--Scott Miller photo
Poor ol' strong mayor Boss Hays. He needs a jillion dollars to build screwball traffic connectors, as well as stealing millions from school taxes, to get that big sporting good store built in Dark Hollow. He's trying to build a riverside mobile home park on the cheap, in defiance of state rules. He can't afford to add a scrapped tugboat to the rusty sub on the riverfront. Some people object to his commandeering public parking spaces for private uses, like the private baseball club.
Electric rates are sky-high. And now there comes another rub. The NLR hydro plant, a holdover turkey from the mayoral days of Terry Hartwick, isn't providing any of the small relief that it can provide when it's running. KTHV had a report last night about how Army Engineer flood control efforts have restricted generating capacity. Hays is quoted in the piece as seeming, again, to suggest the city might borrow money to hold down electric rates. This is like putting your electric bill on your credit card and paying interest on it forever.
As with a lot of NLR news, this sorry state of affairs on the river was reported first on Scott Miller's Argenta News (on July 4) and also on his Dogtown Wire (July 3). I'm embarrassed to say Scott tipped me on this last week, but I forgot to follow up.
Sometimes, LR folks, having a strong mayor may not be such a good thing, if spending the city into the poorhouse through corporate giveaways and underfinanced development schemes, plus special favors to insiders, is any gauge.
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