Sometimes I think I was better off back when I was ignorant and apathetic about Planet Ann Arbor politics. That was just a year or so ago…

#1. Sidewalk repair milleage? Really? The city (I’m changing to “city” for the rest of this) doesn’t already repair its sidewalks? Well, no, it doesn’t. I know this because several years ago almost everyone in our neighborhood received a notice from the city saying that this and that sidewalk pane was in a state of disrepair. Well, duh. We had a couple of sidewalk panes that fit that description. The edges were far enough apart to allow a couple of big moths to mate in the space between them. This was during a tornado warning. The sky was a loverly shade of yellow-black, the beach urchins were throwing every stuffed aminal they owned down the basement stairs and the GG was out there with Hans, taking photooos of the moths. Anyway, we got a notice that we either had to hire a contractor to fix the sidewalk or the city would do it at a premium price. What the heck? We’ve owned this house for 27 years and this was a first for me. A bunch of neighbors got together and hired someone and we moved on (and on and on) with life. Nooowwww… Apparently there will be a milleage on the November ballot to raise our property taxes so that the city can replace sidewalks as needed. Do I feel gypped? Well, yes, I do. Nevertheless, I will probably vote yes albeit not without some trepidation. Even though I have already paid big bucks to fix my own sidewalk, I think the city *should* fix the sidewalks when they need it and I can afford the tax increase. Now *will* the city fix the sidewalks? They certainly don’t fix the roads…

#2. Idling ban? Well that’s a good idea. Make a law against idling your vee-hickle. Like when you turn your vee-hickle on in your driveway while you SHOVEL SNOW!!! Or when you are waiting to pick up your kid at school (actually when I *did* that, I turned off my vee-hickle). Environmentally friendly law? Yes sir! But. If you are laying off police officers, who are you gonna get to enforce this wondrous new law? Hmmm… Wasn’t there a serial rapist (or rapists, no one knows for sure) earlier this summer? Is there a disconnect here or what? Lay off police and enact new, trivial laws. And whatcha gonna do about all of the idling that occurs at the Jackson/Maple stoplight, where you have to sit through four cycles to make a left turn. Do those people have to turn off their vee-hickles too? Again, who is gonna enforce this? (Yes, I know that the Prius and other hybrids automatically shut off. We aren’t there yet. Our vee-hickle needs to handle significant snow and tow boats and trailers.)

#3. Medical marijuana. I hesitate to even go there on this more or less G-rated blahg. But. Sheesh! I can’t begin to understand what’s going on around here. First, a bill gets passed in Michigan for people to be able to obtain pot for medicinal purposes. I voted for that. I actually think that pot should be legal. It isn’t my drug of choice (and I don’t go anywhere near it) but I will never be convinced that it is any more dangerous than alcohol. In fact, it may be *less* dangerous if you are talking about driving because, in my humble experience back in the 1970s, people who have been smoking pot are more interested in sinking back into some dirty old couch than getting into an automotive vee-hickle and driving somewhere. Anyway, a bill gets passed. A2 has had a lenient law about pot from the get-go. The city council spends at least a year figuring out the rules surrounding medical marijuana “dispensaries”. Rules from the state are not at all clear but multiple dispensaries open up anyway. Then. A court rules that people can’t buy pot from these dispensaries. The day after that, what’s left of the police invades the dispensaries and shuts them down. Go here if you are interested. The comments are where the real action happens. Does any of this make any sense? I am shaking my head in disbelief.

Confused? I am. I’ll leave the public art bucket and the train station parking structure for some other day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.