[Vision2020] Welcome Back

[Joan Opyr]

Welcome back, Jerry.  Glad to have you on the list again.

I attended the P & Z meeting last night, as you might have guessed from 
my earlier post, and I want to offer an observation today that I should 
have offered then.  (I'm sorry, but I was too lazy to wait in line.  
Also, I wanted to hear what everyone else, including members of the 
committee, had to say about the "school-that-shall-not-be-named," New 
St. Voldemort,  zoning situation.)  Both Nels Reese and Sue Scott 
talked almost exclusively about parking and economics, with Nels 
delving off into an assessment of Moscow's emotional state, and Sue 
declaring that, for her, this was only an issue of money and parking.  
Art Betje (sp?) and Bill Lambert spoke more broadly about the 
comprehensive plan, and I was grateful for that, but it concerns me 
that no one talked about enforcement.  Enforcement of existing code, it 
seems to me, is the real issue on the table.  Will the City of Moscow 
enforce its own zoning codes or not?  And if not, then why ask the 
Planning & Zoning committee to consider writing any new code at all?  
That's a bit like asking you to go to a lot of time and trouble to bake 
a cake that the city may or may not eat.  Why bother?  Why not toss 
them a box of Twinkies and call it good?  Then you could all go home at 
a decent hour, maybe watch "The Daily Show" or "Desperate Housewives" 
and enjoy some time with your friends and families.

I want to know why the Moscow City Council -- who are elected and paid 
for their service, unlike the volunteers on P & Z -- are asking you to 
write a new code to replace the old code that they either don't want to 
or don't know how to enforce?  This is a dreadful waste of your time, 
and it's also a waste of ours.  It's not just that the city might not 
eat the cake you bake, Jerry -- they might toss it, frosting and all, 
into the nearest trash can.

Whoever said "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" never met our city council.

Joan

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.auntie-establishment.com