It seems, though, that someone felt my comments about Councilmember Olsen were “harsh”.  I beg to differ.  Please let us remember why I wrote those words.   They were in response to a council meeting and your coverage of the shopping cart crisis.  In fact, your story broke the news that city staff did in fact give the council fraudulent information, upon which they relied and created a new crime in our fair city.  Of course, I know that you are not allowed to use the “L” word when describing staff’s providing fraudulent information, or incorrect information, or mistakes, or forgetfulness (the phantom building, etc).  Moreover, you are very aware that those little “mistakes” make me especially unhappy.  So, that part of my comment, printed yesterday, is simply true.  Staff, er, um, well, you know.

                The fact that Councilmember Olsen was so thankful to staff over the revelations that were, um, mistaken, was the rest of my comment.  Of course, the, well, not-so-true information fit neatly into her agenda, so I guess I will forgive her for her willingness to believe an, er, well, error.

                But the rest of the reason I am writing this thank you note, is the comment that I “did not take too kindly to Councilwoman Olsen’s proposals to improve the city’s quality of life, such as her plan to rein in stray shopping carts.”  Please.  Let us examine my background in stray shopping carts.  First, my Father was an executive with American Steel and Wire, a subsidiary of U S Steel, for some years in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s.  One day, in about 1958, he came home with a mission of preventing shopping carts from being taken from a new creation in America, the Super Market.  Dad was a Professional Engineer, and I aspired to be one, too.   So, we worked on that project.  As you know, no one has yet devised a perfect way to prevent straying shopping carts, so I guess, we failed.  Just like the new law in Modesto has failed to prevent those darn carts from straying.

                But I digress.  Modesto and its residents face far more devastating “quality of life” issues than the two inconsequential ones Mrs. Olsen has focused on.  When I think of quality of life issues threatening us, I think of the fact that Modesto’s crime rate is double that of the average American city.  We have a home invasion robbery crisis, an auto theft crisis, a drive-by shooting crisis, a drug crisis, a not-enough cops crisis, a not-enough firefighters crisis, a lousy road crisis, an elderly transit crisis, a water rate crisis, a sanitary sewer crisis, a storm sewer crisis, a rock well crisis, a $15 million dollar budget crisis, an education crisis, a not-enough-money-for-schools crisis, a mental health care crisis, an emergency room crisis, a no-jobs crisis, a low average wage crisis, a downtown safety crisis, a city leadership crisis, an airline crisis, a non-neutered dog crisis, and I could go on, but I bet you are happy for me to stop.

                Thus, if I am to be noted as being harsh regarding Mrs. Olsen’s zeroing in like a laser on those pesky stray shopping carts, I just chuckle.  By the way, one of the best phrases ever published in the BEE is noting that I am “the Modesto taxpayer watchdog with the loudest bark in town.”  My Mom is going to glow.

But, did anyone ever think that my verbal barking is not just a vacant criticism?  Does no one ever think that my verbal nudges are designed to bring some common sense to these issues?  Am I not trying to drag people back to the real world?  Perhaps, I am desperately trying to remind young, inexperienced people that there is a bigger picture here?  Maybe I want to remind people younger than my children that they need to look past their back yard and job for problems to solve?  Is it possible that I really am trying to be part of the solution by reminding elected people that they are not paying attention to our real problems?  Is it possible that when I see elected officials who can only see minutiae, I want to drag them into the real world?  When I see our bureaucrats squandering our tax money, I want SOMEONE to make them stop? 

                So, Adam thanks again for the kind words.  You are doing a good job of reporting the good and the silly in our city.  Perhaps your editorial board will wake up and stop making excuses for failures in our city management.  Perhaps they will start encouraging proper attention be paid to fixing our crises, not defending them. 

                         I remain, as ever, Dave  (Woof)

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