A free market proposition

I've brushed over this topic in the past and maybe it's time to revisit it. Someone else already raised it anyway. Why is St. Mary's Church given the exclusive right to sell concessions at the River Raisin Jazz Festival?
I've heard all the arguments about how people get to lounge on their grounds and listen to the music and the proceeds all go to a good cause, but why can't some other concessionaires set up across the river in the city parking lot? I could see a whole lot of booths that would turn the place into a Taste of Monroe fest along with a jazz fest. Sure, there's a chance you might pinch St. Mary's revenues or maybe the K of C beer concession, but there's a big chance a whole lot more people would dump a lot more money with local restaurants if they had small booths along the non-music side of the river.
Last year, there was a guy attending the jazz fest that brought a huge grill and was cooking stuff practically in front of the stage. If he could have gotten a brat or ribs or a burger from a concessionaire, would have dragged all that stuff to St. Mary?
The downtown business network should get with the tourism bureau on this and come up with a pilot program.

BTW, do not be afraid to register and post comments on this blog. Though it now is moderated, I still won't know precisely who you are. Also, be aware that your posts now will be delayed, so they only will appear after I have a chance to moderate them. That's the real downside, but the tradeoff is worth it, I think.

Also, a previous commenter was critical of me, I think, for pretending to be "neutral" but having some obvious bias. That's too funny! If I wanted to be neutral, I wouldn't have this blog. I have all sorts of biases and this is a way for me to share them with the world.

Blog vandals, the scary underbelly

You can see by the comments to the previous post that there seems to be a demented person who has a lot of time on his or her hands making it difficult for reasonable commenters to get a word in edgewise.

I'm kind of weary of it all, so we're now in moderation. Commenters will have to register and I get to approve all comments and delete all the others.

Works for me.

What's kinda scary though is that someone out there must really be steamed as you and me, or has just about all his screws loose. Just think, he might be the guy sitting next to you in the bar.

But heck, it takes a lot of nutjobs to make a world.

Hope this brings things back into a more civil and intelligent mode.

Thanks for reading.

Zink caught?

There was a story in the Snooze the other day that said the graffiti vandal who was writing Zink on buildings and businesses was caught red-handed.

He's a 20-year-old? Geez, and here I was blaming teens.

Okay, he has to be prosecuted under the law, but if that wasn't a consideration, what do you think suitable punishment would be?

How about he does some jail time and also is sentenced to go around to schools telling kids how stupid he is?

BTW, congrats to those in Monroe who were sharp-eyed enough to spot this critter and blow the whistle. That's community spirit personified.

Let's not pity Patterson

It's hard to resist weighing in on the Patterson free parking pass controversy.
Those who haven't been paying attention should know that John Martin, a Monroe city councilman, has suggested that Patterson, head of the county tourism bureau, should be granted a free parking pass for downtown because he's a busy guy and tries to bring tourism bucks to the neighborhood.
For what it's worth, I like Patterson. Would I give him a free parking pass? Heck no.
(This sounds like a Monopoly game space anyway).
Does John, who pays himself well, really need a pass? Can't he just park a few more feet away in the riverfront parking lot? He can't get his tickets validated for obvious reasons (the policy wasn't designed for downtown employees). If John can get a pass, I can think of dozens of other people who should, but won't embarrass them by naming them here.
What seems to be more important is that the city work out some system of ticketing that doesn't chase away first-time visitors to the city. Either have printed on the ticket itself that it can be validated at merchants or waive the fine for out-of-towners who bring the ticket to city hall within two hours of it being issued. This policy probably chases away as many tourists as Patterson brings in.
Martin might be bright most of the time, but what was he smoking this time?
BTW, I like McGeady's a lot better now than when Martin ran it.

A rising clamor

Some of the commenters on this blog have been calling for me to screen or censor the comments.
I can do this, but I don't want to.
But I will if I have to.
What is strange about this is that if I start to do that, the people who are forcing me to do it will no longer be able to comment.
What I can't figure out is what purpose they think they might be serving.
If they think posting long excerpts from the Old Testament or dissertations on communism (I actually found that quite interesting) somehow will corrupt the blog or discourage posters, they've already been proven wrong.
In the past, I've pleaded for commenters to keep their comments clean. Let's face it, a comment can be vile and evil, but still avoid language that might give some kid who stumbled upon it an education he doesn't really want or need. Not everyone has responded to that plea. So I'm considering making the move to bring the blog to a bit higher level.
Everybody in favor, say aye.
This might even take this blog back to how it all began -- with me making passing comments to the entertainment or irritation of a few who visited regularly.
A while back someone put a link to this site on another forum widely accessed by the general public. I thought that would be a bad move. It's been bad and good.
But I think the blog can better be a force for good if content now is screened by my good filter.
That means it will be bad for a lot of people.
But what it comes down to is that this blog really is mostly about me anyway. And if I start to censor, it really will be all about me.
So should I pull the trigger because of a few morons?

A hint of things to come?

I see where a $21,000 grant has been approved to do more research on where the significant points of the River Raisin Battlefield might lie.

The work will look at areas outside some of the portions already studied.

That's significant in itself, but what might be more significant is that the grant was from the National Park Service.
Does that mean the chances are better that the site will eventually be declared a National Historic Park?

I hope so.

Even if it's not, doesn't the site look a lot better since that old paper plant was knocked down? That definitely was an improvement to the city's looks.

Okay, so the city is twisted

Yeah, I think that last exchange of comments in the post below confirmed my suspicions that something bad is in some people's water (or genes) here. I think one of our regular contributors had a nervous breakdown.
But moving along, just to set things straight, the first and only time I mentioned Smith and Compora in a post in about two years now was the last post. I mentioned it because the debate is such a futile exercise and hoped we could move beyond it. Guess not. So we're twisted. Let's all resolve to live with that.
To further clarify things, I wish to state that familiarity seems to be breeding contempt. All this talk about Monroe going down the tube is nuts. Most reasonable people, even those who don't agree, probably would agree that Monroe is more vibrant than it's been in 20 years, despite a rotten and eroding state economy.
Sure, the city's not making as much revenue and there's a lot of rental housing, but it's obvious that some posters here don't get out and about much. Maybe they feel trapped in Monroe.
I can give you a whole list of places that make Monroe look like paradise -- we can start with Flint, or Adrian. Cripe, ask George Brown.
As for the election, I have a plan.
No I will not be running for office.
Al Cappuccilli will not be running for office.
Bill Burkett will run for mayor.
John Iacoangeli will run for mayor.
Mark Worrell will run for mayor.
What probably needs to happen is for a deal to be cut among these three.
I would suggest Iacoangeli run for council. This will give Worrell a decent shot at mayor and take Paisley out of the picture.
You'll end up with a better balance on council and someone as mayor who might be a little more talented at compromise.

Is city a little twisted?

One of the commenters to the previous post said that this blog kind of shows the slimy underbelly of a snake of a city.
He or she feels the blog is a poor reflection of the town.
Another commenter said I should "pull the plug" on the blog.
It's something I've been considering for some time partly because city elections are drawing near and things will get uglier.
This blog has become a mystery to me. It began and continues to be my ramblings, more or less.
I think some of the commenters remarks have been nothing short of brilliant.
Others are as coarse and common as they come.
What I can't figure out is why there's so much venom vented here.
I would guess anyone who even bothers to post remarks here cares somewhat about their community. But it's pretty apparent that it goes beyond that. There's a lot of hate and vindictiveness.
I continue to be amazed at the Compora-Smith dialogue. Why does this matter?
Councilwoman Compora was elected to city council just like everyone else on council. Making nasty remarks about her here won't determine whether she gets re-elected. How well she represents her constituents will determine whether she has a chance at re-election.
David Smith will probably continue to comment on city issues -- heck, he has his own Web site to vent on. Bashing Smith isn't going to make him go away and, he too will be judged by his constituency.
My guess is that Compora on council is just trying to irritate and embarrass fellow councilmembers who she has little regard for in hopes of seeing them get voted off the council.
My guess is what she says at council is only a small part of what she tells voters in her neighborhood.
My guess is that her performance on city council is being both jeered and cheered by different populations. If she doesn't get re-elected, she'll probably still have a lot to say at council meetings. If she does get re-elected, she'll have even more to say.
The same probably applies to Smith.
Obviously they have some personal animosities. SO WHAT!
If people who contribute to this blog really enjoy this nonproductive bashing, maybe someone should just start a blog of their own dedicated to that topic.
As far as I can tell, this weird feud isn't helping the city and, I agree, is probably hurting it.
Having said that, let see if I can turn the topic a little.
First, someone said John Patterson was wasting taxpayer dollars by having a laser show downtown. If the tourism bureau paid for it, it's not taxpayer dollars that paid for it, it's revenue from visitors to the area who use hotels and motels in the area. It's a fee attached to their room bill.
Second, I was wondering how people feel about holding the fireworks at the state park. I've heard some some people who were at the show that they liked it better at the fairgrounds because it was easy to get in and out and they didn't have to pay a park entrance fee.
Does anyone have strong feelings about this?

City study a little twisted?

I caught bits and pieces of that presentation on the city operational study.
Is it just me or did anyone think that the study had a little too much anti-union, pro-privatization spin?
It seemed like every 10th sentence out of the consultant's mouth mentioned stuff about conciliatory attitudes and outsourcing. While those tactics could help, why couldn't he just have highlighted areas of high cost and inefficiency and let the the city figure out what alternatives it could explore? Maybe it's just me.
Anybody else get these strange vibes?