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Red tape halts volunteer taxi

Bureaucracy is driving a Whangarei volunteer transport service for the disabled off the road.

Northland Parafed Trust president Ian Irvine said Whangarei Parafed had been operating for 29 years but would finish tomorrow because of new regulations and compliance costs.

To carry on, the 11 volunteer drivers would have needed special licences, medical tests, first aid certificates and personal liability insurance.

"I'm not expecting that of our guys. As volunteers it's just unfair to ask."

Whangarei Parafed ran seven days a week, 365 days a year and never had a serious accident. ¹

An amazingly similar story made the KCRG-TV9 news in Iowa City, Iowa (19 April) about screening requirements for Veterans Administration volunteer drivers. ²

Lauderdale volunteer program questioned

The interim city manager, who touts "business as unusual," is advocating an "executive volunteer" squad that would include people like himself, who would "work" in City Hall for free and be able to dodge Government in the Sunshine laws. In internal e-mails obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel under open records law, Silva proposed the executive volunteer idea as a way to take advantage of business, budget and other expertise in the community, without sticking to the rigid open government laws that keep discussions of advisory groups open to the public. ³ (read full article...)

Volunteer parking ticketers draw praises, criticism

If you have exceeded the two-hour parking limit on Main Street in recent years, you may have noticed that the city was lax in enforcing the restriction.

Not anymore.

If you have exceeded the two-hour limit during the last few months, chances are you got a $25 parking citation, thanks to a group of volunteers for the Laurel Police Department who have been authorized to write tickets.

"We're having fun," said Pat Walsh, owner of the Something Special coffee shop at 504 Main St. and a founding member of the Laurel Citizens' Police Academy Alumni Association. "You get a feeling of truly helping." ⁴ (read full article…)

Reps ‘feeling the burden of NS community service’

An Assemblyman questioned the effectiveness of some of the national service (NS) programmes, particularly community service, and asked the state to give its feedback to the Federal Government.  

Philip Lasimbang (BN –Moyog) said elected representatives were feeling the burden when they have to allocate funds for gotong-royong projects such as the building of houses in villages only to have inexperienced NS trainees come and “bang a few nails.” 

“Some of these trainees have never even held a hammer before, so how do you expect them to work?” Lasimbang asked in his debate on the Yang di-Pertua Negri’s speech at the opening of the state assembly sitting on Tuesday. 

He said certain facilities have become inaccessible to the public as they were being used by NS trainees and officials.  

“For example, some athletes who are preparing for Sukma have been denied training facilities because part of the Likas Sports Complex is occupied by NS trainees,” Lasimbang said. 

He said feedback from the state would enable future NS programmes to be carried out more effectively.  ⁵

In Public Housing, It's Work, Volunteer or Leave

For Shaleema Malave, a resident of the Lillian Wald Houses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the letter arrived unexpectedly about two weeks ago, and it read like a kind of draft notice.

To keep her public housing apartment, the one-page letter from the New York City Housing Authority said, Ms. Malave, a stay-at-home mother of four boys under the age of 18, would have to perform 96 hours of unpaid community service over the next 12 months. Volunteering for the Police Department would do, the letter suggested. So, too, would Habitat for Humanity, or a library, or the Parks Department.

"I'm not free to be a mother?" asked Ms. Malave, 42, as she sat with her husband and sons. "We're not breaking the law."

Starting next month, New York City will be the latest city to begin enforcing federal legislation enacted six years ago that requires all public housing residents who are not working full time, studying, disabled or over the age of 62 to perform community service every year. ⁶ (read full article…)

Board asks volunteer to "back off" study

MAPLETOWN - Southeastern Greene School Board asked a resident who is preparing a transportation study for the district to halt his work after parents unaware of the project called the school to report a driver following school buses.

The board earlier granted permission for Joe Zalar to conduct a study of bus routes in an attempt to save the district money. Zalar volunteered to do the study at no cost to the district.

Board members said Thursday that Zalar was asked to halt his work after parents and bus drivers, who saw Zalar following buses in his car, called the school to report what they believed was suspicious activity.

"Parents called and said their kids were afraid," said board member Jeff Duranko. The board last Thursday asked Zalar to halt his project, he said. [section deleted]

One district resident, Tom Fox, complained to the board about Zalar's treatment, saying Zalar had volunteered to help the district but had received no cooperation and was even threatened by a board member. ⁷ (read full article…)