That commonality is a level of frustration and concern about the goings on in the community that is almost overwhelming. Many, if not most, include the phrase “What can we do?” at some point in the discussion.
Indeed, what can we do?
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Regardless, when the city administrator makes aggressive physical contact with a council member in public and the council member files a complaint with police, we’ve reached a level of conduct by our “leaders” that would be laughable, were it not so sad and serious.
When a council member is offended over a citizen asking a question regarding finances ” especially when that member is on the finance committee ” we’ve reached the absurd.
Consider:
• Voters passed a $1 million street project, yet it took over a year to get bonds issued and the project started and because of spikes in the cost of asphalt, the scope of the project shrank significantly ” in some parts of the community.
There are dead-end streets that were paved and streets with three or four homes on them that were paved while City Limits Road and Border Drive and almost the entire northeast quadrant bordered by the railroad and Highway 10 went untouched. We challenge you to drive through the Founder’s Drive area and find a street that wasn’t paved, other than the ends of the west and east entrances.
• Expenses have been frozen by city council, but rumors are rampant among city workers that a select few have gotten raises and other continue to get overtime and there’s the nagging question about cell phones and personal use of vehicles and credit cards that just won’t go away.
• Citizens have tried to get involved. They tried to get a Neighborhood Watch program going, but after four committee meetings wore them out, they went home and gave up. A more recent effort was launched by a local businessman who wanted to start a group of clean-up volunteers to help the city, but after the public heard the word “committee” and “city” in the same sentence, no one came forward.
• Concerns have been voiced regarding the movement of money from accounts funded by dedicated taxes and the administration has requested an opinion from the attorney general. The council, however, says the examples provided by the administration are misleading and are planning a trip to Baton Rouge to talk with the state’s top law enforcement office to make their case as to why they feel the movement was illegal and broke the law.
• Drugs are being bought and sold openly on the street ... prostitutes are walking South Columbia Street ... a citizen can’t leave their home to go to work and know that their property will be there at the end of the day.
It’s time for a clean-up, pick-up and fix-up campaign, and we’re not just talking about the trash that blows in the wind ... we’re talking about the trash on the streets ... the drug dealers and pimps and prostitutes and thugs and thieves.
Everyone talks about the way Bogalusa “used to be” and how great everything was in those days. Do we, as the present day citizens of this community, want to be the ones on watch when the old girl circles the drain for the last time?
Most likely, we don’t, but if change is going to come, it is going to have to be initiated by those very citizens who claim to be outraged ... who claim to be concerned and who claim they aren’t getting their money’s worth from their city.
If you are one of those, it’s time to step up and speak out ... and keep speaking out until someone listens. If you don’t think your elected officials are doing the job, there’s a process for remedy called recall. If you truly want to make a difference and create a better Bogalusa, get off your duff and do something ... and bring a friend, because there is a strength in numbers that cannot be ignored.
Comments
Food for thought wrote on Oct 14, 2008 2:24 PM:
tb wrote on Oct 9, 2008 3:46 PM:
use arata&arata they have delt with them before and get our school back to where they need to be,were all paying taxes for education and no one in the school board is doing there jobs and thats to provide a safe and good education to our kids who`s on board??
lets let them earn there pay,and get ourmoneys worth,if you want your kids to have a better life than there headed for. "
tb wrote on Oct 9, 2008 2:17 PM:
im so pod wrote on Oct 9, 2008 2:10 PM:
TB wrote on Oct 5, 2008 4:58 PM:
and go down the list he`s one of the so called Big doggs ,i`m getting my bussiness and family outta this town as soon as i can "
Bogalusa girl wrote on Oct 3, 2008 12:01 PM:
Ardie Allen wrote on Oct 2, 2008 11:11 AM:
Longtime resident wrote on Oct 2, 2008 7:17 AM:
Just Me wrote on Oct 1, 2008 7:55 PM:
Jo Ann Zeringue wrote on Oct 1, 2008 1:08 PM:
margaret Sloan wrote on Sep 29, 2008 11:25 PM:
margaret Sloan wrote on Sep 29, 2008 12:25 PM: