We learned from the debate opening and her own campaign website that DebFEE is still in school. That is good because her math is awful. Another example of not being ready for the day-to-day responsibilities of running county government, let alone questioning her abilities to manage a smallish city.

DebFEE opined that the County would do well to adopt the employment ratios of Summit County (and later the governmental structure).

Sutherland pushes county streamlining plan

By JAY MILLER

2:47 pm, June 11, 2008

Bay Village Mayor Debbie Sutherland kicked off her campaign ... by saying that she has a plan that could save
county government $75 million and cut nearly 650 workers from the
county payroll. Mayor Sutherland, a Republican who is running against Democratic
incumbent Peter Lawson Jones in November, said the savings would come
from adopting a county governing structure similar to what Summit
County has adopted.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20080611/FREE/632536550/1008/

One is wondering why the Summit model is suddenly en vogue. It is hardly an original thought as the County GOP tried in 2004 to change Cuyahoga government structure with a wonderfully thought out charter that simply removed the word Summit and replaced it with Cuyahoga throughout the Summit County charter. It failed miserably.

While Summit county does fare well on paper when looking at Budget $ and FTE's per capita when compared to other large counties of Ohio. They also are only about 1/3 the size of Cuyahoga. What this does do is represents a "straw man" illogical arguement which is transparent and sophomoric in comparison to the real needs in Cuyahoga County.

Current Cuyahoga County budget targets are for at least 1,100 employees to be eliminated over the next year. The previous early retirement program instituted in 2001 trimmed nearly 1,000 FTE's off the public roles and saved approximately $170 M dollars.

So DebFEE is WAY OFF!

But here is where her math skills (or lack thereof) gets her into trouble.

Cuyahoga County has 1.3 million people, 9,395 FTE's and a budget of $1.432 billion dollars. That comes to $1,105/per capita and .007 FTE's per capita.

City of Bay Village, by her own accounting on her campaign website (although she needs to update the populations losses of her own city) has 14,976 people a budget of $24 million and 150 FTE's (more with summer help - another 9 FTE's or so). That would make Bay's per capita budget spending $1,200 per capita and .010 FTE's per capita. Those are both HIGHER THAN CUYAHOGA COUNTY!

BUDGET

FRANKLIN CO. $1,304 per capita

HAMILTON CO. $1,399 per capita

CUYAHOGA CO. $1,105 per capita

BAY VILLAGE $1,600 per capita

FTE's

FRANKLIN CO. .006

HAMILTON CO. .0074

CUYAHOGA CO. .00725

BAY VILLAGE .010

In context, the numbers being bandied about have Bay Village far out of the norm, not Cuyahoga County. SHAME ON YOU DebFEE! Looks like you are flunking out of school. Make sure your Public administration professors don't find. You might get kicked out.

And what about the patronage of summer jobs at Bay City Hall? We will save that for another installment.