¢ents & $ensibility: Alachua County’s Budget in Eight Chapters
Press release from Alachua County
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – With all the discussion happening across Florida about local government budgets, Alachua County is joining the conversation through this series: Cents & Sensibility: Alachua County’s Budget in Eight Chapters.
This series breaks down how the County budget really works, where the money comes from, how it’s used, and how decisions are made that affect daily life in our community. Each chapter explains one piece of the budget puzzle in clear, practical terms, because understanding your local government’s finances shouldn’t require a finance degree.
Chapter One: How You Shape the County Budget
Alachua County’s budget isn’t just a list of numbers; it’s a reflection of our community’s priorities and values. When residents take part in meetings and workshops, email commissioners, join advisory boards, or share feedback through surveys, they help shape the programs and services that matter most.
I stopped reading Chapter One after the second sentence. It claims that the budget is shaped by citizen involvement. That’s BS, I have participated in public comments, and watched countless meetings. The Commission is not swayed but opposing viewpoints, even when significant numbers of people attend. They made up their mind before the meeting.
They cancelled call-in comments, which impacts citizens who can not drive or have no means to leave their house or take time off work to sit for endless hours until public comments can be spoken.
Chapter One, sentence two, sets the plot for this fictional novel of how the budget is set and spent.
You poor thing! You mean you spoke at a public meeting and the commissioners didn’t follow your advice? Outrageous! You know I send letters to Kat – she’s afraid to have public meetings in Gainesville, her largest city – and she always does exactly what I ask.
NOT!!
Participatory democracy doesn’t mean each of us is an autocratic king, it means we don’t have any kings.
As noted in the chapter printed, there are numerous advisory boards as well as boards with decisive powers, meetings of specialized committees, and meetings for various milestones along the path to budget approval at which you could do the hardwork of showing up, shooting off your mouth, and scheduling the next meeting to do the sae again.
That is not true. Citizens can still call in at 12pm during public comments at General Board meetings.
Grimm’s fair tales revised–grimmer than ever. “Alachua County’s budget is like a community potluck”–everyone with anything is forced to contribute, but the commission distributes the grub like they brought it all.
How much time and money was spent on this propaganda?
Hmmmmm. It MUST be a coincidence that this comes out after the state DOGE evaluation. I could NEVER imagine the county doing something devious like manufacturing propaganda to mount a defense of their wanton waste. I wonder how much this cost us?