So the Mayor is Pissed at my Wife and Me...

[rucky]

We recently bought a historic building in the downtown area of our small town of about 20,000. It's a stretch for us, but we're hoping to move-in my wife's Children's store, once the current tenant's lease expires. The building next door to it caved in last February from accumulated snowfall - the roof collapsed into the top floor, which collapsed into the second floor. Since then, there's been a barrier around the building that extends to the edge of our tenant's storefront entrance. Other than that, not a damn thing has been done to that building.

So we've been patient for 8 months - talking to the building owners and talking to the city. Apparently, the insurance company is calling a total loss, but the city won't issue a permit for anything but complete historical preservation. It was a beautiful building that got neglected, but now it would cost about twice of what it's worth to restore it. While this deadlock is going on, all of the mom & pop shops on the block are suffering - no parking, and not really a pleasant place for folks to shop. Our tenant is about to go out of business, and soon we'll be stuck with an empty building that we can't move into and a mortgage payment we will have trouble making ourselves.

After getting the neverending runaround from all parties involved, we thought it was time to publicly address the City Council with our concerns. It wasn't really in the best interest of the community to keep this thing in the condition it is. If they're to mandate a restoration, then find the money, pass a levy, hit up a donor, or find a buyer and get on with it. Otherwise level it and build parking. We don't care (we could use more parking). We just need it resolved. Now it's apparent the issue is going to court.

We urged the city to act swiftly and avoid the costly time delays - real people who make a living are suffering.

Today we got an earful from the Mayor, saying we ambushed him in public, and the issue was being resolved privately at the Mayor's roundtable meeting. My wife told him that we must have lost the invitation to that one, because we have not gotten as much as a phone call from him or any city official - nor has any of the local businesses affected by this.

The larger issue here is this - the Main Street USA downtown is becoming extinct. The people who have business there are from the community. When people shop there, the money stays in the community. On the outskirts are the big-box stores and strip malls who price their space to keep the mom&pops out of that market. What we're facing is the Wal-Mart and all the other chains cropping up like mad and killing our downtown. The community doesn't realize that when they shop there, they are destroying that downtown that they take so much pride in driving by, looking at, watching a band play on the square (for free). The mom-and-pops are already very fragile, and now we have a downtown that looks like Beirut, and the Mayor doesn't get it. He and his good ol' boys are taking care of it over martinis.

Why on earth does anybody go into business for themselves?

[liberal N proud]

1. Small town politics - The mayor here passed an ordinance on me

I pissed the mayor off a year ago over the way they left my drive way when the street past our house was rebuilt.
My wife and I contacted him, the city councilman and city street department countless times to resolve the issue of correcting the 12" drop off from the new street into our driveway.
He treated my wife with foul language and as if she was a second class citizen.
When I called him and told him he was a little condescending, his brilliant response was that he had been called and ass but never that before. (I don't think he even knew what the word meant)

We never really got the issue resolved to our satisfaction, but low and behold about January of last year the city council passed an ordinance on my property and my property only that required me to install a sidewalk.
Now my house is over 30 years old and was grandfathered in under the city code and only required a sidewalk if the house was remodeled or sold. None of that was happening. Furthermore, there are new houses 1/2 mile down the road that do not have sidewalks which is required for new construction before it can be inhabited. These houses are about a year old now and no evidence of a sidewalk.

But I received a registered letter from the mayors office informing that I had 30 days to install a sidewalk or they would condemn my property until it was completed. Now you don't get a contractor on that short of notice without paying through the ass for it.

Now I have a sidewalk because the mayor is an ass.

Anyway, my point is these mayors and council members of smaller communities are mostly egomaniac assholes.
And if you think the federal government is corrupt, look at local politicians pew!

[sandnsea]

2. well I don't know

and I won't even go into my sad tales of woe about small town business ethics, but...

I'm looking for some kind of educational space toy for my grandson. He likes to stand at the window and wait for the moon and stars to come out. This is too old for him, something for a 3-4 year old.

http://www.duckduckgooseboutique.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=784

You could probably make a ton online if you promised to test every toy before it left your shop, depending on how busy you are.

Good luck with your problems, it sure can suck.

[rucky]

3. thanks for the plug (and the encouragement)

that is a cool puzzle. Here's a 48-piecer:

http://www.duckduckgooseboutique.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=611

and if you think it's a bad time for my wife to be in the toy business, you should spend a day at my job (mortgages).

[sandnsea]

4. Oh terrific!

I like that, perfect. I sent your site to my daughter to see if there's anything she wants too. You should post your site over in the marketplace forum, if you haven't already.

Hey, funny thing, I'm trying to get a mortgage too. Are you affected by any of the meltdown, or are you in a safer area, like a bank. What a mess.

All I know about small town business politics is that the people you think are in control, are not the ones in control. You go find the old timers, the behind the scenes people who have been there for generations. They are the ones who get things done, and regardless of political party, they are usually decent caring people who succeeded because they were decent caring people. The city council, the chamber, all those people... they usually aren't as important as they think they are. That's my experience anyway.