The Daily Times reported yesterday that the Ocean City Council was contemplating a move to prohibit City Employees from taking home their assigned vehicles.As most of you know, we here at SBYnews have advocated this idea to be a 'no-brainer'. It was just a few months ago that gasoline was selling for $4/gallon.
I see this guy going in-and-out of the Tigermart located at Autumn Terrace virtually every morning. I'll tell you something else, I have also seen quite a few State registered SHA vehicles doing the same. Maybe it's time someone sent our Governor a strongly worded message. If he hasn't already seen the 'Tea Party' rallies held yesterday - he had better take heed to our advise and park the State vehicles.
21 comments:
Someone ought to get our County Executive to check-out all of these Shore Transit buses. I wish Rick would schedule to ride several of these routes, especially, on the weekends.
He'll soon find out that he'll be virtually the only one to embark on these journies. Everyone I see is virtually empty. He could literally shave millions.
I had one supervisor at Wallops Island inform his underling that he didn't care if he jacked the rear end of his government vehicle up and let it run through the night in order to rack up mileage.
If he didn't then he might have to turn the vehicle over to another department and then he would have to shave his annual operating budget. Better to 'burn it than to lose it'.
I'm not making this stuff-up.. .as he really meant it.
I believe that police officers should be able to take home marked vehicles. Visible police cars in neighborhoods keep things in check.
I live in West OC, leave my keys in my car, and don't lock my doors. It must suck living in SBY.
I will have to say some SHA trucks are inspectors(if you want to call them that) and don't report to the office daily so it would make sense for some of them to take them home.
Speaking of empty buses better check the ones that say "Shore Up" on the side. Are they part of a county transit?
How many people using company vehicles never stop anywhere for something to eat or drink? how about a newspaper? and I guess its not ok to make a stop and pick up something on your way home from work? And I guess if they're on their way home and they see an accident they shouldnt stop because uhoh... theyre off the clock. Give em a break guys...not all of the state or county employees are like our buddy BUBBA..lol
everyone here sees how the liberals have ruined the fed,so its just a trickle down effect to state and local jurisdictions. as far as shore transit, i agree ,lots of fuel burnt for nothing alot of times. i see some route supervisor cruzin constantly in a big ole 4.6 fuel suckin crown vic. maybe a focus would be better?
Response to BB Post:
Wouldn't it be nice to have the inspectors report to their District office first, then, retrieve their vehicle as opposed to just letting them show-up in field as they desire.
In the real world it's called ACCOUNTABILITY.
the article with comments from Dennis Dare (who I certainly do not agree with most of the time) said it well. the vehicle is a tool as well as an incentive. First of all, if the vehicle is equipped with specialized equipment including emergency lights, etc. that someone should not reasonably be required to carry in their personal auto and they are geniunely on call after normal working hours...let them drive the vehicle...it gives them a better response time and incentive to work these after hours and to get the job done quicker and get back to their scheduled time off....this says airport on the van, if the person fits in the criteria above, why cant they stop for a cup of coffee, soda, etc. Now show me a photo with their family in it and at the mall shopping and I would certainly see the point of misuse.
I do not have a take home vehicle or work for any government, but I try to have a realistic approach to things. I also recently had a job interview where my potential employer discussed "extra" things like cell phones, laptops, etc that I had the choice...take a higher salary or take these things. Take that into consideration with vehicles...I think another thing that Mr. Dare was saying by getting rid of cars by attrition....if you are making $30,000 year and have a vehicle provided, when they take away the vehicle is the person going to get a raise? probably not....again try to balance the budget on everyones back not just single out those with vehicles or cell phones, etc. That is what I do not understand either about the board of ed in Worcester County. They comment to make priorities. From the articles it stated that two departmetns cut deep into their budget, why can't the Board of Ed at least try to cut something instead of sticking up their noses to the County Commissioners, 5% should have been tried. again, something called teamwork goes a long way. Thank you for allowing me to comment
Will Smith
9:04 pm - Are you kidding, OUR County Executive check out a bus? About the only thing he's gonna check out is what's on the table for the next meal. He's about useless.
With everyone focused on the fuel usage by these goverment employees I would think a larger expense is the possible insurance liability using these vehicles and I am sure their premiums would drop if the vehicle was only used for their job. Also I see a SHA pickup with a tag no. 77777 doing at least 70+ in the afternoon heading down Rt.50 towards Mardela. This individual not only wastes gas but the insurance risk of this idiot to taxpayers has to be extremely high!
Has the Chief ever responded to a crime scene? I seriously doubt he's ever responded to anything after he's home and comfy, leadfoot needs to give up his car.
Is it possible to track exactly what kind of milage is put on that particular vehicle yearly and can an evaluation of gasoline consumption be calculated? Maybe Cathcart can figure that out, he likes numbers and higher taxes?
Tax Guy - Yup it does suck to live in Salisbury. Thanks mayor Tilghman
821...It is very possible to track vehicle usage. Time, date, speed, anything you want...right down to the oil temp of the vehicle. I have seen many demos of it in the past couple of years. In fact, if the right people want it, the gps coords can be fed to a google map online and everyone in the world can monitor the info. The technology has been there for many years and can be demoed at anytime. That is if they wanted to.
dogg
I read in the dispatch that they are only doing this for people who live over 15 miles from Ocean City and the K9 cops get to keep there cars. This makes no sense. WHy do they get to keep there cars and why would anyone who lives over 15 miles from there have a car anyway. Makes no sense.
Ocean City employs the GPS system on their transit buses.
The person who took the time to take the photo of the OC vehicle should realize that OC is funded primarily by property owners that don't live there. Their budget is of no consequence to most people in this area. If you feel the need to gripe about personal use of government vehicles, take a look at the Government vehicles at the State credit union or at UMES in Princess Anne in the morning stopping for a free breakfast in the cafeteria.
Food for thought - Lots of the decisions on vehicle useage come down to taxes and services. All employees that use employer vehicles are taxed for that use as income (IRS says an employee using an employer vehicle must provide his/her daily commute miles and that mileage is converted to $dollars$ and they must pay income tax on that benefit). There are some exceptions, but they are few. Typically these are people who do not always go to the office (as was already noted) or who have to respond to calls (emergency or not) during off hours. For those who have to respond after hours, an employer has to reimburse them for their mileage for those calls anyway, so it is not at all clear that it is cheaper to make people use their own cars (IRS reimbursement rate is 55 cents per mile and most companies can operate a car for less than that rate).
In addition, the EPA encourages employers to consider which method burns less fuel and to adopt that method. In other words if the employee commutes from Mardela to Salisbury and then gets the company car and goes to Cambridge, EPA would prefer that the employee have a company car to take home because it reduces overall fuel consumption and pollution by reducing the overall miles traveled by the employee.
Regardless of all this, it is not a freebie for the employee, and typically (especially for government) the insurance rate is not affected by this because any car used by employees is considered high risk and the premium is set accordingly. State government is self insured and so there is not a premium difference.
I wholeheartedly agree that police officers should have use of their vehicles in off hours. Not only as a perk, but so that they can be available to address issues 24/7.
Quoted above: "....if you are making $30,000 year and have a vehicle provided, when they take away the vehicle is the person going to get a raise? probably not..."
County and City government employees are some of the best, if not the best paid employees on the Shore. They typically have the best pensions and healthcare benefits. They typically have the best job security, especially now.
Give me a break. If employees want a "raise," let them risk their own capital and open their own business. If you do that and are successful you can give/pay yourself all the perks you want and all of the "raises" you can stand.
hey tax guy! i am sure your car insurance provider will love it when they do steal your car and you report it to them tell them you left the keys in the ignition and unlocked.do not forget leave your wallet and credit cards on the frt seat too.
First off, NO-ONE in Ocean City makes 30,000! Did you see the report how many making over $100,000 have take home vehicles? The van in this photo is the airport manager racking up 20,000 miles a year. How about the two in solid waste, thats trash collection to normal folks .... one makes over 100,000, add another 35,000 in benefits, now he really needs another perk to drive back and forth to Snow Hill. EVERY department head makes between $125 - $150k including benefits, thats simply insane. I loved Dennis"s remove through "atricion", what a joke! He knows it's wrong now, but lord knows dont take action untill later. Government at it's best. I agree SOME police need them, but I know of half the "responders" that NEVER go back to town.
11:27 AMEN! You seem to know the facts. Don't forget the ones in public works construction, that never come in. I am ok with some cops, but 11 detectives? Don't they resond after the crime? Dennis Dare, thats why they are in the mess to begin with. When the crash arrives, he will be long gone.He's a self serving litte squirt.
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