Can The City Afford An Auditor? From The Looks Of Things, No, It Might Be Too Late For A Much Needed Auditor!

Why does this public trash can exist where it is?  Why should we pay one dime to have DPW empty and service it (I won't say maintain!)?  There is no reason for it to be there.  It screams, YOU ARE WASTING MONEY BY KEEPING ME HERE!  

It's pretty easy to draw a line from that bit of city infrastructure to the city's fiscal woes. 

Too Much Idling! Much Too Much!

According to an automatic email reply I received today, our Police Chief, Mishanda Franklin, is "out of the office" this entire week and Monday and Tuesday of next week.  While the city waits for the mayor to appoint a new Police Commissioner (is that even happening?), Franklin is also the Acting Police Commissioner.   This has been the case for several months.  In the 3 years that Mishanda Franklin has been our Police Chief, she has been on two maternity leaves of 4 or 5 months each.

How To Ensure Pedestrians Will Continue To Be Put In Harm's Way: Keep Quiet, Do Absolutely Nothing and Ignore The Situation!

On Saturday, December 20th, 2025, at approximately 9:15 am, no more than 40 hours after a city resident walking in a downtown crosswalk was struck violently by a turning vehicle, another person walking in a city pedestrian crosswalk was hit by a turning vehicle.  THE TWO COLLISIONS OCCURED IN THE SAME PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALK at the intersection of Park Place & Warren Street.  The two collisions occurred in the one pedestrian crosswalk of the two at the busy intersection that does not have a flashing pedestrian signal.   No mention of either incident has been made publicly by anyone from City Hall.

I Could Never Make This Stuff Up! No Way! Could You?

There are a total of 16 diagonal parking spaces on South 7th Street, all found on the block's west side.  6 spaces are in the portion north of Cherry Alley, and 10 are south of the alley.  A few changes to the paid parking signs on that block were made yesterday and/or on Thursday.  Perhaps too many changes.

Can Dysfunction Be Measured With A Short Portion Of A Yard Stick?

If HPD and/or DPW are able and willing to install scannable paid parking signs on South 7th Street at the reasonable height of 5 feet off the ground, when will all the other hundreds of previously installed signs on light poles all over downtown  -- including on 7th Street -- be dropped from their 8-foot height to 5 feet?  Wouldn't the kids with the spray paint cans not be the only ones to appreciate such a respectful gesture?

That scannable plastic paid parking sign appeared in the last week or two. Notice the meter pole in the background without a sign (or two) on it.  And further on, the streetlight pole with a sign high upon it. 

We Can Only "Hope" Something "Happens"!

Following the SAFETY Committee update portion of Monday night's informal council meeting, 3rd ward council member, Lola Roberts, asked SAFETY Committee chair Henry Haddad the following poorly worded question (taken straight from the archived video of the meeting):  Have you had any discussions about maybe with the one-way streets? I understand like probably not much and you talked about any discussions about making the one way signs bigger or larger or more, like...

Finally! Beer, Wine and Booze Delivered To Washington Street! NOW WHAT DO WE DO? Form A Committee, Of Course!

Where there had been just one until recently, there are now two of the small professionally printed RESIDENT PARKING ONLY signs along the curb on Washington Street across from the Pocketbook business complex.  Who cares that the signs are meaningless?  Residents feel they have no choice.  City Hall is no f'n help.

How bad is the parking situation surrounding the Pocketbook?  The most recent of the two small signs to appear on Washington is in front of a property that includes a parking area that looks like it could fit two cars!