Thursday, October 14, 2004

Hurry up and wait

PG Council rejects plans for commuter taxMembers choose to wait for support from Legislature


In some parts of city life and goverment we need to rush to do nothing. We should tell the world that this city isn't going to do any more bone-headed deals that give millions of dollars away to downtown department stores. The city has been hyper-active in terms of putting poison into the well of the marketplace. Heavy handed interventions in the market need to end -- quickly.

Case in point: We rushed to give the land control of the North Shore to the Steelers and Pirates. But, their time expired. And, we rushed to be Johnny on the Spot and give away another $4-million from the state to build an auditorium for the Rooneys.

But on the other hand, there are many places where we need to be hyper-active and work to help heal this city. We need to gather people about swim pools and rec centers. We need to explore options with public safety and citizens in honest, frank, open discussions.

We need to make sure we have a budget that makes sense, rather than being phony and filled with massive taxes that have no intentions of being enacted. This administration rushes to fake and push deceptions.

An honest discussion about the commuter tax should happen now. I'm glad that some are not okay in waiting around. The city's funds are going to go below zero in a few short weeks. Waiting isn't prudent.

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