You can make a difference...,

November 3^rd, 2010

Dear Friends,

The Stillwater City Council has stated they will have to layoff Police Officers if forced to grant the recent arbitrators decision.  The councilors have refused to acknowledge the existence of available revenues as described in the decision and proven during the hearing.  The City Manager has directed the Chief of Police to layoff FOUR officers January 1st.  Due to three officers being deployed to Afghanistan and four current vacancies besides the four to be laid off this would drop us to staffing levels not seen since the early 90’s.

There have been rumors and misinformation that the layoffs are due to the Stillwater FOP asking for wage increases.  This is absolutely false.  In our offer to the City of Stillwater, that was eventually selected by the impartial arbitrator, our officers agreed to concessions.  Our officers all lost compensation in our proposed contract.  The “net” increase in cost to the city is $6,960!  This is due to merit steps that are part of the compensation plan that increases for our most junior officers as they gain experience.

The City Manager, Dan Galloway, is now claiming that the Chief of Police needs to find $216,000 in savings!  The huge discrepancy in these numbers comes largely from the City Manager not planning to fund programs and compensation they agreed to pay.

The Stillwater FOP has shown the City of Stillwater there is $173,000 in budgeted money that can’t be used by law to pay for a judgment against the city (see page 2).  Additionally, officers have agreed to take compensatory time instead of pay for overtime up to forty hours per year.  This would save the City of Stillwater an additional $109,070.

The arbitration ruling, quotes from Dan Galloway’s and Chief McNickle’s sworn testimony, and other information the citizens of Stillwater need to know can be found on our website www.foplodge102.org.   You will also find links to e-mail for the Stillwater City Leadership on our site.

Please take a few moments to send an e-mail, make a phone call, or write a letter to the City Manager, the Mayor, and the City Council members voicing your strong opposition to these unjustified cuts. 

Your support is VERY IMPORTANT!!  On the following page, you will find a form letter you may send to the Stillwater leadership or you may write your own. 

Thank you for your support,

Stillwater Fraternal Order of Police #102

Todd Parry, President

Please email the following message and attend the Council Meeting....     please send to

mayor@stillwater.org; councilorweaver@stillwater.org; councilorbartley@stillwater.org; councilorhopkins@stillwater.org; councilordougherty@stillwater.org; dgalloway@stillwater.org; mrupp@stillwater.org

Dear City Leader,

I am voicing my support for the Stillwater Police Department.  I am NOT in support of your decisions to lay off four officers on January 1^st, 2011.  During the recent arbitration hearing on September 22^nd, 2010, evidence was provided showing that the City of Stillwater plans to pay out $174,000 to a former officer as part of a judgment.  You have been shown on several occasions that this would be contradictory to Oklahoma State Law (62 OS 365.5, 1979).  This money is available to meet budget.  This amount more than covers the expenses from the contract selected by the arbitrator.  Additionally, the officers have given you another mechanism to fund their budget through up to $110,000 savings through the use of compensatory time.  Bear in mind, the contract selected by the Arbitrator had a “net” cost to the City of Stillwater of $6,960.  For most officers, this is the second year they have seen a decline in their overall compensation.

The City Manager and the Chief of Police both agree the Stillwater Police Department is already understaffed.  With looming military deployments, there is already a crisis of manpower without the loss of four more officers.   Here are a few quotes from their sworn testimony on 9-22-2010.

                Dan Galloway:

“I hate to say that in front of the negotiating team, but we’d love to have a whole lot more police officers than we have because of the growth of the city.  What I’d like to have, what the city council believes we should have is probably a larger police department.” 

“The economy of the country and the unemployment, when you have a society that’s restless about the economic conditions, you tend to have an increase in burglary, in theft, but also just in human attitudes.  I think that the conflict creates a much heavier demand on the police department than you do in good economic times, and so the police officers have a tremendously tough job.” 

“…it just frightens me to think that we have three officers who are going to serve military duty.  I’m glad they can serve military duty but how I’m going to cover that lack of staff hours to deliver police service to the public is a huge problem, you know.”

Chief McNickle:

“…we had five people out on light duty, we had the prospect of three people being activated for duty in the Middle East, and three frozen position, and admittedly, understaffed – an already understaffed police department, and it just becomes problematic from a whole lot of perspectives.”

“The fact of the matter is, and I don’t think it’s any secret to anybody in this room,  we’ve been understaffed for quite some period of time.”

Reconsider your decision to lay off four Stillwater Police Officers.  It is not in the best interest of my family, my friends, or my community. 

Respectfully,

(sign your names, please)

If you look closely you will see...

a problem.

Our neighbors, the Johnny Herrings, had the fire that raced across the section, within feet around their home and out buildings.. except for the front yard. The grass around their home all burned. It was a miracle the home was saved... but it was thanks to the response of the fire departments.
and as you look through the smoke on down the road, my home is about a half mile on the south, straight ahead.

I don't believe our home was ever in danger. Thank goodness.

We are fine. Jake and Trisha and Isabella live behind us, and she and Isabella were home through all this.

and yes, the fire was probably set by someone having "sick fun" at the expense of all...


I would like to make a personal note. I have fought fires, ask Jake, in my life time... with my father and other neighbors, etc.. but as I listened to the scanner, and the command units, and the responses of those fighting this fire, I came to realize how professional and how dedicated and how great it is to have these firefighters on call, and standing by. I believe it was a miracle ... and it was the quick actions of a well trained outstanding group of fire departments that saved their home.

I think we are very fortunate to have these professionals. And after Mondays wreck at our corner and seeing the aid rendered again by Perkins and Stillwater Fire Departments and the life flight out, plus the handling of the fire yesterday, nothing needs to change. The professionalism, the way they mix, the professional fire fighters and the volunteer fire fighters, I can not say enough.

Of course I am a bit biased, as Perkins Fire Department is made up of all volunteers, men risking it all on every call, for nothing more than a thank you. They devote countless hours to training, and training and training, and did I mention training?? They have to write grants to get the equipment, and Perkins FD has some of the best in Oklahoma, and they train... and train... so they can "help save lives and property", when called upon.... for not one penny!

(I realize the professional firefighters risk it all too, I do not want to take away from them at all, as I think the Stillwater FD has won an award that backs up what I am saying. They are the best in their size in the USA, according to Gene Hauf, father of one of the men serving there!)

THANK YOU, Stillwater and Perkins Fire Departments, for all you do!


Please take time when you see one to say "thank you" for your service. We are indeed blessed.

as I approached 68th and Jardot, ...

I saw they had already blocked my access to our home... but it was Deputy Rockford Brown, who allowed me to get through to see about things...

a bit more excitement yesterday...

early after lunch, I was in my office listening to my scanner when I heard the Stillwater FD get called out to a fire at 86th and Mehan Road, east of ... and about 45 minutes later... I heard the call for SFD for response at 56th and Jardot, east of. I watched as there was a small amount of smoke, stepped outside and felt the strong North winds... and of course the low humidity (We run a humidifier in our studio to keep things comfortable and it had been working all day), and our home is south of this... about this time I heard the call for more SFD units and in a bit, Ingalls, and the Perkins Fire Department, and Ripley FD was also called into action. About this time, our good friend and neighbor Jimmy Morris called and thought maybe it might be a good thing for me to get home and see about things... I headed out, snapping this photo first... and as I headed home, and was about the Rail Road Yard... half way home, I looked east and could see flames racing across the section north of our home...

The Alot is Better Than You at Everything

The Alot is Better Than You at Everything

As a grammatically conscientious person who frequents internet forums and YouTube, I have found it necessary to develop a few coping mechanisms.  When someone types out "u" instead of "you," instead of getting mad, I imagine them having only one finger on each hand and then their actions seem reasonable.  If I only had one finger on each hand, I'd leave out unnecessary letters too!

If I come across a person who seems to completely ignore the existence of apostrophes and capital letters and types things like "im an eagle and im typing with my talons, so dont make fun of me cuz this is hard," I like to imagine that they actually are an eagle typing with their talons.  It would be a hassle if you had to hop in the air and use your feet to karate-chop two keys simultaneously every time you wanted to use the shift key to make a capital letter.   Also, eagles lack manual dexterity, so I can understand why they'd want to leave out apostrophes.  Eagles are all about efficiency.  

But there is one grammatical mistake that I particularly enjoy encountering.  It has become almost fun for me to come across people who take the phrase "a lot" and condense it down into one word, because when someone says "alot," this is what I imagine:

The Alot is an imaginary creature that I made up to help me deal with my compulsive need to correct other people's grammar.  It kind of looks like a cross between a bear, a yak and a pug, and it has provided hours of entertainment for me in a situation where I'd normally be left feeling angry and disillusioned with the world.  

For example, when I read the sentence "I care about this alot," this is what I imagine: 

Similarly, when someone says "alot of _______", I picture an Alot made out of whatever they are talking about.  

If someone says something like "I feel lonely alot" or "I'm angry alot," I'm going to imagine them standing there with an emo haircut, sharing their feelings with an Alot.  

The Alot is incredibly versatile. 

So the next time you are reading along and you see some guy ranting about how he is "alot better at swimming than Michael Phelps," instead of getting angry, you can be like "You're right!  Alots are known for their superior swimming capabilities."

  

and away it goes...

and once again.. our farm, the old Stillwater Airport from WWII, served ... as a loading zone...

Perkins Fire and Stillwater Fire and lots of law enforcement responded...

Perkins Fire was AWESOME... very professional.. as was Stillwater.
In the end, a 67 year old lady got a helicopter ride to OKC... severe injuries.. Not sure about others, but believe there might have been another transported.. took about hour to get things back to normal... or more...

had an oh no at our corner east of home... Cadillac and SUV...

vote vote vote vote

you can vote today and or tomorrow ..... 


BUT VOTE!

PLEASE??? 

Halloween 2010 is history...

Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz along with Toto.... a Cowboy Football player and Tinker Belle stopped by along with Great Grandma Moffat this afternoon... and an evil scientist stopped in too... but so scared was Tinkerbell that we left him out of the photo... haha...


good time by all...

if it's a handstand, or an upside down person... IT's Madison Ann....

Happy Birthday Missy...... happy birthday to you... and many many more....

If you look at the top of the tower you will see

two men working, and the one on the left far side at the top is hanging upside down working on antenna... thought you'd enjoy knowing someone somewhere has a much more interesting dangerous job than you and I... haha... click and make big, I hope you can see what I saw... wow

World full of idiots who think they are sooooooo much better than we are..... don't realize God in his amazing grace, issued brains to we 'little folks' too!

Frankly Sir, You Are an Embarrasment

October 27, 2010 | Einar Du Rietz | Comments 1 |

Gore chooses Swedish government jet over public transportation, leaves car running while telling the rest of us to cut carbon

By Einar Du Rietz

Al Gore

He did it again.

Recently, Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore was on tour again  (or maybe he does that all the time). This time, he turned up in Gothenburg (Sweden) for the usual alarmist talk. In advance, all distinguished guests were politely advised to – if possible – use any form of public transportation to go to the event, in order to minimize CO2 emissions.

Intriguingly, the Master of World Climate himself arrived in a rental car (with or without driver is unclear), from the airport, and subsequently left the engine running for the entire lecture. That is to say, about one hour. Incidentally, local legislation prohibits – for very good environmental reasons, i e pollution – any car engine idling for more than 60 seconds. Fines are severe. As far as I know, he was not fined.

It starts to form a pattern.

After the ceremony in the Norwegian capital Oslo, it is customary that the laureate is invited to the Swedish capital Stockholm, for a cordial visit. The train ride, supposedly the environmental choice according to Mr. Gore, is approximately four hours. However, he opted for the cosier ride with one of the Swedish government aircrafts. As these can, according to the rules, only be used when a cabinet member is on board – and as the Swedish government after a short ceremonial visit – offered to fly him to Frankfurt (Germany) for his flight to the US, you can calculate both the manpower and the fuel used for this grand tour against man's destruction of the planet.

Stupidity and hypocrisy – as well as vanity – are, like it or not, common human traits. I admit to some of them occasionally, but I don't demand taxpayers to finance my stupid talks at dinner (yes, I love doing that). Here's the deal Mr Gore: get out of my way, and I will keep out of yours.

We can only hope...

A US analyst says US President Barack Obama is unlikely to end his first term as there are serious efforts by American officials to remove him due to his incompetence.

"It is very doubtful at this time that he will last his first term," Edward Spannaus of Executive Intelligence Review said in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday. 

"There are people who are upset within the administration and the Democratic party who are seriously considering how to remove Obama from presidency," Spannaus added. 

Many of them put out all their calls for removing Obama under the amendment 25th of the US Constitution. 

The amendment allows for the removal of the US president if he is incapacitated either physically or mentally. 

Spannaus also opined that people in the military are upset because Obama "is not attentive" to what is going on. "We have troops killing and being killed and he is not interested in dealing with it," he further explained. 

even in Germany... they are more employed than us... wow!!!!

German unemployment fell slightly in October, dropping to its lowest level in 18 years as the impact of persistently strong growth in Europe's top economy continued to filter through to the jobs market.

Early voting if you want, check your county election rules, these are Payne County rules..

In-person voting is conducted in the Payne County Election Board office on the following dates and times before all elections:

For Federal and State Elections in-person absentee voting will be conducted on the following. 

This Friday before the election from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
This Saturday before the election from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. 

The Monday before the election from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Stan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR PRINCESS KAITLYN

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn,

and many more happy ones too.

Love

Grandma and Grandpa Moffat

Yes, there is a reason for much happiness...

And much joy and excitement in the air...
Monday our good friend Craig Hannan takes over the reins at OSUFPP and great things are going to happen. It has been many many years since anyone as capable, knowledgeable, and dedicated to the business has been in charge!
Congrats to you Craig, and Happy Birthday to Missy, too!

Reaction to meds

Yuck

Just thinking out loud.... several state questions coming up when we vote in a couple of weeks... just voicing my opinion... we all have them...

SQ 744: School funding; vote no

SQ 746: Voter ID; vote yes 

SQ 747: Statewide office term limits; vote YES

SQ 748: Legislative apportionment; vote no

SQ 750: Petition signatures; vote yes

SQ 751: Official English; vote YES

SQ 752: Judicial nominations; vote yes

SQ 754: State budgeting rules; vote YES

SQ 755: Sharia law; vote YES -

The question would prohibit the use of international or

Sharia law when cases are decided in Oklahoma courts.

SQ 756: Health care opt-out; vote YES

SQ 757: Rainy Day Fund; vote yes

What I was hoping to do is to get you to look these up and read them and make decisions before you go to the booth...  I might be wrong.. .so read them ahead of time... and then vote vote vote......

And just saying... if you caught last night's debate between the ladies running for Governor of Oklahoma, I am sure you were as amazed as I was.

One took the high ground, exhibited leadership. tenacity, confidence, experience and knowledge and class, and the wisdom from being in the hunt...

while the other dug her heels in like an ole coon dog ready for a fight, ate up by "mad", and often could not complete sentences since she was so mad... shame. She was on the defensive before she needed to be and was always defending... and missed so many opportunities to put her spin on things, never coming up for air and getting on the offense. Poor leadership and even less of a command of where she was. Just about the same arrogance that Obubba has with folks.. talking down, and never stating any two words together that make sense. Always acting like a kid caught in the cookie jar... and puffing out her chest like an ole rooster crowing about what little she has done to try to spin it into a mountain!!

lesson one in this world, never show you are afraid, or scared, or that you are down... and never never never be the one in a debate that goes on the defense, before you know what it is you are defending... 

Again... all I am offering is my personal opinion... be it what it is... so take time, listen and see what you see, make an informed decision, and remember to vote. If I were guessing you should be able to vote on the Friday, Saturday and Monday before "election day"... so you have numerous days to "get'er" done, if not for you then for those that come after us...