Fwd: [Vision2020] Re: PERSI REPORT
Donovan Arnold
donovanarnold at hotmail.com
Sat Oct 9 03:41:49 PDT 2004
I mean no disrespect for our Honorable Representative Tom Trail. He has done
some good work for the people of Latah. He helped save the homeless shelter
in Moscow. He helped with several bills that everyone has benefited from.
Having served students in elected office, I know the hard work, long hours,
and the fact that few care. So I don't like to disrespect people that serve
their community. Volunteers and community workers are the backbone of our
community.
So I want people to be clear that I have no personal problems with Mr. Trail
and that I greatly appreciate his service to the community.
However, I have some serious concerns that I think should be addressed, both
as a student, and as a third generation resident of Moscow.
As a Resident and former voter of Trail in the Past.
1) Mr. Trail's health is his business. However, what is OUR business is if
Trail can go to Boise and represent us. It seems to me that Mr.Trail is
always gone. If he is in great health, why is he always handing his seat to
someone else? It makes no sense to me why he is in office if he not going to
vote or even go to Boise. I certainly have no problem with him not making
every vote, but three week leaves of absence at a time when he doesn't have
health problems seems a bit excessive to me.
Second, Mr. Trail has used both Gary Young and Bob Bennett as a stand in for
his votes. Young is to the right of Pat Buchanan and a religious right
supporter that was soundly defeated after only one term in office. And
Bennett doesn't even vote the way Mr. Trail tells him to vote. This is
annoying to say the least.
Third, as a resident, I am very concerned about the lack of low income
housing in Moscow. I have complained about this to all our representatives
and Mr. Trail has not responded or produced any results.
As a student
2) Mr. Trail always promises to fight against raising student fees. Yet they
still go up every year about 10%. What is worse, nothing is done about the
vast waste, and illegal spending of the University even though many students
and faculty have been complaining about it for years. Student fees would not
have to go up 10% every year if they cut out the fat, like $2 Million for us
to change divisions. They spent millions on a new gym, renovation of the
Administration offices, and numerous other wasteful buildings before
replacing the Community Classroom Center which contained 40% of the
University classrooms. Because of this lack of planning we had to have some
classes in the Resident Halls, and the Student Recreation Center, and we had
to move offices into conference rooms in the Student Union Building to make
space for classes. We even had to have some classes in the Movie Theater.
Why isn't anyone watching the University? Why isn't anyone even looking at
what the University spends for chairs, tables, and services on campus? If
they did, they could save the taxpayer a great of money and improve salaries
and reduce student costs.
I don't think PERSI is all that great either. It is pretty much a stock
market type investment. It is supposedly secured by the State of Idaho. But
really, Idaho cannot even pay its teachers a livable wage or fund special
education programs. It cannot even pave the roads in your neighborhood.
Finally, although I understand the logic behind the 1% sales tax increase to
fund education, I disagree with that being the way to get funding for
education. I disagree with all of our representatives on this issue. I think
that regressive taxation, especially on food and OTC medications, is wrong.
Why are we giving giant tax cuts to big corporations while increasing taxes
about 16% on the poorest of the poor? This is immoral and outlandish! Taxing
the poor on their food and medical needs, not providing enough low income
housing, while cutting taxes is not the values I was raised to believe this
community supports. All this on top of a $5.15 minimum wage. This is joke.
I don't dislike Mr.Trail. I think for most aspects, he has been a good
representative, and stands correct on most issues. I also think he is kind
and there is no question of his sincerity in his dedication to the people of
Moscow. But I have grown discontent with the Republican Party, and I cannot
bare myself to vote for any Republicans his year. Perhaps if Mr. Trail would
not hand his seat over to people like Gary Young and Bob Bennett, I might
reconsider. Although a Democrat, this will be the first year I vote a
straight Democratic Party ticket. I am sick of Bush, I am sick of tax cuts
for rich, I am sick of wasteful spending, unbalanced budgets, a botched war,
my rights and civil liberties being slashed, not a single bone is thrown to
the poor, students, or other disadvantaged in the state, local or National
level. I am very motivated voter to make a change. I think many incumbents
are in trouble this time around.
Take Care,
Donovan J Arnold
>From: Tom Trail <ttrail at moscow.com>
>To: vision2020 at whale2.fsr.net
>Subject: Fwd: [Vision2020] Re: PERSI REPORT
>Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 20:04:02 -0700
>
>> Visionaires:
>>
>> Mr. Solomon doesn't seem to understand that complex bills with many
>> stakeholders involved sometimes take years to bring to a vote. I
>> started working with other legislators, teachers, firefighters, law
>> enforcement, teachers, university faculty and staff, and other in
>> 1997 in the development of the PERSI legislation. Sen. Gary Schroeder
>> who is in a better position to make judgments than my opponent, stated,
>> "Rep. Tom Trail led the charge to pass the PERSI legislation which
>> benefits 80,000 Idaho citizens." Dr. Maynard Miller who also worked
>
> on the PERSI legislation was my substitute and, of course, voted for
>the
> bill.
>
>>
>> I'm glad that my opponent has brought this up in public since he has
>>been
>> spreading rumors about my health all summer. Dr. Steven Writer, my
>> cardiologist, has given me a clean bill of health. This report is
>>listed
>> on my website www.infotrail.com/idaho
>>
>> Rep. Tom Trail
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Mr. Trail is listed as one of the two House sponsors of the PERSI
>>>>enhancement legislation. He was also absent and excused from his seat
>>>>for the three weeks of that session (for medical reasons) in which the
>>>>PERSI bill was heard and acted upon.
>>>>
>>>>Mark Solomon
>>>>
>>>>>Visionaries:
>>>>>
>>>>>In 2000 I was the House Sponsor of the PERSI Retirement Enhancement
>>>>>bill.
>>>>>This increased retirement benefits for state employees, teachers, law
>>>>>enforcement, city and county workers, university faculty and staff and
>>>>>fire fighters by 4.33% whenthey retired. Eligible employees and
>>>>>retirees also qualified for a capital gains sharing program.
>>>>>
>>>>>Alan Winkle, PERSI Director, reports that 6,744 employees who retired
>>>>>since
>>>>>July 1, 2000 have received over $259,646,550 in retirement benefits
>>>>>with the
>>>>>enhancement accounting for $10,776,090.
>>>>>
>>>>>Capital gains sharing program paid out $58,958,815 to 52,962 member's
>>>>>401 (k)
>>>>>accounts, and retirees received $18,595,719. This legislation has
>>>>>benefitted
>>>>>a significant number of Idaho citizens.
>>>>>
>>>>>Rep. Tom Trail
>>>>>--
>>>>>Dr. Tom Trail
>>>>>International Trails
>>>>>1375 Mt. View Rd.
>>>>>Moscow, Id. 83843
>>>>>Tel: (208) 882-6077
>>>>>Fax: (208) 882-0896
>>>>>e mail ttrail at moscow.com
>>>>
>>>>_____________________________________________________
>>>>List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the
>>>>communities of the Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net
>>>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>>>>ØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØØ
>
>--
>Dr. Tom Trail
>International Trails
>1375 Mt. View Rd.
>Moscow, Id. 83843
>Tel: (208) 882-6077
>Fax: (208) 882-0896
>e mail ttrail at moscow.com
>
>_____________________________________________________
>List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the
>communities of the Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
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