BiddiesInMyBrain

Willie Drops His Pants and Shows Us...

... his horse's patoot.

And not for the first time.

Ends up Willie - Hizzoner - decided he'd stuck his thingie in the scalding oil one too many times - and submitted his resignation the day after the library / community center fiasco effective July 31st.

The full text of the letter is full of pathos, full of angst, full of the 16 years of sacrifice he has made to this city. Hizzoner frames his departure as that of a caesar. Don't you believe every word he says, though. Attorneys have been scouring over this letter and have found it entirely non-binding. CUTE.

Further, Hizzoner seems to have other things up his sleeve... like it appears he may want to run the Memphis City Schools into the ground just a bit further before he goes into retirement. The position is open, and he seems to think himself *just* the person to do what needs doing. NOT.

Speaking of dropping his pants, he has a load of kids by different mothers, most of whom have been sired while he has been dilly-dallying around in the mayor's office. Not sure I want his influence over the city school kids as Superintendent, yanno? Especially in an era of "abstinence only" education, and when the teen pregnancy rate in this city is out of sight already (another bit of Willie's wonked policies)...

I don't trust Hizzoner and I don't like Hizzoner, and he is full of failed plans and unfulfilled results. The most he should be running is a hobby horse - and I have my doubts about that. Somehow, the fix would be on, even with that.

And still, the libraries are closing, the community centers are being shut down, the city's crime rate is escalating... and we have yet to see anything truly positive out of Hizzoner's reign. Heaven help us if the dodos in charge of the city schools decide he is a worthy administrator and king him Superintendent. And where would arts education go in under Willie's superintendency?? I predict a disaster.

Mark me as one very upset citizen, and one who will not let this pass easily by. The letter-writing campaigns and protests are starting in earnest, and I am right there in the middle of them. What's the point of being part of a community if you are not going to stand up for your rights?

Willie Hears A Whoosh

We need to flush the Mayor of Memphis right down the toilet, and let me tell you what, I have the best plumbing in the neighborhood as of yesterday. I volunteer for the job of giving him a swirly he'll NEVER forget.

Why am I so incensed??? Hizzoner has decided to CLOSE FIVE LIBRARIES and FOUR COMMUNITY CENTERS. This comes on top of longtime, award-winning library director's Judith Drescher's non-renewal of contract only to replace her with a bureaucrat with NO library experience and NO Library Science degree - and no intention of getting one.

I worked at one of the closing libraries for three years, and it was a very, very busy branch - still is - and it was the first branch in the city, built in 1951. Hizzoner insisted that there was little to no diversity. Contrary to that assertion, I could not have had a more diverse group of colleagues or patrons. He claims that the libraries are in deplorable condition. The library I worked in had just had a renovation several years ago, and we lemon oiled and goo-goned everything, scraped toe boards on our hands and knees, cleaned books all day long, dusted, and worked toward constant upkeep. That the CITY chose to stop cleaning public toilets and vacuuming but twice a week is not the fault of the library staff (and was, in fact, one of the reasons I left). When the library was a semi-autonomous entity - a quasi-governmental body with its own budget and directors, it *never* lost money and it built services, buildings and collections... now Hizzoner wants to pillage it to right HIS fiscal difficulties. He has NO SENSE OF CIVIC DUTY OR PRIDE.

Libraries are one of the most essential parts of a functioning democracy. They, alongside the public schools, are the great equalizers, where access to knowledge is vast and free. And librarians are the guardians and protectors of that legacy; we teach, advocate, and value our patrons' confidences and secrets. We press for literacy and we listen actively. THESE are some of the reasons that a pawned library system run by a novice bureaucrat will do nothing but founder and flail. We will lose those vital liberties. THEN where will we be?

Don't EVEN get me started on the community centers. Where will those kids who aren't patronizing libraries as safe havens go when the community centers they now turn to are gone? I'll tell you. 201 Poplar. They will become inmates... not intentionally, but because the places they once had for wholesome, supervised healthy fun will be no more and there will be noplace for these kids to go to get that sort of stimulation - except on the streets.

Just what the hell is Hizzoner thinking?? I would storm the Mayor's Office, but in my current temper I would just get arrested - and never get to the mayor anyway. The reputed cokehead has a nest of bodyguards paid for by, you guessed it, us. The Taxpayers.

I am so angry I cannot think straight. I left the library as a degree-holding librarian for personal reasons, but did not feel animosity toward the system itself. I *believe* in it, and I *want* and *need* it to succeed in our community (one of the branches is our neighborhood branch).

This? This is outright robber-barony of the community and the taxpayer. I would like to be the first to line up to sign a recall petition for this jerk.

And the swirly offer still stands.

Stealing a Moment

I am taking a moment out of my morning and BLOGGING. Yes, BLOGGING.

I feel guilty about it, too!

I got done with my paper for class this afternoon about a half hour ago... and got dressed in a suit jacket and all... packed my bag for a meeting at 11, class at 12:30, class at 2:30, and collapse at 5:30.

The potty is supposed to be installed today. No sign of anybody yet, but it is supposed to be coming any time. I likely won't be here, but dang... it won't be long!

Meantime, Crash is home (YAY!) and I am very, very, very happy to see him. We don't connect often enough these days, and having a week to do stuff together (despite my coursework) will be wonderful.

OK... time to close up shop and get ready to run to school. Parking places are tough to find at this hour.

::smooches::