HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-18-14 Crawford Law and Justice commentsFrom:Alan Crawford
To:Carson Taylor; Chris Mehl; Agenda
Subject:Law and Justice comments
Date:Tuesday, November 18, 2014 8:37:49 AM
Dear Carson, Chris and city commissioners,
Thanks Carson for soliciting the opinions from our town via your letter in the Chronicle. I hope the inboxes are overfilled as this would indicate a lack of apathy on this important issue.
First, thanks to you for your service. The pay more than likely doesn’t match the level of time and frustration!
Here is why I VOTED against the law and justice center ballot measures:
1) I don’t trust the city officials (city manager is at the top of my list) with spending MY hard earned money. I’ve lived in Bozeman 10+ years and am witness to numerous examples of squandering money. The Story Mansion is at the top of the list (it’s acquisition was before we moved here). Failed developments where the city is left holding the bag are other examples (the trailer park on Bridger Canyon Road, the old brewery and the list goes on).
2) The city seems to not be able to keep up the existing infrastructure. This is much like the HOA where I live and reminds me of being in China. I don’t know if any of you have traveled to China. I have many times for work since 1999. It is always amazing that the Chinese build these great new structures and infrastructure. Come back to the same place in a few years and you would be equally amazed at the state of disrepair. One only needs to visit Terminal 2 at the Beijing Capital Airport (opened in 2000 I think) to see this. Bozeman’s crumbling city streets and sidewalks are great examples. What about the unpaved street which was the location of the large water main break a few years ago. Seems like the least the city could have done for those residents was to pave the street after the break was fixed. Oh, what about the failing Bogart Park swimming pool…..
3) While comments 1 and 2 are important, the deal breaker for me was the secret, deceitful acquisition of the armored personnel carrier (aka “rescue vehicle”). Maybe the police need such a vehicle but the way they went about doing this, with full knowledge of the city manager (who is party to many deceitful and unethical dealings I might add) was simply wrong. If they think they could get away with hiding such a large item, what small items have been done and acquired that are still secret? The police (and city government) want us, the citizens, to trust them. How can we trust them when they act in secret (again, maybe a bit more like China than the USA to borrow from my Chinese example in comment 2). Just because “everyone else is doing it” is not a reason for Bozeman to do this. Sounds like an argument from my teenager!!
So, no, I will never vote for a new grand crystal palace for the police UNTIL some positive actions are taken to fix what we have and regain my trust. This will take some time. Maybe the police chief and other top managers can rent some office space in the Story Mansion or in the soon to be vacant K-Mart building or in the vacant IGA on 7th?
Thanks again for soliciting comments. I hope my comments are well received. Thanks again for your hard work.
Thanks,
Alan CrawfordBozeman, Montana, USAalan.crawford@me.comMobile: 406-451-2483