Ah one more of those taxes and public services

[nadinbrzezinski]

One of my neighbors was pissed I tell you. See he called 9.11 to report noise our local homeless were making behind his unit. Yes we have a few issues, and no I have no problem with most of them... for the most part they are invisible.

So this guy calls the dispatcher and it took TEN LONG MINUTES for the dispatcher to pick up... given the cuts in a high call day, yes possible.

Then the dispatcher informed him that she MIGHT be able to send a cop oh in three hours. This is an extremely low priority call and they are mostly chasing the radio... not enough cops.

HE WAS PISSED... so I asked him if he voted for Prop D? (Local sales tax to raise moneys to KEEP those services funded, it failed miserably)

Of course he did not. His taxes are too high... you heard it before. In fact, they should go DOWN, further down... yep got the full monty.

Well then, so you are shocked that they actually did what they told you they were going to do if they did not have the money? It is not like dispatchers and cops and firefighters are paid with fairy dust!

He just stood there, you could see gears freezing in place... wife in the meantime was laughing her ass off. She's had that same conversation with hm ten years ago. She gave up.

And no, that experience in a less than truly emergency situation will not be enough to wake him up that yes... taxes and THOSE SERVICES are connected.

[Kber]

1. I wonder if some people would be more open if we characterized taxes as

membership dues. Do you want the roads plowed, grounds kept, facilities maintained and properly staffed? Well, you need to pay your USA membership dues.

OK - not a perfect analogy by any means.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. I wonder as well

but this is the breakdown of civic culture... truly.