I took a moment today to write a letter to the mayor. The city has spent $40,000 to put up 52 new “wayfinding” signs for tourists. The signs guide visitors to attractions such as the zoo, the train station and the local brewery. While I find these signs to be a good thing for the area, I’m rather dismayed at how they’re being installed. I don’t like the fact that in some spots they’re installing them in the middle of the sidewalk. Not only does this create a hazard for pedestrians, but it also makes it so wheelchairs can’t pass the sign without dropping off the curb, wheeling down the street (and risk getting hit) and then struggling to get back up on the curb again. To make matters worse, the breakaway mounts on the sign posts are installed too high, which could be an increased hazard to any vehicle that happens to run into them.
Now I didn’t bring up the fact that the signs come nowhere near the national established standards that are enforced by the state, nor did I mention the fact that 52 signs for $40,000 seems a bit steep. As a student of civil engineering I chalk that up to a learning experience and I figure I’ll deal with similar scenarios once I’m working for a highway department, but to me it just doesn’t make sense to block a sidewalk for these signs. They should have been installed on a light post.
If that’s not enough to complain about, I’ve also written on the local paper message board my dismay that the county has spent $5.4 million dollars since 2004 renovating ONE court room at the local courthouse. That’s right, $5.4 million dollars on renovating one room, including the custom carpets handpicked by the judge.
And we wonder why at 9.25% we have the highest sales tax rate in the state. They say it’s to pay for welfare (don’t get me started) but we now know it’s just for pretty rugs.
And last, but not least, I’ve had it up to here (imagine waving hand) with the Bible beaters and their obsession with homosexuality. Why are they so obsessed with gay men and lesbians? Trust me, we are not going to move in on some place like Big Oak, Arkansas and take over the town. We don’t know where you are, we don’t care who you are and we quite honestly we don’t mind if you get off on sleeping with your cousin/brother/sister/mother/father. Frankly, it’s none of our business and we wish that you bid us the same honor.
I’m just saying.
