Edited by author 08-06-2006 01:37 PM
Three comments:

One, the Wal-Mart location was zoned for commercial long before Saline schools or any new residential development went into that area. I probably still have an old zoning map around that shows that. I'm no fan of Wal-Mart and won't shop there. But it shows poor planning by the schools, who don't have to abide by zoning, to locate there and poor judgment by people who moved there and now complain that commercial development is going into that location.

Two, the claim that Pittsfield is incurring its first debt (which some are now claiming is not true anyways) as signs of fiscal mismanagement just shows that proponents of the recall don't know the first thing about municipal government. Local governments issue bonds to pay for projects, just like you take out loans to pay for things like your house, car, etc. Are you going to tell us that you live debt-free? If so, congratulations. But you would be the exception, just like it would be the exception to find a local government that's never issues bonds. It's entirely legal and especially in growing communities, preferably so that the burden for improvements is shared by future taxpayers vesus paying it all front, even when the benefits also accrue to those who don't live in Pittsfield yet.

Three, the claim that Pittsfield is fiscally mismanaged because it "only" has an A+ bond rating is equally laughable. Do the people who make this claim even know what they are talking about? There's only a handful of communities in the entire US that get AAA bond ratings. A+ is a good bond rating for a community of Pittsfield size. Or are all of those other communities also fiscally mismanasged?

When you can't even get the basics right, it's hard to take your claims seriously.