The Questions Not Asked. The Lack of Information and Jokes That Were Made. The Time And Money Wasted. Everything Is Fine! No STRESS Here!

During Rob Perry's DPW report at last Thursday's monthly meeting of the so-called Code & Infrastructure Committee (which Code abandoned months ago), he brought up the issue of the troubled new stop sign for westbound Warren Street traffic approaching Park Place.  Perry began his explanation while displaying two pictures of what appeared to be a DPW crew of two replacing the missing sign, one of them being sideways, as is Rob's respectful habit.  He said, "The new stop sign which everyone is well aware of over at Park place.  [This got a few laughs from the audience.]  There were questions why the stop sign is out in the road."  Perry went into great detail about how there was far too much signage and other infrastructure already clogging the sidewalk where a stop sign would typically be located.  (With very few exceptions, and possibly just one, stop signs are not posted in the street.  And for good reason.)  Perry failed to mention that the sign was posted 8 feet from the curb, and no one asked him how far into the street he felt the sign needed to be or whether 8 feet from the curb was necessary.

3rd ward representative Jason Foster then offered perhaps his keenest observation of the meeting, though perhaps he was being flip: "Visibility is good."

Perry, always able to offer helpful information, replied, "Yeah, it's out there."

Of course, what Rob Perry implied was that he would have preferred the stop sign to be installed on the sidewalk, not in the street, but that it simply couldn't happen.  What no one asked Rob Perry was the following question.  IF YOU'D PREFER THE STOP SIGN TO BE ON THE SIDEWALK, AS YOU SHOULD, WHY DID YOU LOCATED IT 8 FEET FROM THE SIDEWALK?  WHY DID YOU NOT LOCATE THE SIGN 4 FEET FROM THE SIDEWALK? OR, BETTER YET, TWO FEET FROM THE SIDEWALK?  WHO TOLD YOU TO POST THE SIGN SO FAR FROM THE SIDEWALK THAT YOU JOKED THAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD GET "TAKEN OUT WITHIN 3 DAYS"IF YOU KNEW THE SIGN WOULD GET DESTROYED THAT FAR "OUT THERE," YOU DIDN'T DECIDE TO PUT IT THERE, DID YOU?  DID THE MAYOR TELL YOU TO PUT THE STOP SIGN SO FAR INTO THE STREET AND YOU AGREED WITH HIM?  YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA AS WELL, AND IT MADE ALL THE SENSE IN THE WORLD TO YOU?  ARE YOU GOING TO ONCE AGAIN POST THE REPLACEMENT STOP SIGN 8 FEET FROM THE CURB, ROB, SO THAT YOU CAN BE SURE IT ALSO GETS DESTROYED AND YOU CAN COME BACK NEXT MONTH TO HAVE SOME MORE JOKES AND LAUGHS ABOUT THE SIGN WITH US AGAIN?

Perry did not say that he was going to put the second stop sign in the exact same place as the original, and nobody asked if he would.  They were too busy chuckling and being afraid of King Perry.  By the time Perry was talking and joking publicly about the signs, it had already been installed 8 feet from the curb, where it was destroyed within two days. 

Before he finished his spiel about the stop signs, he offered some mature levity, smiling the whole time and loving the attention:  "We're thinking about putting in one of those spring-loaded ones."

Henry Haddad chimed in, "Oh, that's murder."

Perry continued while chuckling, still sounding like an annoying drunk frat boy, "Except if you're around it, right? When it bounces back up!"  How old is Rob Perry, our $125,000 DPW Superintendent?  How old is Henry Haddad?  Also 16?

Everything seems to be a joke to Rob Perry, and everyone is a possible target for his junior high school humor and potty mouth, much like our current so-called President in Washington, DC.*  And no one asks him what the hell is going on with the never-ending waste and nonsense.  It seems that they gather at the meetings just to pass the time and have a ball.  No one asked Rob how much a stop sign and post cost these days, or how many hours of labor it takes to install them, including jackhammering the street pavement each time.  Anyway, why would any of this matter to a city with plenty of expendable revenue and a general fund bursting at the seams?

This morning, upper Warren's new "permanent" stop sign number 3 still had not appeared anywhere in the street. It's been 10 or 11 days since "permanent" sign number 2 was taken out by a vehicle, likely a turning tractor trailer.  Same as the first one that was installed at the edge of the traffic lane 8 feet from the curb.  What a gas!  Ha ha, so hilarious!

During Monday's informal common council meeting, Treasurer Heather Campbell, after giving details about borrowing and the unassigned fund balance which is "going in the wrong direction," announced the city is currently in "a challenging situation" financially.  It took her a few seconds to choose those words.  She sounded concerned.  Very concerned, I would say.  Margaret Morris warned the council and public that in all likelihood next year the city would be considered officially "under stress," an award that I believe the State of NY Comptroller's Office hands out to municipalities in deep financial trouble.  Albany may already be there.

* In late April, while standing near the site of the Joslen Boulevard rebuild, Perry sent a joke my way as he walked past me with his phone to his ear:  "Shut up, I got your girlfriend talking, retard."  Yes, our so-called adult $125,000 DPW Superintendent actually referred to me out loud as a retard as part of a sophomoric so-called joke about my "girlfriend" (which I still have recorded on my phone). His foreman, Frank Rogers, likely our next DPW Superintendent, roared with laughter, as did other DPW workers.  Someone, possibly Rogers, told me to "shut the fuck up, asshole."