Thursday, December 27, 2012

How to run for City Council in a small town

Oops - first mistake - Small CITY!!   Since when does a group of homes containing 5000 residents become a CITY anyway.

Today I will hand in my GAB-169 (Nomination Paper for Nonpartisan Office) with 30 signatures.  This is after I filed my GAB-1 (Campaign Registration Statement) and I'll have to submit my GAB-162 (Declaration of Candidacy) and yes, I believe I will bring a hat so I can toss it at someone.   I wonder what the "ring" is at City Hall.  They must have something special so I can toss my hat into it.  Will a "cap" be all right??

So as I was walking around getting signatures and it seems many people have opinions and felt they had to express them to me.

One thing is that everybody hates the City Council!!  I want to be part of that hatred  LOL

Actually what I found interesting was that I would go to one home and they would complain and then next home they would complain on the OPPOSITE side.

Roads were the big issue.  The snow plowing was big but again,  while some people were pissed off at the snow plows others complained about the people complaining saying if you want better plowing you can pay more taxes and to use common sense WE HAD 22 INCHES OF SNOW!!  Of course the streets are not perfect. 

The new school thing was a big topic.  Half the people wanted a new school because it brings families to town.  The other half said it's the teachers that teach not the school and building a new school was insane.

One thing I need to remind people is that Columbus has more then DOUBLED in size (112%) since 1900.  That's 112 years.  We gain 23.5 residents per year.  I'm not sure Columbus is going to all of a sudden BOOM - be a high growth city.  

I WILL push for erecting a Peter R. Morris Museum!! (Peter was a Welsh Major League Baseball shortstop in 1884 for the Washington Nationals of the Union Association). and of course there is  John Falk "Bob" Poser  who played for the White Sox and St. Louis Browns.

BUT - I digress.

60% of the people I talked to thought our taxes were way too high and 40% said taxes were not bad.  Oddly the people complaining about taxes were the blue liberal people while the red conservatives were OK with taxes.   Weird.

I think the one thing I want to do if elected is somehow show people why the taxes are as they are.  WHY do we pay "so much".  I want to show Columbus residents where the money is going.  For instance.  At the last council meeting they were discussing buying some new thingy at the water treatment plant.  

Sounds boring but it's $$$ and being Mr. Curious I would LOVE to see the actual thingy they are buying and to know what it actually does.  OR why does the City spend $5000 on cleaning head stones at the Cemetery.  Not disputing it but . . Mr. Curious wants to know why??   

remember - I blogged about the  Columbus Water Works 

Instead of blindly following maybe I can somehow teach or show residents how the infrastructure of the City operates.  Knowledge is a wonderful thing.
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I'm watching two big crows walking around the base of my bird feeder cleaning up.  remember - FEED THE BIRDS.  They are sort of in a pickle as their food source has been covered up.

I was looking at Wiki about Sparrows of which I have a flock.  It says  " It is extensively, and usually unsuccessfully, persecuted as an agricultural pest, but it has also often been kept as a pet as well as being a food item and a symbol of lust and sexual potency, as well as of commonness and vulgarity."

WHAT?   " a symbol of lust and sexual potency"  What??  oooo baby - I am your sparrow of love!!  Yea - that's hot. 

Saw a Bald Eagle fly overhead near Cnty V yesterday.  I was driving south and saw a bird with a huge wingspan coming towards me.  At first I thought it was like a blue heron or something but they are gone.  Then it flew right over me and it was a bald eagle. SWEET!!

Anybody know what kind of common bird this is?  He/she lives on our neighbors house.  



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I took this photo yesterday.  I have been waiting and waiting for better weather (clouds, blue sky) but that was not happening.  And with snow starting to fall from the trees I decided to take some shots of that black barn as you come into Columbus and make a B&W scene into a B&W photograph. 

So I parked the car beside the road and climbed the 5 foot high snow pile beside the road and then stepped onto the clear sidewalk on the other side.  hmmmmm   forgot that was there LOL  

This is such a great photo but on a tiny computer you can't see the detail as well.  I think that is the great thing about the image.




To give you an idea here is a closer view . . . hmmmmmm . . . I like this crop job also.


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DJ seems to have re-caught the cold that is going around.   Down for the count last night but being a trooper and hated government employee she trucked to work as a good civil servant this morning. 

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Going to ILL for a late Christmas.  If anybody see's moving vans in front of our house please call the Police.  

Cheers

Rod 

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