They're Not Just a Line on the Resume

 

July 5, 2026

 

The St. Louis area seems to be particularly friendly to people who get high-paying jobs without actually being able to carry out their duties. I’ve lost track of the number of news articles in which a highly-paid person was let go from a municipal (including education) position because they weren’t performing well; and upon investigation, it was found that the person left his or her previous employment because of (at best) underperformance.

 

And do you know how they got hired? Because nobody checked their references.

 

As I offered to do for the police board, I can provide vetting for the candidates; that is, I can hire somebody to hop on the internet and look these people up. They can start with the news feeds in the candidate’s former city to see if there is a reason the person left. (Seriously—some of these people made the news in their former towns for the bad work they did.) For an additional fee, I can have my subcontractor contact people by telephone (that being more of a specialized skill these days) to confirm certain facts of employment. I guarantee you that my fee will be a lot less than the settlements the area has been paying to these people when they kick them out.

 

Or we can continue to hire people for an exorbitant amount of money, and then pay them lots of money to go away.

 

Any takers?

 

Things I Learned over the Weekend

 

June 9, 2026

 

I learned some fascinating things this weekend.

 

First, there are bacteria that live in fog. Really. And they consume atmospheric pollutants. 

 

Who knew?

 

Second, McDonald’s is trying to keep customers interested in buying their food. They’re considering upscale menu items, fancy drinks, and new playgrounds to lure customers.

 

“They might try improving the taste,” I thought, as I was reading the part of the article on Page 1.

 

When I turned the page, lo and behold, their global chief people officer (that’s what she’s called in the article) is talking about giving employees the chance to try food that’s prepared exactly by the book. “Leaving a hamburger on the grill for 30 extra seconds—it may not feel like much, but once you can taste that difference, people will be much more motivated to deliver according to our standards,” she says.

 

Amen to that.

 

I Hope the Court Delves

 

 

May 5, 2026

 

I should thank Spirit Airlines for giving me the chance to practice long division.

 

I read a blurb in the paper today that said the airline asked a bankruptcy judge for approval to pay $10.7 million in retention bonuses to its remaining employees. (Spirit, you may know, shut down operations abruptly, laying off workers on the spot.)

 

So, I grabbed a pencil and paper and divided 10,700,000 by 150, the number of remaining employees. If the money were divided equally, each employee would get $71,333.33 for 90 days of work. Seems like quite a deal. If I were the judge, I’d have some questions.

 

However, after 3 months, the number of employees will be reduced to 40.

 

I’m wondering just how much of the $10.7 million will go to the 110 people working 90 days, vs. the 40 employees who are left. I’m guessing that those last 40 employees won’t be getting spare change.

 

I hope the judge asks for details.

 

 

 

We Told You So!

 

April 15, 2026

 

I just read about yet another supposed boon for the area that turned into a boondoggle. And several thousand people, including me, said, “We told you so!”

 

I have lived literally from the top of the country to the bottom, and from coast to almost-coast, and I have seen the scenario play out in every single area I’ve lived in.

 

So, I’ll say it again.

 

When someone comes to town with a brilliant idea about how they can bring economic prosperity to the area if the municipality will kick in a little in the way of tax credits and some cold, hard cash, be wary. There’s a lot that they’re probably not telling you.

 

Such as:

 

Their income projections are very likely based on 100% occupancy 365 days a year. What are the odds of that actually happening? If it’s a tourist attraction, the locals will only go so many times. Tourists will have their choice of many things to do, so they won’t all flock to one particular site. Chances are even smaller if it’s not the only one of its kind in a very large region.

 

They under-estimated the time to completion of site readiness. If you’ve ever done remodeling or had your home built, you know what I’m talking about.

 

They under-budgeted their construction costs. Construction costs rise the longer the project takes. Does their budget take that into account?

 

They haven’t accounted for the rising cost of operating expenses once the business is running. Those costs are never going to go down; do their income projections reflect that fact?

 

So, when I read about how ABC Company is going to be the economic savior of the region, I always do some simple math.

 

Income projection: Take 30% off the top.

 

Time to site readiness: Add 3-6 months minimum

 

Construction costs: Add 25%

 

Operating expenses once the business is running: Add 25% for a 5-year period

 

 

Then maybe, just maybe, you won’t have to listen to a chorus of people saying, “We told you so!”

 

 

 

He Expects a Lot from Himself

 

April 18, 2026

 

I won’t bore you with the details, but St. Louis County Executive Sam Page went to court to make sure that the county council couldn’t make decisions in his absence. Page wanted to be on the first direct St. Louis-to-London flight, and wanted to make sure that being out of the country wouldn’t count as being unable to lead the council.

 

Page said that if he had to stay in St. Louis, the area would “miss the opportunity of selling St. Louis to businesses in London.”

 

Considering that the mayor of St. Louis and various leaders of economic development organizations are going to be on the flight, I’m not sure how much more Dr. Page would have been able to contribute to the discussions.

 

But, fortunately for his peace of mind, he won the right to go.