U.S. Latinos: Food Insecurity

December 20, 2006 Leave a comment

As reported by the
BBC and based recent studies: 

Latinos are the biggest single minority group in the United States.

The study said the “food insecurity” rate of Hispanics is nearly as high as that of non-Hispanic blacks.

It is substantially greater than that of non-Hispanic
whites, of whom only about 5% suffer from limited access to nutritious
food, according to US government statistics.

“Lack of access to resources is forcing far too many
Latino families into choices no-one should have to make, such as
between having a roof over their heads or putting food on the table,”
said Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO.

“A lack of affordable, nutritious food also has
devastating health consequences, such as increasing hunger and obesity,
affecting not only the Latino community, but the well-being of our
entire nation.”

One of the authors of the study, Jennifer Ng’andu, said
the Latino community was “practically invisible” when it came to the
issues of hunger and malnutrition in the US.

Filed under Government

Coral Gables Annual Report

November 2, 2006 Leave a comment

Coral Gables commissioner: Annual report `a royal waste’

One of the City Commissioners, Mr. Ralph Cabrera, opposes the publication of the Annual Report of the City of Coral Gables.

”I thought the funds could be better used someplace else, like traffic calming or sidewalk repairs,” Cabrera said. “This is a royal waste of money.”

It is very unusual that the term “annual report” of a company or city would be applied to a document that does not include information on the financial management of the city and an auditor’s report. Many modern cities are making a special effort to supply city financial data to the citizens, and in this case, the City Commission and City Manager have missed an opportunity to increase citizen participation and knowledge of where taxes are going.

Filed under Coral Gables, Government

Investigation in Building and Zoning Department

October 14, 2006 1 Comment

Somewhat usefully description of the ongoing investigation into the possible misuse of funds and staff time in the Coral Gables’ Department of Building and Zoning, senior management response planned and Commission concerns and proposals. Clearly, this is a great opportunity to evaluate and strength management and the quality of services to the public, whether they be contractors (small and large), individual residents or major developers.

Filed under Coral Gables, Government

Unfunded Obligations

October 12, 2006 Leave a comment

The City of Coral Gables has many financial issues for the future that are being experienced in nearly all cities and towns in the U.S., especially unfunded pensions and health benefits. Commentary in the Wall Street Journal today helps understand this huge overhanging local debt in U.S. that will have to paid in the future at a cost in reduced services and increased taxes (or both).

State and local governments are amassing huge obligations in the form of unfunded retirement benefits for their workers. Aside from underfunded pension plans, governments have also run up large obligations from their retiree health plans. While a new Governmental Accounting Standards Board rule will kick in next year and reveal exactly how large this problem is, we estimate that retiree health benefits are a $1.4 trillion fiscal time bomb.

Filed under Coral Gables, Government

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