They Treat Us Like We're and One Big, Dumb Bottomless Piggy Bank!

6 months and two days ago, at the beginning of a long, cold and snowy winter, HUDseen posted an article about the floating dock in Oakdale Lake that had not been removed to the beach.  At the time, the dock was already surrounded by thin ice.  Soon, ice thick enough to walk on covered the lake and stuck around for about two straight months.  Plenty of snow was soon piled high on the ice and on the dock.  For months.  Here is some of what I wrote about the dock 6 months ago:  "It simply shouldn't be out there right now.  Only a wasteful slob, wasteful slobs or a wasteful City Hall would allow this to happen."  

The Youth Department's floating dock is primarily made of plastic, and it is no more than two years old.  I have no idea who paid for it. 

Given all this, it came as no surprise at all to me to hear what Services Committee chair Dominic Merante had to say toward the end of his summary report to the common council at Monday's informal meeting.  Dominic had a few more things to add after he had finished summing up what the Youth Department director, Calvin Lewis, had announced during his Youth Department report to the Services Committee the week before.  

Dominic read his entire summation/report from his cell phone.  This is taken straight from the video of the meeting, which is full of bad audio.

"I did talk to Calvin briefly, but it's not on his notes."  (In other words, Lewis did not mention this during his report to the Services Committee, which is strange and concerning.  Why didn't he?)

Dominic continued:  But just to let people be aware that the dock was damaged and half of the dock has to be repaired.  So, the dive team is going to retrieve the dock.  There's no time frame on how long it's gonna take.

Henry Haddad then asked Dominic, "How did the dock get damaged?"

Dominic replied, "Apparently, it was damaged, maybe rocks were thrown on it.  They're not totally sure how it was damaged."

Haddad:  I think maybe this winter, right?" (Or something to that effect.)

Merante:  I mean, that, that, again, that could be a consideration.  This is the first year the dock stayed in.  So, that could be an issue. Normally in the past they would have pulled it out.  So, it could be an issue.  So. So. I think moving forward I think the dock needs to be removed." 

Always insightful and curious third ward council member, Jason Foster, then kept things moving right along:  "Is this the floating dock or the fishing dock?"  (OMFG!!!!! Yes, Jason, the dive team has to retrieve the large concrete fishing dock usually jutting from the shore of the lake that was damaged by rocks and is at the bottom of the lake 5 feet from the shore!  That dock only weighs 10 tons and does not float!  Will you help the dive team retrieve it?)

Dominic Merante finally makes everything clear to the council and the public:  Not the fishing dock, it's the swim dock.  It's kinda like in the float.  Yeah.

All of Oakdale Park, including the lake, is in Dominic Merante's fifth ward.  From the street adjacent to the lake in late October or early November, I noticed that the dock had been forgotten about. The dock had always been on the beach by early November.  Why didn't Dominic Merante see what anyone was able to so clearly see from Glenwood Boulevard, even those passing by the lake in a car, on a bicycle or walking?  

Why didn't Calvin Lewis notice that his department's new floating dock hadn't been removed from the lake in November?  Lewis became director last year after being the assistant director for at least a few years, so he's known for years that DPW removes the dock from the water to the beach every fall for the Youth Department, hasn't he?  Yet, months after he becomes the Youth director, he leaves the new dock in the water for the winter?  Did he "make a mistake" -- did he fuck up -- or did he intentionally decide that removing the dock for the winter was unnecessary and that it couldn't possibly be damaged by remaining in the water for the winter?  If Lewis was fully aware that the dock was to be removed every fall without exception, did anyone ever explain to him why this was critical?  And if Lewis was not aware that removing the dock was absolutely necessary and expected, how on earth is that even possible?  What else is he not able or willing to pay attention to at Oakdale and elsewhere that we don't know about?

And why didn't 5th ward MIA council member Claire Cousin notice that the floating dock -- which is only used for the swimming season -- was still floating in the water last fall, well after swimming season ended?  I've never seen her at Oakdale Park, swimming, hiking or otherwise.  Could that be the reason?  Does she even know where Oakdale Park is or how to get there?  Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, if DPW removes the dock every fall (which they always did prior to last year), why did Rob Perry decide not to remove it last fall before the ice arrived and it was too late to do anything about it?  Why didn't Rob reach out to Calvin in October to tell him to call his DPW clerk to remind her that it was once again time for DPW to come to Oakdale Park with their machinery and manpower to remove the floating dock from the water for the winter, same as previous years?  Did this not happen because it's no skin off of Rob Perry's back (or Calvin Lewis's) if a new floating dock that is popular with swimmers gets ruined by the forces of expanding and thickening ice and has to be replaced with a new one at the expense of thousands of dollars of taxpayer revenue?  Is there any other explanation that is remotely plausible?

"Half" of a large floating dock 75 feet from the shore may have been "damaged by ROCKS."  Are you kidding me?  What kind of rocks was Dominic Merante talking about?   Does he even know? Was he referring to all the large rock at the bottom of lake directly under the dock that are always suddenly surging to the surface with enough force to damage the plastic floats under the surface of the dock's platform?  Or was it the rocks children filled their pockets with before swimming out to the dock in October or November when the water might give anyone hypothermia?  Then, if the youngsters somehow reached the dock and pulled themselves up onto it without drowning first, what did they do with all those rocks in their pockets?  Throw them as hard as possible at the surface of the dock in anger, perhaps at just one half of it?  Or was Dominic Merante referring to rocks falling out of the sky, also known as meteorites?  How many meteorites slammed into the floating dock this past winter? Just one big one, about half the size of the dock?  And what half of the dock was damaged anyway?  The top or the bottom; the left half or the right half?  Who gave Dominic Merante that bullshit explanation about ROCKS damaging half of the floating dock?  His own brain?  Or did it come from Calvin Lewis's creative brain?  It had to be one or the other.

Do you feel dumbed down yet?  More dumbered down than you were when you woke up this morning?  Ready to yell at someone? Do you ever wonder why so few Hudson residents show up to council meetings?   If you're smart enough, you stay the hell away and don't get involved at all!  Why even bother trying to reason with some of these people?  It's like the blind leading the blind, and who the hell wants to be part of that or even try to follow what is going on and what they are talking about or trying to explain?  You'll just feel ignored and dumb.  For two minutes of public speaking time???  It's not worth it anymore if it ever was.  The crazy train is coming off the rails. Maybe it already has!

Here is December's article on the forgotten dock waiting to be damaged: How's That Budget Coming Along?!