If an argument you cannot win, then spin, spin, spin.
Or perhaps you prefer, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with BS."
Whatever cliché about obfuscating and distracting you prefer, it's ever more clear that that is exactly what Rich Carone's "plan" is in terms of the cold weather shelter. He's not looking for a solution; he's looking for a way to obstruct and delay long enough to kill the shelter outright.
Oh, sorry. I may have gotten ahead of myself. I'm talking about how rich guy Rich Carone, who has spent the last couple of weeks obstructing the plans to locate the cold weather shelter downtown by proposing a "northern location" that would be financed by "secret partners" and with "millions of dollars" has now changed his position again, and is suddenly backing the shelter returning to the "problematic" location it was in last year. You can read all about this latest shift here. (Be sure to read all the way to the end, where the GT documents that yet another group - the Corvallis Downtown Advisory Board - voted against having the shelter downtown, but did not have that subject on their meeting agenda.)
This is ridiculous, and actually very transparent. The public hearing on Carone's laughably presented "proposal" for the northern location resulted in just that - laughter. When your publically presented "plan" is based on and includes hastily scrawled Post-It notes with random words written on them, well, it's a little difficult to buy into, and Carone obviously has realized that. Hence the latest shift.
This shift also means that the next County Commissioner's meeting on this subject has already been announced and scheduled - and they've made it clear that public comment will not be taken at that meeting. Perhaps Carone thinks this is to his advantage, and is hoping to slip yet another proposal in but get it by without the public being able to eviscerate it like they did his last one.
But, fair is fair: If the County Commissioners aren't taking any new public comments on this subject, they should also not be entertaining any new proposals. Enough is enough. Right or wrong, they need to make a decision. That is what they are paid close to $100,000 a year to do.
With that in mind, here's a thought - one that comes from someone who thinks the Commissioners are wildly overpaid, and supports cutting that pay way, way down. If the County Commissioners are reluctant to spend public money on the cold weather shelter - which, for whatever reason, they clearly are - why don't they follow their friend Rich Carone's (proposed) example and spend some private money? If each of the three Commissioners were to put up $20,000 apiece, well, problem solved! They'd have funded the shelter, saved the County from having to spend that money, and set themselves up to look like nice, caring people. A triple win!*
* Please do NOT hold your breath while waiting for the described triple win to occur.
Or perhaps you prefer, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with BS."
Whatever cliché about obfuscating and distracting you prefer, it's ever more clear that that is exactly what Rich Carone's "plan" is in terms of the cold weather shelter. He's not looking for a solution; he's looking for a way to obstruct and delay long enough to kill the shelter outright.
Oh, sorry. I may have gotten ahead of myself. I'm talking about how rich guy Rich Carone, who has spent the last couple of weeks obstructing the plans to locate the cold weather shelter downtown by proposing a "northern location" that would be financed by "secret partners" and with "millions of dollars" has now changed his position again, and is suddenly backing the shelter returning to the "problematic" location it was in last year. You can read all about this latest shift here. (Be sure to read all the way to the end, where the GT documents that yet another group - the Corvallis Downtown Advisory Board - voted against having the shelter downtown, but did not have that subject on their meeting agenda.)
This is ridiculous, and actually very transparent. The public hearing on Carone's laughably presented "proposal" for the northern location resulted in just that - laughter. When your publically presented "plan" is based on and includes hastily scrawled Post-It notes with random words written on them, well, it's a little difficult to buy into, and Carone obviously has realized that. Hence the latest shift.
This shift also means that the next County Commissioner's meeting on this subject has already been announced and scheduled - and they've made it clear that public comment will not be taken at that meeting. Perhaps Carone thinks this is to his advantage, and is hoping to slip yet another proposal in but get it by without the public being able to eviscerate it like they did his last one.
But, fair is fair: If the County Commissioners aren't taking any new public comments on this subject, they should also not be entertaining any new proposals. Enough is enough. Right or wrong, they need to make a decision. That is what they are paid close to $100,000 a year to do.
With that in mind, here's a thought - one that comes from someone who thinks the Commissioners are wildly overpaid, and supports cutting that pay way, way down. If the County Commissioners are reluctant to spend public money on the cold weather shelter - which, for whatever reason, they clearly are - why don't they follow their friend Rich Carone's (proposed) example and spend some private money? If each of the three Commissioners were to put up $20,000 apiece, well, problem solved! They'd have funded the shelter, saved the County from having to spend that money, and set themselves up to look like nice, caring people. A triple win!*
* Please do NOT hold your breath while waiting for the described triple win to occur.
No comments:
Post a Comment