Ej Moosa Presents The Naked Truth

You get the flyers in the mail.  You do your research.  You meet them and ask questions.  You might even campaign for them.  And they happen to win. Less than four years later you are disappointed at the job they did and what they accomplished.  Worse, you might even feel that they did more harm than good. What happens to people once they get elected?  Where did we go wrong? Join Jennifer Jensen and myself as we talk about Ineffective Politics and the disappointments of local governments.

Voters in Johns Creek are being contacted with a Push Poll attempting to shape your opinion.  How can you be for a candidate if they are against this issue or that issue? What they are really doing is implying to you, without any rebuttal from the candidate that they were against these issues. It's really a lousy way to run a campaign.  The question is which campaign or campaigns is behind it?  Do those candidates not have an actual platform of their own to run own? If you receive this poll, challenge yourself to question the objectives.  Are half truths and false assumptions enough to shape your election decision in Johns Creek? What are your thoughts? Are you for pubilc safety at any cost? Are you for public parks at any cost? Are you for road projects whether or not they will benefit the residents of Johns Creek?    

Sometimes it seems we are in an upside-down world.  Two Per Cent Growth in GDP is celebrated.   Substitute teachers are not allowed to create her own list of good and bad students in a classroom. No one seems to be  discussing the best improvement in reducing traffic congestion in the history of Johns Creek.  Public Works Director Lynette Baker and her department has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours of delays for drivers in Johns Creek with simple improvements to 141 southbound traffic.  Watch the video below and see for yourself. What am I going to do about it?  Talk about it of course. https://1drv.ms/v/s!AlFBqsp2-ge3sDIZeO9zszCzzNwQ?e=KzCa5O

Council Member Chris Coughlin is seeking re-election this fall in Johns Creek.  During our interview we discuss council progress over the last 4 years including successes and opportunities. Some of the successes we touch on are the property tax reduction, progress with the traffic lights, State Bridge-141 intersection, the Walk To School program, hos work with Waze Carpool to reduce traffic and other topics. Coughlin also talks about the opportunities he seeks to continue progress on including Parks, Stormwater Management, Intersection Prioritization, Zoning, placing residents first and the Procurement Process. We also address the issue of divisiveness, which has been mentioned by several candidates within Johns Creek and is a topic we have discussed in our last podcast with Council Member Stehanie Endres. Visit his website at www.votechriscoughlin.com or call him at770-853-9409

Agree or be called divisive.  That's how it has been on the Johns Creek City Council since Council Member Endres was first elected.  Before that it was the residents speaking out at the Public Comments that were divisive. Despite one of the most productive City Councils we have had over the last twelve months, we see candidates running on platforms to end the divisiveness.  "Can't we all just get along?"   That would be nice wouldn't it?  But this is not friends deciding where to eat for dinner.  This is a group of seven passing laws, affecting our lives and potentially changing the face of Johns Creek forever. Divisiveness as used in our town is being used as bullying tactic.  And while it works on some, it does not work on all.   Let's talk with Council Member Stephanie Endres as we examine whether what we have is divisiveness or is it really a public debate of the facts and justifications for what this City Council is doing and what it is planning to do.

Property taxes are boring.  The Millage Rate Process may be even worse.  We do not talk directly about the taxes but indirectly.  Instead we talk about this thing called the Millage Rate.  The Millage Rate can drop but your rates could rise. For greater transparency and greater dialogue among the elected officials and the Public, I am suggesting that we have at least a two-week period betweent the final Public Hearing on the Millage Rate and the time at which the governming body sets the millage rate.  And when you listen to this podcast, it will be clear as to the reasons why. (Please Note:  I mentioned that three meetings were required by law.  If the Millage rate is the Rollback Rate or lower, only one meeting is required.  This would actually make the entire Public Hearing a moot point)  

Stephanie Endres and I hit the following topics today:  Fulton Count'y's millage rate leaving the taxpayers holding the bag, Commissioner Ellis speaking out on behalf of Fulton County taxpayers, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, John's Creek's proposed millage rate, Property Tax appeals within Fulton County. We also discuss expenditures in Johns Creek and do we have room to make future cuts on spending, putting bids out for contract and more.  

Join Chris Coughlin and I as we discuss the Budget, Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Housing options, Millenials, traffic, GDOT, the ten year financial forecast and other issues we are facing in Johns Creek. Chris also talks about what he has learned as a council menber and what has surprised him during his learning curve as a council member as well as during his campaign Discussed are parks, traffic, property taxes, and we suggest that with some on the Council proposing lower than the rollback rate for the millage rate, that Coughlin has been more than vindicated in his desire to go below the rollback rate last year.. Questions?  Comments?  Feedback?  Send them to ejmoosa@ejmoosa.com

Join Chris Coughlin and I as we discuss the Budget, Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Housing options, Millenials, traffic, GDOT, the ten year financial forecast and other issues we are facing in Johns Creek. Chris also talks about what he has learned as a council menber and what has surprised him during his learning curve as a council member as well as during his campaign. Questions?  Comments?  Feedback?  Send them to ejmoosa@ejmoosa.com  

Council Member Endres discusses the ins and outs of property taxes and how they impact the residents of Johns Creek. Property taxes are a fact of life.  But how they really work remains shrouded behind a wall of mystery.  How did they conclude your home rose in value by 27% without someone buying it?  Why are commercial properties not rising in value.  Why are commercial lots valued far below the actual market value?  What is a rollback rate?  Why am I paying so much more for City Services than my neighbor is? These are just some of the questions many of us have and today Council Member Stephanie Endres will discuss a few of these issues.

Earlier this year, I switched to a Flexnet Smart Meter to see if I could save some dollars by shifting my power consumption.  Here are the results, and what I learned. June 2015 Lower by 13.45% July 2015 Lower by 10.45% August 2015 Lower by 29.05%    

Johns Creek elections are tomorrow and the choices are clear.  Endres, Radford, and Coughlin.  Listen to the reasons why.  The time has never been more important for the future of Johns Creek. Chris Coughlin, Stephanie Endres, and Tom Radford  are the candidates that I encourage you to sopport.

Wherever you reside, chances are you know when you need to leave by to avoid the brunt of traffic.  But sometimes, you haven’t a choice, and you are stuck with the slow crawl towards your destination. As the costs are rather staggering when computed, it really only makes sense to begin tackling these problems today, and not waiting another 2, 3 or even 5 years.  These are real dollars coming out of our pockets today.  We have not even tacked on the emotional costs of getting to your child’s swim meet or ball game.  Some things do not have a price tag.

Agreeing to Georgia Power's Nights and Weekends Rate plan, I received another new Smart It took a few days to figure it out, and since there is nothing on the internet, I will share with you what I have learned.  You will master yours in no time at all.  We will also talk about rates and why it's just  not that clear.

Another First Quarter in the USA has passed, and once again we are blaiming the weather for seasonally adjusted numbers that are bad.  That seems a bit of a stretch, and it's time we begin to look honestly at what is happening before it's too late to change our direction. Should we accept the idea that we just had a bad winter or should we challenge it? I'd suggest we challenge it, and here's why...

The First Quarter GDP numbers were a bust.  Reduced even further in the first revision, we are being told there's nothing to worry about.   You better be worried.  This economy has hit the wall. Corporate earnings are not just s slowing in growth, but are declining.   We are being told it's because of the Winter.  It's not.  Winter just happened to occur at the same time the earnings tanked.

With today's 1st quarter GDP release, we also had the economy's profit for the fourth quarter of 2012 released.  And it is not looking good.  We will discuss profits before and after taxes, what the trend is, and where we may be headed. We will also talk about what sectors in the economy are fairing the worst when it comes to profits, and what that may indicate regarding future inflation.

Yesterday's release of the NFP number came with major revisions to past data (1991- present).  Sudddenly they have more clarity about Jan 1991?   Listen as I discuss where we are today with job creation from a different perspective, stripped of the spin that you heard when the data was presented to us by main stream medua

Today I am going to talk a bit about how much profit is needed to fuel hiring going forward, and where we are in terms of today's profit growth and employment growth.

Today we will be talking about the NFP jobs number and where we are headed.  Profit Growth , Economic Growth, and the burden of the higher expenses will be discussed.