I hope it's not too late to jump in! I've been busy trying to learn how to use thia machine and have been taking remedial classes in tact! I appreciated Doug Grow's article and others in the papers. were they too simplistic? perhaps? should those involved in nrp groups, etc feel defensive? only if you feel guilty. were people's posting a bit vitriolic? let's just say, some of youse guys make me look like a piker! In my humble opinion, the problem with NRP is only that we felt we needed to establish it in the first place. to my way of thinking it was mainly a bribe to fight off an insurrection within the electorate years ago that came about, or nearly did, because the city council was detached from their respective wards and armpit deep in the downtown development honeypot. there were exceptions on the council. i agree with much of what russell wrote. i appreciate his courage for saying it. i believe there are good people involved in neighborhood groups and i believe they have helped involve some people on a grassroots level but that in some cases weaker, or meeker, voices may not have been heard. those who historically have felt empowered have been more likely to participate and many who historically have felt disenfranchised have not participated. I do not like the administrative costs often associated with many of these groups. Frankly we cannot afford it given we cannot afford to maintain infrastructure. was there a time when the council was more in touch with their constituents? i don't know. i am a born utopian though and if there were not such a time i pray there will be. more importantly, i'll work for that dream. We want NRP basically because we lost trust in our government's ability or willingness to listen. they built stadia when we said no, handed out tif deals like they were chocolate chip cookies,etc. a certain amount of that may have been necessary. but let's face it, many of us have our own particular dreams and wishes and we want what we want. the problem lies in the fact that your neighbor down the street or in the adjoining neighborhood or on the northside or the southside wants what they want as well. the jobs of the mayor and the city council are to take all the dreams of all the citizens, armed with the cold hard dollars and cents facts and the considerable fruit of city staffs and neighborhood groups, weigh the sum and divide the spoils in as fair a manner as possible keeping in mind always the collective good of the city and the citizens. we have a horrible housing crisis in our city. the reasons for it are numerous. the fact is though that in the first decade of NRP an unconsciencely low amount of money was allocated by neighborhoods to address the need for 'truly' affordable housing while at the same time, downtown, the city was handing out dollars hand over fist for upscale "empty nester" housing. the collective good of the city has not been enhanced by this imbalance and neglect. worse than being a failed policy it is immoral. enough of my rant. i apologize for the length. one last question of someone in the NRP know: as i read the bargaining agreement between the police federation and the city, do i understand correctly that nrp 'buybacks' of police services are purchased at 1-1/2 times the hourly rate of pay? tim connolly ward 7 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
