No Dropped Balls

Maybe it's the picture perfect weather, but I'm in a bit of the festive mood this weekend.  I'm going to be positive, and nobody is going to stop me.  So there.

A little background is in order.  I was a board member of Paducah Renaissance Alliance, a.k.a., PRA until you all elected me to the city commission.  Essentially, the PRA is the National Mainstreet Program for Paducah. Its mission is historic preservation, economic development, promotion and organization.  A few months ago the PRA staff and director, for one reason or another, left the employee of the City.

This exodus left PRA without staff rather suddenly, and hence the accolades.

My first accolade is to Jeff Pederson, City Manager.  Jeff acted quickly to insure that there would be no dropped balls.  Staffing would be arranged from within to cover the bases efficiently and at little cost.  One of PRA's major goals this year was to have a study completed on the Colombia Theater's reuse.  Jeff kept the focus, and the study went ahead.

Steve Ervin, head of the Planning Department, gets my next accolade.  PRA had been working on an initiative of making certain our downtown core of buildings would not collapse due to bad roofs.  You may have known this by the name The Roof Stabilization Program.  The program has started, and it is a good first step in securing the fabric of our downtown.

Steve Ervin gets another accolade for applying the concepts of The Fountain Neighborhood Project to filling out the vacant lots in the LowerTown Arts District.  The first artist home should start soon, at no cost to the taxpayer, naturally. This was a PRA program under the guise of The Artist Cottage.

Steve Doolittle, PRDA director, gets my next accolade for accepting the challenge of economic development of downtown  properties.  And, yes there are a few new stores to show for his efforts.

I, of course, save the best accolade for last.  Jessica Perkins was the lone temporary hire to do all the marketing, writing, website inquiry.  You name it, and she did it.

While in this feeling of good tidings, maybe I'm most happy about using tax dollars for projects, not just staff for PRA.  I know something about this.  While on the board I helped select two directors that just were not the right fit, for them or us.

So there you have it, no dropped balls.  Your city had a department problem and together did yeoman's duty, and I thought you might like to know.

As the weekend comes to an end I guess I should revert to my negative, pessimistic and curmudgeonly self.  I must say I have enjoyed this respite and look forward to another festive mood in the near future.

A Wolf by its ears

A wolf by its ears……..

I’ve never actually had a wolf by its ears, but I think I’m getting the idea with our Riverfront Park …..ah….situation.  First, some background, assuming you have lived under a tub or been on vacation to Mars these last few months.

From the first “proposed construction cost” document the “bump out” was estimated to cost about $50,000 more than the HUD Grant.  By the time the bids were received and rebid to lower the cost, the “bump out” had ballooned to $1,500,000 over budget.  I voted against this project.  A few weeks ago, the cost was raised by another $250,000 for the gangway pilings.  I voted against this also.  Last week, due to subsidence, we were told that we were now another $800,000 short to raise the “bump out” to the desired level.  The other commissioners are now waiting for more information before voting.  I will vote against these additional monies.  My last “wolf by its ears” fact is that the city spent $1,264,915 from the period 2008 thru 2013, which is in addition to the spending discussed above.  I wasn’t a commissioner to vote against this.

If the project stops right now, I suspect the city will be forced to spend some money to bring even the incomplete “bump out” into Corps of Engineers compliance.  We would have no choice but to comply.

So, where are we without spending the additional $800,000?  We have a rock pile some 20 feet below where it needs to be and therefore not usable for any purpose.  Whether the city spends the $800,00 or not, the gangway pilings that the entire marina service building, transient boat dock, and boat slips are attached to, will be finished. That was in the earlier $250,000 the commission approved by a 4 to 1 vote.  Remember, I voted “no.”

Your commissioner has an idea, maybe.  If all of us take a blood oath—the mayor

and commissioners—that we would not build the aforementioned marina service building, transient boat dock and boat slips, I would vote to finish the “bump out,” to make it into a riverfront park.  Understand, we would have to spend $800,000 of city money to do this.  If no agreement to use the funds to create only a park, then I vote “no” on any further spending.

This park--let’s call it “Festival Park” to give it a more positive image-- would be constructed for all to enjoy.  “Festival Park” would be approximately a three acre green space overlooking the Ohio River that all Paducahans, whether picnickers, frisbee players or river watchers, could enjoy.

The city has already been awarded a $3,811,000 Federal Highway Administration Grant, which we should be able to use for the park. The rest of the (unused) grants go back to their sponsoring agencies.

So there you have it.  The trick, of course, is not to let the wolf bite us as we let go of his ears.  Or should I say, not get bitten more severely than we already have been.

And so it goes

And so it goes

Sometimes things are not what they appear.  We have all heard this.  I suspect that everyone reading this blog has experienced this.  So here goes.

The Paducah Sun Editorial of August 20^th, 2013, is a case in point, and I thought I might fill in a bit.  The Sun was correct in its assertion that Infiniti Media Group did make every payment, was given a grace period, and, alas, did not hire some 100 employees as promised.

Could the City have demanded the agreement be honored as to employment or throw Infinity into the street?  Of course, we could.  And with righteous indignation, we could have declared our right to do so.  We might have looked demonstrative in our action.  Sometimes, however, no action is the best action.  I think the taxpayers were well served by this “no action.” 

How so?  As the paper said, “They made their payments of nearly $34,000 per month.”  The payment was used to pay on the bonds that built the building, so we as taxpayers didn’t have to.  The building owner takes no equity with him as he leaves. 

Since there has been no company waiting in the wings, so to speak, to take over the Infinity building, is there anything wrong with allowing Infiniti to stay there and make their payments of $34,000 a month?  Not really, especially if, as the Sun said the city acknowledges that “companies should not be able to continue benefiting from incentives based on nothing more than promises repeated indefinitely.”  The key word here is “indefinitely.”

And, oh by the way, this “no action” was in place long before I arrived on the scene.

Sometimes things are not exactly as they appear.  And sometimes no action is the best action. 

And so it goes.     

"Hill Street Blues"

We’ve all been there… you’re driving down the street, going about your day, and you look in the rearview mirror only to see that the car behind you is a police car. Wham! Your blood pressure skyrockets, little beads of sweat pop out on your forehead, and that little panic creeps in as you desperately try to think of what the officer could pin on you. Did I pay that parking ticket I got visiting my sister-in-law in Texas last year? What about that seatbelt? What about those Excedrin Migraine tablets that are stuffed in an old Advil bottle because it was the only one small enough to fit in the glove compartment? For God’s sake, are you driving straight down the street?

Since we have all been there, I offer a slight sedative you might try before your next run in.  It is called “Ride with a Cop.”  Simply put, it is a great experience.  Really.  What better way to see what the officer sees than riding “shotgun” with a Paducah City Policeman? 

Once the call to the Police Department to request a ride has been made, the day and shift to ride decided and some paperwork completed you’re set to roll.  I picked a Friday night shift.  I was partnered with Officer Justin Hodges.  Our beat would be from 28^th street to Jackson out to Lone Oak, though we would travel to the south side and to the mall area in the course of the evening.

O.K. this was not Hill Street Blues.  I didn’t sign up for that either.  It was a humanizing experience about the people who deal with those who are not, for the most part, on their best behavior.  The night covered the spectrum from fender benders to domestic violence, from the west side to the south side.  More than the events of the evening, what really sticks with me is how capable these officers are. They are “multi-taskers,” answering my non-stop questions, constantly looking for situations that just don’t look right, running license plates for offenders, and, of course, interacting with the people. Time and again during the shift when interacting with people, whose emotions can run high, my officer was  able to verbally diffuse fractious situations in a way that was professional, not power-driven.   

After my “shift” with Officer Hodges, I had a greater understanding of the professionalism of this “Band of Brothers” and the caliber of the police force in Paducah.

Buy Local? Apparently not...

Tonight’s city commission meeting has given me a headache and my Founders Porter has not helped. 

You look to the city to make logical decisions for all our citizens.  I get that.  When we make logical, sound decisions about things you understand that is a good thing.  It gives you the confidence that on the really complicated stuff we will act in the same logical way, right?  Well, I think that’s the way it works.  And generally, I think that is what we do as commissioners and department heads.  Now, this is where the headache comes in.  Tonight I proposed that the city allow the local Ford dealer to bid on city police cars instead of buying from the state approved dealer in Frankfort.  You know, buy local, and all the benefits that will follow to our fair city.  What seemed to be a logical idea, at least in my mind, sure got everybody stirred up.  Me included. 

I’m not saying the city should award the bid automatically to the local Ford dealer, but  give the guy the chance to bid.  I really don’t see a downside.

Am I missing something here?

Please email me with your thoughts, but don’t forget we have a mayor and three other members to email also. 

Allan

allanrhodesjr@gmail.com

Not Your Usual Phone Call

Yes, I did change the title to Misc Ramblings........

When the phone rings at Etcetera after hours it is usually "Are you all open?" or a phone survey.  Imagine my surprise when the phone rang Monday night.  "Etcetera Coffeehouse.....this is Allan Rhodes." Then,  "Hi, this is Jason calling for the Huffington Post......"

Really, the Huffington Post?  The interview was this afternoon. The subject was Senator Mitch McConnell and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.  I thought I would bore you with a bit of the conversation with Jason.

Basically, I shared that as the second most powerful person in the Senate, I was hopeful that McConnell could help the progress to get DOE approval for GE/Hitachi and/or do a full cleanup as in Oak Ridge.  I expressed the fear that as McConnell's number one goal was to defeat Mr. Obama this probably did not endear him to the Administration.  Also, as our Senator I feel his real mission is to serve his electorate.  Isn't there that understanding that I vote for you, though maybe I don't want to, so when something really bad happens you will have my back?  Anyway, you get the idea of the thing.

I don't think I was mean-spirited toward our Senator, but there are moments when I wonder, does he have our backs?   Or is life on the national stage just really sweet?

It has been an afternoon.

Allan

How I Got Here... Memories of the Campaign Trail

Well, here I am on the cusp of six months served as a city commissioner. Now that I’ve had some “seasoning,” I thought I could, from time to time, write a little blog post about my experiences and thoughts. I’ve never had a blog before… but I’ve never been a city commissioner before, either.

First things first. How did I get into this gig? Well, while you all were enjoying last year’s spring, summer, and fall, I was knocking on doors. 881 doors, to be exact. That was the whole campaign plan! Okay, I knew enough from my old days running a car dealership to do some billboard advertising, but knocking on doors and talking to people face to face would carry the real load. I met some pretty memorable people behind those doors. Here are a few:

A man named Robert was the first person to open his door and find me standing there. To my great encouragement, he wished me well, and when I saw him during the 8^th of August parade, I just had to leave the parade line so I could run up to his porch and thank him for his support.

In the River Oaks neighborhood, a lady asked me if I was a Republican or a Democrat. I thought, “Huh? It’s a non-partisan race we’re running here,” but said that I was a Democrat. She said that Democrats were “ruining the country.” I told her that I wasn’t after the country… I was just trying to get elected to the city commission! In all fairness, she did later apologize for giving me a rough time, and after we talked at length, she said she’d support me.

One afternoon in the neighborhood by Morgan Elementary, I was invited in for hot tea and conversation by a delightful woman who raised cockatiels and happened to be from upstate New York.

Another day, at my first stop on an afternoon of campaigning, I was asked if I was a Socialist. I was a bit taken aback—actually, I was floored. Once I collected myself, I managed to say though I believed that, in the words of Lincoln, “government can do for us what the individual cannot” I certainly wasn’t a Socialist.

Later that same day, I had just finished planting a sign in a man’s yard when he said, “Wait, one more question first.” When I answered, he told me to take my sign back. My crime? I had told him that I’d be voting for Mr. Obama. He said he’d support me… but apparently he didn’t want word getting around, so no yard sign.

In Littleville, I talked with a man and discovered that he had worked at my family’s car dealership years before and now runs a successful trucking company. With all the shared history, we had quite a visit.

I met a man mowing his lawn on Martin Luther King Drive, who asked me the now-familiar question, “Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” “Again?” I thought. When I answered that I was a Democrat, he said, “Great! I’ll vote for you!” Whew!

One particularly hot September afternoon as I walked up a driveway, a lady with a beer in hand said, “Nobody running for anything has ever come around this neighborhood before. My question is-- what do you plan to do for poor people?” “I guess I haven’t thought about it quite like that,” I said, “but I’m here in your neighborhood, aren’t I?” She nodded, satisfied with my answer.

Each day as I headed out to a different neighborhood, I dreaded the thought of approaching all those doors. Funny thing was, as much as I hated interrupting so many people’s afternoons to ask for their support, I loved sharing stories of who I had met that day with my wife Johanna during dinner even more. (And she loves this blog idea I have, because now her ears can get a break!)

I’ll try to stick to current events in my next post, but a little lighthearted history makes for a pretty good start.

Over and out,

Allan