I don't know what it's like to be black and I don't know what it's like to be Latino; but I do know what it's like to be fat and poor.
Kelly Farley, OWCAP board member
Godfrey, OWCAP defended for Marshall White plans
June 12, 2009
The motivations are pure and the hearts (of Godfrey and Donald Carpenter, who heads OWCAP) are pure;" they are only doing this because they want what is best for young people."
John "Pureheart" Patterson, Godfrey henchman
Godfrey, OWCAP defended for Marshall White plans
June 12, 2009
Just as Scott Schwebke promised in last night's real-time tweetfest, this morning's Standard-Examiner carries a recap of last night's city council public hearing. Although Mr. Schwebke reports that a parade of residents (we're guessing the event drew a packed house) "questioned the management agreement and requested that the contract be amended to guarantee that the pool stays open," the chief architects of this fiasco, Boss Godfrey and Donald Carpenter, were missing in action. Too cowardly to face the music, we assume. As a consolation prize, they did send their two comic relief stand-ins, however, who provided the two embarrassingly ridiculous above quotes. It's pretty clear from Mr. Schwebke's report, by the way, that the only persons speaking in favor of the OWCAP turnover were Mssrs. Farley and Patterson.
According to this morning's story, the closing of the pool is a major (maybe THE major) sticking point. Whether amending the management agreement to ensure that the pool stays open would be a compromise worthy of pursuing is anybody's guess; but it might be worth a try, we suppose.
Assuming that nobody succeeds in pulling a rabbit out of their hat over the weekend however, the city council is now backed up against a drop-dead deadline. Under state law, the council must have the FY2010 budget approved by next Tuesday, June 16, 2009. We expect therefore, that it will be a long weekend for our intrepid city council members, as they're faced with one of the most difficult decisions in memory. Time to put on our thinking caps, we think.
So what approach should the council take, gentle readers? Should they ignore Godfrey's proposed budget and insert their own line item, funding the Center at its previous $350 thousand level, with a specific instruction that it shall be disbursed only for continued MWC operations under the current management structure, with a strong prohibition against expending this money in any other manner? Should they hold out for a management agreement amendment mandating continued pool operations during the term of the OWCAP agreement, as suggested above? Should they simply admit defeat, and do as Ozboy predicted, inelegantly roll over, and then stand back and watch, as this half-baked Godfrey plan fails of its own internal stupidity? And suppose they fail to approve the budget by the deadline. Would that be the end of the world?
What other options does the council have at this point, gentle readers?
The world wide blogosphere awaits your ever-savvy comments.
