“Peddling smart growth”

I will start this post by reminding you of a phrase that we hear all too often here in the Central Louisiana and particularly Alexandria. The phrase is “Smart Growth”. So I came across this article and it was something that caught my eye. At top of the article page you will see that it is entitled “Peddling smart growth” and beneath that you will see the subtitle that reads..

Call your project “smart” — even when it isn’t — and get millions in public funds.

Basically I am all for true “smart growth” however that term can be defined. There are many improvements that I would like to see in the Central Louisiana. But I would like to have peace of mind knowing that the money is being spent the right way and not being mismanaged by our leaders. It is possible that this term may have run it’s course and it is time to coin a new phrase for the administration. There are many others that you may see in the new future and some may have been used already. Here are some examples of what other terms may be beaten to death in the near future when allotting more money to useless projects. New Urbanism, New Pedestrianism, Urban Sprawl ( I think this one has been used, maybe not on a local level though).

 

In closing I would just encourage you to read the article that I linked above. Although it is long and takes place in California most should find it interesting and we should be able to relate at least some of the information on a local level.

 

When does a town become a City?

Many times I have read where residents of Alexandria feel as though it is better suited as being a “town” and not a “city”. So in doing research it appears as though there are many different prerequisites in order for a town to transform to city status. The definitions differ from the U.S to Europe. It appears as though in Europe you need a Cathedral and a University. However in the United States it can be based upon, this is taken from Wikipedia and goes as follows…

the term may be used either for a town possessing city status; for an urban locality exceeding an arbitrary population size; for a town dominating other towns with particular regional economic or administrative significance.

After researching a bit I was able to also find that Alexandria first became a City in 1882 with a Mayor, Justice of the Peace and a Treasurer.

 

This is from the City of Alexandria website

Since every public record had been destroyed, Louisiana granted the town a new Charter in an Act dated September 29, 1868. In 1882, Alexandria became a city with a Mayor, Justice of the Peace, and Treasurer (who also served as tax collector and secretary to the Board of Aldermen). This Board was composed of nine aldermen from four wards- two from each ward and one at-large.

So it appears that Alexandria achieved city status in 1882. Yet people still refer to Alexandria as a town. I am guilty of this myself as I just don’t picture Alexandria as being a city especially when I look around the State and Country. I look at many different cities in comparison and Alexandria lacks many things. Sure it has met the needs in order to refer to itself as a City but it is a town to me. How do you feel? Do you consider Alexandria to be a city or a town?

 

Prostitution problem in Alexandria?

Something of interest from KALB. Well how many of these people do you know? I knew it happened in Alexandria but that seems like quite a large number of arrests made. I am sure this is all because of Katrina evacuees (sarcasm).

 

Link to the story

 

List of the arrested individuals

 

Majority of the male customers were married men with families and some even having professional careers.

 

Mind if we bunk here for the night?

As I was perusing The Advocate newspaper out of Baton Rouge. I noticed this story about where Sex Offenders would be housed during the time of emergency. While I think it is important to keep them confined to close quarters and I believe they should have MAXIMUM security on this/these building(s). I cannot say that I would be happy to have this moving into my neighborhood. Can you just imagine having to live next door to a building that is going to house sex offenders? I would be worried each and every time my child stepped out of the front door to go to school. I would not be able to sleep at night knowing that there were sex offenders within striking distance of my property.

 

Residents in the area and local officials have complained about the plans to locate convicted sex offenders in the area, so Rep. Tom McVea filed a bill that would require parish officials to approve a sex offender shelter before it could be opened.

Ya think?!?

 

Also it should be noted that there would be other criminals mixed among the sex offenders. This is one building that I would hope after occupied, one of those mysterious arson cases happen. We do live in a great state but sometimes the things we do just seem to amaze me.

 

Same ole stuff…

The Council meeting was drama free. But I have a question and I think I may have already answered it for myself. What exactly would this “Louisiana Legislative Caucus” be? Would this be the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus ? After searching google here I cannot find a Louisiana Legislative Caucus anywhere. Did they just omit the word black or does it go by Louisiana Legislative Caucus? Without even watching the “episode” I made a post before this one and I just knew somewhere in there, that I would find a biased donation of some sort. GAEDA has become infamous for these types of things. If I started a White caucus, would I be able to have money allocated from hotel/motel tax in order to put on an event? I don’t mind them donating to them at all and more power the members of that organization. Are any of the City Council members involved in this”‘Louisiana Legislative Caucus”?

 

 

 

 

 

From the City Council Agenda

 

25) To consider final adoption of an ordinance authorizing the City to co-sponsor along with GAEDA Board and the England Authority the 30th anniversary celebration of the Louisiana Legislative Caucus and local delegates.

After researching a bit I still have not found a Louisiana Legislative Caucus but only the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. Funny because it is the 30th anniversary for the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. One would have to assume  they are trying to sponsor this event. But why did they not just call it by it’s correct name and not omit the word by which would make it the correct organization that they are wanting to sponsor? From their website I found their “goals”…

 

Our Goals
Enacting legislation that positively impacts and repealing legislation that negatively impacts the Black Caucus’ constituencies.

 

Implementing and promoting policies which allow all citizens fair and open access to educational and economical advancement opportunities.

 

Providing leadership in challenging policies which hinder the progress of African Americans.

 

Organizing and maintaining a networking system in Louisiana that links together elected officials, faith-based and civic organizations, businesses and colleges and universities for identifying cutting-edge issues that affect Louisiana’s African American citizenry.

 

Developing and implementing community-based programs, meetings and forums for the distribution of information.

 

Serving as a united public voice for the African American population in Louisiana.

On another note, it appears as though white people cannot join see this link. Go figure. I think as a society we have things totally backwards. We want progression towards racial equality yet we still separate from each other as a race. There are many organizations that include only black members and are directed to a certain race. I understand that many of their relatives in the past suffered through many horrible things and if I could have stopped it I would have. However, I have never owned any slaves and I don’t know anyone that has. Could you imagine the outcry if someone started a white caucus? I am in no way a racist but I am a realist. We as a society need to build a bridge and just get over the whole thing. If we keep thinking up a new organization every day that cater directly and only to a certain race we as a society will never progress to our (hopefully, but my) ultimate goal and see each other as a human instead of a black/white/spanish/purple/pin striped. I wonder what these Black Caucus meetings discuss.

Another article with a each member of the ‘opposite’ race trying to join the other caucus. It does appear that there is a Tennessee White Caucus. It cites it in the article here but I cannot seem to find any info on the organization on the internet. Any information that you have on this would be appreciated.

 

As I sit down to watch the City Council meeting.

I am looking for certain things. Aside from important issues that face the city and you can find the City Council agenda. I will be keeping a close eye on the way that the administration and City Council respond to residents of Alexandria when questioned on certain things. You can find my post about this from May 23, 2007 here and how I feel about their demeanor during the meetings. Besides the fact that they act very unprofessional at times by laughing and making jokes about everything. I have witnessed on many different occasions where a resident will ask a question only to be belittled by the Council Member. I am no rocket scientist but with my logic if a person is there to ask a question, the chances are they do not know the answer. They may answer the question, but on the tail end they will add some smart ass remark which is uncalled for in my opinion. Also I will be listening to see how many of the issues they bring up have a racial undertone. Swimming pools only on 3rd street, money to certain foundations or charities etc. If you are going to do things you need to spread it out evenly for all the people of Alexandria. I can’t help but notice that each time I watch one of these “episodes” the giving is one sided. “My people, her people, those people” need this and that. But come election time they will be smiling in everyone’s face. This is all for now, I will be back later to update.

 

Why most blogs fail…

 

 

As I was going through some of the different local blogs in the Central Louisiana area. I can’t help but notice that a large percentage of them are rarely updated. For the most part the local blogs each have their own character. Some blogs are never updated but continue to receive multiple comments per day. Some blogs are about political views. Others focus on that blog creators life and events in that person’s life. Some blogs are full of rumors (which I have to admit it is rather entertaining at times although I have never partaken in the comments). There are many different types of blogs and I believe that each person that creates one generally has a good idea and a certain niche that they want to show. However, there are many reasons that you may not be able to keep up with the blog. For instance you may have a job that limits your time you are allowed to dedicate to the blog. You may have kids that take up the majority of your time. Whatever the reasons for a blog not being updated I am sure they are valid. It may just be that you lost interest in what you were doing and that initial idea that you had to start the blog was just that…an initial idea and you had nothing to write about after that. I would like to encourage more people to blog in Central Louisiana. Surely there are more angles that you can take. If you look around the (insert obligatory blog word) blogosphere you may be able to build off an idea and add to it, and make it your own. We can certainly use more bloggers in the area and I am sure others would agree. Also, I there are quite a few people that visit this blog each day and while I touch on a wide variety of subjects I rarely ever receive comments. Please feel free to leave comments to let me know what you think, it only takes a second. If you think I wrote about something that you find interesting tell me, on the contrary if you think it was a shitty peice and I wasted your time, feel free to share that as well so that I can get an idea as to what the readers find interesting. In closing I will leave you with this article that offers a few reasons why certain blogs “fail”.

 

Why most blogs fail

 

Retaining the younger generation…

www.lsua.edu

 

 

 

I picked up the Town Talk today and on the front page there was an article printed about the plans for the LSUA expansion. In my mind this is a good thing. Whether or not it passes is yet to be seen. You can read about it here and see what you think. We have heard about it before but if you add in the housing soon to be on campus, it is looking better for the younger generation. Maybe current students won’t be laughed at when saying where they attend college. Now if we can only fix the rest of the “city” and have some progression in other areas we may be onto something. However, I will not be holding my breath waiting for improvements around the “city” to happen and make younger people actually want to live in Alexandria/Pineville. Have you ever heard people that are younger actually be excited about living in this area? Probably not and when you think about it there is actually nothing for younger adults to do in this area, which is sad. This has to be the most boring place to reside in the state for younger adults.

 

Pet adoption…

Man it just seems as though nothing is funny anymore. I was browsing the TT’s website and came across this “article” or a press release rather. Pet adoption is a good thing and I encourage it. These dogs deserve a good home and attention, they need to be cared for and should be given a second chance. I would recommend that if you are thinking about getting a new pet that you check this event out. Everyone is a winner, you get a great pet and they get a second chance. I have adopted a dog in the past and I couldn’t have asked for a better companion. I would also like to recommend that before you decide to take it home you spend some “quality” time with it, usually after spending an hour or two with the dog you will get a feel for the dog’s attitude and demeanor. Some of these programs even offer a trial period. If after a certain time you decide that the dog is not fit for your home due to many issues that can arise you are allowed to return it. I know that in the Paris Hilton era, everyone wants that cute little lap dog but you would be surprised at some of the great dogs that you will find in these establishments. Do them a favor and rescue them from those small kennels and we can almost guarantee that you will not be sorry.

 

Boredom…

There is really nothing going on. Well, I am sure that there are plenty of other things going on, but SHREDFEST and drug busts on I-20 are far more important than anything else.