Vexed Bermoothes

So the UBP is complaining that the PLP didn’t give them enough time to prepare for a recent House debate.  I’ve pointed out for some time that Bermuda’s Parliament is run like a shoddy and secretive club. I’m glad that the UBP is starting to admit they’ve been end run again.  That’s the first step to recovery.  Now what the hell are you going to do about it guys?

Also, Wayne Burgess is making love em/leave em comments to the press again about the UBP.  Here’s the problem:  while the PLP continue to gird for war, the UBP sound like a committee of wimps.  Christian’s commentary is better than I have energy to type.  Oh the dog days of summer. Got beers to drink and a roof to paint.  OK, maybe not in that order.

But here’s my word of advice:  the PLP is well funded and its core group of puppeteers are driven.  Don’t think that by peeling off the UBP into a happy and well-intentioned group of independents that you’ll win favour with the electorate.  It’s not likely to happen.

So, someone finally pulled the tax filings for the Urban Health Institute, the charity at the centre of Dr. E Brown’s Playboy scandal.

It turns out that, of the $200,000 spent by the charity in 2006, only $15,000 went to charitable causes.

By comparison, $80,000 went to paying rent for use of office space in Dr. K Brown’s medical practice.

Wake up, Cup Match is over!

We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man … There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake.

- CS Lewis

In the old days, Kremlin watchers would scrutinize who was allowed to view mayday from atop Lenin’s Tomb to see who held sway in the Politburo.  In Bermuda, you can tell what news is coming by who is announcing it:

1. If it is good news, the Premier Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown will hold press conference.  Smooth and glorious in front of that Presidential backdrop.
2. If it is non-news, a Junior Minister will be allowed to share the limelight.
3. It is bad news, the Cabinet Minister gets to shoulder the “collective responsibility”.  The Premier is off island on official business.
4. If it is really bad news, then Sen. Burch is sent out to take the hit.  On a Friday.  He’s not elected, and they hope it will be forgotten over the weekend.

No matter the news, the news will show up on the qlq website but not gov.bm.

Happy Cup Match!

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the demise of Bermuda’s retail district. 

There’s the Government that would not listen to the warnings on the need to reform tourism approaches, tax structures, hiring laws, etc.  There’s the Corporation of Hamilton that is just … incompetent.  There’s the economic incentive for landlords to convert their retail buildings into office space.  And there’s our own desire to shop overseas instead of “buy Bermuda”.

But the fact is, no matter where you hang the blame, that Bermuda is diminished by the lack of retail options and Hamilton is made less vital (or shall we say less capitol) by the void of street life. 

I hear from friends in the public sector that the Cabinet Office welcomes the opportunity to get involved at the detail level in Government’s procurement and contracting.  If true, this is just begging to create political conflict of interest, waste, and over-expenditure.

Some may say this Cabinet’s role.  No, it isn’t.  Their role is to set policy direction.  Implementation belongs to the non-partisan civil service.  Full stop.

The lack of standards and transparency over the Bermuda Government’s contracting is ridiculous given our $1 billion budget, the growing use of outsourced services, and weakness in financial accountability.  Some of the problems:

• We have no public contracting standards.  The process of tendering is willfully obscure, and varies significantly by department.
• We have no central contracting portal where tender opportunities can be discovered.
• There’s also little transparency over who wins what, or how much gets paid.

Government contracts are not about rewarding Friends & Family.  And they should not be used ad hoc to further political agendas (the Berkeley debacle should have seared that lesson into the public consciousness).

Yes, I am in favor of Government furthering small business through set-aside or sub-contracting requirements.  But these “positive discriminations” must be set out in transparent policies so that companies may pre-qualify for them, and graduate from them after a certain number of years.  Loose practices lead to inevitable accusations of favoritism, or the potential for fraud.

And yes, damn straight, Government should publish the winning bids for projects followed up by the amounts actually paid.  We need to encourage value for money and shining the light on performance is the best way.

I strongly suggest taking a look at the Cayman Island’s implementation, which is well-scaled to a community like ours.

1. There is a central committee - which includes a balance of civil servants and external community members - that oversees both the creation of a proper contracting system and its operation.
2. There are rules [pdf] that apply to all government portfolios, ministries, departments, statutory authorities and government companies.
3. The process is transparent, including post implementation reporting.

The BPSU has won a stay against the Government’s outsourcing of the New York tourism jobs because Government failed to live up to its obligations under the Collective Bargaining Agreement to consult with the union before undertaking any outsourcing or privatisation.

This is the classic problem with the Bermuda Government these days.  It follows a pattern:

• A small group of insiders decides what they want from Government.
• Changed are rushed with little planning, or review of the consequences.
• At the 11th hour, a pseudo-consultation is held, but it’s really too late to change anything.

They willfuly have it wrong.  Their behaviour is anti-democratic.

Consultation means allowing the affected parties to provide input to the policy making processes - in a way that actively shapes the outcome.  It is not a just a cynical PR exercise to make the bitter pills we’re being served taste better.

Mmmmkay?

Due to the sagging tourism sector, the collective salaries of hospitality employees dropped by almost 40 percent during the first quarter of this year, according to the latest Government statistics.

Meanwhile the collective salaries of international business workers rocketed by 51 percent.

Ouch.  That divide was already big - and it’s getting more divisive.

With the block voting that typifies our legislature of late, it’s rare that even the crappiest proposed laws get rejected, or even amended.  The rarest of rarities happened yesterday when a proposed law was shot down in the Senate.

The law, dealing with the dental profession, should have been uncontroversial except for a strange clause which sought to control the number of hygienists/technicians a dentist could employ.  The UBP and Independent Senators agreed this was an uncalled for business intervention.

Senator Burch took the rejection with his usual cheerful civility:

Asked if there were ever any circumstances he would agree to an Opposition amendment, he said: “There probably is some circumstance. But I take the view that a milkman is unlikely to have legal expertise greater than people in the Attorney General’s chambers who have spent years drafting legislation and so I am not going to take it on the trot from someone who has no experience in that regard.”

The issue wasn’t with the legal drafting, it was with the intent of the law.  The Senators were doing their job by questioning the law.  If we had bipartisan drafting committees, this type of thing would not happen.

And is it acceptable for members of the Upper House to start calling each other by rude nicknames?

Remember:  glass houses, Lt. Colonel.

The following is a telling slip of the tongue from the developer of the Sonesta/Wyndham site.

Scout Real Estate Capital CEO Alan Worden announced today that work on its new 5-star resort hotel on the site of the old Wyndham Beach Resort in Southampton Parish is progressing on schedule. Scout intends to present its proposed plans for the property to the Government’s Special Cabinet Committee for approval in early September 2008.

The SDO for this property specifically lays out that approval by the Department of Planning will be required.  Or will the decisions really be made by a fast track “Special Committee” of the Cabinet.  Hmm, do they meet on Saturdays?

The processes of Government must be respected.  First, such that there is no favoritism in the execution of law, and second so that short-term political expediencies do not wash out the cumulative and time-tested judgment of Bermuda’s plans, rules, and procedures.  Sure this development should be encouraged - but it should not be yet another widening of the “short cuts” around Bermuda’s governance.

Scout are seeking to raise $300 million for the development, hence the optimistic news release. The new development is targeted towards both tourists and locals - including150 hotel rooms, villas and a private spa/club.  On the positive side, the developers have a focus on the traditional New England market which has always been Bermuda’s strongest feeder - despite the Ministry of Tourism’s pop & sizzle aspirations.