It looks like we’re heading into a pleasant weekend as far as our weather is concerned. I’m hoping many of our lazy tenants and homeowners will be out cleaning up the refuse that’s accumulated around their homes over the Winter. When driving past some yards, it looks like holdovers from last Fall. For some reason, the public awareness of the state of our City’s landscape is at an all-time low.
I’ve heard from a number of angry people already who are owners of commercial property here in the City. Seems the City Assessor is back at it again with raising the assessed values which of course translates into higher taxes. As I’ve mentioned before, we have way too many people working in government positions who’re getting big paychecks and seem indifferent towards the added costs of doing business. Let them all work on 100% commission for about five years and then we’ll see how they fare with their hard and fast expenses like real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, upkeep, and so on. Kushie jobs create a blindness to what it really takes to make a living.
Not but six months ago I was in an interesting conversation with someone about pretty much the same thing. He said, “I think every government employee should be placed on a monthly pay scale that monitors the intrinsic value of work performed. If say a person just filled in a time slot for a month and didn’t do much of anything, then they should be paid a clerk’s wage for that month.” I laughed and said, “Wow, that sounds pretty radical”. The point he was making is that far too many take their jobs for granted and their production levels are not at the points they should be because they feel they’ve already reached the “promised land” of great pay for little work.
Since I worked within a corporate environment for some years, I personally saw how when some rose to higher ranks, the amount work, and quality thereof waned to a point where it actually created discord with their underlings. There was one particular manager who did little or nothing other than read several newspapers and talk on the phone to friends and relatives. I often wondered how she justified the paycheck she received every month. Perhaps she as well believed she’d reached the “promised land”.
Be sure to check out my public open houses this weekend. I’ll be hosting 2040 Hunters Ridge Drive tomorrow afternoon, and then Sunday, I’ll be at 628 S. Carolina Ave. here in Mason City. And just today, I received another drastic price reduction on 113 – 11th St. NE. It is now at $65,000.00 and for sure a fabulous buy at that price.
I just happened to get a call from someone I worked with a great many years ago. We had a good chat and we both agreed that if we knew then what we know now, there would’ve been other choices made.” I said, “Do you think we can find a time train and take the fast track back?” He laughed and said, “Let me know when you’ve found it.”
