Waiting is the Hardest Part »
With apologies to Tom Petty, waiting in Charlotte has reached a whole new level. After patiently waiting for 6 years on a list while the city considered his request for a sidewalk that would make things easier on his wheelchair-bound teenage daughter, Darrell Pritchett found that... he has to get on a whole new list!
Now most of you should know my opinion about most government, and Charlotte government specifically. But this is a new low. For 40-odd years, the city didn't dictate to developers that they should build sidewalks. So they didn't. And now people want them.
Previously, this meant you had to request sidewalks and get on a list, and if you got to the top of the list, you theoretically would get your sidewalk. No longer. Now all waiting sidewalkees have been told that they need to get most of their neighbors to approve the request before they will be placed on a new list. And oh yes, they get a few points towards being accepted simply because they were on an old list.
That's just stupid. I'm all for improving the process, but at the same time you totally do the previous list members wrong? And people wonder why I don't like politicians. Let the old list stand, and start making new applicants go through the new process. It's the best of both worlds.
