In reading the budget-based articles and the editorial last week, I just wanted to clarify a couple of things.
At the budget meeting I was not happy that the department heads were not required to be there, but that wasn’t the mayor’s call; he would have also liked to have them there. As for the questions I ask: Yes, things turn heated pretty quick, it seems, but that is not really my intent.
I watched and attended several council meetings before I became a commissioner, and when I sat in the audience, it always seemed like the board breezed through business, and it was hard to get any details about what they were discussing or voting on.
I ask questions as if I were in the audience, as a citizen who should have a right to that information.
Lastly, the paper mentioned I did not offer ideas for Roosevelt Road; I did. I talked about courting a chain restaurant for the parking lot of the plaza and doing our own study to provide metrics to sell business based on the needs of the area.
Yes, as a freshman commissioner, I have plenty of questions and ideas, and I hope the citizenry, the mayor, and my fellow commissioners understand the intent of those questions. I also hope, as last week’s editorial stated, that recent meetings are not a harbinger of things to come. Hopefully they are just the growing pains of a new council. I remain optimistic.
Chris Harris
Commissioner of Public Property
