If a Resident Speaks in a Crowded Room... Does Anyone Hear Him?

Her Kung Fu is Strong.

In the most gracious display of dissatisfaction in the history of man kind, Ms Brown of the State Theatre only stood up to thank City Council for taking the time to see how hard it is to book the acts that keep our little burg alive. Her mojo was so in-line with the stars that for the first time in five council sessions she did not need to approach the podium to plead the theatre's case.

There was NO equal dissatisfaction between parties at the meeting last night as Councilman Fleck claimed. There WAS the important and the NOT-SO-IMPORTANT patrons of the city. I will give Councilman Fleck credit for trying to create the illusion of balance as he demonstrated what he's coined as "representative democracy". He showed us all who truly sits at the adult table for dinner.

Yeah... What He Said... What Did He Say!?

I will also give the mayor credit for staying consistent by making yet another statement that could not be anchored to a specific reference item. "Some of you made presumptions... Without doing your research... And I guess that's a presumption on my part." ?!?!?!?!? That is what he said regarding what some of us presume to be the facts pertaining to the State Theatre and the Amusement Tax. Or maybe it was the firing of Chief Mazzeo. Or maybe it was the Housing Authority. Maybe he was talking about the Early Intervention Program reports. You tell me. Your presumption's as good as mine.

Poker faces Everyone

We were beat before the meeting even started. There was an obvious and concerted effort NOT to debate the State Theatre and the Amusement Tax anymore. Ms Brown didn't testify for the Theatre. No councilperson commented on the tax or the loan cancellation. And NO ONE corrected our presumption (that we got from Mr Steve Humphrey at council meetings and as it was reported in the papers) of the loan balance being around $150,000, when it is in fact going to be $252,700.00. In fact the real balance wasn't presented UNTIL JUST BEFORE council voted unanimously to forfeit the lien. The REAL BALANCE was NEVER reported in the news.

Let Them Eat Cake.

So, as we all mulled over how the city was going to pay to put more police officers on the streets, we demorcratically represented one quarter of a million dollars of GUARANTEED revenue away to a theater. A theater. Money that could have purchased a whole lot more safety, bought a whole lot more Late Nite Catechism. Or is it two more years of Ms Brown at the 2003 bargain rate of $121,904.00. Tax money-- We hardly even knew ya'.

Don't You Point Your Finger At Me.

In other news. Tensions were in fact very high at the meeting last night. Council wrestled a bit with decorum, but sadly we bore witness to one of the less flattering exchanges of public service when a "football mom" was given less courtesy than she deserved when she politely tried to express her dissatisfaction with bureaucracy. 'You can't come into our house asking for help and take that tone with me young lady'. Maybe the minutes should be reviewed and an apology or seven offered.

No Soup For You.

I gots no props for Tracy & Ed today. Today's council beat smelled of harmony and lack of interest. Police scrutiny once again overshadowed all of the other agenda items; giving our lawmakers the luxury dodging extended bouts of public opinion. You both failed to mention that NO ONE was allegedly happy with the Amusement Tax compromise, and that the codes department was raked over a coal or two. Bring back the feeling. It was like...ACK... reading the paper.

With that being said... Dan Corpora is giving us an email interview. If you have a good question email bigeredrover@yahoo.com. We're gonna try to get the questions to him tomorrow. We'd like to get a pool of about 10 or so questions that we could use for all of the candidates willing to participate.

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