From the "No Connection" Department:
Item: In the middle of a record heatwave, the 19 public pools in Indianapolis will close 1 August -- a month early!
Item: Huge raises for Deputy Mayors, office staff.
I believe Mayor Ballard is term-limited. (ETA: But it appears I'm wrong -- which means he's hurting his own chances. Maybe he's tired of the job?) While his Party might like to retain control of the office, he doesn't appear to be going out of his way to help. (And the worst part, the very worst? Sure, we can "vote the bums out" in outrage, but we're stuck with the raises! Heck, I'd just about let 'em stay if I could vote on their pay.)
Oh, and kids? Sorry. Stay in the shade and drink plenty of liquids, mmmmkay? And be sure to look both ways before talkin' to strangers!
Obviously, you don't grasp that the purpose of government (i.e. spending tax dollars) is to save or create jobs, especially good-paying jobs. Vital, necessary, good-paying jobs with health care and retirement benefits. Yessir, it's MUCH better to spend money to hire the mayor's worthless brother-in-law to hold down a chair in a plush office downtown than to pay for a pool that's only used a few months each year.
ReplyDeleteSee how that works?
In point of fact he is not term-limited...but at this rate he may as well be.
ReplyDeleteYou know, after reading the article, I doubt there is enough money in these raises to keep the pools open until Labor Day. I get what they're saying about keeping the jobs competetive -- but when the self-inflicted black eyes are passed out, it seems Ballard's administration is anything but immune.
ReplyDeleteGranting those raises was just drop-dead stupid in the current economy. Pay cuts would have been a much better gesture. And finding the money to keep the pools open and the public safety folks on the job would have been received a lot better by folks who are starting to understand that there's a lot of waste down there in the CC Building that has nothing to do with pools and public safety...