I've lived in The Rose of New England, Norwich, Connecticut, for a skosh more than thirty-three years. I fell in love with the city when our realtor drove me through it, though in the decades since I'll admit to being disappointed as the gap between the Promise and the Performance never seems to shrink.
I used to attend meetings of our City Council with a regularity and frequency that not even some of the council members themselves could match but in recent years since I've allowed my rabies vaccinations to expire (as opposed to myself) I've made alternate arrangements.
I watch the meetings either on our local public excess channel (you think I mean access? Have you seen what's on there?) or on the city's website, live in growing anger and animus. Besides, in the comfort of my own study, I needn't share the dip nor pass the popcorn to anyone.
After just a few minutes of watching any of the council's sessions on the city's website, you can easily see why 'Comments are turned off.' The volume and vitriol with which those in attendance, to say nothing of the keyboard warriors who react to news accounts of the Council's meetings, berate the volunteers who thought they were performing a public service by serving, is gob-smacking.
The most recent cause for something bordering on outrage precipitant involved money, which should surprise none of us. We have a tendency in these parts to confuse talking about solutions with actual solutions.
Case in point: the inadequacies of the Norwich Police Department Headquarters. It's been 'too small' for the police department seemingly since it was built. And let's not mention the choice of real estate overlooking the Norwich Harbor where it was sited.
Anyway, bygones.
We've been talking about a 'new police station' if not forever then close to it. And at the first Council meeting of the month in December we did something about it, well, sort of. Talk about making it official.
Albert Einstein noted, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." Still, I don't think the Lord was in Council Chambers when the resolution to purchase the Chelsea Groton Bank downtown location was approved.
Coincidence would also NOT be the bank lowering the property's asking price by six hundred thousand dollars IF the City purchased it by the end of the year though it might be if $800,000 is the most the Council can bond WITHOUT going to referendum. Talk about 'moving in mysterious ways,' huh?
Don't misunderstand me, please. We need to stop talking about building a new police station and actually build one. For those, and there are many, who are angry at a cost close to (at least) fifty million dollars, it was considerably less about a decade ago when voters rejected a different downtown site to build the station.
Maybe if we wait another decade, we can collect enough redeemable bottles and cans to pay for it, and of course, this time the price will be even lower because that's how we tell ourselves the world works.
Newsflash: Police station construction costs money. Blame is better to give than receive but no one is to blame. Demanding the Council simultaneously build a new police station but not one that costs any money defies both gravity and logic.
I've gained weight since I was a teenager, so my old jeans don't fit. I tried blaming Wrangler, but it's not working. Same thing with the police station. Why do so many argue about why there is a problem, instead of just fixing it?
When did we become these people, and more importantly, when are we going to stop? A lot of us look to blame someone when we should just look in the mirror. Let me know if you like the view.
-bill kenny
No comments:
Post a Comment