Do you sense a bit of an ill wind in the air, a foreboding gloom on the horizon that accompanies the final days of the Nagin Era?
It’s getting plain weird. I mean, you heard, the other day, when the Mayor finally weighed in on the expanding police controversy and the deeply embedded culture of corruption within?
"If his has probably been going on for many years," he said. "Then we should probably get to the bottom of it."
Umm. YEAH?
Wow! I mean, what’s next? Tell the city council: "The city’s out of money, y’all. We should probably look into that."
As oddly therapeutic as it is, we all can’t all just sit around and armchair quarterback this Nagin thing to death.
First of all, it’s not healthy. It’s gotten so that when I hear the daily news dispatches from City Hall, I must follow a strict regimen for my own safety.
I make sure that I am not alone in the house, that no children are present, that all firearms and prescription medicines have been removed from the premises and that all cleaning products, detergents and motor oils are kept in locked closets for which I have no key .
You know, sociologists, behavioral specialists, clinicians and theologians agree, that the primary cause of such anti-social thinking and aberrant behavior is the loss of hope. And so it is I worry that I may have lost hope, at least as far as city government goes.
So I have a proposal I’d like to offer, something to give a little hope and hold us over until the newly-elected officials finally take office and set their plans in motion.
Actually, I should give credit where it is due. Fact is, Ray Nagin is actually the original author of my idea; I simply took his proposal and tweaked it a little.
The idea came to me when the Mayor announced a mandatory four-day work week for all city employees. I’m sure it was unintentional, but by making four days of work mandatory, he probably as much as doubled his own personal workload.
So that’s my idea, one way to maybe slow down the Mayor’s suddenly urgent need to solicit high-dollar bids and contracts. Not so fast, Mr. Mayor. You’re not supposed to be at work today.
That’s right. That’s my proposal: A mandatory two-day work week for all city employees.
Imagine the savings! Imagine the Implications!
