WCBU (89.9 FM) is replaying Mayor Ardis’s State of the City address tonight at 7:00, followed by an interview with Bill Dennis and me on our reaction to Ardis’s address.
One of the things I love about blogging is the dialogue that takes place in the comments section. I learn a lot from those who reply to my posts, so I want to open up this post for your reaction to the State of the City address. What did you like about it? Was there anything that disappointed you? Do you think the city is on the right track? Feel free to also comment on Bill’s and my interview on WCBU tonight. I look forward to reading your insights.
Looking forward to listening tonight, if the little one will cooperate.
I think you should look into getting a newspaper job. Your writing on here is outstanding. Maybe Bill could hook you up at the Times for an article or two.
Just finished listening. Great job by the both of you. I’m not sure if you were nervous or not, because it wasn’t noticeable. I’m hoping maybe Jonathon will do a weekly show with you and Bill commenting on things that happened in the city the previous week.
The address didn’t really strike me one way or the other. I did like the fact he actually called on the Chamber to contact him to help out. I also like the Kalamazoo plan, but like you astutely pointed out, they already had the money in place. I am also a fan of the new Police Chief.
Did you notice how Ardis gave the figure that violent crime went up 19 % (? is that correct) for the first six months of last year and followed that up with “it dropped significantly” the last six months. I was wondering why he didn’t give an exact figure instead of “significantly”. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was odd.
Talk is cheap in regards to these addresses, and we’ll have to wait and see what comes out of this. But I do feel better with Ardis than I did with the liar who was our Mayor.
Thank you for the feedback, Mazr. You are too kind. And yes, I was nervous — extremely. I feel much more comfortable carefully choosing my words as I type instead of trying to talk off the top of my head. But, that said, it wasn’t too bad. Jonathan Ahl made us both feel very comfortable, and I would be willing to do it again, if asked. As far as getting a newspaper job… I wouldn’t be against it, but I don’t have a degree in journalism or anything, so I doubt any newspaper would consider me qualified.
You bring up some good points about the crime statistics. I wonder what a “significant drop” is myself. Bill mentioned on his blog about how homicides were terrible in the first half of the year, then dropped off the second half, so I imagine that had something to do with it.
Finally, thanks for being (apparently) the only person who listened to me on the radio other than my family. I really do appreciate it. Incidentally, my mother’s advice to me was to say “yes” instead of “yeah” when I’m interviewed. She said, “I just think it sounds more professional, don’t you?” I said, “yeah.”
You both have very good radio voices.
The actual crime statistics are over played. What matters is more is how residents percieve the ‘crime’ in their area. If people do not feel safe, then something needs to be done. If businesses do not feel safe doing business in an area, then something needs to be done. If insurance companies reflect the danger in their rates, then something needs to be done. That may or may not translate into more police officers. It may involve improving citizen communications. It may involve neighborhood meet n greets…
Our local politicians have a lot of good things to say about the new police chief and the 10 or so new police officers being hired. My instincts tell me, that this is not nearly enough. Token even. Yeah I know those new officers don’t come cheap, but I think the people in charge underestimate the perceived problem in the eyes of the public. Perhaps too, even underestimate the reality.
They want to add a dozen or so new officers to a city of 44 square miles, which easily has a dozen or more neighborhoods that would benefit greatly from officers on foot 24/7/365. Not dozing in their car, but on foot, walking the sidewalks, walking the alleyways. Getting to know each and EVERY resident in that neighborhood. When is the last time a police officer came to your door just to introduce him/herself? ‘Hi I am officer Betty, and I have been assigned to your neighborhood. I will be walking around all hours of the day. My car is over there, my pager number is right here. If you got any questions, concerns, problems… give me holler’ And then to actually see that person there more than you see the mail man.
Instead we got auditions for another episode of Fox’s COPS.