$4.5 million spent on keeping the city in line

$4.5 million spent on keeping the city in line But critics ask: Are the state's oversight costs really worth it?

The worth of the OVERLORDS is much less than it should be because they don't meet as they should. I'd have less of a problem with the OVERLORDS if they really worked.

Pittsburgh has had a huge problem over the past decades because too many fell down on the job. The slumber has killed this city.

The watchdogs don't guard as they should. Here, I pin a lot of the blame on the Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review. They both miss too many important stories. Recently, they've been better. But back in the day of Tom Murphy, Tom Barnes and others were absent -- and in a deep sleep fueled by too many bologna sandwiches.

The checks within government also have to bear a lot of the blame. The city's controller and the county's controller stink. Tom Flaherty was barking at the wrong things, if he barked at all. Michael Lamb won't be too different. He is a bureaucrat. We need more.

The academics have been in a deep slumber too. From time to time, great work comes from them. But, it is rare. They should have lots of projects in the air at the same time. And, every college and university should have a dozen or more who are 'go-to people' on various issues. Most of the time, we are fighting against the higher educational leadership. They should be on the side of the people, the students, and generally helping with the stuggles concerning quality of life issues for the region.

Then the last group to fumble time and time again are the neighborhood groups. They need to be holding debates, forums, issue discussions and sending their open-minded people to events. But they all worry and try to NOT bite the hand that feeds them. Trouble is, the feed is not energy of empowerment.

So, we needed OVERLORDS. But, the overlords are lazy.