Roxyanne Burrus

Why are we as Africans Americans are often, seemingly, defending our rights as citizens and our right to have a seat at the table!!! I am referring to our new Govenor's opinion about who he selects and appoints to his cabinet. Yes, he should have African Americans on cabinet and I am angry that I have to say that. All of us are aware that there are many well qualified African Americans who share his vision. Many supported his campaign by dropping literature, making phone calls, and working in the campaign offices to get him elected. We have a right to be at the table to help shape policy for the state. We live here, work here and play here alongside with non-African Americans so we should have a voice representing all Ohioans who live here. This has nothing at all to do with the "race card" it is about being inclusive and it is about being equitable and fair. Blacks would not have to continue to complain about situations like this if we as Americans believed in a colorless society. Consciously or uncontiously, some of us do and some of us don't. So, should we accept the statement from Govenor Kasich whos says to the residents of the state of Ohio that there are no Blacks that share his vision? Was he trying to appease us by declaring February as Black history month? I don't accept his justification and I hope that the NAACP does not, either. I also pray that the Black republicans challenge Kasich. They helped to elect him to office they at least deserve his respect?   

I read an article today that infuriated me. The bottom line is ... I am ashamed of conservative America. Where have we as a country gone wrong? What happen to democratic way that says we as Americans support and respect the person we elected to the office of the President of USA.  That often means in a partisan community that we tolerate him for four years but notice, I did not say, disrespect or demean him while he is in the office of the presidency. I am an American and I was taught to respect the person , who ever he or she may be, who holds that esteemed position.

When I read the comments and particularly those coming from the elected officials who just happen to support the opposing political views, I was appauld. The elected officials are suppose to be rational and reasonable. When I read that the Minnesota Govenor says that the classroom is no place to show a video of the President... I asked myself, "what planet does he think he is on?" We live in America the land of the free..where US Presidents have been addressing school children for years. It use to be a big deal! 

So of course, I have to ask, why does it matter now, to the Minnesota Govenor. He publicly stated that the speech from President Obama would be disruptive and is uninvited? Did he say that about the former President's message to school children? How about the other former Presidents who spent time to speak to school children.. were they being disruptive, Govenor? And to add insult to injury ,according to the article I attached to this blog, a Colorado suburban mother says she feels "scared" to be in this country right now. What is she scared of and what is that all about?

This country is the same country it was before we elected President Obama..nothing has changed but the leader. So, why is she now afraid to live here? Let's get a grip folks!! 

I recently tweeted about respecting the President and I need to do that again. President Obama deserves everyone's respect. He holds the highest and most important, in my mind, office in this country. Now, I am not suggesting that we not question what he does or says...we all have a right to do in the proper forum. I am suggesting we fight for things that really matter. An innocent message to school children encouraging them to stay in school is a "no brainer' not worthy of a battle.

I suspect there is more to come....how unfortunate 

Many conservatives enraged over Obama school speech - CNN.com

The situation involving Mr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was not good for either individual because both Mr. Gates and the arresting officer reacted and responded badly. Even thought I do understand his emotional state and can relate to it, Mr. Gates should not have reacted as he did. He should have exercised more control over his emotions at that particular time. His responses unfortunately and ultimately provoked the reaction and behavior from the police. From what I can tell, it appears as though the arresting officer felt the need to defend himself and reacted in defense of Gates’ behavior. Nevertheless, the incident happened and it is now over. Is it a teachable moment? Yes, of course it is but we can literally add this teachable moment to the laundry list of all of the other teachable moments. Case in point; ask any black man if they have been stopped by the police solely because they are Black. Most, if not all, will respond in the affirmative. Young black boys live with the reality that at some point in their lives they will be stopped by the police solely because of their race.   

Now, I am offended by the article I just read about the policeman who sent the negative email referencing Mr. Gates as a banana eating jungle monkey. This policeman who claims not to be a racist, and who is suspended from his city job because of his behavior now wants to sue the city for suspending him. And to add insult to injury he claims first amendment rights.  First of all he never should have sent the email; secondly, he needs to ask himself why he got so angry about this particular case when there are dozens just like it and thirdly he needs to understand that name calling is derogatory and very unprofessional for a police officer to do. And if he gets away with this using the US constitution, I am going to be very angry. The constitution has to protect me as a black person and shield me from statements like that. 

Hopefully, the city will not succumb to the threat of a law suit. Cities have the right to discipline employees who engage in inappropriate behavior.  There are city codes, policies, guidelines that dictate appropriate and inappropriate behavior for their employees. One can not act badly and then expect the employer not to do anything about the bad behavior. And again, to add insult to injury this man took an oath of office as a policeman to defend, protect and serve the public. I am an African American and personally feel uncomfortable knowing that this police officer has to come to the rescue of other blacks. Can I trust him? Would you?

This also becomes a teachable moment for the city of Boston who now knows that they have a city employee who is a policeman who reacts in anger to situations that displease him. Now, having exhibited this behavior, and disciplining him because of it renders it incumbent on the employer to correct the behavior. 

The red flags are obvious to me. I just hope the City of Boston sees them waving. In spite of our mixing, blending and socializing we still have to learn how to respect each other.  Will we ever become a color blind society?

Boston cop who sent 'jungle monkey' e-mail sues - CNN.com

This article sparked a nerve. During the past twenty plus years I was a career civil servant and  have witnessed for too often changes in longstanding and most often equitable procedures and policies because of one or two boisterous complaints. If the system is not broken why are we changing it basd on a complaint from a few?

This article is an example of that. Someone decided that government workers should not host conferences in “fun” cities or cities that are perceived as vacation or resort areas. So, government changes their policy to say that conferences should be hosted in areas that are not considered resort or destination locations. This makes absolutely no sense to me. 

If government is hosting a conference in Las Vegas, most likely the workshops are being held during the day. Presumably, conference attendees are not constrained to remain in the hotel after the workshops have ended so the evening is theirs to enjoy how ever they choose. .  If conference participants want to explore the host city on their own time after the workshops then why do we care? What difference would it make to me if that attendee spends their time after the conference has ended in a casino on the Las Vegas strip or at a tiny little neighborhood bar/restaurant in Silver City, New Mexico? 

The goal of the government hosting a conference should be to find a location that is affordable and offers the best deal.  The only concern that the government should pay credence to is a concern about the costs of hosting the conference. And, it should not be surprise to anyone that a city like Las Vegas can accommodate large conferences. That is what they do. They have strategically designed and built an environment and infrastructure that is able to provide amenities for large business conferences, workshops and the like. And, they are competitive so their price is likely to be lower and much more attractive than other cities that are not designed or built to host large events.  

Why is government discriminating against a city because it offers fun things to do? Get a grip!

 Government Meeting? Stay Away From Fun City - WSJ.com

This article touched a nerve. The city of Marysville is apparently in the process of reviewing their city charter and the Mayor, who by the way happens to be a female,  is recommending that the city charter be restructured to create a City manager position which will replace the "mayor" position.  Now remember,  this is a recommendation coming from the current mayor.  It is obvious to me that her motives are selfless and that she carries a greater concern for her city than for herself. She feels that the mayor position allows too much political influence on city operations and that a city manager position will bring much needed "continuity" to city operations. 

Although, I applaud this womans' courage, strength and conviction and would love to market her as the "model" civil servant and one to emulate, I wholeheartedly agree with her reason.  As I have moved through my career in government and observed, researched, assessed, and interacted with many city structures throughout  the United States, I have come to the conclusion that the city manager form of government, albeit not perfect, is much more efficient than the strong Mayor form of government for probably most cities. One can probably make the case in support of a mayor form of government,  but I need to be convinced. 

If our goal as civil servants is to provide efficient service and consistent operations with a government that is based on sound principles, values and policies,  then it stands to reason that a strong mayor form of government is most likely headed for disaster.  Well, maybe that language is a bit strong, but I am trying to make the point that cities, in my opinion,  are much better off having a city manager in charge of operations.  Kudos to the Marysville Mayor for taking that bold step which she feels is  the right direction for her city.   

    The Columbus Dispatch : Marysville mayor to board: City doesn't need my job

The State of Ohio is getting a lions share of the bail out money from the federal government. Part of the condition of receiving this money is that it has to be spent within a specific time frame on applicable shovel ready projects. Given that the state of Ohio and other municipalities within the state have suffered tremendous losses, it concerns me that we may not be totally prepared to spend the bail out money expeditiously and effectively and equitably. It is critically important that we get the money out to the communities but not to just a handful of communities. All communities should benefit from the bail out money. This money is designed to create jobs so it will be interesting to see which projects are selected and in which communities the money lands.

My fear is that the staff that are left behind are not as sensitive to the equity issues as they should be. Consequently, I hope that they take the time to think through how to proceed and utilize the talent that is available to help shape this process. There are many opportunities for the state and the city to bring back the talent they let go who can help them get the money out the door.

And once that state realizes this,  I hope they encourage other municipalities to do the same. Far too often political decisions get in the way of getting the job done. Our elected officials need to focus on the task and put their political aspirations aside for the well being of the people in the state of Ohio. I want the money spent to uplift the community and not to uplift the elected offical. 

I was pleased to read the article about Chase who is now rethinking their plans to outsource jobs overseas. They now may bring some of the jobs to Columbus, Ohio. I blogged about the article and gave "Kudos to Kilroy" however, she certainly deserves more "Kudos" since she apparently stayed on top of Chase and shamed them into rethinking their outsourcing plan.  She brought national attention to what they were planning. Shame on Chase for thinking they get away with outsourcing jobs to India, in an economy like we are experiencing today. Let's hope that Columbus actually gets the jobs,  we can surely use them.

The Columbus Dispatch : Chase, city talk about more jobs for area

I have to blog about this article.  Jindel basically says that its Ok for the Republicans to publically declare that they want the the President to fail. According to Jindel it's justified because the Republicans fear that the President is going to jeopardize the country. If I had the opportunity I would ask Jindel, " ..if Limbaugh says its Ok to jump off the cliff...would you agree with him? "  I am very disappointed in comments I hear from the Republicans these days. It would really be nice for a Republican to publicly declare that they hope the President succeeds. I don't understand why anyone would wish "failure" on the President irregardless of the president's politics.  Think about it a minute-- This person leads the country so, if he fails,  then that negatively affects the American people and this country as a whole.

I was not totally happy about all of Bush's policies and decisions but I certainly did not want him to fail. Jindel, the average American is tired of the same ole politics and you are playing that same ole game.  Congress needs to take lessons from a football coach. A football coach knows how to get a winning team. Once he puts the talent in place, he teaches them to work together as a team. They don't start out that way but if they don't play as a team, they loose the game.  We could probably work miracles if congress thought that way.

This situation is far too complex for any one person to figure out.  Even the economist, the experts, aren't on the same page with how to resolve the situation. So, let's stop with the politics. I don't think that is too much to ask of the all of the elected officials who have been voted into office by the American public.

 Jindal defends those who want Obama to fail - CNN.com

Yard waste pick up in the city of Columbus is not happening! The city wants to charge residents to pay Rumpke, a private hauler, to have their yard waste picked up First of all the average citizen is going to ask the question, why am I paying extra for this service when I pay taxes to the city for trash pick up?With reduced tax dollars going into the city coffers, the city really should rethink how they deliver this service. I think it is time to revisit the idea of privatizing trash pick. I know the unions don't want that but it makes better fiscal sense to me. Columbus should look at the cities surrounding them and Reynoldsburg is one great example. Trash pick up, recycling, yard waste removal is all privatized and has been for many years in Reynoldsburg. And, I don't understand why the city of Columbus does not have mandatory recycling. They have to move in that direction if they really want to be viewed as a "green" city.  Columbus, it is not that difficult- great examples are right under your nose.DispatchPolitics : Got yard waste? Pay fee, you won't Columbus Dispatch Politics

Interesting article. It's important to sort through the rhetoric that we hear or read about on a daily basis. Political leaders are really bad at this and they have become adept at telling you what they want you to know whether it is true or not. My sense is the history professor wants to provide an accurate dipiction of historical facts and I respect his oppinion. In the end, you decide what you believe. I think I want to read his book, "Arsenal of Democracy".

Commentary: GOP's "small government" talk is hollow - CNN.com