In the strange world that are internet top 5, 10, 15 (take your choice as to the number) lists, accuracy doesn’t count for much thus you have Columbia Mississippi (One of the top 10 worst places to raise a family in Mississippi) located “an hour west of Hattiesburg” with the community’s relative isolation being cited as a major reason it sucked so badly for kids. I guess along those lines it is no surprise that Bay St Louis “Located just 90 miles from New Orleans” is a “Top 10 ‘Most Affordable Beach Towns’ in U.S.” Even less surprising is the local newspaper beating it down Hizzoner’s office bearing this fantastic news and needing some official reaction so they could spread the good news:
The typical homeowner in Bay St. Louis spends $9,276 annually on housing, including mortgage, insurance, property taxes and utilities.”
“Once again, it’s a very deserving recognition,” Bay Mayor Les Fillingame said Tuesday, “and I think when you talk about affordability, Bay St. Louis should be recognized for that. I think we’re very astute stewards of the taxpayers’ money – from taxes to utility rates, we really look very competitively at those things and try to maintain a competitive structure.
“It’s very gratifying that people recognize the Bay for that. … I think Bay St. Louis is on a lot of radar screens for all the right reasons. People look to Bay St. Louis as a model in a lot of those respects and it’s very rewarding for all of us and my hat is off to the community, because we have a lot of people who work (both in public and in private) to make sure those things happen.”
I’m not sure what a “typical homeowner is” so I guess the key is in the semantics. My own anecdotal experience would be whoever calculated that was smoking some prime Colorado ganja describing $9,276 as “typical” because there are more than a few folks here that pay more than that for insurance alone. Since the word “homeowner” was used that would exclude all the subsidized multi-family housing. There are some clues in the rental market however, where a three bedroom house goes for between $900-$1,000/month. Add in a $150/month power-bill, $50 for water and an additional amount for the gap difference in insurances coverages and I come up with between $14,400 and $16,400.
I’m not trying to wet blanket civic pride folks, but making a click bait top 10 list for being cheap just doesn’t light my fire any more than Hizzoner claiming to be a good steward of the taxpayer money in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including all the burned-out decorative street lights in Old Town that comes with financing municipal operations off deferred maintenance.
Were the following numbers factored into the equation for this prestigious award:
78% of the residents on some sort of government assistance
100% of students in the local school district from Kindergarten to 8th grade on free lunch
You’re pretty much forced to operate on the cheap with that kind of clientele!
Mr. Mayor really is smoking something. But again no one said he was smart and good with Math.
Just as an example for a 125,000 home sale and the buyer has a mortgage of 100,000 their note is 567.79 based on 30 yr. 5.5% loan. Then you add in utilities, water, cable, lights, wifi 500.00, Insurance, depending on location can be 3,000-5,000 another 400 mo. and property taxes 100. That adds up to 1067.79 mo x 12 months I calculate 12,813.48. If the house is located on the bayou you would have to add maybe 200 mo. more for insurance. Now you have 15,000 yr. And this number is on the low side of living expenses. The average home is more in BSL. It is hard to purchase one for that price in town today. The home market in BSL has increased in value over the last 2 years, so that ultimately means higher living expenses and higher property taxes. What are you doing with the increased property taxes Mr. Mayor?? Maybe the DOJ will tell us…. Maybe Les needs to go back to work in the grocery store. Cash registers do the math for you.
If in fact our cost of living is that inexpensive compared to other locations, it is not because of Les Filingame!
1. Tommy Kidd–$30K for duplication of services–Political Favor Stopped by the council after the Grant he said would pay for him was not true.
2.Daffodil Farm–Boondoggle—we supply the land, maintenance and labor to receive 10% of the yield on annual flowers with a contract enforceable in Pennsylvania! The Council had to decline that agreement in the eleventh hour!
3.Dumpsters–Stupid–City sponsored garbage processing center for Main Street Businesses–Non Compliant with only one participant–the Audit should reveal some interesting info that. The Council has tried to limit our exposure to this as best they can.
4.Trolley–This is a folly–delusional attempt to act like he didn’t squander philanthropy money– when in fact there was no money and now we owe $14,000.
5. Philanthropy Money–Spent through the General Fund just like all money to insure he got paid–We could have Natural Gas Powered Police Cars, like it was intended to do, but instead nothing. Council just figured this out as he hid it from them saying it was in another account.
6.Forfeiture Money—$315,000—squandered— The State Auditors and Dept of Justice Looking for it now. As a result, instead of buying police cars we are leasing them at a huge cost to the Tax Payer.
7.State Audit–As a result of his action and lies we are paying $9,000 to find out what all he has done to break the city and fraud the Tax Payer.
8.Insurance–Because of his ineptitude we are constantly paying late fees and reinstatement fees as well as taking unnecessary risks not to mention violating insurance Requirement laws.
9.Street Lights—lost due to car accidents and not replaced because he used the Insurance Proceeds for the General Fund—Lost Assets–Terrible–As well non compliant with grant and surplus laws
10.Payroll Abuse—Council does not budget for it so he just hands out over time–family members get this as well
Does anyone see a pattern of being a good steward of the Tax Payers money as he stated in the Sea Coast Echo and the Sun Herald?
Well Haul My Honky Home to BSL- I’m coming !- leave da’ street lights on for me will ya’ Les;
Me gotts to done take advantage of dem reported, reprimanded “….ass-tute stewards of the taxpayers’ money..” home to all dem technological rapid transit trolleys, city insurance defaults, daffodildoes, political dumpsters, ElCapo drug fartfiture monies and philanthropic philanders.
Les, don’t yo’ goes no wheres and please don’t pass GO and Go to Jail Les cause me bees packin’ and movin’ “… down dere”, and like K&B, Schwegammens I soons won’t be here no mor’….
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube%ee%80%81+video+of+tv+%ee%80%80trailer+for%ee%80%81+%22beverly+%ee%80%80hillbillies%22&view=detail&mid=15A420AF497A24FAD88915A420AF497A24FAD889&FORM=VIRE9
The numbers claimed seem a bit low to me also. Perhaps they were taking into consideration that paying utility bills (water) in the BSL area is optional. 😉
If they used the same criteria for all cities polled it gives a relevant ranking. I beleive the issue is was Les a good steward of the Tax Payers Money?
A Friday diversion. While waiting for the latest filing to be posted.
Was a blog instrumental in bringing the heat on one of Texas Attorney General Paxton’s past land deals? Is anyone else important fixin to have their tit in the wringer?
The Houston Chronicle today reported :
New grand jury probe launched into Ken Paxton land deal
Ty Clevenger, a local blogger and former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer, wrote extensively about the land deal last year and sent a letter on the issue to the grand jury that indicted Paxton. Speaking from New York City, where he recently moved, Clevenger told the Chronicle he was glad the land deal was being investigated.
One of the blog posts by the local blogger was titled Conflict of interest? The Collin County DA and the Texas Attorney General are in business together, and their partnership may have diverted millions from taxpayers.
It is recommended to read the whole post and do the link clicking, and if the following brief excerpts don’t get your attention, then never mind. Did I forget to mention an alleged Ponzi and the securities issues?
If those records are correct, the disparity between the purchase price and the sales price is many times greater than what the Morning News reported. Even if one ignores the remaining 17 acres that the partnership retained after the 2006 sale, the sales price still represented a profit of more than 6,000 percent in less than two years. If you factor in the 17 acres and assume that each of the 35 acres was originally worth the same amount, that’s a profit of more than 13,000 percent in less than two years.
Just had some smoke in my eyes! Anyone else smell something?
My research has been pretty superficial thus far, but my sense of smell tells me that there are lot more financial connections where these came from. In a February 25, 2014 article, the Morning News reported that Mr. Paxton, along with three of his Republican colleagues in the Texas Legislature, had been burned by a Ponzi scheme based in Collin County. The May 4, 2014 article also noted that Mr. Paxton had business ties to numerous lawyers and elected officials in Collin County. So how many members of the legislature are business partners with Mr. Paxton? And what about another of Mr. Paxton’s close friends, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick? Or Senator Ted Cruz?
Senator Ted Cruz? I recognize that name.
Ted Cruz Didn’t Report Goldman Sachs Loan in a Senate Race
A smart couple like Ted and his wife goofed up reporting a seven figure no doc personal loan from the wife’s employer? Ok. Shit happens. It’s not like that loan would have been a campaign issue. Or a character issue. All the voters already knew where his wife worked.
A related website is BoogerCountyMafia.com.
Here’s the filing.
Alleged ex parte meeting.
https://courts.ms.gov/Images/Orders/400_214623.pdf
Each of the aforementioned parties can be seen on the film labeled Exhibit 1- Video Camera”1,” Exhibit 2- Video Camera “2,” and in the set of still images taken from the video labeled as Exhibit 3- “Still Images 1-9.”
“We all decided that we’d rather be adopted by a rich uncle than a poor one,” says Britt Singletary”
http://www.stry.us/stories/the-biggest-little-annexation-case-in-state-history/
“You’ve gotta know what’s inside the box to think outside of it,” Singletary says.