Northeast News
October 28, 2015

This dog isn’t the brightest crayon in the box, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that just like the toy train streetcar was, the new downtown convention hotel is on the fast track. The whole thing stinks to high heaven and came to fruition through a series of back room deals with political cronies who favor more legacy projects that pay homage to this administration.

Last week, Mayor Sly James introduced ordinance #150906 that would essentially block any sort of public referendum on the proposed taxpayer funded downtown hotel. This newsdog is puzzled, but not surprised. This isn’t the first time this administration has tried to derail the will of the people. Sadly, we don’t think it will be the last. But the Mayor’s hastily introduced resolution prompts a number of questions, not the least of which is why he would blatantly want to block a public election on this project. Even the daily paper has cozied up to the Mayor on this project, citing the need to disallow the petition turned into the city clerk by the group Citizens for Responsible Government. All of this should give any fiscally responsible person great pause. What exactly is the Mayor trying to hide? Moreover, who is he trying to protect?

This dog has had enough of the runaway, legacy building projects advanced by this Mayor and his rubber stamp city council. It’s time we got back to the basics of what government is supposed to do, and that is take care of the basic infrastructure needs that have been almost completely ignored in favor of toy train streetcars and new, publicly funded downtown hotel projects.

This administration has been woefully inept at addressing infrastructure maintenance issues that continue to plague this city. Issues that can be seen on every urban core sidewalk, curb and pothole ridden street. Sadly, however, this news pooch doesn’t see any end to the tax and spend train that continues to railroad voters and disallow the public voice. This dog thinks it’s time to pack the council chambers with some dissenting opinions.