Yesterday, publisher Steve Kozarovich critiqued a comment from 3rd district councilman Steve Price that appeared in Suddeath's piece:
Jeers ... to New Albany City Councilman Steve Price for a lack of self-awareness. In response to the upcoming request for more New Albany police officers to combat the crime epidemic in the city, Price stated, “Right now, I’m in a conservative state of mind because we’re bleeding red ink.”Put on your grandstanding clothes, folks, because CM Price is going to be working the crowd tonight.
Actually, Mr. Price, that conservative state of mind is long-term. It was among his campaign pledges to constituents when he was re-elected. I believe he promised to watch out for our nickels and dimes. That’s good because I’ll need to have something to give the criminals.
What remains to be debated and has not, either by the newspaper or members of the council, is how year after year of penny-wise, pound-foolish urban decay management has created the ideal ground for dysfunction, whether criminal or otherwise, to flourish hereabouts.
Since such a debate would expose the complicity of so many locals who strive to the status of community pillar, without the commensurate requirement of actually doing something for the community, don't expect it to happen.
In addition to serving as unnecessary sewer subsidies, I suppose that economic development funds now can be diverted to serve as Band-Aids for our collective unwillingness to fund police and fire protection. Just imagine if instead of enabling slumlord enhancement, we'd have used the money to, er, economically develop. We might not need the extra cops. We might have more nickels and dimes for Price to fondle.
Then again, we wouldn't be wonderfully and delightfully New Albanian.
Who's going tonight? The agenda's up, and I'm there.
Why bother? Not sure about that one.
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Me.
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