How much is enough?

I sit and listen a fair amount. I listen to what people say, particularly about politics. I listen to the comments and concerns about the City of Albany in particular, since that’s kind of my beat, and the truth of it is that it ain’t pretty. People in this town are worried, and they’re disgusted, and frankly even the vote yesterday on the sign ordinance is probably not enough for some of these folks.

At it’s core, there’s questions that lead to accusations. That’s never a good thing for those in power, and now they have to deal with the aftermath of those accusations.

For example, how corrupt is Albany really? After the reinstatement of Rod Jolivette despite ample evidence that he should have been terminated, we end up with Don Buie being investigated for taking a $1600 kickback from his girlfriend…after hiring her in the first place despite policies in place to prevent this type of thing. And yes, he is still at work. So far, there has been nothing from the City explaining any of this in sufficient detail.

Why the secrecy? First, we’ve got City Manager Al Lott claims that there were some kind of facts in Jolivette’s case the public doesn’t know, and then doesn’t share those facts. Why is that Mr. Lott? Is it a matter of national security? Will the Iranians, Taliban, the Chinese, and the space aliens invade the nation unless Rod Jolivette is part of the Albany Fire Department? I would love to hear the explainantion of this one, but I suspect I don’t have the required double top secret clearance for this one.

Speaking of secrets, why is there such a need for secrecy in the downtown development arena? If there are so many forces clamoring for access to downtown property, why does the city need a $6 million bond (though Commissioner Langstaff has said it’s more like a line of credit) to develop downtown when we could let private investors take on all the expense, and the risk, to get us to the exact same place?

So how much is enough for the voters of Albany? How much more will the people of Albany take before they decide they only thing they’re going to take anymore is their town back?

It doesn’t really matter where you stand on issues like tax reassessment, or downtown bond issues. What matters is the perception that we, the voters, aren’t important. They damn sure haven’t acted like they care what we think one bit before yesterday’s sign ordinance vote, and that was the result of the most massive outcry against a law I’ve seen in this town in a long, long time.

So what do we do? How do we take it back?

Simple. We make damn sure our voices are heard on every single issue that matters to us on any level. They don’t want to include us in the process? Make them include us! Make them take us seriously. Phone calls, emails, visits to commission meetings, whatever it takes.

How much is enough? I’m not exactly sure, but we’re past that point anyways.