West Jax Rotary

Mike Hogan
-Married to Judy Gunther of Tampa (36 yrs)
-Three children, Jennifer Hogan Jones-husband (Ryan), Joshua Hogan-wife (Tiffany), and Joseph Hogan-wife (Lauren)
-Five grandchildren, twins Claire & Caitlyn (5) and Caroline Jones (2) and Elle (2.5) and Emry Hogan (1.5)
-Plays golf, some tennis, loves softball and the Florida Gators

Notes
Scott Imray discussed the Bahamas Trip by the Fleming Island Rotary Club which has asked our club to collected dental supplies. These supplies
would be tooth brushes dental floss, tooth paste and any other dental necessities. The trip will be in June to address dental needs of the people in the Bahamas.

Robert Jones discussed Jacksonville Legal Aid requesting volunteers to provide legal assistance to the needy.

Frank Scheu discussed the end of Rotary Year gathering to usher in the new officers and board for 2010-2011 Rotary Year.

The Mandarin Rotary Club is sponsoring the Clark School of the Deaf by asking our club to participate in their fund raiser by purchasing tickets
for $100 each. There are very good prizes to be given away.

Terry Vereen asked all who participated in the Highway Clean Up to meet after the meeting for a group picture.

Ray Purvis asked all who had not signed up to go to the Friday Suns Baseball Game to do so and mentioned that tickets will be available for pick-up at the Will Call Window Also, the area where we are to meet and watch the game has been moved to behind Home Plate. Food will be plentiful, eat all you want.

Marty Sack presented everyone his eloquent discussion on the Family of Rotary. As always, Marty’s presentations gather laugh and many chuckles.

Marshall Butler led a Special Presentation to Bishop Snyder High School to Gigi Carroll and the Interact officers. They represented the club as President, Vice President Secretary and Treasurer. Each discussed their own special projects. Ms Spears, Wounded Warriors; Chris, the Afghan School Supply Project; Courtney, “Flush Cancer” where toilets were placed in yards and raised $250; and Mandy’s Senior Prom for Senior Citizens which provided fun and dancing for many Seniors and her Hang 10 Fund which garnered $10 each from Bishop Snyder students who wanted to dress down for a day.

Jerry Spinks introduced Kevin Hyde of the City Council to discuss Public Pensions in the cities Budget for next year. The cost of next years
budget will be $1,000,000,000. (notice all the zero’s) Almost 50% of the budget goes towards Police and Fire. Brave persons who protect us. 27% covers debt and the remaining 23% covers pensions and the general fund. The cost of Pensions has risen to 11% or $110,000,000. We cannot afford to keep funding our current Pension System. We need to make changes during the Collective Bargaining taking place with the Unions. City Employees who work 20 Years under the current plan then retire receive 60% of their highest 3 year work period. This is for life. If they work 30 years the receive 80% of their highest 3 years for life. This means employees who began working at 21 years of age can receive pension payments for 30 to 40 years if they live to 80. They do not fund the pension when they retire which means the rest of the city residents must pay. Also, at the present time the city has a $60,000,000 budget shortfall. Where is the money going to come from? Another thing to consider based on the way government employees (union) and regular employees are paid. According to news reports the average pay for a Government Worker is $79,000 with the average salary for a Nongovernment Employee being $49,000. If the City and the Unions come to an Impasse, it will be up to the City Council to make a hard decision. It is time to make a STAND to begin reducing cost. The information provided today is sobering and must be addressed. We need good people, but at what cost to the rest of the city.

Visiting Rotarians:
Jim Morency — Mandarin
Bob Broome — Riverside
Bert Ralston — Downtown
Ray Wolford — Mandarin
Major Harding — Mandarin
Lee Hollingsworth — Roswell, GA

Rotary Guests:
Robbie Kimball — Guest of Frank Surface
Meghan Tarsitano — Guest of Kevin Hyde
Mandi Vossman — Interact
Chris Sitjar — Interact
Courtney Brannan — Interact
Caitlin Sears — Interact

Birthdays
Jim Howard - June 3
Ron Bongiovanni - June 8
Lee wimberly - June 8

Next Meeting - June 9, 2010
Speaker: Marie Hane, Exec. Dir. MOSH
Greeters: John Bickerstaff and Joe Hayworth, III
Invocation: Chris Bergey
Pledge: Ed French IV
Four-Way Test: Shep Colledge

Quick Links:
You can now report make-ups online. FIXED!

Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.