Don't leave town until you "rent" a New Hartford Police Department car to sit in your driveway or outside the front of your home!A Funny Post! . . . But it raises a serious point . . . more serious than that fact that town taxpayers will be on the hook for the "rent-a-cop's" benefits, retirement, Workers' Comp., and exposure to liability if something goes wrong.
This isn't the Town merely providing a "service" like garbage pickup. The deal is more than merely providing security services similar to (and in competition with) those provided by several private companies in the area. Town Police have law enforcement authority that security services don't have. They can write you a ticket or drag you to the town lockup. . . .
And now the Town's enforcement authority has been sold to certain select customers such as Marquee.
This should make you very uncomfortable. Would you be confident of even-handed law enforcement in New Hartford knowing that certain people or businesses are paying "clients" ??? The police have already chosen "sides."
Has government become so corrupt -- and the electorate so jaded -- that no one sees this as a serious problem?
"Government for Sale" unfortunately seems to be a way of life in New Hartford . . . Whether it is police services for certain businesses; constructing roads, water, and sewer lines and following irregular review procedures for a private business park; maintaining a memorial for certain elite families (the Library); or building storm water detention structures to fix run-off problems that the Town allowed private developers to cause . . .
If you have enough money, or know the right people, you can get a "higher level of service" than the "average Joe" -- if you are in New Hartford.
3 comments:
Let's face it, power, money, friendships, relations, etc., have, from the dawn of time influenced decisions and service. We are blessed with a system, a democratic one, that was designed to safegaurd and promote general rights,honesty and accountabilty in the civic arena. It only works if the people pracitice their civic responsibilities. In that sense, we are our own watchdogs. When our elected systems and representaitves fail us, we fail ourselves.
Kind of like when retired police are elected as judges. They can never be fair. You the accused are already behind and they will always side with the force. They should never be allowed to run for these offices. Seems to be pretty prominent in Oneida Co.
If you want to see your police and town officials, go to:
www.seethroughny.net
It's a real eye opener. Have fun.
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