Sunday, August 3, 2008

Meeting the Mayor

I arrived a little early and was treated to a parking space right in front of Java Vino (ah, life’s little pleasures). I strolled in, got my coffee, and settled in my seat. The Mayor was already engaged in a conversation, but soon said hello to myself and others.

I thought it was really great the way all of us (about 20) jumped right into the issues. The Mayor expressed some frustration with the comments posted regarding his visit to the King center. Bloggers and residents expressed frustration with the escalating crime, especially the drug trade and shootings.

Here is a flavor of some of the more notable quotes from residents and bloggers, strictly as I remember them:

“Punitive action doesn’t work. We need to reach out to these young people”

“If the cops come up on 3 black kids and one white one, the black kids are going to jail”

“Cops show up on a complaint wind up putting the complainant in jail”

“People are standing on the corners dealing drugs. If it is obvious to me, it has to be obvious to the professionals patrolling the streets”

[In response to the Mayor’s ‘Broken Window’ policy] “Every drug dealer standing on the corner is a broken window and a boarded up house”

So, how did it go? Residents and bloggers told their stories, from the “I see drug dealers”, to “Poor police response” to “it is economics”, to “it is education”. I soon got the feeling that people wanted a magic bullet, but, we soon agreed, there is none to be found.

One man (I believe I know who) gave an impassioned plea to the Mayor regarding crime and police response. A woman on the other side of the room had a similar tale. It was unfortunate that the man got worked up, got into a dispute with a woman sitting at his table, got upset and stormed out. I say unfortunate because he had some valid points, but was easily dismissed as a kook.

We continued for quite some time. For each issue brought up, the Mayor outlined an initiative to cover that particular point. When the Mayor finally ran out of time, the meeting ended amiably.

When I went outside, I soon realized that I had lost track of time. Why? I had a parking ticket on my windshield.

I came home, and something nagged at me all day. I couldn’t put my finger on it. People expressed their views, brought up a variety of issues, the Mayor and Aldermen responded in kind, so what was my problem? I couldn’t shake it all day and all night. It finally hit me.

I believe the Mayor and Aldermen are sincere. They truly want what’s best for Racine. They have initiatives in place, and have future initiatives lined up. They are taking some action, but: IT’S NOT WORKING. That simple fact is what’s been bothering me. The broken window initiative, buying up apartment complexes, outreach programs, visits to the King center, etc, etc, etc is having little impact.

What is missing is an assault on the criminals. There were some that dismissed this idea, but one man with a camera around his neck, made, in retrospect, a very eloquent point. He stated that he lived in New York City when Rudy Giuliani [whom he considered a fascist] became Mayor. He expressed admiration that Giuliani first cleaned up the streets, used ordinances to get rid of unsavory businesses, and then brought in economic development. Giuliani changed the face of New York forever.

The Mayor stated that, even if they had more cops on the street, it wouldn't have stopped the last two shootings. That may be true, but because of the current environment, these shooters feel that they can act with impunity.

Maybe that’s the problem here in Racine. First and foremost, we need to rid ourselves of the criminal element. Once they have been tamped down, bulldoze (literally and figuratively) blighted areas, attract businesses [more jobs], then revitalize [Uptown Art District]. The Mayor himself noted that the old library building, currently selling for $180K, would be worth $500K if the neighborhood around it was better.

One attendee also had it right when he stated that fear needs to be removed from the city. That is the real bottom line. As long as there is fear, residents will not cooperate, businesses will not be attracted, tourists will not come, and people will not stay. All the initiatives in the world will fail if there is continued fear. I sincerely hope that our Mayor and Aldermen make every effort to remove that fear.

Two Coffees: $3.75
One Parking Ticket: $11
Getting to sound off to the Mayor: Priceless

I hope to do it again soon, only next time, without the parking ticket.

20 comments:

AvengingAngel said...

I hear you, Orbs. I truly believe it is the current environment that enables these thugs. Change the environment to a hostile one and they will disappear.

AvengingAngel said...

Hey Orbs, where did your comeent go?

SER said...

I believe it was a group consensus that the Racine Police Dept (along with other agencies) is doing a good job of catching drug dealers, not all but some major players. But in reality when you take (for example) 5 kilos of cocaine off the street, it will drive the price up, face it, its supply and demand. So up goes crime; people are going to buy that stuff one way or another.

If you read through all the comments from AvengingAngel, OrbsCorbs and the Journal Times you will see the majority of the conversation was crime. I did hear Gary quickly talk about the dept which is going around the city marking sideways for repair/replacement and painting houses, etc. I’m surprised no one made a comment on this subject or if they did I couldn’t/didn’t hear it.

I also didn’t hear if anyone talked about Unified and getting those monkeys under control, or property taxes. Again, I didn’t stay until the end, but crime seems to be what everyone wanted to discuss.

I agree AvengingAngel, I think it would be nice if Gary held another “get together”.

I realize it is the weekend and even Gary deserves a day off. I’ll wait until Monday to see if he or his office posts a blog about the get together and see how he feels it went.

$11.00 for a parking meter ticket, you got off cheap, they got me for $15.50 for street storage...a few times. Damn, you would think I would learn.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
OrbsCorbs said...

AvengingAngel,

Sorry, I didn't realize anyone else had read the post. I put it up and took it down very quickly. Upon re-reading, I figured it was "too negative" about the mayor, or just too much more negativity piled onto the heap that's already there.

I agree with you 100% on the crime issue. I, too, heard some of the things that the mayor said about various initiatives, and the UNIT, etc., but, again, only bits and pieces of it. The ambient noise was overpowering. I did not hear what some of the other particpants said or asked at all.

What's "street storage," SER? Is that leaving it in one place for a few days?

I plugged 4 quarters into the meter, 2 hours worth. I thought a spot would be harder to find. I was expecting a crowd.

OrbsCorbs said...

Anonymous,

I am so Laughing Out Loud right now! You had to come over here to tell me, so you must have complained. Talk about a wuss!

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!

AvengingAngel said...

I also want to add something. There were people attending that cared not about the residents or bloggers. They came in with an agenda, pure and simple. Miss sisters of social justice was a prime example along with another that was pushing "education" and complaining that punitive action does not work.

Next time, leave your agenda at home and bring a real issue to the meeting.

The Sheriff said...

Nope, anonymous. No one wants to read your personal attacks and disgusting comments. You crossed the line again.

Do you really think you can hide behind proxy websites? You spend way too much time here. Go back to your other website, or better yet, get a real life.

OrbsCorbs said...

Hey, sheriff, you shoulda left that up.

AA, after the meeting, I started thinking about the sisters. When I was a kid, they were almost exclusively teachers. Now, however, they are social activists. The one prefaced her every comment with "I work in the prison and . . ." Do you think she's a prison guard? I don't. Probably a social worker, or counselor, or P.O., someone who works for re-releasing repeat offenders into our neighborhoods. These women used to take a vow of poverty. Do they still? Where does the paycheck go?

SER said...

Orbs...

Street Storage, when you park on the wrong side of the street at night.

drewzepmeister said...

Like you Orbs,I couldn't hear much of meeting. I know more now from what I have read.

I agree 100% with Orbs and AA about the crime issue. I too,have been a victim of crime.

OrbsCorbs said...

SER, OK. I always called it "overnight parking."

Anonymous said...

To The "sheriff": You are truly out of touch. My post to Orbs was in direct response to his attack on me in which he stated "Crawl back into your mother's vagina". That is a direct quote from Orb's himself. If you feel that this type of blogging is acceptable, then I will simply tell orb's himself to "Crawl back into his mother's vagina", just as he told me. Now lets see how long this stays up....LOL

If you are going to "report me", as you've threatened many times before, go ahead, I've been waiting to tackle this issue head on. I encourage you to do so. My legal team is ready as I have more money than time actually..LOL. You have your proof, and trust me, We have our proof. You people simply need to realize that you are not above everyone else (like you think you are) and that many, many people view you as hypocrites.

I've got my notes all compiled, so complain away. We are ready. Thank you for your time.

Oh, and by the way, I will not leave this site as it is my right to go to any legal website of my choosing. Maybe you guys can find a secret website to cackle and complain to eachother, one that I can't play along in??

Perhaps if I get a few sincere apologies, I will leave, as my point will have been made.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH RINGS LOUD AND TRUE IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

The Sheriff said...

Anon, nice to see you back.

We apologize for your immaturity:
We don't even believe we are speaking to an adult. Your childishness is very evident in your posts.

We apologize for your stupidity:
You think you can visit our site with anonymity and that we don't know about it. Oooohhhh, you're so smart!

We apologize that you can't coexist in a normal society:
You must live under a rock. No one told you that you can't read the JTI or post here. We told you that you will not be allowed to attack people here. You will be deleted. We don't have to put up with your shit.

We apologize that you aren't smart enough to understand:
We don't give a rat's ass about what you think or whether or not others might think we are "hypocrites."

Enough apologies for you asshole?

AvengingAngel said...

Hey Anon, you got a complaint? Post a blog. This one is about the Mayor's meeting. If you've got something to write about that, post away. Otherwise, go away.

The Sheriff said...

TJ the troll:
A sidebar tribute (ask your lawyers what that term means) to your stupidity. If you use a proxy to access sites anonymously, you should check your transfer rate---dialup sucks Good thing you have more money and time than internet savvy.

Visitor cache:
dtc-aa07.proxy.aol.com
IP Address 205.188.116.11
Date: 18 Feb, Mon, 21:08:40
Net Speed: Dial-Up
Organization: America Online Browser: AOL 9
Continent: North America Operating System: Windows XP
Country: United States Screen Resolution: 1280x1024
Screen Color: 32 Bit (16.7M)
Javascript: Enabled

Anonymous said...

Thank you, got it. Keep up the great work.

SER said...

Yooo Gary, still waiting on your comments.....

Beejay said...

SER, maybe Gary didn't feel happy with the meeting....maybe he didn't like our bloggers' group.
Oh dear.

SER said...

Beejay...I think Big G “mostly” like everyone, but he’s not going to comment. I believe he doesn’t want to give anyone “ammunition” to rip him up.....again, or is it still? Can someone answer that please!