2011 Highlights & Lowlights: Paybacks? They're slaps in the face, too.

Few developments in 2011 better symbolized the final England administration's descent into crass and self-serving nepotism than its predilection for seeding committees and boards with as many of the same operatives as possible, and then producing novel ways of reimbursing them with someone else's money -- in this case, cash tithed by taxpayers nationwide for the purpose of stabilizing a neighborhood. Featherbedding simply doesn't do it justice: Douglas England will be remembered primarily for fixes like this one. It's why he had to go.

In this November 19 posting, NAC linked to an article at OSIN (THE HOUSE IS IN ORDER: Administration defends DNA president’s NSP contract), itself a worthy expose withheld from publication until after the November election for reasons known only to Alabama pensioners and their media mavens. Reporter Daniel Suddeath provided this helpful tidbit:

(Susan Kaempfer's) contract was to expire June 20, but was extended six additional months through the end of the year. The amended contract states her expenses are not to exceed $50,000 for the remainder of the year.

NAC reader w&la then responded in a comment that many readers may have missed at the time.

Re: the $ 50,000 "remainder" salary - according to Census Bureau statistics:

"The median income for a household in the city was $34,923, and the median income for a family was $41,993.

Males had a median income of $31,778 versus $24,002 for females.

The per capita income for the city was $18,365.

About 11.4% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over."

In short, Mayor England's proto-Machiavellian "I alone pick the winners" approach to governance in the barest of breaches has enabled a mechanism encouraging too few cooks to spoil the broth. When the clock strikes 2012, Jeff Gahan will be in the unenviable of performing the cleanup.

Anyone got a bucket?