Lately my hometown is being over-annexed by a city commision seemingly bent on securing public funds for private folly.
Nationally, 'eminent domain' has been used enough to worry smaller communities into more recent watchdog groups, and there was even a 'Heraldo' special on it on his new Fox network.
This weeks' surprise was finding out that our city commissioners (five-wide, all in assent) approved a change to move our planned parking garage for our brand-new baseball park to the local university area, which makes things much more dangerous for families trying to control children scattering downtown on the way from private lots to any future games.
My subtitle for this little 'dandy' was going to be 'Eminent Domain--Annexation without Representation", but (seriously) thanks to Google, I just discovered that I didn't invent that line.
However, the slant seems to be toward 'local line itemization' in city government--and I think it's a bad thing...m'kay?
Here's the entire post I am making toward this end on our local 'Daily News' website, before I submit it to them also as an editorial letter.
"[WKU President] Ransdell's intention to use only 100 spaces in the parking garage should have been made clear before the vote.
100 petitioners signed against the change, and more than 20 showed up to argue against it [during the vote session itself].
I, for one, feel intentionally misled.
WKU runs off private funds--that's how they name the buildings at these university-'things'!
The city doesn't need [too look like] that, and WKU isn't serving enough of our demographic to qualify for public funding.
[Therefore, I think] BG is quietly being privatized.
The new WKU football stadium is only the most obvious example.
Who can care how bad WKU's football team is getting beaten, when you can't even read the stupid sign from the 'public' road anymore!
[WKU erected a giant monolithic scoreboard that feeds only those in attendance, without even a peek at the score from the whole world outside. Without the media, we would never have even known how badly they absolutely reek!]
The city commission misrepresented the facts from the beginning of their venue change, right down to local media coverage--which 'stanks', BTW!
If they had stated WKU's paltry request from the beginning, it would have made us ALL 'balk'.
I wouldn't be surprised if [lifetime local Good Ol' Boy Warren County Judge Executive] Mike Buchannon already has plans to shut down the ballpark anyway, most likely to make room for his own giant Hummer garage.
I am openly ashamed of the way politics has messed up the downtown area.
[For one thing,] The old Jr. High would have made a wonderful Community Center for everybody."
