Thru The Looking Glass

I feel like Alice in Wonderland some days. I cant believe most of what I hear, and half of what I see. These past few weeks have been a little strange to say the least. There's a lot of stuff to go over, so lets get right to it.

Proposed State budget cuts have City Officials scrambling. The biggest issue I see is the cut to aid for housing. These are State and Federal mandates to be clear. The City has become a dumping ground for Section 8 tenants, and any cut in State appropriations will have to be made up by the taxpayers. Most folks don't realize how huge a problem this is. I've had a few rental units in my day and am pretty familiar with the system. I'll nutshell it for you. Housing aid for a single person (insert "un-wed mother" here) with 2 children runs about $1000 per month. Lets not even talk about food stamps, heating assistance, and other emergency vouchers, this is strictly rent and utilities. So, lets just say there are 100 families in Bangor receiving this aide. That's $100,000 per month, or $1.2 million per year to Bangor residents. The real number is closer to 1000 families, so the costs go up to $12 million. Now you gettin it? A 10% drop in State funds means a $1.2 million shortfall to the City. Remember, the City has to take care of these folks, by Federal and State statute, so this has to come from somewhere. Does Deb Cyr have a pot of gold ? I hope so. Does anyone realize that Shawn Yardley has commandered a good chunk of the Ranger Inn on Outer Hammond Street to house some folks. The School Dept. has to send a bus way the hell out there as well. Where does this free ride end?

Our beloved State Senator Joe Perry went to the City Council to complain about the Letter to the Editor that was published in the BDN a few weeks back. He was obviously fired up and expressed his displeasure with the Council. Hey Joe! Who do you work for? Maybe if you spent more time working with the Council and actually helping Bangor, the letter could have been avoided. Instead of leadership, ideas, and solutions that would benefit the City, you whine and cry like the little putz that you are. Go ahead Joe, take your ball and go home. We'll play the game without you. Just like when you were a kid, eh? Keep it up. It will only ensure your re-election bid will fall flat in 2012.

I know I've been riding Police Chief Gastia alot lately. But I'm big enough to give him props when its deserved. The parking ticket quota fiasco has died down and the random tickets for minor infractions has been scaled back. None of the patrons at my business has had any issues this past month. The complaints at City Hall were heard and things have been corrected. The Chief has gone as far as introducing the "Non-Ticket" in the downtown area. This is a great idea that has been used in Portland for a decade. The idea is that you can get a ticket every 90 days and not have to pay. This sends a message to chronic illegal parkers, and doesn't nail the shopper who comes into downtown occasionally. Its a good call by the Chief.

Deb Cyr has been working overtime on the City budget. She's worked with the City Departments and has developed a trimmed budget for the remaining 5 months of the fiscal year. She's located around a million bucks in savings that can help finish the year off with a balanced budget. Great work Deb. OUTSTANDING!!! I found it odd that Hal Wheeler was put out about not sending a City rep to the Council of Governments Convention in Vegas this year. As he puts it, the savings of $2500 wont amount to a "hill of beans". Well Hal, as a taxpayer I'm pissed. WTF? Sorry pal but I work for a living and $2500 is half of my property tax bill. Think before you speak next time numbnuts.

I'm soooo glad the the new mission statement has been finalized. What a joke. I've come to expect this type of poor performance from Annie Hawes. Very, very disappointing. And we lost the best City Manager in the State over this? Sad.

Jim Elmore is running on empty with his petition for the recall of 5 Councilors. Only 200 signatures so far. That's piss poor folks. Get off your ass people, or get out your wallets. This Council talks about savings and keeping the tax rate even, but that's double speak at its best. The arena project will probably double taxes. This will have 3 major effects. Massive home sales as folks flock out of town, lower housing prices as the market will be flooded with homes, and a lower tax base, resulting in even higher property taxes. Its like a big dog chasing its own tail.

And last, but not least, traffic in the downtown area needs to slow the hell down. Please remember that people in the crosswalk have the right-of-way. So please, stay of my back bumper and we just might avoid an accident.

Till next time...keep the faith folks