196 days to Go

    I'm going to ask you a question.  It is a very simple one and does not require a lot of thinking.  Here it is: Do I look stupid?  Now before you answer the question, I want you to think about what you are going to say because my question does not only concern me but you as well. And since I am writing this blog about my growing older and you are getting older or have reached and passed your sixth birthday, then my question concerns you as well.
      Now that you have your answer, think about it.  When our elected officials vote into law a bill that has so many add-ons for special interest groups, why do the elected think that we won't notice?  As I have gotten older, I have questioned more and accepted less.
     Our town is facing off with a new builder.  The developer is saying that by leveling apartments which have been standing for over fifty years and building newer multi-use buildings, their company is going to revitalize our area.  Closer to this new project is another development which still has vacant store fronts for all the promises it made to the communities.
      The new developer wants to build several towers of rental properties reaching toward the clouds.  One of the towers is going to be thirty- three stories tall.  I'm not stupid but the tallest fire department ladder truck can only reach to the eighth floor.  Unless the developer has installed an outstanding fire suppression system from the ground floor to the roof of the tower, things could get pretty darn hot for the residents if a fire erupts.
     Our county executive will probably rubber stamp the project, all in the name of employment and taxes.  The county executive has tried to push other projects down the taxpayers throats. There was the idea to build a new stadium for a hockey team but enough council members and taxpayers saw through the project and common sense prevailed.  But given the lack of money all across the region, I think the county executive and council are going to push the approval button for the new housing.
      The current residents will be given 60 days to vacate their homes and then the bulldozers will destroy the apartments.  Construction debris always wind up in the creek which runs through our town.  The creek will become polluted but the construction engineers will say that they have nothing to do with the pollution. The last time there was construction, the water turned from oily to white to somewhat clear.
     When the construction is completed, there will be a grand ceremony thanking the local communities for all their support. Elected officials will stand and say how they helped to push the project through the system. They will also say that without their push, hundreds of people would not have been employed for the last twenty four months.
    And some of the store fronts will become occupied, while the others will gather dust. And the rental properties will fill but there will not be enough parking spaces in the buildings because someone did not figure that the residents would want a car to go shopping in another county that had a much better selection of stores. And the excess cars will find their way to the neighbor streets. And the roads which currently can not handle the flow and volume of current traffic will become clogged.
     And if a fire does break out on the thirtieth floor, the sprinkler systems will work or not. And the fire department will be blamed for not having a ladder which could reach over three hundred feet into the air without collapsing from the weight. And someone is going to lose their life.
     I'm not stupid.  Sometimes I do stupid things such as not listening to my wife when she is telling me to listen to her.  But when I hear of a company trying to force feed a project down the taxpayers throats, all in the name of new jobs and taxes, I have to ask, Where is the safety factor?  Who do we talk to about the added pollution and traffic burdens after the project is completed?
       Is it stupid of me to think that my elected officials have no common sense?