Editor’s note: Joe has no theme this week, just a random list of his thoughts – thoughts that seldom seem to have an order or theme to them.
1/ I’m sure glad this Movember business is over. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great idea for men to grow moustaches in support of prostate cancer research, but I felt like I was walking around in a ‘70s cop show. I didn’t like most of them back then.
2/ My wife asked me if they called it Movember because all the wives and girlfriends wanted the face fur mowed off. I did not have an answer but hers seems like a good enough one.
3/ Took a lot of flack for the editor’s wiseass move to caption a photo of Paul Smith as the only vegan in Morinville after Doug at the Green Bean made a Joe Morinville Veggie Sandwich. Hear some kid threatened to beat me with his drumsticks. Look, I know there are a lot of you vegan types around in Morinville. I’ve seen you fighting over the tofu and last carton of soymilk in the grocery stores. Make love not war, man.
4/ It was good to see Council breaking out the butcher knives last week to cut $300,000 out of the budget. They need to get out the paring knife now and trim off a little more fat before this thing becomes law.
5/ If they are looking to trim stuff now or before it hits budget next year, I think they ought to put a kibosh on any more studies unless they will directly put tax dollars in the coffers or save tax dollars from going out of the coffers.
6/ Reading the articles online this past week about the budget leaves me shaking my head. One ratepayer thinks businesses don’t pay enough taxes in this town compared to others and one councillor thinks the residential ratepayer is carrying too much of the tax burden. Yet they both want to cut out hiring an economic development officer, the one person needed to get more businesses and get the tax burden a little off my and your backs.
7/ Speaking of revenues, I also see that photo radar tickets are down by 75 per cent over last year at the same time. I bet you the speeders are stomping on the gas pedal with pure joy. I wonder how much stomping taxpayers will be doing when they have to foot the bill for all that lost revenue?
8/ Wife adds the following: “People should stop parking on the corners. Where the $#%& are the bylaw guys? They should be ticketing those $#%&. There is not much that makes me mad about this town but that is one thing that #@$% me off.”
9/ Have I ever mentioned the wife is a little salty with her language?
10/ There is still 9 days to enter the Shop in Morinville contest for your chance at a $500 gift certificate to be used at any participating business. If you don’t have the guide that was mailed to you the week of the Christmas Festival, you can download one on The Morinville News at morinvillenews.com/?p=12541. It’s an easy chance at $500 bucks for simply visiting four of our downtown businesses.
Joe, I agree with your wife (People should stop parking on the corners.), however, how about the snow machines that operate within town limits? Where the $#%& are the bylaw guys? They should be ticketing those $#%&. I was told they (bylaw) can’t follow them cause bylaw does not have a snow machine….. If the tracks came from a residence, maybe bylaw should follow the tracks back to that residence???
Come on people get real. That would mean they would have to actually get out of that posh SUV they drive around. I know the perfect way to re coup the lost revenue, get rid of the photo radar and peace officers and let the RCMP do their jobs!!!
Interesting to see that I’m not the only one who seems to have lost more than a little respect for our local law enforcement folks!
Joe’s comments, as well as those of his wife, Carole and whoever “Get Real” happens to be, are spot on.
Not only do the ‘nine RCMP officers DEDICATED to policing Morinville’ NOT exist – just another lie perpetrated by the RCMP and our Town Administration – but our CPOs obviously need a good dose of “direction” from the Town. All fine and dandy they should work in concert with the RCMP, but it must be remembered that their primary responsibility is to enforce the bylaws of Morinville.
It is my understanding that we now have a new “Director of Corporate Operations” whose responsibility includes DIRECT SUPERVISION of our CPOs and LIAISON with the local RCMP. Assuming this to be a reality, perhaps citizens will now get satisfactory responses to their queries and/or problems with these two agencies…
Good Luck!