i attended the truth and taxation meeting monday
evening which mark brunswick reported on in todays
strib.
one thing i think he failed to mention was a
summarized statement by clic detailing their general
opinions of the mayor's proposed budget.
those opinions included consternation at library
budgets in the out years relative to branch library
remodeling, etc. they recommended that $1.6 million be
reserved annually beginning in 2006 for construction
projects starting in 2009. they also are extremely
concerned with potential future library operating
budgets. these issues have already been raised in this
forum.
they also failed to understand why the mayor would
fully fund park board infrastructure at the same time
she was shorting the city's infrastructure gap. some-
one, i don't know who brought up the subject of
conditions of park board infrastructure coming over to
the city in exchange for maintenance services provided
by the park board.
Clic is also miffed that decision packages and target
strategies are not part of the reviewal process. good
question.
they also think that we ought to do a dry run on
avenue of the arts with temporary barriers, etc to see
what the impact on traffic will be before we put that
cart before that horse.
the meeting ended early. council seemed surprised that
more people didn't speak. what could anyone say that
would make a difference. we had just witnessed several
people go before the council literally pleading for
help with affordable housing knowing that this council
and this mayor had been forewarned from the day their
butts hit those chairs that there was a storm brewing.
as the affordable housing task force said in so many
words we have passed the crisis state and now are in
catastrophe mode.
one woman and her husband and child got up before the
microphone and referred to themselves as "the average
black family" (and make no doubt about it; though the
affordable housing crisis faces all people its propa-
gation is racially based) struggling under the weight
of past failures, ud's and such, trying to keep their
family of five together, dad working northeast for
$9.50/hr just having got a raise after having been
hired on full time whereas before he'd been working
through a temp agency and you know damn well the
employer was paying the agency a damn sight more than
$9.50/hr, all of them living inshelters(people helping
people and such) going on and off now five years, and
i'm looking at rodney later and his son zachary and
the two others sleeping or despairing and we're
talking and i got no way to help him, thinking i
shoulda got up and spoke but what would i do but
berate these people again and i know they squandered
the money and there's little left in the kitty for ah,
and yes i know it's a regional/state/federal problem
and i got no hope to offer rodney and it doesn't seem
right to say if i had been incharge this would not
have happened or that the democrats ain't much better
than the republicans when it comes to helping poor
people these days and i just wanted to scream WHERE IS
THE MORAL OUTRAGE IN THIS CITY, IN THIS COUNTRY?
it was harder than normal getting to sleep last night.
tim connolly
ward 7
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