I was out and about yesterday and was able to witness first hand three things that I have blogged about recently:
1.) The “Pothole Killer”
I was riding my bike and came head-to-head with this beast making its way down Evelina, its long snout protruding from the front barfing into various voids in the asphault. I veered to the side and continued my jaunt. As I made my way around the neighborhood, I saw evidence of where it had been. What had been large holes in the roads now was filled with tiny white pebbles. They were everywhere. Doesn’t seem like a permanent fix but it’ll do for now.
2.) French Quarter Garbage Cans
The fiancee and I were going to Mona Lisa and I saw one of them in the path ahead. I crossed the street because I saw no way around its enormous girth. Seriously though, this thing was smaller than my large red Ace Hardware can back at the house. It also seemed rather inconspicuous. That whole situation was ridiculous and having seen one for myself I have to grudgingly side with Nagin’s office.
3.) The “Ghetto Bird”
Coming back from the Quartas, I saw, up in the sky, what I assumed was the Louisiana National Guard Helicopter Nagin spoke about in his State of the City speech. It was hovering over Mid-City between Canal and Tulane and had the spotlight on.
Some say progress, others don’t.
Like I’ve said before, anytime you make the main focus of the debate the cans rather than the contracts, you’re siding with the mayor. He obviously had started work on the contracts at the time of the 100 day smokescreen, but waited until the end of the year (when the old contract was set to expire) to say much about them. You remember that late May 2006 presentation where he promised transparency and accountability and said something about three zones for garbage collection, don’t you? He didn’t mention costs or automation until late October. Maybe it was just pure coincidence that he thought three zones would be nifty and just later found that to be the right number later on.
On the subject of the cans, the administration did say that nobody would be forced to use them when it was seeking city council approval, then changed its tune once it got city council approval and a changed ordinance. Unless you believe that residents should just be good boys and girls and listen to Uncle Ray and Aunt Veronica, that kind of thing should be condemned.