Subject: Bartolin and Rivera
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010
Many thanks to the Gazette for publishing the text of the two emails this Sunday. It is really helpful to have the real thing rather than a, usually tempered, interpretation by a reporter.
Looking at Bartolin's offering, dated 16 Nov, 2009, I find 14 numbers expressed in dollars and 25 more as percentages, employee counts, ages, and the like. That can be compared to zero numbers of any sort in Rivera's reply. I take that to certify accuracy of Bartolin's numbers for the city surely would have complained about any significant errors.
In the undated reply I found a promise by the city of "access, cooperation, implementation where ideas are found to be sound." With one exception, Bartolin displays better access to the numbers than I can find on the internet. Isn't there a law requiring access to city records for all citizens?
And just which arbiter decides if an idea is "sound"? Or is that just an excuse to ignore any and all suggestions. My opinion: The numbers should dominate decision making. The council needs to publish them widely if it wants to be believed.
Your comments are welcome and might appear here depending on how I feel. Send them to Doug McNutt. Include "Bartolin" in the subject line to get by my spam filters.