What legacy did Kendrick Meek leave behind in U.S. Congressional District 17?
District 17 was ranked third to last in the nation for overall social, mental and physical quality of life by the Gallup well-being index. How bad is that? In Florida alone we had 25 districts (will be 27 districts). The Congress has 435 districts so district 17 is at 433. The rank fell 183 spots from 2009 to 2010.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach well-being was near the U.S. average on everything except health insurance. The average for our area's uninsured is at 25.8. The national average is 16.4.
Continuing yesterday's debate on the private sector vs. government sector (who has it worse), that was prompted by the County take home vehicle information, here is a Gallup Poll I found on the well-being of local government workers compared to non government workers. According to Gallup:
Government employees outperform non-government workers the most in the areas of overall life evaluation and access to basic needs such having enough money to pay for healthcare and/or medicines, provide adequate shelter or housing, and buy food; and having health insurance and a personal doctor.
15 comments:
You can't blame Kendrick Meek for the poverty of his district. Why not blame Carrie Meek? Or better yet, all the white Congressmen who ignored this area for decades. Figures lie and liars figure.
One Word: Stackhouse.
It was no sweat off Obama's back to appoint Meek to a position where he can accumulate some seasoning. God knows, he needs it. Leave the football metaphors at home, Kendrick. It doesn't play at the UN.
While I have a feeling that your point might be right, I have to take issue with the way you make your argument.
First, there are 435 seats in the House. You can't include the 100 Senate seats in a district-based ranking. Still, 433 of 435; bragging rights it's not.
And instead of simply comparing the district's standing to others in the House, or even in Florida, a fair comparison would look at how the district has improved over his term, economically or otherwise. Then, you could compare those numbers to other districts.
Again, I have a feeling the results might not change much, but for all the horrible journalism you call out other outlets on, I'm really disappointed you'd take a similar approach, Genius.
We have been throwing money at district 17 since his mother first ruled there. Why doesn't it trickle down to a better quality of life for the people?
Anonymous - First I am not a real reporter. I do not have an editor. I depend on readers to help me with what slips by. I thank you for your correction. as I have done 2,811 posts, there are bound to be errors. I am human.
It is a fair comparison because that has been the Meek seat since it was drawn in 1978. Even if it was worse under him mom, like 435, how could you look at 433 and think it better?
Cato is right you can't just pull a statistic out and attack someone with it. I didn't. I presented it. I leave you to make your own conclusion. Do you think he left a legacy in District 17? Did you see my opinion in the report? I gave a statistic and I asked a question.
Genius, I realize you don't have an editor and clerical mistakes are bound to happen. Again, I don't think ranking 433rd out of 435 instead of 533rd out of 535 makes one bit of difference.
But don't hide behind the "not a real reporter" argument. You may not have the resources available that old school reporters do, but you undermine yourself and do your loyal readers (myself among them) a disservice by placing yourself in a lower journalistic tier. You can't claim both to be credible and not to be held to similar standards.
Eye on Miami is a labor of love, right? All the more reason to take pride in the vast amount of good work that you do.
The problem I have with this post isn't just some little bit of incorrect data, it's how the argument is being made. You're essentially saying, "Look how bad things are in this district. It's Meek's (or the Meeks'?) fault because he was their Congressman for so long." It's anecdotal evidence and the statistics being offered as proof show the current situation, but do nothing to assign responsibility.
I have no doubt that Meek deserves some of the blame, possibly even a large share of it. But this post is essentially a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the blame being solely at his feet. We're presented with statistics, and asked what Meek has to do with it. Sure, you say you give us statistics and ask us to draw our own conclusions, but what possible conclusions do you think can be drawn from the information posted? An opinion doesn't have to be written to be presented. I think you know that.
The data offers no reference point beyond the district's current ranking with others and with area averages. Where are the trend lines? Where are the actual numbers behind those rankings? What's the difference between last and third from last? Those dead last positions are often so far behind even the second-to-last that huge improvements are needed to move up in the ranking, even a little bit. Is that the case? I don't know, because it hasn't been shown. Even comparisons to other low-ranking districts or districts with similar qualities (though I realize the specific types of diversity found in that district wouldn't be found elsewhere).
Look, I want to be able to use the information and arguments posted here on Eye on Miami. I probably should have emailed my thoughts instead of commenting, and for that, I apologize. I was just surprised to see such a flawed argument on one of my favorite blogs.
I make no argument on this one, sometimes the readers do it, like you just did. I am out of juice some days.
This should make you happy:
TITLE
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING COMMUNITY EFFORTS TO ADDRESS THE WELL BEING OF FLORIDA’S CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 17, WHICH WAS RANKED THIRD-TO-LAST IN THE NATION FOR OVERALL SOCIAL, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL QUALITY OF LIFE BY THE GALLUP WELL-BEING INDEX; DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR DESIGNEE TO TAKE CERTAIN ACTIONS TO SUPPORT THESE EFFORTS
BODY
WHEREAS, District 17 was listed as one of the most “suffering” Congressional district in the United States by the Gallup Well-Being Index (WBI); and
WHEREAS, Congressional District 17 is comprised of municipalities or portions of municipalities such as: Biscayne Park, El Portal, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Miami, Miami Gardens, Miami Shores, Miramar, North Miami Beach, Opa Locka, Pembroke Park, Pembroke Pines and West Park; and
WHEREAS, Gallup studies human nature and behavior and assesses a society’s well-being as measured by several metrics considered vital to community health and economic growth; and
WHEREAS, the WBI’s statistics were gathered by polling more than “350,000 Americans to track emotional and physical health, work environment and perception of access to resources such as water”; and
WHEREAS, Congressional District 17’s rank reportedly fell 183 spots from 2009 to 2010, with the greatest decrease coming from residents’ perspectives on their “life evaluation” and “work environment”; and
WHEREAS, the WBI statistics should spark the beginning of serious and critical research, conversations and actions to improve the well-being of Congressional District 17; and
WHEREAS, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson of Congressional District 17 has taken the lead in addressing the WBI report, and has begun efforts to form a task force geared at determining the underlying causes of the District’s poor showing and to encourage open dialogue and active interchange regarding ways of enhancing the prosperity of each neighborhood in Congressional District 17; and
WHEREAS, the Congressional Black Caucus plans to include Miami, Florida in their four-city national “For the People” Jobs Initiative Tour scheduled for August 23, 2011, and is calling upon national and locally based private and public sector partners to help immediately remedy the current jobs crisis and participate in the job fair to provide legitimate, immediate employment and job readiness opportunities for underserved communities throughout our nation; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County should join the Congressional Black Caucus in their effort to address the unemployment crisis and the need for job creation solutions in underserved communities across the nation, including Congressional District 17; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County should not only join in the discussions concerning Congressional District 17, but should also follow the example of the Congressional Black Caucus in encouraging vibrant and effective public – private partnerships to provide employment opportunities in our community; and
bla bla bla
They have that woman who wanted to fight about wearing her hat? Oh no they got screwed again.
Sorry to correct you, but Carrie Meek was elected to Congress in November '92, not '78 as you stated. Before then, we did not have any Black members of Congress. The '92 reapportionment gave us Meek, Alcee Hastings, and Corrine Brown.
Thanks Cato II it was the FLORIDA house in 1978. I am not doing well with my numbers today.
There are other congressional districts plagued with poverty. Yet only 3 are last out of the entire country and one is here in our backyard. It dropped 103 spots in the poll in one year. What does that say to the benefit of having a black representative?
Federica Wilson had almost the same district as a state senator so she deserves at some of the blame.
I remember when he and his mom showed up for a meeting and all of a sudden the person they were meeting with starting talking ghetto with them. All of a sudden we heard " F... this and F... that" and the method of speech was sounding really "hood" from this so called professional. Meek & his Mom were quiet since they knew we were witnessing this.. I concluded that there is more to them then meets the eye and your survey just confirmed it. Sad commentary on the times we live in.
Post a Comment