if he leaves 6 moths severence pay
GRAND TOTAL $251,460.00/year minimim

Mr Moss if you are cutting fat let's cut fat.

There are 500,000 uninsured children in working class families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid in Florida. The working class are stuck in the middle, paying for Medicaid and Medicare with their taxes so that others can benefit from national health care, but they are left out. There is nothing okay about this state of affairs.

Every wealthy retiree in Naples is 'entitled' to every medical whim, paid for by Medicaid. They did not contribute the vast amount spent on their needs. The bill is being footed by the working class, 40,000,000 of whom do not have health insurance for their families.

If your employer cannot supply it, and the vast majority of small businesses cannot afford it, then a family of four has to pay on average $1200 per month for private insurance.

That is more than the average mortgage.

We are a magnificent nation. We can take care of our own. We will insist on it. And we will do it by learning the facts by talking about it. The insurance industry lobbyists cannot infiltrate every blog.

DIN naples .......that is a cold way to look at it. I think you know that when these folks came on board, just like a civil service career employee, the understanding was geared towards the FRS expectation of career service. Have you never been fortunate enought to reach a tenured pension? You sound like you have not, yet I'll bet you have. If you have, it was right and earned. I've read you before and you seem anti worker. Can you put yourself in their shoes? If they must go....so be it, however, why the coarse attitude that the agencies can make it without them. These are Americans, neighbors, family and friends to many. I know, strictly business.........

Instead of placing blame, try to think of solutions. If placing blame, put it where it should be.... Dr. Lee and the former Chief Morales, assistant to Dr. Lee, ran the City and put into place the mess that Mr. Moss has inherited both at City Hall and at the Naples Police Department. I know nothing about Mr. Moss or the new regime at City Hall, but I do believe in being fair and treating others the way I want to be treated and giving the benefit of the doubt. I don't believe that Mr. Moss is enjoying any part of the poor planning and poor performance of his predessors.

All of us should be doing what we can to keep ALL employees employed. We should be networking and using all resouces available to take care of our employees and our community. Mr. Moss, Be creative; Where there is a will there is a way.

Like always!. The string alway snaps at the weakest point!. Shame!!.

#47

Correction, the USA is the worlds largest 'debtor' nation.

Also #47

You have classified yourself as a 'national socialist;' familiar with that term? Nazi philosophy ring a bell to you? Even Margaret Sanger the founder of Planned Parenthood was a staunch support of this stlye of eugenics. Are you subliminally suggesting this style of healthcare? Use reason & hard logic if capable of doing such.

Tracy: Go apply at CCSO--they are always looking for experienced Dispatchers

#55 So, i would have to help pay for everyone else' insurance and then in addition pay for my own if i want the coverage that i would have now, if i were to just pay for my own?
That's my point of socialized health care.
Unless you have a life threatening ordeal, you are pushed to the side.

DinNaples, I’ll bet if your company was minus you it would run just fine to! The upper crust almost always has no trouble sticking it to those who work under them! When people start talking about cutting top government jobs the first cry everyone hears is "contracts"! I think it is time to stop giving administrators’ in government contracts, let them be subject to being fired just like every one else when they do a bad job!