Slow Us down, Lord.

After much thought about the wisdom of a special levy for paving Huntington's poorly maintained streets, I suddenly remembered a small prayer my saintly mother suggested to me. She told me that I should pray that God would "slow me down" anytime I considered doing anything that would have consequences on other people. Her thought was that when we are self-absorbed we have a tendency to act with haste and, most often, act foolishly, to the detriment of all concerned.

I decided to follow Mother's advice, and I talked with a few people in leadership rolls in the city for whom I have great respect and admiration. Here is my modified position on the proposal to place a levy on the November ballot that would have citizens of Huntington vote, yea or nay, on an excess levy to pave our streets that have been in deplorable condition for years.

Let's slow down! Just because we suddenly have extra funds from the long drawn out property tax dispute, must we spend it immediately as if the money were "burning a hole in our pocket"? Why must we always be patching our city's operating budget in a willy-nilly manner? Let's all sit down, administration and council, and come up with a "business plan" and budget for the next fiscal year that reflects a true picture of what it takes to run the city and provide quality services to our citizens. With the plan and a realistic budget constructed for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, we can then present a proposal to the citizens for a levy that will adequately fund (at least adequately) the basic services our citizens need and expect!

Go ahead and buy the needed police cruisers now. And, certainly, replace the city's aged computer system, but hold onto the money left from the windfall property tax collection and merely earmark it for future paving - and spend it for that purpose only after a "business plan" for the city is agreed upon by the administration and the Huntington City Council and that a priority list of street paving projects is available and discussed with citizens during called townhall meetings and public hearings. Let's stop just patching the streets, and pave each street entirely! And let's not forget to resurrect as many bricks streets as we can. The same goes for the need for anti-litter equipment - such as the city-wide-installation of litter receptacles and cigarette disposal equipment on each and every street corner.

"Slow us down, Lord."

Note: There is a public hearing on this issue in the City Council Chambers at Huntington City Hall on Friday, August 18, 2006, at 4 P.M. Please attend and be heard.