Commentary by Samuel Strait – August 17, 2022
Suspecting that the City’s Council is at all cognizant of the fact that
the United States is in a recession may be asking too much. Obsession
with the community pool being likely a “bridge too far” is a given.
Clearly the “term” inflation and supply chain issues are something that
the boys on the Council are ill equipped to comprehend, let alone
address with any kind of proficiency. Government, after all, and
particularly with our local governing bodies, never saw a dollar that
they couldn’t spend without a care in the world about where it came
from. They talk of Measure “S” money as if it were something to be
plucked endlessly from the nearest “apple tree”. Hardly aware of the
cost to the community as they fruitlessly try to apply liberal
quantities of lipstick to the community pool. Not a single nod to
issues that are accumulating in the city, while they are trying to dress
up as if going to the “Ball”.
Potholed filled roads and streets, services an after thought, but have
anything remotely related to dressing up Front Street, the Park and the
check book is wide open. Clearly as they dither around, things will
only escalate in cost. Just as clearly, Johnson Controls will not be
able to put “lip stick” on the community pool for $1.17 million, let
alone anyone else that is likely to suddenly appear. Things are going
up in cost by the day. Oh, Did I say that already. Someone, no make
that five someones, truly have to be asleep for the past eighteen months
not to understand that if the water meter project has doubled in cost,
then so must the pool end of things.
So, I ask the citizens of the City of Crescent City, 1200 fewer in
number since 2010, how are you feeling about having your wallets raided
on a daily basis in order to allow the City’s Council to fritter away a
couple of million dollars of your money to dress up the pool, the park,
and Front Street. I am sure the Surfside Grill and Brewery appreciates
the additional parking. And the City’s employees are appreciative of the
raise they got to start 2022. Then there is the little matter of
Crescent Fire And Rescue finding it necessary to hire four additional
administrators to replace the one that retired. At this rate there
isn’t going to be much money left over to do anything that really matters.
The City’s voters were given the “old spin job” that the City
desperately needed money to provide “vital” services for its citizens.
You know them as services that should be a “priority” in the City’s
General Fund called police protection, fire protection, and emergency
services. So what exactly is the money in the City’s General Fund being
spent on if Measure “S” was necessary to restore funding levels for
police, fire, and emergency services? Why exactly does the City need
additional revenue? It does not appear it has anything to do with
improvement of fire, police, or emergency services. It does not appear
to have much to do with fixing 400 city streets that are in disrepair.
It appears the focus is on spending millions on a part of the City that
is hardly utilized by the people it is meant to benefit at a continuing
and escalating cost.
So how is it going for the citizen’s of Crescent City? Feeling the bite
of inflation on all things necessary to survive? Is it possible that
you could use a few more dollars in your pocket? Is the City pool, the
park, and Front Street “vital” to your well being and very existence?
Do they somehow shelter and protect you from the elements, or feed you?
Do they put gas in your tank or pay your rent and utility bills? For
some reason it is almost like putting on a set of comfortable clothes
for the local governments to plead poverty and the need for additional
revenue. We will protect you they say and make you feel safe by
providing “vital services” as if that isn’t what they were supposed to
be doing in the first place. So what exactly is the purpose of the
money in the “General Fund” if it is not meant to provide the services
that are claimed vital to be paid for with Measure “S” funding? Where
is that money being spent? Is the City truly in need of additional
revenue in the first place? Let us see. Vote YES on Measure “T” to repeal Measure S and we
shall see.
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