Did you ever lose your vehicle?

Editorials

May 14, 2012

Did you ever lose your vehicle?

Editor and Publisher John H. Walker The Daily Southerner Mon May 14, 2012, 04:24 PM EDT

TARBORO — Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a parking lot, knowing in yiour heart that you remembered where you parked but faced with the realization that you didn’t?

I think many of us have been down that path, sheepishly realizing that the reason your automatic door opener isn’t working is because it’s not your vehicle.

Then, sheepishly, we walk away and begin our wandering and wondering as we try to find our wheels.

Well, Miami-Dade County has your worst nightmare topped — 298 times over.

Back in 2006 and 2007, Miami-Dade County purchased 298 brand new vehicles, most of them Toyota Prius hybrids — and lost them.

The county “discovered” this fleet of no-mileage vehicles after reading about them in El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language version of the Miami Herald.

Most of the misplaced motorcade is made up of Toyota Prius hybrids whose warranties either expired with very few miles on the odometer or will very soon.

Looking to save some face, the county rushed at least 123 of the hybrids into service. The Toyota warranty covered the hybrids for eight years or 100,000 miles — what about cars parked for five of those eight?

The county has not a clue as to what happened, but the prevailing theory is the snafu came about as part of the tenure of Carlos Alvarez, who was recalled from office in 2011. The vehicles were purchased during his term, which was marred by allegations of misappropration of funds.

Makes you wonder where they were stored, since one would think they would have been discovered on municipal property. Let’s see, 298 vehicles at $9 per day times 1,827 days (two Leap Years) ... now that makes airport parking seem cheap!

• • •

Two efforts to raise funds in the community were successful this past week.

The first, TNR’s “Catnip, Crafts and Collectibles” drew steady traffic all three days in downtown and the funds went to a good cause — helping liminate unwanted felines in the community.

For those of you who missed it, it was afun way to help fund a good cause. Yours truly purchased $10 worth of tickets and walked away with more $100 worth of items ... and mine weren’t any of the high dollar items!

Also on Saturday, the folks from the Rocky Hock Community over in Chowan County brought their entertainment to McIntyre Auditorium to raise money for Relay for Life.

While this group has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in their home county, this was the first time for them to head elsewhere and they did so at the behest of Kaitlyn Flynn, who took the Rocky Hock Opry on as her project to help raise funds to fight cancer.

It has been said that the only thing needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. That is true in virtually every instance, including this young lady refusing to sit by and allow cancer to do its thing.

• • •

Remember, we can all make a difference and change, regardless of how daunting it may seem, begins with one person.

Are you that person?

(John H. Walker is editor and publisher of The Daily Southerner. Contact him at jwalker@dailysoutherner.com or 823-3106)

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