The Tribune ran an article yesterday, May 1, 2008, about Mayor England's idea for a water park on the riverfront. I think this is a fine idea, especially along the river. It could be a beautiful spot to swim or just float on a raft and watch the boats go down the river. Maybe we could even buy that giant Ferris Wheel from California, that would be a great view.
This is all well and good for the future but we cannot ignore the present. I love "feel good" projects as much as anyone else but we have to face reality. And the reality is that we still have streets with potholes big enough to swallow a Mack truck and parts of our city without sewers.
The mayor said people could not see past the "meat and potatoes" of paving and code enforcement. Sorry but meat and potatoes are the basic meal, dessert comes after dinner.
A lot of us would like more parks, museums, ice cream parlors, etc. but we have to have streets to drive on to get there first. The city officials seem to have a "let them eat cake" attitude. We need bread now, Mr. Mayor, and we'll have cake later. I want to urge the City Council to consider the basics first, then the extras.
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2 comments:
"Let them eat cake" was a quote from Marie Antionette, wife of Louis XVI of France. During the
18th century, "cake" was the stuff "caked on" the ovens, not a delightful pastry lol. This comment was one of arrogant disregard for the undernourished masses before the French Revolution, which ultimately led to the beheading of Marie A. and her hubby/King.
The vibe I got from the story was not that he was dismissing our concerns about code enforcement and potholes. (interesting points-I believe he is in the process of repaving streets now right? And he did propose and get passed a concentrated code enforcement officer for to hopefully be used in our areas(west end, down town etc) I believe my delightful councilman as well as yours both voted AGAINST that position).
I got the impression that he was upset that this was the situation the citizens were in, that we weren't able to see past the basic stuff, and I just think he wants to make that right.
I could be wrong though.
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