RFP Staff
♦ At Tuesday’s Salisbury City Council meeting one of our staffers was taken back when they were handed a petition from the “Concerned Citizens in the Neighborhoods” titled “REQUEST REGARDING BLIGHT ABATEMENT AND ENHANCED CODE ENFORCEMENT”. Two statements on the petition surely must have sent shivers up the spines of Clyde and the city’s many residents who let their grass grow taller, park motorcycles on their porch, or have signage on their businesses not in compliance with the city’s cornucopia of historic and obsessive-compulsive codes.
The first statement that caught our attention was: “Whereas, Code enforcement officers are to enforce city laws and regulations which sometimes puts them in circumstances jeopardizing their safety.”
Okay in reflection Salisbury is a fairly dangerous place. Some persons dwelling in some of the city’s housing developments are loathe to be dealing with code enforcement officers who look like unarmed Po Po. And other residents living outside of “8 block”, in forcibly annexed areas of the city, have little desire to be told to remove their “Harley choppers” from their porch or desire any intervention from government types. Maybe there is some wisdom in arming code enforcement risking life and limb in places they are not wanted.
In the final section of the petition, following the heading: “WE THEREFORE REQUEST THE FOLLOWING FROM CITY COUNCIL:, comes “THAT THE CITY Consider shifting the Code Enforcement Office to the Police Department so the Code Enforcement Officers can be armed as they carry out their duties in circumstances which may threaten their safety.”
We can see our elite Code Enforcement Officers decked out in Kevlar with their AR-15s walking a lonely vigil, searching for errant grass on Airport Road or down on Long Street. Eyes watching their every move from behind drawn curtains. Did you ever think the next Ferguson might be setoff by trigger happy code enforcement officers blasting non descript white people on Airport Road?
Mindless Enthusiasm about City Council’s Junket to the “Gig Cities Summit”
Several of the Salisbury’s City Council members gushed over their recent junket to Kansas City, Missouri for the “Gig Cities Summit”. Councilwoman Maggie Blackwell’s takeaway from the “Summit” were insights such as: “Having a broadband system attracts talented workers and jobs follow talent.”
Councilwoman Karen Alexander opined that what she took home from Kansas City was that Salisbury needs to mitigate the digital divide between wealthy communities and the poor ones.
After much mindless enthusiasm about the city’s fiber optic network, Councilman William “Pete” Kennedy froze city council in their seats when he said, “If someone wants to buy Fibrant we need to at least entertain the idea.”
“Pete” go tell Interim City Manager Sofley and Mayor Woodson the next time they meet with potential Fibrant buyers at least provide them with Fibrant’s business stats and avoid telling them, “If you buy it, then you can run it your way.”
