Whoa! I got a few emails last week concerning my latest post. Looks like I got a few things wrong and I have no problem setting it straight.
My rant about the cost of the new BPD video was slightly off the mark. The video was shot with the help of NESCOM students and actually only cost a few hundred bucks. Still, not money well spent, but not a huge waste. The Dept's new Public Relations position has been working on this for a while. Now there's the waste of money, the PR guy. Does the City really need a Police Department PR guy? Another example of the Chief pissing away our tax dollars. Thanks Ronnie, your the best.
On to the fire boat debacle. Now Chief Cammack is calling this a fire-rescue boat. That makes more sense. We have had a few bridge jumpers, and the waterfront is extremely busy these days, so a rescue boat is probably needed. But fire boat, no way. In gambling terms, this ones a push.
Hollywood Slots is pushing for table games at the downtown casino. I'm sure the Chief will scream about crime and the need for MORE police. Same old rhetoric from the midget. I'm all for the table games. The casino has been a very responsible neighbor so far, so why not go with them? I don't see allot of negatives on this one.
Gerry Palmer has announced he wont seek another Council term. Really? Really? He'll be back at it in a few years for sure. This blow hard loves to talk to much to retire. I will say that Gerry truly loves the City and has worked hard on its behalf. I think he is mis-guided on several issues, but his heart in in the right place. If he'd stop wearing those pink crocs, he might have a little more credibility.
Summer is in full swing so get outside and enjoy the City. The American Folk Festival is in a few weeks and the Senior Little League World Series kicked off the other day. The Kah Bang festival was a big hit with the 20-30 somethings and I have heard only good reviews of the event and the management team. Hopefully this this survives and can come back next year.
That's all for now, keep the faith people...........
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Heat Is On!
Its been a scorcher these past few weeks. I heard that July was the hottest on record for Maine. Its been brutal for sure. I've been working the fans and AC to death. Even the garden is taking it on the chin. My water bill will be HUGE next quarter, and everything is still basically dead. So much for my green thumb.
I've been down to camp sitting around the campfire quite a bit this summer. Lots of good conversation on the shape of the City, State, and the Nation. This whole "debt ceiling" bullshit pretty much killed any thought I had of re-electing ANY of the morons currently in DC. Get out the broom my friends. These lazy douchebags are even going on vacation for a month, leaving critical FAA funding legislation on the back burner. Meanwhile, thousands of employees, contractors, and suppliers are out of work, waiting for these asshats to wrap up their Labor Day weekend bar-b-ques. As my good friend Gordon Ramsey says, "Its disgusting!!" My faith in the Federal Govt. has been shaken to its core.
Hats off to Charlie Longo for taking the City Council to task on the 'pay-as-you-throw" system being pushed onto the poor folks of Bangor. The City currently makes over $300,000 per year on the current system. That system also employs 4 folks that work the Center over by the airport. In the proposed PAYT set-up, those guys are out of work and some outside entity gets the $300k (and then some). WTF?? This is all for a conceived rise in costs in year 2018? I've been railing against this from day one when Professor Gratwick brought up the idea. He's been on this environmental crusade for 10 years now, and this will be the crown jewel. Well done Geoff. My Nana appreciates the extra trash pick-up fee's being imposed. She's got tons of extra cash for your crown. I'm sure the guys at the Center are equally as happy as Nana. They hate working there anyway, right Geoff?
Glad to see Art Morgan get promoted to City Engineer. I've known and worked with Art for over 20 years. He's a good man and the City should be happy to have him at the helm.
I was scanning the public access network last night and happened upon the City's new Police Dept propaganda movie. What is the purpose behind this? Are we actively recruiting new police? Is this a Officer Friendly feel good piece? What the hell is it? Why would we spend a dime on this stupid thing. Must be all the extra revenue from parking rule enforcement. Way to go Chief, your the best. Maybe if you weren't out mugging for the camera, you could get a better handle on the bath salt situation here in town. One of the patrol officers stated that he comes in at 5am and goes home past 10pm, and sometime later. That is just plain untrue. Maybe on some rare occasion, but that's clearly not the norm. The Chief has been spouting the staffing statistics for the last year in his push to hire more cops, so I know a little about the daily patrolman's hours. Again I ask, why was a dime, or hell, even a penny, spent on this film? Someone?? Anyone?? Chief???
The City is kicking around the idea of purchasing a fire boat for the waterfront. Where do I begin on this stupid idea. Who comes up with this shit? Don't people understand how poor the economy is these days? Why on earth would we spend money on something we don't really have a need for. Has there been a rash of fires on the river that I'm not aware of? I understand that a good chunk of the funds for this boat are from the ARRA (aka stimulus money) so why should we care? Well, we've got to maintain this thing, we need to store this thing, we need to train fire fighters on the use of this thing. We'll need some Coast Guard approvals and other stuff as well. Has anyone thought about the long term costs of this foolish boat? Maybe they'll use it to spray water on the crowds of unruly concert goers at the Waterfront Pavilion, or better yet, the transient scumbags living under the Veteran's Bridge. That makes sense, but fire fighting? That's a crock of shit.
That's all I got for now. Hammond St will be paved soon, so some help is on the way!
Keep the faith people.
I've been down to camp sitting around the campfire quite a bit this summer. Lots of good conversation on the shape of the City, State, and the Nation. This whole "debt ceiling" bullshit pretty much killed any thought I had of re-electing ANY of the morons currently in DC. Get out the broom my friends. These lazy douchebags are even going on vacation for a month, leaving critical FAA funding legislation on the back burner. Meanwhile, thousands of employees, contractors, and suppliers are out of work, waiting for these asshats to wrap up their Labor Day weekend bar-b-ques. As my good friend Gordon Ramsey says, "Its disgusting!!" My faith in the Federal Govt. has been shaken to its core.
Hats off to Charlie Longo for taking the City Council to task on the 'pay-as-you-throw" system being pushed onto the poor folks of Bangor. The City currently makes over $300,000 per year on the current system. That system also employs 4 folks that work the Center over by the airport. In the proposed PAYT set-up, those guys are out of work and some outside entity gets the $300k (and then some). WTF?? This is all for a conceived rise in costs in year 2018? I've been railing against this from day one when Professor Gratwick brought up the idea. He's been on this environmental crusade for 10 years now, and this will be the crown jewel. Well done Geoff. My Nana appreciates the extra trash pick-up fee's being imposed. She's got tons of extra cash for your crown. I'm sure the guys at the Center are equally as happy as Nana. They hate working there anyway, right Geoff?
Glad to see Art Morgan get promoted to City Engineer. I've known and worked with Art for over 20 years. He's a good man and the City should be happy to have him at the helm.
I was scanning the public access network last night and happened upon the City's new Police Dept propaganda movie. What is the purpose behind this? Are we actively recruiting new police? Is this a Officer Friendly feel good piece? What the hell is it? Why would we spend a dime on this stupid thing. Must be all the extra revenue from parking rule enforcement. Way to go Chief, your the best. Maybe if you weren't out mugging for the camera, you could get a better handle on the bath salt situation here in town. One of the patrol officers stated that he comes in at 5am and goes home past 10pm, and sometime later. That is just plain untrue. Maybe on some rare occasion, but that's clearly not the norm. The Chief has been spouting the staffing statistics for the last year in his push to hire more cops, so I know a little about the daily patrolman's hours. Again I ask, why was a dime, or hell, even a penny, spent on this film? Someone?? Anyone?? Chief???
The City is kicking around the idea of purchasing a fire boat for the waterfront. Where do I begin on this stupid idea. Who comes up with this shit? Don't people understand how poor the economy is these days? Why on earth would we spend money on something we don't really have a need for. Has there been a rash of fires on the river that I'm not aware of? I understand that a good chunk of the funds for this boat are from the ARRA (aka stimulus money) so why should we care? Well, we've got to maintain this thing, we need to store this thing, we need to train fire fighters on the use of this thing. We'll need some Coast Guard approvals and other stuff as well. Has anyone thought about the long term costs of this foolish boat? Maybe they'll use it to spray water on the crowds of unruly concert goers at the Waterfront Pavilion, or better yet, the transient scumbags living under the Veteran's Bridge. That makes sense, but fire fighting? That's a crock of shit.
That's all I got for now. Hammond St will be paved soon, so some help is on the way!
Keep the faith people.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)