Higher Education, Certificate Programs

"In Higher Education, More Weight Should Be Given to Certificate Programs, Perhaps Degrees Should Be A Matter of Certificates" by v. johns

When it comes to pursuing educational dreams, I’m well aware of the personal motivational implications that may or may not present a challenge to the person in pursuit of those dreams. I don’t need any lectures from so-called “Conservatives” on values and drive. What I’d like to see is a higher education system that keeps tradition at its core but is innovative and flexible enough to address the needs of those of us whose lives aren’t always so neatly ordered and perfectly primed. You may call it welfare or handouts to people who are lazy and don’t deserve so much as a leg up in life; I call it wanting a system that works and is able to accommodate anyone who uses it: athletes, people with medical problems, family problems, etc.

Like any other product or service, education is one that requires frequent updates and modifications to keep pace with customer demands. While the way we watch TV and listen to music has brought more options, the way we are educated has yet to fully evolve into the digital world we find ourselves living in. In Florida, the standard 15-week slog, found in most of our public colleges and universities, while marginally optimal for kids fresh out of high school, with no job or family commitments, can prove to be quite tiresome and unproductive for a 50 plus individual with a wife, two toddlers, a “tween” and a teen, and who has been recently laid off.

One unsung solution I see, for working adults and other people who are not able to acquire full-fledged academic degrees, is Florida’s state certificate programs. I’ve seen certificates in everything from urban planning to web design to real-estate licensing. I myself have just completed a web design certificate at Palm Beach State College, with the intention to follow it up with yet another certificate in digital media production. The idea being that these two certificates, along with perhaps a third, will not only make me more marketable to work in Florida’s on-the-verge-of booming film industry, but will also prepare me to study at Florida State University’s forthcoming School of Motion Picture Arts to be located in downtown West Palm Beach, should it become a reality.

Since I’ve essentially been unable to acquire a full-fledged degree, in any one specific thing, I’ve decided to focus on acquiring certificates in closely related areas of study as a means of achieving some significant degree of educational and vocational progress. The question is, will these certificates be attractive to employers at entry level? I’m not so sure that my web design certificate will be, because of the nature of the information technology industry, but because of the film industry’s traditionally low barriers to entry, and an allegedly constant demand for film editors, I’m pretty sure I’ll have little trouble, if any, finding work in that industry.

All this, along with the way Palm Beach State College offers its certificate programs (as a component of a degree), has gotten me thinking about whether or not degrees, themselves, should actually be a matter of certificates. Perhaps degrees should be composed of certificates of achievement. 

Consider this… When we first enter college, we are told to pick a major and slug it out over 120 hours of homework, papers, late-night studying and real-life problems in between. The result: Not many people finish on time and even more drop out altogether.

The tradition of leaving home, learning to be responsible for one’s self,  and finding one’s own way is fine, but also not very efficient at getting most people where they need to go: out into their filed BEFORE their knowledge and skills become obsolete. This is especially true in the information technology industry and is one of the main reasons why I believe that in addition to the traditional way of approaching higher education, I’d like to propose that degrees be broken up into specific, concrete, visual levels of achievement that are awarded with certificates at each stage. I recommend the following guidelines to be of concern:

• GORDON RULE CERTIFICATE: This stage of degree completion would consist of 30 hours of Gordon Rule classes, general electives, academic development classes and the opportunity for those who are behind to catch up with remedial classes.
• LIBERAL ARTS CORE CERTIFICATE: This stage of degree completion would consist of 30 hours of more general electives, preparatory electives for future major(s), and an opportunity to apply for a traditional A.A. transfer degree upon completion.
• MAJOR CORE CERTIFICATE: This stage of degree development would consist of 30 hours of any core classes pertaining one’s chosen major. Double majors would acquire two major core certificates.
• PRE-GRADUATE CERTIFICATE: This stage of degree development would consist of upper division classes needed to complete the degree, as well as any professional development classes, seminars and internships. The actual degree, as always, would need to be applied for, evaluated and either mailed, picked up by the student or presented to them upon graduation.
• POST-GRADUATE CERTIFICATE: These certificates already exist in a number of interesting fields of study. Some, however, are reserved not for people who want to start anew, but for those who are already working in their chosen field of endeavor.
• TECHNICAL CERTIFICATE: These certificates already exist in a number of interesting fields of study. They range from web design, to nursing, to firefighting, to systems administration, to real estate and range from study for entry-level employment to continuing education for those already working in their filed of choice.
• NON-ACADEMIC GENERAL EDUCATION CERTIFICATE: This type of certificate does not exist and would serve as a way for those who simply love to learn (via art classes at the Armory in West Palm, or history classes at FAU’s Lifelong Learning Society in Jupiter, or Beginning Photoshop classes through Palm Beach State College’s Center for Corporate and Continuing Education in Lake Worth or any other non-credit study) to showcase their desire to learn, on paper. This certificate would be useful to those with no formal education or those with gaps in their education, should they find themselves having to change jobs, re-enter the workforce or would like to distinguish themselves in some way to move up in their company if they lack formal academic training, or as credit for those who are attending college late in life.       

I think that some kind of enhanced state certificate program that integrates smoothly with the traditional higher education system we already have would not only allow better tracking of students readiness and success, but would lend heavily to continuity of knowledge and skill. Furthermore, I believe that even if many students are not able to complete a full four years of college, they’d feel that they have something to show for their efforts as they check the “some college” box on a job application. 

Instead of separating education and training, as I’ve previously suggested, this system would acknowledge academic training, job training, corporate training and civics as being part of what we call “education,” in a clearly delineated manner. In order for our education system to thrive, the last mile, higher education, must be flexible and competent enough to accommodate those arriving from all walks of life, not just those fresh out of high-school with parents who can pay. Even those with little or no formal education and training must feel that they have a vital stake in our education system.

It has become abundantly clear to me that Florida has all the tools it needs to build and establish a world-class education system… one that cultivates the talents of the brightest among us, but also reaches and caters to those who would like to begin their own journey toward tapping into their own genius. The question is does it have the will to put education front and center in state culture and life… Does Florida really have what it takes to refine one of the core components (education, transportation, good governance, scientific innovation) that will allow it to become the best place in the world to live, work, study, play, relax and do business?   

Common Core, Palm Beach Post

"Is Common Core a Waste of Money? " by v. johns

I just finished writing an post on education explaining my views on “education and training” and how higher education, I believe, seems to focus more on ATTRACTING the so-called “best and brightest” than on BUILDING the best and the brightest. To read this article, please scroll down….

In the meantime, I’d like to get back to doing what I do best, which is analyzing old news and attempting to persuade readers of the overall importance of this “old news” in shaping our region and state. So, for today, I’ like to discuss an article by Palm Beach Post staff writer Kevin D. Thompson entitled: “National standards for K-12 learning: Common sense, or a waste of money?” (Sunday, July 18, p.1A).

Mr. Thompson begins the article by mentioning how education standards have always been “an uneven patchwork of guidelines, varying from state to state and often confusing teachers, students and parents.” He goes on to ask the question (Please pay close attention here!): “Why isn’t geometry in Florida taught the same way it is in California?” (Thompson, Palm Beach Post).

Indeed. Therefore…

Let’s start with the who and the what. As I mentioned before I’ve noticed some things happening on the educational scene that has left me feeling a sense that great promise may lie ahead for our education systems. One of them is the adoption of the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officer’s Common Core State Standards plan. As for the when, where and why, according to Thompson, the Florida department of Education was expected to adopt the standards as of July 27 along with 22 other states, for the purpose of helping students “think more critically” and to “prepare them for the workforce” as well as to “make the U.S. education system more competitive with such countries as China, South Korea and Finland, which have long had national education standards.”  Mr. Thompson goes on to say that “The U.S. is on of the few developed countries that doesn’t have national standards for its public schools.” (Thompson, Palm Beach Post).  

Really? You know, I think it’s a shame that the U.S. always has to be compared to countries that are nowhere near as diverse as ours, but seem to function with the type of catalytic resolve in its talent and governing bodies that an allegedly fisrt-rate country such as ours SHOULD! Do you mean to tell me that as Americans, we’ve lost our resolve to maintain what has previously been deemed the best educational system in the world? If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder that the United States has not only lost ground educationally, but in every other vital statistic as well…

Perhaps the real sadness in all this is what I call the post-Johnny Carson Effect in which things that are universally familiar to most become dated, or die off, and are replaced or succeeded, over time, by a plethora of things that appeal more acutely to people’s unique personal interests and tastes. As fractured and niche-minded as our nation has become, you’d think that our educational experiences would be such that it’s the one thing we’d all have in common. Instead, we get generations of children learning an essentially hodgepodge assortment things based on often misguided state standards and tests that have nothing to do critical thinking and college preparedness.

The popularity of such blockbuster books as "Harry Potter” and the record crowds that followed the King Tut exhibit exemplifies the pent up demand for common educational knowledge, experiences and discussion that seems to have been looming over our nation for years on end in our recent, misguided “states rights” environment under flawed and corrupt Republican rule and weak Democratic party enablement of this rule. In particular, Florida’s own anti-intellectual environment is something that, while in the process of slowly reversing, has taken shape under Republican governance and must be eradicated either by threat (pressuring current leaders to actually do their job) or by force (replacing them and/or their party in upcoming elections).

Getting back to Mr. Thompson’s article, the Common Core plan was drafted in March after 14 months of responding to more than 10,000 public comments. Officials from 48 states, and the District of Columbia, “proposed changes that will require new textbooks, changes to the FCAT and additional expenses…”  As one might expect, Texas and Alaska wanted nothing to do with it. Furthermore, Minnesota and Virginia opted not to adopt. (Thompson, Palm Beach Post).

At least Minnesota and Virginia participated in the crafting of the plan. Such stand-offish states as Texas and Alaska, though excellent in their own ways, seem to have no interest in the overall standing of the Union in which they woefully reside. Their rugged-individualist culture and reliance on so-called “conservative values” put them at odds with the encroaching diversity of peoples and cultures forming the makeup of our nation. Thus, even though Florida is sometimes discussed in the same breath as these other states, as I mentioned before, we are truly in a world of our own down here. So, it is with much honor and pride that I am delighted to see our state, even if only for the money (Race to the Top), putting ideological differences with the Obama administration aside to begin correcting some of the states problems with its systems.

The article goes on to give the other side of the story. I won’t touch on them here. Just click on the link to this article and read them for yourself. Instead of addressing what I deem to be the same old tired arguments against anything new (costs, government intrusion, etc.), I will give you my overall opinion, a layman’s analysis, on how this development will help Florida get one more step closer in becoming the premiere place in the world to live, work, study, play, relax and do business… 

THE GOOD that will come of this adoption of the Common Core plan is that it will connect Florida, educationally, with the rest of the nation. With children all over the nation developing common knowledge in reading selections, writing methods and common mathematical problem-solving technologies, our children will be on par with the rest of the nation. No more comparisons with New York or anywhere else for that matter.

THE BAD? None that I can see. Although I will agree with teaching veteran Mike Dowling, quoted in the article as supporting a national curriculum, “so long as there is flexibility built into the system.” Thus, I’ll have to qualify lack of flexibility in standards a being a potentially bad thing.

THE UGLY, also provided by Mr. Dowling, is that “The recent curriculum debacle in Palm Beach County should make us very wary.” I agree. But even uglier than that is the consequences of not changing for the better will render our state as forever, though sometimes unfairly, unwitting owners of the dreaded “Flori-DUH!” label.

IN CONCLUSION…

I see the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for math and English as a step in the right direction for or state. Not only will flawed FCAT standards finally be put in check, potentially, but perhaps at the college and university-level, the need for post-high school college-preparation should diminish. (When I was in college, the overwhelming need for these kinds of classes was a pretty big deal and I’m pretty sure it still is.)

Furthermore, the adoption of a common national curriculum, I believe, will not only be immensely good for the state of Florida, but for the country as a whole, so long as foolish ideological debates on reading materials are left out of it (See Texas). A “silver bullet” for all that has gone awry in our education system, it certainly is not. But by giving our children common things to discuss and relate to, outside pop culture, not only will Core Standards serve as the basis for ultimate U.S. dominance in education and workforce development, it might actually help to heal some of the nasty divisions in our country that have fractured our national identity. At some point in the future, Ione would hope that we could address the challenges of the future, not as so-called “liberals and moderates and conservatives,” but as well-educated Americans, with the most unique most educated kinds of Americans being… Floridians!        

Education, The Best and the Brightest

"Education and Training: BUILDING The Best and the Brightest vs. ATTRACTING the Best and the Brightest" by v. johns, 8/30/10, 9:58 PM

One thing I want to to make clear is that while I support education, whole heartedly, and believe that it is the key to Florida’s future – to America’s future – I am, by no means, a proponent of elitist sentiments of education that have more to do with Ivory Tower egos than with genuine contribution to the American way of life. And it saddens me to see how education has become more of an instrument designed to acquire jobs and income, rather than of its original intent of producing a more enlightened, productive and civic-minded citizenry. Thus, I would hope that, at some point, with special regard to our higher education systems, as opposed to simply funneling and straining only “the best and the brightest” into “good jobs” or “cushy jobs,” perhaps we would instead focus the “education” portion of “education and training” on building minds, while making the “training” portion of the phrase “education and training” ever more realistically accessible and flexible to suit the needs of ordinary working Americans. This is already the case in many places, but there’s always room for improvement. Furthermore, how can all of this be achieved with regards to continuity of knowledge and skill? 

As of late, I can’t seem to get my mind off a book I ran into, while in college, that I regretfully failed to purchase when it was on the shelf. I don’t remember the title, but I remember that it listed and profiled colleges that allegedly took generally “average” students and transformed them into “A” students. And I’m beginning to wonder if colleges and other educational institutions are really serving their purpose – to educate – by going after those who, for all intents and purposes, are pretty much already educated and skilled by way of their inherited privilege or raw talent.

As far as I’m concerned, any college in this nation can ATTRACT the so-called “best and brightest.” But how many can boast of taking nearly ANY student and transforming them, via various learning systems, strategies and technologies, into the “best and brightest.” Not many. And while I respect such hallowed institutions as Harvard and Yale… MIT,.. could it be that in simply “attracting” the best and the brightest, rather than “building” the best and the brightest, from the roots on up, they are at best… cheating? Like it or not, the authors of the controversial book, “The Bell Curve,” were somewhat right in predicting the rise of an educated elite that would rule and control an overwhelmingly undereducated underclass. A nightmare finally come true, but with profound limitations, as seen in the current “jobless recovery” aftermath of the “Great Recession.” For all those concerned, even if marginally sustainable, is this REALLY the kind of nation you want? Are you even remotely aware of the bloody, revolutionary implications that such disparities present? 

With regard to higher education, in particular, there’s nothing wrong with keeping with our high-school to University traditions. I enjoyed my freshman year in college (even if I didn’t enjoy many other years after that). Nothing can compare to that first year of meeting new people daily, partying every week and constantly learning new things. However, now that I am an older adult in need of an education that I failed to acquire when I was younger, I find myself on the other side of the coin… Not young and bright, just starting out, but older, burned out, a bit disillusioned, starting over again, and often surrounded by kids in community college classes who are much smarter, perhaps, and much younger, certainly, who will be competing with this old man for a chance at landing the very same jobs.

So, what becomes of the 45-year old dishwasher with a rather meager income who, though he may actually enjoy his job, is suddenly faced with an overwhelming desire to do something else (Something in the medical field perhaps)? Without going bankrupt or too much into debt, how does he get educated and trained for a job in a field that requires significant personal and professional input to develop? What systems (support, learning technologies, etc.) are available to facilitate his success? I already KNOW the individual, personal, conservative, self-motivation answer to this question. What I want to know is the answer with regards to the overall interactive interface of the system itself. Interface and ease of use, mind you, is why Apple is such a successful company. Understand?

Since it is generally agreed upon that Florida is in need of a serious educational overhaul, I would hope that, starting with pre-school and continuing up, Florida would begin building a more well-defined and accessible educational system by establishing a civics-based education core with enhanced individual and institutional training capabilities. And while education and training go hand in hand, their roles should be somewhat separate, yet easily accessible from either end of the learning spectrum. Education should not only prepare us for the training needed to secure and manage our jobs, it should also prepare us for full societal participatory citizenship. Training, on the other hand, is -- or should be -- the specific refinement and expansion of that core common civic knowledge into actual personal, professional and public productivity.

As I mentioned before, in my brief series on Florida’s anti-intellectual environment (Labels: Education and Culture), in addition to political tom foolery, various cultural attitudes towards education and learning have also helped to cripple education’s role in bettering our lives and MUST change. Even people who are IN school seem to regard it largely as as joke, a burden or simply a means to an end (a job). There’s no sense of duty to one’s society to learn more and apply it to making our nation and world a better place to live. On the other hand, I’ve seen some foreign students, here on visas, with a clear and definite urgency to learn all they can so that they can take what they know back to their own home countries and help build sorely needed infrastructure and systems. While our kids look forward to making it big and buying more toys, kids from other, less developed countries, here on a mission to learn, seem to look forward to making their own countries better places to live.   

In the meantime, I have not only observed many poor people’s seemingly general disdain of education and training, I’ve also witnessed the so-called “best and brightest” among us drift along in frightening contentment that THEY are particularly special while others just, inherently, flop and fail. Not very bright. Furthermore, I’ve also witnessed those who flop and fail make “lifestyles” of their condition. At the heart of all this, an anti-intellectual climate, stateside and nationwide, leftover from both Bushes, that culturally, and personally, punishes those who aspire farther, further and greater, civically, personally and financially (Minorities especially). So, while I despise the arrogance of the powerful and the privileged, I severely deplore the attitudes of those of us, here on the bottom, that feed into the cycle of abuse that pits the powerful against the poor… and the poor against themselves. The poor, nowadays, being anyone who makes under $250,000 per year.

In our dumbed-down society, one needs only to look at where we are to witness what happens when education is either not taken seriously or is used to position the privileged and the powerful above the middle class and the poor. And though we’ve been here before, via the Great Depression, this time is different. Our moral core is all but gone. Sadly, the lessons learned from all this may only be short term. Furthermore, there are only so many more times in our ever unfolding history that America may be able to absorb and shake off the kind of morality-deficit induced economic rot and decay that has befallen our nation as of late. Our moral resolve has faltered to the point of Americans being against themselves amid growing corporate and political control. The greed, selfishness and self-hate that permeates our national character, and seems to be magnified here in South Florida, almost ensures that the point where now find ourselves -- a nation paralyzed economically, socially, politically and morally -- will almost certainly be revisited again.

I have no faith whatsoever in most of our political leaders. Our educational leaders, on the other hand, through the life-altering and transformative power of the institutions they command, may very well be our last great hope against permanent internal destruction. IF they can find the will to stand on a united front against the tyranny of the anti-intellectual powers that be. For us they must fight. “Affirmative ACCESS” is key…Access to the knowledge types needed to become a better citizen and access to the training systems needed to secure and manage our jobs and public duties. And most, certainly, access to highly-efficient public mass transit. Thus, in considering our educational needs, in the state of Florida, I want citizens, business and lawmakers alike to take one good look at our society, as it is now, and as they imagine where they would like it to go, to ponder this a few basic questions: What kind of people are we producing in our society? The same old people who got us where we are now? Or are we producing the kind of people, of good quality and character, who will take our state and nation into the future we believe we deserve?

It is my fear that, because of education’s high price tag and overall distorted role in our lives, the former may well be the case…

Nasty National Politics (Moved)

"Can't let nasty national politics destroy this blog" by v. johns, 7/20/10, 8:49 PM

See: The Lost Paradise Journal Edition

Independence Day Part 2

"Our Independence Day: Part 2" by v. johns

While I like to think of myself as an advocate for the poor, in a sense, I make no pretense in not liking all of my fellow downtrodden brethren. Thus, in composing this blog, I find myself fighting not only FOR the poor, but WITH the poor!

While I can certainly appreciate the actual circumstance of being poor (I AM poor!), I have failed to understand the lifestyle and social protocols that have emerged from the proliferation of the life of the less fortunate. The rich have gotten richer while the poor have not only gotten poorer, but have become more accepting of their fates. The poor no longer cheer each other on for making it out of the gutter and up into the ranks of the now nearly nonexistent middle class. Instead, they roll their eyes. Some even regard other’s fortunes as almost a betrayal of sorts.

I’ve learned through extensive reading of self-help books and from trial and error that adopting the language and vocabulary of the successful will eventually render some success of my own. I believe it whole heartedly. The problem comes when other poor people mistake my formulae for success as me somehow thinking that I’m better than them, when all I’m trying to do is to be better than myself. Jobs like mine, lowly though they be, require successful attitudes. Yet, I have been, at times, made out to be a fool for… doing my job? Speaking? Saying hello? Smiling?

My differences with other poor people have a great deal to do with the litmus tests I have failed time and again to pass. It’s no longer good enough to be poor. You’ve got to be poor… a certain way. You’ve got to subscribe to a certain mindset and actually look the part! Once differences emerge, especially differences in thought and outlook on life, be prepared to fend off gawkers and naysayers and those who simply just don’t want other people to have anything or be anything in life…

Month after month, year after year, the endless, mindless back-and-forth mental and physical posturing I have found myself having to engage in, with fellow poor people, to justify my own unique existence, and the constant focus on trivial things that have nothing to do with making things better for our country and our work and school environments, has left me with a bad taste in my mouth that won’t go away. It makes me want to be a snob about the things I believe in… Since others are so sure of what they believe in… So sure about what they believe about me…

This being America, however, I firmly believe that you can not like someone, at least initially, but still uphold their right, and yours, to a descent life in a civil society. Writing this blog is not only my way of participating in this democracy that we call America, its also my way of standing up for the middle class and the poor, not simply on emotionalist sentiment of shared circumstance, but of honor and pride and our duty to uphold the rule of law and of doing the right thing at all times. Even though other poor people have, at times, constantly harassed me, or have made fun of me for not following caste etiquette, with regard to speech, dress, demeanor and interests (In other words, they think I’m weird), I understand that by damning them all to hell, I’m not only damning myself, as well, but I’m also damning a lot of good, kind people, in between, who see character first, as I do.

I’m no Mother Theresa, for sure. I’ve tried working with kids, volunteering, giving change to bums and all the other stuff you can mention when people ask: “What are YOU doing to help the poor?” I’m just simply not good at serving people on that level. Especially, since I am one of those who are poor and in need. Also, I believe that people should operate according to their talents. Mine happen to be art and writing. So I choose to use my writing to advocate for things that are going to help the middle class and the poor on a massive scale, like mass transit, accessible education systems and government that works.

I may be wrong in my refusal to glorify and emotionalize the plight of the poor, but unlike politicians and media talking heads, I have great luxury in admitting that I don’t always like, or get along with, many of my fellow bottom dwellers. It is what it is. But considering how sure-footed some of these people seem in judging me, I think I’ll be resting quite well tonight. Yet, I’m more than wiling to fight for their right to exist, even though some of them apparently have a problem with me existing…

Though we poor and middle class folk like to sit back and blame the folks in power, in government and industry, for their mindless greed, our unwillingness to fully embrace education as a tool of the poor, and not a privilege of the rich, has cost us greatly. Our love of the exotic and trivial at the expense of overlooking the importance of the more mundane mechanics of democratic participation and civil maintenance has allowed the snakes to creep in through cracks that once were sealed… “by the people.”

Just because we are poor, or minority and poor, doesn’t mean that we are allowed to be derelict in our duty to participate in our democracy and actively plot its path. We are not absolved from envisioning the type of world we’d like our children and grandchildren and their children to live in, long after we are gone…

Where we are, right now, as a country, recovering from a party gone awfully wrong, isn’t the fault of one group of folks: bankers, politicians, company CEO’s…

The overall failure of the poor and the middle class in participating whole-heartedly in their democracy, even when things seem to be going smooth, in keeping close watch on our leaders, only when it’s crucial, our insistence on being able to “drink a beer” with our elected leaders or that they be “black enough” or “red” enough, our failure to fully embrace education or to even read the damn paper once in awhile, our incessant focus on “others” as the source of our problems, our petty obsessions with the lives of stars, celebrities and sports figures, our so-called “culture wars,” our insistence that everything be cheap, easy and free, our allowing the government to be run by ideologues, our willingness to look the other way when “one of our own” does wrong, etc., etc., etc., not to mention… the greed and corruption of the bankers, politicians and CEO’s… have all played a role in bringing this country to the brink of ruin…

The overall historical disengagement and lack of participation of the poor in shaping our true path, in recent times, has proven to be just as potentially lethal as the drunken greed and corruption of those who have slipped in to fill that vacuum of power that we have left open to them. Rather than fighting and striving together as “Americans” we’ve allowed our society, at the whim of the powerful and privileged, to fracture to the point where we define ourselves first by race, class and political beliefs.

On this day, the 4th of July, in the year 2010, let us all pause for a moment and think about all the blood that has been shed so that we can pop smack to our elected leaders and keep private power-hungry punks in their place. For as much as we’d like to believe that some “other” is running the show, if we keep on going the way we are going, letting those who use “other” to bait us into traps that steer us off of our American journey, we’re going to wake up find this worst of nightmares actually come true…

Visit Florida

"Gulf Oil Spill Tragedy Need Not Spoil Plans to "Visit Florida" (VisitFlorida.com)" by v. johns

I’d like to list some reasons for those who had plans to visit Florida before the BP / Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Tragedy to keep them intact. Here they are:

1) Florida's beaches are its most famous and appealing asset and the state is surrounded by water.

2) There’s more to Florida than meets the eye. Ask any local what the best kept secret is.

3) Many inland attractions: fruit stands, theme parks, restaurants.

4) The state of Florida is the only state in the nation with three national parks: Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, the Dry Tortugas.

As you can see, Florida's treasures expand well beyond its seashore.

Thank you for visiting Florida and thank you for helping to make the state of Florida the number one vacation destination in the continental U.S. to visit. 

Oil Spill Crisis

"BP Oil Spill Crisis No Excuse For Trashing Obama" by v. johns

As you may well know, even with national issues unfolding and having immediate local effects, I prefer to focus solely on Florida-specific issues. With news of this sort unfolding and changing daily, I’m not even gonna bother spending much time on things like the BP Oil Spill Disaster except to say… We WERE warned.

The warnings were clear, but OH NO, you –- you as in WE the American people -- were so concerned about God, guns and gays that you failed to be truly eternally vigilant and keep abreast of all the lies that the “free market idiots” were shoving past your nose and now down your throat and now onto OUR beaches. You were so busy keeping up with the Kardashians and buying homes and Hummers you couldn’t afford, all while thumbing your nose up at other less fortunate people, that you failed to see the possibility of all that has transpired thus far, including the current and tragic Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

Now that the Bush years have come and gone, NOW YOU -– you meaning “ideological purists” and those who follow you -- want government to work? Now that YOUR constituents, which you have mislead and used and lied to about government’s real role, are woefully and clearly in some real, cold-hard livelihood and culture-destroying trouble, you’re yelling and screaming for a government, that YOU have helped to cripple, to pull a rabbit out of a hat? And some of you, leaders and followers, are so shameless and vile that you only want government to work for people who look and smell and walk and talk… like you. Some of you would rather that we all ride in horse carriages on dirt roads than to see minorities, women, gays, the elderly –- you name it -- advance in this nation and do THEIR DUTY to CONTRIBUTE to this freakin' society as all are required to do…

…And this is by no means an assault on the good people whose lives are affected by this tragedy, but a statement of utter anger disgust, on my part, on how sorry we as Americans have become that we can allow politicians and corporations to get away with destroying the standards and practices that MAKE us who we are… Americans…

I’m no sage, but it doesn’t really take one to see that the tragic and fatal Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill disaster, along with its Wall Street meltdown corollary, are only, quite possibly, the beginning of a long line of free market foul ups that have threatened to undo the fabric of American society. All this time we’ve been told that the government is some big, bad far off entity with no real role in American life –- and believe me, it DOES feel that way sometimes -- only to witness the same dammed people telling us this garbage RUNNING FOR OFFICE to make careers for themselves… IN GOVERNMENT… for the sole purpose of enriching themselves and their friends at OUR expense.

Picture me telling you that the Worldwide Web or the Internet is of no value, and damning it to hell daily, while using it all along to enrich myself and gain unfair advantages over you amid your ignorance and lack of maintenance and use OF it! Is THIS what these so-called Tea Party folks want? Is THIS what the so-called “Republican rank and file” and their “Conserva-Dem” water boys and bitches want? When will we -– WE meaning “Americans” --finally realize and understand that -– at least in theory -- WE ARE THE DAMN GOVERNMENT, and that it is our DUTY, one way or the other, to remain vigilant and engaged and to ensure that the right people, PUBLIC SERVANTS FROM AMONGST OURSELVES, not simply “Democrats” or “Republicans,” are elected to CARRY OUT OUR WILL via the mechanism to enact our will that we call… government?

Sadly, with the kinds of people we are producing in our society these days –- selfish, cold, detached, desensitized, antsy, addicted, criminal, over-stimulated, etc. -– it may be untold generations before we can truly recover from the pangs of backwardness, moral or otherwise, that the Bush years hath spawned. While I’m just as miffed and puzzled about Obama’s handling of the BP oil spill crisis, there’s no way in hell I’m going to punish him for my frustration and bewilderment by voting for his opponents and detractors, come the next election, KNOWING that these people not only wish to see him fail, but quite possibly, may actually wish to see the whole damn country… fail! Such free-roaming ignorance and malice can only seemingly exist in a country as open and free as ours.

While party affiliation seems to matter less these days, it has become clear to me that not only has Conservatism essentially failed, it has become a one-way pipeline for greed, prejudice, anger and fear. While the Democrats and Liberals are not without fault, the Republican Party, and their Conservative-before-American filth, has nauseously and shamelessly allowed itself to become the party of greed, prejudice, anger and fear.Their awfully contagious “exclusive club” mentality and divisionary tactics have fouled our air and soiled our spirits.

Don’t let the corporate puppets fool you… Their aim is still the same… To bankrupt their own damn country at the expense of their own fellow Americans for their own personal gain. While I sometimes – sometimes -- trust Democrats about as much as I trust Republicans, this CURRENT CROP of Republicans trouble me and are quite possibly the most dangerous and ignorant people on the face of planet at this time. So, unless and until their party acquires the competency and tone of one of my heroes, General Colin Powell, as punishment for them, I’ll be damned if I ever vote Republican any time soon. But you can damn hell rest assured that this being “Flori-DUH,” my one, lone vote for Independents, self-proclaimed “public servants” and candidates who net under $50,000, in upcoming local and national elections, will probably drown in the same “Us versus THEM and their taxes” chorus that has been playing in this state for decades on end. God help us all…

Treasure Coast’s Show of Support for Amtrak

"Treasure Coast’s Show of Support for Amtrak Demonstrates Need for Commuter and Passenger Rail Service in Our Area" by v. johns

The only thing better than getting home and opening up the Sunday Paper and reading until you get tired is getting home and seeing mass transit news splashed across the front page. While I’d read in yesterday’s metro report in the Palm Beach Post about an Amtrak tour for state and local leaders, to double my delight in such matters, I arrive home to find splashed exuberantly across the Stuart News’ front page the headline: “Is Treasure Coast ready for new Amtrak service?” My response: DUH!

According to the Stuart News “dozens of Treasure Coast residents lined up at stops along the Florida East Coast Railway on Saturday” to get a look at the “invite-only” Amtrak train carrying “state and local elected officials, community leaders, members of the media” and “top representatives from the (FEC) railway and Amtrak” on a “351-mile trip from Miami to Jacksonville, with stops in Stuart, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach.” The trip, according to the News, was to “review the feasibility of restoring rail service on the FEC Railway.” (Stuart News, Howk).

Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero told the Stuart News that the show of support for the 11:35am arrival in Stuart on St. Lucie Ave. was the largest officials had seen since the train’s departure from Miami earlier that morning. The article goes on to say that the show of support in Ft. Pierce on Avenue A was even larger than the crowds in Stuart and Vero Beach and that it would be another two years, at best, and seven years maximum, before service could actually be restored along the FEC tracks. (Stuart News, Howk).

To read this article, please click on the online home of the Stuart News and other Treasure Coast publications owned by E.W. Scripps at TCPalm.com. See also: The Palm Beach Post. For the purposes of this blog, I would like to opine on the significance of this event and give the clearest possible picture of what Southeast Florida’s mass transit future should or may look like.

As I mentioned before, in a previous post, I envision massive train systems intersecting dynamically along South Florida’s coastal urban core to form what I call the Southeast Florida Mass transit Nexus that will culminate at a massive transit hub being built in Miami (St. Petersburg Times, Chardy) that will house and service Amtrak, Tri-Rail, MetroRail, Greyhound, etc. This “nexus” will consist of (1) the aforementioned Amtrak service being proposed that will shuttle passengers into South Florida from Jacksonville and all points south of there, (2) high-speed rail from Tampa to Orland to Miami (Florida’s Peninsula mega region), (3) proposed shorter-distance commuter-rail service along the FEC tracks between Jupiter and Miami (South Florida’s Tri-County Area), (4) possible Tri-rail expansion into South Florida’s Treasure Coast, and finally, (5) the smaller city and county-based bus and rail systems, like Community Coach and MetroRail that will be plugging into these massive systems snaking their way down South Florida’s coastal urban core toward a common point in Miami’s ever metropolilizing environment.

Can you imagine being in downtown West Palm Beach at West Palm Beach Intermodal Center and watching (1a) Tri-Rail trains pulling in from the south via Miami, (1b) “Tri-Rail 2” coming in from the north unloading commuters form Stuart, (2) Amtrak pulling in 10 minutes later unloading passengers from PSL, Ft. Pierce, Vero and all points north, (3) high-speed bullet trains blazing by on their way to Miami from Orlando, (4) FEC Corridor trains ready to shuttle you from West Palm to Lake Worth or Miami and (5) Palm Tran busses buzzing all over the place to shuttle these folks to more specific points throughout the county?  Can you imagine being in downtown Stuart at their new transit hub and having to catch “Tri-Rail 2” down to Jupiter since you missed the 11:35AM Amtrak?

To make a long story short, once these systems are built and up and running, Southeast Florida, like its larger sister region, the New York-based Northeast, is going to be ONE BUSY PLACE. And if you’re a large biotech company looking for a global hub, you’d have to be “not in the know” to not consider setting up shop in what will be, in the future, the best place to live, work, study, play, relax and do business…

West Palm Beach's Transit Village Plans

"West Palm Beach on the Right Track With Transit Village Plans" by v. johns

I’m reading in today’s Sunday edition of the Palm Beach Post about Palm Beach county commissioners’ plans to bring a transit-oriented development called Transit Village to West Palm Beach that would be located between Banyan to the north and Fern Street to the south. It would sit in a wedged area between Clear Lake (Think Channel 5 building) and City Place.

I've been hearing about this Transit Village for quite some time now. The first time I even heard the term “transit-oriented development” was at an SFECC Study meeting in Jupiter awhile back. Although the concept was already in my mind, the vocabulary was rather new.

With Martin County officials seemingly continually making plans to destroy the county’s urban services boundary (I’m not certain about this mind you), I hope residents here are prepared to embrace transit and transit-oriented development the way Palm Beach, Broward and Dade have done, because once its all said and done... We’re definitely gonna need it! I live in Indiantown and I DO NOT look forward to having to travel between other towns to get to and from Stuart. Then again, by the time Martin becomes so-called “Browardized,” I may have already moved to Broward!

So, getting back to West Palm Beach’s Transit Village, I had no idea the project was as huge as it looks on paper. According to the Post, this development will be composed of the following: a SciEnergy Center, an Intermodal Transit Center, hotel towers, an historic train station, new transit overpasses, office towers, a World Trade Center, a parking garage, workforce/student housing, and various retail outlets and shops. My childhood dream was to be an architect and to see this thing conceptualized on paper is just incredibly amazing. The graphic in the Palm Beach Post (on page 6B) is credited to Michael Graves and Associates Inc. and REG Architects Inc.

I once worked on a moving assignment through Manpower at one of the condos that sit off Clear Lake. The view, overlooking the lake and the Okeechobee Blvd. I-95 interchange, is awesome! West Palm Beach, because of its strict zoning requirements and limits on height, has a certain dynamism that even Miami and Ft. Lauderdale can’t capture because of the buildings being built down there blocking everything out of view in some cases. You can drive through Downtown West Palm Beach, on some streets, and actually SEE the skyline as you drive through there. In a sense, the city appears to be larger than it actually is. Still, I’d like to see one signature tall building emerge from its skyline that will make it recognizable around the world.

Aside from the view, the major human capital significance of this development is that it creates the potential for people with absolutely nothing to make a living from scratch. I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey, author of the Total Money Makeover. His idea of having a vehicle that’s bought and paid for, even if it’s a “clunker” holds well. BELIEVE ME: Car payments are no fun and actually impede use of funds that can be better put towards other more important things… Like FOOD. So, what’s the next best thing? The next best thing is having mass transit serve as “your car” until you can actually afford to buy one. Having no expenses related to transportation is one of the most liberating emotions one can experience. Whether you have one or not.

At a whopping price of half a bill, I hope Palm Beach County gets its way in constructing its Transit Village. While these types of projects cost mounds of cash, (1) money spent today is always better than money spent in the future. West Palm should know better than any city around. And, (2) in business the mantra “It takes money to make money” should also be accepted with regard to public matters. Businesses lose money on a lot of things that attract customers to their shops while making even more back on core products that customers actually crave.

Like private enterprise, public commons, through local, regional, state and even national government is one way that Americans can invest in their current and future prosperity. So, let’s not play this game that, sadly, the “Conserva-Dems” and the “Republican rank and file” like to play in always describing public works as a waste of money. This Transit Village will bring in far more money (tax dollars and jobs), over the long haul than can ever be done without it. Still, let’s hope that the “big-spending liberals” don’t get so happy spending it on a plethora of ornamental public works that they forget to save some of the money made from it for a rainy day…

Palm Beach Gardens, Bus Shelters, Biotech

"Palm Beach Gardens’ $500,000 Investment On Its Image as a Unique South Florida City Far From Being a Waste of Money" v. johns

I just finished writing a post on the importance of the marketing and branding of the South Florida region (Please scroll down and read it). In addition to the article in the Palm Beach Post on FPL Group’s rebranding itself as NextEra Energy, I also took note of an article regarding Palm Beach Gardens city council getting shaky on spending money to upgrade its bus shelters and simultaneously boost its image as a city of art.

I think it would be disastrous for Palm Beach Gardens to NOT invest in their city’s aesthetic qualities. With so many other South Florida cities nearly looking the same from over-development and rampant gentrification, Palm Beach Gardens actually stands out among many of them with its unique, unassuming skyline, its palm-tree hidden flyovers and overpasses and its overall visual appeal as a peaceful place that beckons to be lived in. I love driving through there at night when the bridge spheres are lit on the PGA Blvd./A1A overpass bridge. And while I like Lake Worth, I miss taking art classes on Palm Beach State’s Eissey campus. It’s smaller and easier to walk around.

I blame WPBF, one of my favorite South Florida newscasts, for all this second guessing. I like WPBF News. But they had no business, a few weeks ago, getting involved in how the City of Palm Beach Gardens has decided to spend money that can only be spent for the purpose it has been designated for… art. All they’ve done is stir up unnecessary controversy about nothing. Not like them at all. Instead of picking on pre-approved art funds, they should be going after pain clinics and corrupt state officials who seek to cripple the state’s education system just to get rid of the unions...

In my opinion, this matter is VERY important for Palm Beach Gardens. Their image as a city of art must be backed up by none other than… you guessed it… art. While “being seen as a highfalutin city that wants to spend a half-million dollars on bus shelters during a recession” (as Councilman Joe Russo told the Post) only happens once, being seen as a city of art and learning and biotech prowess must happen every day. When Scripps Florida leaves its Jupiter campus for a permanent Palm Beach Gardens headquarters across the road, the city is going to have to really stand out and be recognizable the world over in order to keep its allure and keep the biotech buzz and growth going. It’s got a good start already. Why not let them keep it up?

* * *

CORRECTION (Mar. 29): I made a mistake in saying that Scripps Florida was moving to palm Beach Gardens. Thank you Mr. Keith McKeown, Vice President of Communications for The Scripps Research Institute, for clarifying that the permanent campus is on the Jupiter side of Donald Ross Rd. and that "The property on the other side of Donald Ross Road is reserved for potential Scripps Florida expansion and for biotech companies and services."

FPL Name Change

"FPL Name Change Shows How Powerful Marketing and Branding Can Be" by v. johns

I’m reading in today’s printed edition of the Palm Beach Post (Mar. 20) about Florida Power and Light Company’s parent company name change, later this spring, from FPL Group to NextEra Energy. This in an effort to “modernize the company’s image and give people a more complete picture of what it does.” Carey O’Donnell, president of O'Donnell PR Group told the Post that the current name sounds like a “big stodgy utility” and that “the elements of branding matter more than ever before today.”

I couldn’t agree more. Which is why I’m continually perplexed by the lack of corrective visibility regarding the promotion of South Florida as a three-county urban jungle, rather than the more diverse seven-county super region it actually is. While Miami and Fort Lauderdale are no-brainers, it has taken several years and (a little train called Tri-Rail that connects Palm Beach to Broward and Dade) to get West Palm Beach its proper place in the South Florida metrosphere. So, seeing as how the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast go hand-in-hand, wouldn’t it make sense that the Treasure Coast is also a part of the South Florida region? And poor Key West… They may be in a world all their own down there, but they are the southernmost point in Florida and the U.S. Even they seem to only get honorable mention…

While I’ve observed tremendous strides in local press, business and government entities in recognizing South Florida’s true boundaries, i.e. consisting of Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, the overall push to make it official, and abundantly clear, remains to be seen by the public at large. It’s not rocket science. Regarding tourism, the idea is to get people here. They can decide on their own which county suits them best for their needs, intents and purposes.

While I’m encouraged by the NFL’s recognition of South Florida’s boundaries outside the immediate Miami vicinity, with them labeling the last two Super Bowls here “the South Florida Super Bowl,”  I’d like to see more competition, browbeating and perhaps outright bullying regarding South Florida’s size, diversity and depth. What kind of place sucks up over 7000 square miles and fails to brag about it? Compare our 7000 square miles to L.A.’s 3000. Yeahhh, NOW you get it!

Oddly enough, I think people on the Treasure Coast actually get the South Florida concept. We grew up having to travel all over the region for this and that and to visit churches and relatives and malls. It’s people in South Florida’s Gold Coast urban core who seem to not have a clue about places outside Miami, Lauderdale and West Palm. Who the hell doesn’t know where Stuart is? So, you can imagine how clueless tourists might be.

The overall point of all this is to say that, with Florida on the ropes amid a rough economy, we need to up our marketing and branding on a regional level to get more tourism dollars in our coffers. Once I’ve seen expensive internet, print and TV ads pitching all of South Florida’s seven counties, I’ll at least be mildly convinced that actual in-you-face regional governance and cooperation are at all possible down this way… 

Once Jobs Come Back

"Once Jobs Come Back, Let’s Hope Our Civility and Goodwill Return As Well" by v. johns, 3/10/10, 11:10 PM

I almost feel guilty ranting and raving about seemingly trivial issues regarding my job life when there are so many people out of work and out of luck in staying in their homes, but the truth is, once this national governmental and financial mess has finally been cleaned up, the temptation of our people to return to the same stupid habits that got us into this mess shall remain. I don’t give a crap what CNN and MSNBC say, it’s just not enough that government and the banks clean up their act, while the rest of us continue treating each other like garbage for no apparent reason other than to be cute or spread hate.

Our American culture has become rife with the types of personal nastiness and stupidity that makes serious ongoing problems like racism and sexism look like minor inconvenience in comparison. Have you ever been hated for wearing glasses or for looking studious? I have. I can count the number of times on two hands, in my entire lifetime, that I’ve actually been called the “er”-ending variation of N-word. Compare that to the thousands of times I’ve been called “nerd” or “square” or “fag” or the “a”-ending variation of the N-word out of pure personal hate and human disregard on the part of the idiots hurling those putrid insults that the losers in life often do. It just makes me wonder, with all these people with so much time on their hands to find ways other than race, religion and gender to separate ourselves and spread hate in multiple forms, where do people have the time to engage in the only nation building that counts… our own? Where’s that strong, sturdy blue-collar intellectual set from the 1980s that read the paper, watched the news, voted, sent all their kids off to college and watched their neighbors yards?

We all need jobs. No doubt about that. But if you think for one minute that economic prosperity is all there is to American prosperity, you, my friend, are a fool. Our economic prosperity begins with our moral clarity. And our moral clarity begins with us. We shouldn’t allow our fellow Americans to hate other Americans over the stupidest of things just because its the cool thing to do or the cute thing to do or because we want to feel like we’re living out, in real life, an episode of Desperate Housewives or Jersey Shore.

Once the jobs come back a new attitude must also emerge. I heard it said that, one time that in America, we are no longer our brother’s keeper. And I believe that the fact that we no longer really look after one another, unless we HAVE TO, has played right into the hands of the bozos that are at the heart of all this misery. Let’s all make sure these politicians and bankers do their jobs, but even more important than that, let’s all make sure we do our job in actually participating in our own democracy and taking care of each other through both government and private means. It’s okay to be cute. It’s okay to follow and be obsessed with celebrities. It’s even okay to notice differences amongst ourselves and revel in them. It’s not okay to allow our country and our society to fragment in so many different directions that we fail to see that how prosperous we have become, throughout history, is the direct result of our ability to supersede our fragile human tendencies for the greater good so that all who call America home will feel welcome here…

My Two Cents Part 2

"For What It’s Worth… My Two Cents! Part 2: Confessions of a Career College Student" by v. johns

Since my return to South Florida, circa 2001, with regard to work, my life has been almost nothing but an endless, mindless competition with other middle class and poor people to see who can work the hardest for the least amount of dollars, which I have already proven, time and time again, I can certainly do. When you sweat profusely, in an air-conditioned environment, you are indeed working. When you have customers asking you how much you make and telling you to slow down and take it easy to avoid heart attacks and strokes, you are, most certainly… working…

That was years ago… In more recent years, my job life has gone from one mindless extreme to another… Upon being assigned what is perceived to be the easiest job at my company, without protest, I’ve unwittingly traded in my reputation for being a very good, hard worker, with the physical power and skill to do the work of two people, to being subliminally and verbally accused of being soft or “having it made” or “standin’ around, doing nothing.” As if I somehow enjoy twiddling my thumbs and not having anything to do once sales have slowed and/or all major tasks have been completed for the day...

I’ve gone from lifting hundreds of pounds of potatoes to weighing up a few pounds of fish and shrimp here and there. There are women, where I work, who sweat more than I do. And people new to my store, not knowing my long, scrappy history at my company, eons before their arrival, have dared to write me off as being not even remotely capable of doing what they do, when in truth, I have nearly done it all… and perhaps even beyond their own capability… For, when it is TIME to work hard, no one can do it as intensely as I can.

Jobs like mine, in my industry, are not about fulfillment or prestige or even survival. They are about day to day scrutiny… whether or not you are moving around or “working hard” all day. Talkers need not apply… Never mind that I can make shoppers feel good about shopping where I work, or that I know where most everything is, or that I can perform basic tasks in multiple departments, or that I go out of my way, ditching my naturally quiet and aloof persona for one more approachable and friendly, to ensure that all who shop there, even the bums, feel welcome… Over the years, what has mattered most to some is that I don’t sweat even half as much as they do and that I get paid, just a few cents more, to do what they perceive to be as somehow less than what they do…

To add insult to injury, my refusal to use my work environment as a virtual bar, my lack of a wife and kids and house with picket fence, my inability, and refusal, to live up to black male stereotypes, and my apparently unusual friendliness and talkativeness on the job, has attracted barbs, jabs and cheap-shots from coworkers and customers alike. I’ve had to temper mindless insults and innuendo that not only question my manhood and sexuality (I dig chicks, man), but also make a mockery of my unyielding commitment to education as the basis for the life I hope to ultimately live and achieve (Go, Noles!).

Mind you, it hasn’t been all bad, work-wise. Between 2001 and 2004, I really enjoyed working for a temporary agency in Palm Beach Gardens, that has since moved its office to West Palm Beach. I got an opportunity to experience a rich diversity of light industrial jobs that were out there at that time. I’ve done everything from trimming dead palm tree fronds to assembling golf carts to moving furniture in high-rises to resetting craft store shelves to fitting plastic fixtures on metal pipes and stocking Gatorade on convenience store shelves in some of South Florida’s worst neighborhoods. While some may see these types of jobs as boring or repetitive, or tedious, I see them, looking back, as very rewarding, in the sense that once the day was over, there was always the confident feeling of a tiresome, but good day’s work. I’d give anything to go back to those days, but with the housing boom finally gone bust, those days are over and done. All I feel now, at the end of the day, which I have often been made to feel, is that while others have done all the work, I’ve done all the talking…

While it’s a common American elitist sentiment to portray jobs like mine as “dead-end” and people such as myself as “slackers” and lacking in what it takes to make our dreams come true… the truth is… a lot of people are perfectly happy on these kinds of jobs, bad economy or not, minus all the drama… and a lot of people like me, who are not, but try to be, are simply relegated to working on our truest of dreams, somewhere in the background, until the right opportunity comes along and matches up with our most optimal preparation.

I’d like to think that what I’m doing now, with this blog, is not only contributing to all relevant discourse on my topics of choice, but also setting the stage for a more important role in life, other than the one I have now. Whether it be in graphic design, transportation, or mass media, I just hope that everything I’ve had to suffer, up to now, somehow pans out into something more meaningful and rewarding, later on. There’s got to be more to life than constantly having to always prove something to other people on essentially meaningless matters in life…

Like most people, I’m just trying to ride out the bad economy as best as I can. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful to have a job. Many people are well out of luck. But not all jobs equal fulfillment. Being bored half the time or ridiculed for “having it easy” is no way to live or work… Which is why I take my chances with school. I say “take my chances” because, even then, upon graduation, there’s no guarantee of finding a good gig. But there’s always the opportunity to do so. And as I said before, education, for some people, myself included, is not simply a matter of fulfillment or prestige, it’s also a matter of survival…

SunRail, Tri-Rail, High-Speed Rail

"So-Called Deal-with-the-Devil SunRail Bill Paves the Way for a Southeast Florida Mass Transit Nexus" by v. johns

Since this is old news, I'm going to keep this post as short as possible... As you may know, funding Tri-Rail has been an issue almost since its inception. Several attempts to do so, including the creation of a surcharge on car rentals in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, that was vetoed by Jeb Bush and would have served as permanent revenue for the train, have all failed up to this point. To add insult to injury, last year, in an attempt to get votes for a similar new system in the Orlando area, Tri-Rail's fate was linked, by a few crooked Central Florida politicians, to the approval of that system. South Florida elected officials rejected the apparent bribe and voted "no," dooming both the proposed SunRail and the existing Tri-Rail into potential nonexistence. A "yes" vote would have granted Tri-Rail its funding while saddling the state with the mandated creation of $1.2 billion system for the Orlando region that it would not have been able to afford amid the state budget crisis that had, in 2008 and 2009, forced state and local governments to make drastic cuts in services and operating budgets.

Enter the Obama Administration's promise to get high-speed rail outfits up and running across the nation... Last fall, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, at a conference in Orlando, told the state's leaders, literally, to get their "act together," regarding Sun-Rail's liability-contingent approval and Tri-Rail's funding-source issues. This led Senator Jeff Atwater, of North Palm Beach, to push for a special legislative session, late last year, to resolve these issues. If not, Florida's chance at a potential $2.6 billion stimulus grant to get high-speed rail up and running in the state, would have been lost. Federal dollars, totaling $8 billion, were only to be allocated to states with shovel-ready projects and a proven ability to operate commuter rail lines. This being "Flori-DUH," our legislature's failure to fund Tri-Rail, after 20 years of its existence, has exposed, albeit very briefly, the dirty politics and poor policies that have been hiding behind Florida's governmental incompetence in even the most mundane of matters.

This incompetence nearly cost our state a piece of the high-speed rail line pie. And while the cesspool of incompetence, camping out here in our state, is quite obvious, the arrogance, greed and utter filth that hides behind it, isn't always apparent...

Over the holidays, the Palm Beach Post reported that the bill from the aforementioned special legislative session to solve Florida's commuter rail issues had passed by a margin of 27-10 in the state senate. Out of this bill has come, not only a new Florida's-Turnpike-like entity called the Florida Rail Enterprise, that will oversee Tri-Rail, SunRail, high-speed rail and other commuter rail projects being proposed throughout the state, but also the $13million - $15 million per year in state funding for Tri-Rail, which will be taken from "state fuel taxes and fees." A far cry from its $47 million annual operating budget (St. Petersburg Times, Chardy), but a start nonetheless. And as suggested, just one sentence ago, the approval of a brand-spanking new SunRail system for the Orlando area has gotten its long awaited approval...

For more information and history on this issue, and to learn why this bill is seen as a deal with the devil, please refer to the Palm Beach Post's print and online editions, with special attention to articles by Dara Kam and editorial columns by Joel Engelhardt. See also: PostOnPolitics.com...

In the meantime, for the purpose of this blog, I'd like to focus on analyzing this, and other recent developments, to form the clearest picture of commuter rail in Southeast Florida that will potentially evolve from the passage of the bill, namely, the creation of what I call the Southeast Florida Mass Transit Nexus, which I define as the dynamic convergence of federal, state and local mass transit systems along South Florida's coastal urban core. This "Nexus," upon realization, will consist of five core components: (1) Amtrak service along Florida's entire east coast from Jacksonville to Miami, (2) high-speed rail lines connecting Tampa to Orlando to Miami, (3) Tri-Rail sevice from Miami to the Treasure Coast, (4) the proposed South Florida East Coast Corridor between Palm Beach and Miami-Dade that will compliment and complete Tri-Rail service, and (5) the smaller county and city-based bus and train systems, like Palm Tran and Metrorail, that will plug into these large train systems, allowing unprecedented full regional access and mobility to occur, throughout seven counties from Indian River county on down to Monroe...

I will be delving further into this issue in upcoming posts. For now, however, I just wanted to go on record in fleshing out how I believe these systems will ultimately evolve to form a massive point of convergence and access throughout South Florida's seven counties (Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe). The result will be unlike anything in the nation, not only rivaling the systems that serve the great Northeast Corridor, anchored by New York City, but reaching the level of putting South Florida on par with Europe and Asia, in mobility, to compete for the best medical, technical and biotech talent and capital from around the world. While we Americans are pretty comfortable in our cars, trucks and SUV's, the immigrants trickling into the state from Europe, Asia and Latin America, who may be used to transit-based lives and will be fueling the next great boom in our state, just might feel right at home. In the meantime, for those of us here now, without the proper infrastructure in place for full regional mobility, we may as well be stuck in the mud. But with the upcoming arrival of the Southeast Florida Mass Transit Nexus rail corridor will put South Florida on pace to go from being a lost paradise to finally becoming the best place in the world to live, work, study, play, relax and do business...

Tallahassee to Washington...

"Tallahassee to Washington: Take Your 2.5 BILLION DOLLAR High-Speed Rail Stimulus Package and SHOVE It!” by v. johns

Dear Washington:

I understand that you are offering us $2.5 billion to build a Tampa-to-Orlando-to-Miami high-speed rail outfit. In addition to possibly returning the $256 million you gave us to help improve Tri-Rail, the state’s only existing commuter rail line, we’d also like to turn down your offer to jumpstart our economy with bullet train stimulus money. We’d be delighted to be passed up for jobs, industry and infrastructure that may be better put to use in states with their act together like California, Illinois and Texas. As a matter of fact, to show you how determined we are to not qualify for high-speed rail funding, we’ve screwed up our existing commuter rail line, Tri-Rail, by linking its funding to the fate of a planned project in Central Florida, called SunRail, that we’d also like to build, but not fund.

Letting Tri-Rail shut down and being sued by you guys up in Washington to get repayment on your investment in our train: $256 million dollars. Approving SunRail, and letting it flounder and sputter along, without a dedicated funding source, as well: $1.2 billion dollars. Allowing both of these potential colossal failures to get in the way of our bid for a Tampa-to-Orlando-to-Miami high-speed rail outfit, worth $2.5 billion dollars in federal investment: PRICELESS!

Just like you, Washington, we love wasting money. We feel so guilty about being a low tax state with no state income tax that we feel compelled to screw our citizens out of their hard-earned money in other more wasteful and bizarre ways! Taxing and spending? That’s soooo... Washington! No wonder the public is always pissed off with you guys! Let the local guys pick up the slack on raising taxes. They’re small-time chum anyway. You and me, we’re the REAL crooks in this caper.

How do we get away with what we do, down here in Florida? Well, they don’t call us “Flori-DUH” for nothing! You may be the big, bad federal government, but we could teach you guys a thing or two on how to tax people silly and waste their money right under their noses. We use creative little tools like hidden taxes, local tax-burden dump-offs, antiquated tax laws, corporate tax loopholes and poorly funded education and transit systems to ensure our citizens the most mediocre residential existence possible. Cool, huh?

Anyway, Washington, you can sue us for that $256 million if you want. We'll fork it up. And don't even bother considering us for $2.5 billion in high-speed rail start-up funds. That's just way too much to ask. This is Florida, mind you. We enjoy sending you guys far more money than we get back. We love subsidizing pork, pet projects and “bridges to nowhere” in other parts of the country on the backs of our own citizens. So exciting!

Don’t worry, after it’s all over, and we've shut down our existing Tri-Rail and doomed SunRail to the same fate, we’ll still be pals, Washy-boy! Just like old times… Tallahassee and Washington, gambling buddies and public-populace pimps forever! Take care, you guys! And send our love to all the cute little lobbyists hanging out up there! Your lobbyists are prettier than ours!

your pal always,

The Florida State Legislature (a.k.a. Tallahassee)

P.S. We really do want that 2.5 billion. We just want SunRail be considered as high-speed rail so you can pay for it and we get the credit. Pretty clever, huh?

Tallahassee to Tax Payers...

"Tallahassee to Tax Payers: Take your money and your train… and SHOVE it!" by v. johns

Dear Whiners and Criers:

We’d like express how thrilled we are that Feds in Washington have threatened to sue us for the $256 million dollars they gave us to help improve Tri-Rail service in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade. Since SunRail didn’t pass, you can all take your money and your train… and SHOVE it!

Take THAT, South Florida! You don’t need a train. You need more highways and roads. So what if land runs out! We’ll build our roads on the beach! You can still swim under flyovers and overpasses. You just won’t get much of a tan. Take THAT you bad little school kids in Palm Beach County, taking that raggedy old train to school! Too good to walk, are ya? Take THAT Martin County! You don’t need Tri-Rail extended up to your area. You need it extended up your a… I mean… you need more homes and towns and higher taxes… and stuff. Take THAT you dirty, swarthy poor people in Palm Beach and Broward! Why would you wanna work in Miami, anyway? Why not stay home and get welfare (which we are slashing, by the way). Take THAT you idiots in Miami-Dade commuting up to Broward and Palm Beach to work! That’s what you get for not moving up that way, along with the company you work for, DUMMY! Take THAT you stuffy little nurses, bankers and tech worker types… you and your stupid laptops and smart phones! These things should be used at home or in a car, on I-95, not on a train. What the hell is Wi-Fi anyway? Take THAT you numb sculls riding the train to save money on gas! The Saudis and other hostile foreigners, that have the oil that we’re addicted to, deserve to be just as filthy rich and disgustingly wasteful as we are! It’s YOUR FAULT, environmentalists and transit riders, that gas didn’t hit $5 per gallon! Take THAT, Tri-Rail! Our ideological rigidity trumps your own feeble existence. All taxes are bad. We won’t stand for a two-dollar per day tax on car rentals. A tax for what? So you can fund your little train and secure a ton of federal dollars to match state and local investment? We’re trying to waste money and give it away to our friends! Not not put it to good use. As a matter of fact, to show you how serious we are about our “no taxes” pledge to our followers, uh, constituents, we’ve begun charging a $9 tax… I mean… a $9 fee… for a state shoreline fishing license. Guess what, Tri-Rail, your piece of that fishing license pie is zilch! Zero! Nada! Take THAT, Palm Beach Post! You can report all you want about House Speaker Larry Cretul, of Ocala, refusing to go along with wishy-washy Jeff Atwater, of North Palm Beach, calling for a special legislative session to fix Florida’s commuter rail operating problems. Who’s paying attention, anyway? Special session for what? So we can show that we’re capable of operating commuter rail systems and thereby eligible for high-speed rail start-up money from Washington? Just because we’re too dumb to properly fund and operate a commuter rail system doesn’t mean we’re not marginally smart enough to operate bullet trains in our state. As long as we don’t have to pay for it or be responsible for it, we’re game. Let’s do it! Besides, we’ve already told you people, no $1.2 billion bribe for SunRail, no $256 million stay-of-execution for Tri-Rail! We lose! You lose! So, that means we all win, right?

Anyway, eat dirt!

your pal always,

The Florida State Legislature (a.k.a. Tallahassee)

P.S. Senator Atwater is a WUSS! LOL!

SFECC

"Month-Long Workshops, Held Throughout South Florida" by v. johns, 10/28/09 at 9:58 PM

The last time I attended an SFECC Study Group public workshop was in January of this year. The very first one was held in Jupiter, with the last one ending in Miami. It was the other way around this time. I’m glad I attended it. I didn’t realize that tonight’s meeting was the last one until I looked at the paper I printed off the internet. I’m not gonna go into detail about the meeting. There was just too much information to remember and absorb. But all my questions were certainly answered. Perhaps sometime in the future I can look at the plans being proposed, but for this post I’ll just look at some things that stuck out in my mind during the course of the two hours I was there…

VIDEO INTRODUCTION: The minute I walked into the Jupiter Community Center, I signed in a the table. I was directed to watch the introductory video. After the short video describing the project and the processes, half of those there were sent to view presentation boards, while others were sent to the noise level demonstration room. I went there first.

NOISE-LEVELS PRESENTATION: The noise levels of all the train technologies were compared at various speeds and decibels in relation to distance, walls and existing commercial freight trains running through the area. There was a large monitor in the middle with two high quality speakers on the outside simulating actual noise levels. The freight train sounded just like the ones that roll near where I live late at night. The presenter explained the relationships between perception and impact (noise and vibration) and assure us that with the technologies being proposed by SFECC a minimal number of people in the entire Tri-County Area would be significantly affected by noise. By law, conductors must blow their horns (2 long and 2 short) a quarter mile before crossings.

ALTERNATIVES: Out in the lobby hall, presentation boards were sectioned off into descriptive boards wrapping around four walls. The first boards I viewed describe the alternatives for transit technologies and routes. I can’t remember all the details, but in talking to Study Group representatives, I narrowed my top two choices down to options (C) which would combine Local Commuter Train With Regional Rail and option (D) an Integrated Network that would provide East-West service between FEC lines and Tri-Rail. Another option considered involved extending Miami’s Metrorail up to the Broward-Dade Line to connect to a different system between there and Jupiter. Metrorail, while carrying the most number of people of all the technologies proposed, is the most expensive option. There was another option called Urban Mobility that would integrate Bus Rapid Transit with Regional Rail. Another option called for BRT buses running along FEC tracks on concrete while stopping at major intersections. I also learned that the Northeast Corridor between New York and D.C. is only two miles longer than the FEC Corridor at 87 miles long and 85 miles long, respectively. I also learned that trains over time would be cheaper to maintain and that at crossings, trains have the right of way over cars, pedestrians and bikers. Still, the cheapest and option to build would be the TSM (Transportation Systems Management) that I was told was SFECC’s term for existing bus lines, such as Palm Tran, with improvements made to service the FEC Corridor more in depth. One couple there concerned about noise preferred the buses and was invited by the representative to fill out the questionnaire. I asked how the FEC system would work with the new Jacksonville-Miami Amtrak service being proposed and the representative said it would fit “perfectly” with that system. I was told by another presenter that a combination of any of the systems could be constructed.

STATIONS: I was shown boards listing the different types of stations such as: Event, Airport/Seaport, Town Center, Employment Center, City Center, Local Park-and-Ride. I was also shown a map closest to where I live and how a station would fit in along Dixie Highway in Jupiter. I live IN Indiantown up here in Martin, not ON Indiantown Road in Jupiter, but I do travel that area quite a bit and would be more than willing to use a station there if there was sufficient parking. I told the representative that the Local and Regional Park-and-Ride was my leas favorite type of station because of the idea that people should dump the cars and because, as I learned at the Palm Tran Service Board meeting in August, security and cars left behind only to be broken into could pose problems. An area considered near PGA for a station was of concern to one couple with regards to its relation to narrow Frederick Small Road. The presenter assured them that building a station at that point without a parking garage that would attract cars, would ease concerns there. He said that their main concern in the northern portion of Palm Beach County was the rail line’s connection to Scripps, now in Jupiter, but soon to be in their new headquarters across the road on the Briger property in Palm Beach Gardens.

CROSSINGS: This section illustrated the types of grade or “highway-transitway” crossings to be used at intersections where traffic may be of concern. The Road-Over-Rail option would move automobiles over crossings via elevated roadways. The second option, Rail-Over-Road would elevate the train tracks over a simple two-track bridge to allow automobile traffic underneath to continue to flow. While I initially favored the first option, I realized that the interruptions to traffic flow in constructing these overpasses that elevate ALL lanes in an intersection to a central point over FEC tracks, would be of concern to an area that’s already burned out with road construction. My only other observation was appearance. But now that I think about it, a low-key Rail-Over-Bridge option would look a lot better in a narrow and congested area like the FEC Corridor than would a big and bulky Road-Over-Rail overpass. Still, for some of the smaller communities that don’t wan the urban look and feel, either option may be of concern to these communities.

ENVIRONMENTAL: I didn’t spend much time here. I learned most of what I need to know, here, in an previous workshop held earlier this year. I walked up on the representative discussing items with another citizen. I learned that there were concerns in some of the minority communities about their areas having trains running by and making noise while not even being serviced with stations in their areas. The representative also said that he was happy to receive the input because it gave the communities direct say in what they wanted in their communities that would be taken into account in addition to what is being proposed. Before concluding my viewing, I told the presenter that I had no real concerns about environmental issues other than people littering up the stations.

QUESTIONNAIRE: I was given another questionnaire and asked to fill it out at the table in the center of the room. I filled out both questionnaires, mistakes and all, and handed them in to the presented who thanked myself and another lady, who was also there a long time, for staying and taking the time to give them our input. I thanked them for their work in helping to provide our region with more choices in mobility. Upon leaving I was thanked by the very same good people who welcomed me at the door.

SUMMARY: Upon leaving the meeting, I’ve concluded that the best option would be to combine the integrated network option linking Tri-rail and FEC lines with another option that combines express long-distance train service on one set of tracks with short-distance service on the other set of tracks. Buses are a waste of time in moving hordes of people at one time. The type of stations to be built are the prerogative of the communities in which they are built. I live north of these communities. No comment. Except that… I would prefer that Tri-Rail handle anything north of Scripps. This would protect its plans for northward extension beyond Jupiter and into the Treasure Coast. Elevated train tracks over intersections would be preferable to bulky roadway overpasses over train tracks. With the possibility of green technologies like solar panels and runoff water reused to water grass areas and with the clean technologies being proposed for use, the only real threat to the environment would be littering.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, while I was, believe it or not, initially skeptical of how such a project would work in such a congested area as the FEC Corridor, certainly, I’m a believer now. These folks with the SFECC Study Group have really done a tremendous job in fleshing out what a variety of systems would look like. Their work is BEYOND professional and exemplary of the way that input should be gathered and implemented locally, throughout South Florida. I look forward to the charette scheduled to be held in January of next year…

                            

"Letter to Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council" (See: Transit FL)

"Letter to the Treasure Coast regional Planning Council" (See: Transit FL)

"Letter to the South Florida Regional Planning Council" (See: Transit FL)

"Letter to a Senator About Commuter Rail" (See: Transit FL)

"Letter to County Engineer About Paratransit" (See: Transit FL)

Martin County’s Brain Drain Phenomenon

"Martin County’s Attempt to Plug Brain Drain Phenomenon Hinges on its Choice Between More Homes and More Jobs" by v. johns

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an ardent hoarder of newspapers and internet articles. I was shuffling through some old papers today (Mon. Aug 28) when I came across an article in the Palm Beach Post’s Inside Local Business section entitled “Martin seeks ways to attract, retain bright young talent” by Cara Fitzpatrick.

The Aug. 10 article, filed under “Treasure Coast Business” on page 2B (for you other newspaper hoarders out there), describes “brain drain” as “the flight of young, educated people from rural or small communities” and says that it’s a common problem throughout the country. Fitzpatrick reports that to assist in recruitment and retention of these talented young people, generally under age 40, the Business Development Board of Martin County and the Young Professionals of Martin County will be teaming up, this month, to conduct an online survey called “Next Leaders Survey 2009.”

Unfortunately, I failed to comment on this article in time to use a blog post as a bulletin of this survey, but I’m assuming the survey will be ongoing past the month of September. If not, then certainly the results will be well worth waiting for.

This “brain drain” phenomenon almost directly supports my conceptual construct of “the Regional Dilemma of Mobility” which states that “people are simply prone to mobility and will travel, near or far, whenever it is convenient, no matter how quaint the want or need to do so, and regardless of how desirable or convenient the amenities in their own city or town may be.” The lack of varied job and career choices, the lack of a diverse environment and, according to urban and regional planning expert Richard Florida, the lack of a thriving arts and entertainment scene that attracts creative types, only serves to worsen the “brain drain” problem. I believe that while Martin County doesn’t really lack and does possess small components of all of all-the-attributes-above, like much of South Florida, the overall environment of class warfare and income exclusivity detracts from the potential for a more varied and diverse setting that would be more attractive to hotshot young professionals.

While I applaud the Development Board and the Young Professionals in their efforts, I hope they will keep in mind the overall picture of retention and recruitment of homegrown talent on a regional level. A great deal of our young people are not simply, as the article implies, opting to move to larger areas within the region. They are bypassing the community, the region and the state altogether by attending colleges and landing jobs in other areas of the country. Some are simply moving from small communities in our county to similar communities in neighboring counties, south of here, to have access to big places like West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. While others who are determined to continue to reside in Martin, St. Lucie or Indian River are opting to commute to the larger areas of the southernmost portion of the region to work in their chosen field.

I think it’s a very good idea for Martin or any other community, for that matter, to want to retain young people to stay and help build their community into a better place and I believe that this survey will indeed reveal what these young people want and expect of their community… should they choose to stay. For the time being, however, Martin County’s continuing local government-enabled push toward obliterating it’s own well-planned urban services boundary - for the suspected purpose of more kicks for developers - only serves to worsen the minor, but changeable problem of retaining young talented professionals to live, work, study, play, relax and do business where they grew up. These young, talented professionals are not going to want to continue to reside here if the mechanisms by which they are enticed to want to reside here – namely good well-paying jobs; entertainment and dating; a hip, happening party scene; and a vast network of like-minded peers – are not present. So, instead of Martin County continuing to make the same stupid mistake most of South Florida has made in pinning its economy on residential development, shouldn’t job creation and business development be of prime concern now that it has been proven that the last decade of increased home ownership was a sham?

I agree with the Stuart News’s July 26 editorial “Focus efforts on job creation,” (different title online) that “Martin County needs more jobs unrelated to the boom-and-bust cycles of construction, agriculture, service.” I’m not against housing development because in attracting young professional talent to our community and retaining them, it would help if they had nice places to live, but in pushing residential development so heavily in a place that’s screaming for better jobs, where are we going to put these job centers if most of the land is gobbled up by disproportionate residential development?

So far Martin County has not only missed out on the opening bids for biotech research, that have gone primarily to Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, but has also dropped the ball in attracting a digital media arts studio called Digital Domain which was fully supported and nabbed by St. Lucie County. This, once again, according to an editorial in the Stuart News (“Martin should learn from its failure to lure digital production studio”) printed this past Sunday (Sept. 27).

In conclusion: From here on out, Martin County is going to have to make some serious choices regarding the coming heavyweight matchups between job-based growth and growth for the sake of growth. With the possibility of the green and biotech sectors ushering in a completely new type of economy for the 21st century, Martin County, green as it is, by continuing to rely too heavily on “construction, agriculture (and) service,” may put us all at risk of losing out on all the possibilities that lie ahead…