michael gill wrote:Bill:
c. If the public is going to fund the program why shouldn't the public determine how the money is spent? If its all about public support of the arts why not let the public decide?
I'd like to vote on how my tax dollars are spent, too.
When I say the public should decide I mean the public should decide in the open market place by choosing where and when to spend their entertainment dollars.
A close look at the spending patterns makes a couple of things clear:
1. $180 million or more will be spent downtown and at University Circle for building construction, repair and maintenance.
2. The small balance that is left will be doled out in small amounts to various neighborhood groups for walking around money.
I have no faith at all that people selected and controlled by the County Commissioners will make the right choices. But like I said, I'm on the losing side of this argument.
Cuyahoga County has reached the point where so many people are dependent on the corruption machine that a substantial number of voters view corruption as a normal business practice and view any attempts to control that corruption as derailing the gravy train. In that environment the duty of a citizen is to get his community a bigger piece of the action.
County government is a finely tuned criminal enterprise. When your guy is in he steals from me. When my guy is in he steals from you. It's only fair.