Thank you, Mayor Becker, for meeting with the bloggers this morning at Javavino.I apologize for the fuzzy picture. I didn't want to distrub the cozy atmosphere with a flash. Guess I should've, anyway.
I also recorded most of the dialog on a voice recorder, but because of the awful acoustics, it is unlistenable. Unfortuanately, the inability to hear the mayor and others, and/or to distinguish their voices from background noise, was a major drawback. I doubt that I heard more than 10% of what was said. I've never been to Javavino before, but I understand that they hold musical events there. With all that brick, hardwood furniture, and hardscape floor, the audience's ears must ring after every performance.
Speaking of audience, I counted 14 people, including the mayor, at the start of the talk. A few more straggled in as it went along, but I doubt that we ever got to more than 20. Mighty poor showing for all of the bluster and bravado barked on the blogs. I met Drew and SER there. I don't know if AvengingAngel made it because I haven't met him before.
My impression of the exchange: same old stuff. The mayor goes on and on with statistics and stories on crime in Racine, but I think he greatly underappreciates the concern of the average citizen regarding it. And, to be blunt, I think that if he doesn't personally experience it, then it doesn't exist for him. When I made points concerning my experiences with the Racine Police Department, he countered with his experiences riding in patrol cars with police. Excuse me, sir, but don't you think that the mayor of the city riding shotgun with the police might make them act a little differently than they normally do? He also talked about driving through troubled areas and talking with residents. Again, that's nice, but you don't live there. Many of us do. And we are FED UP with crime. That point seems lost upon him. Utterly and completely.
As for the constant remarks that more police will not end crime, hello - nothing will end crime. Duh. The best you can do is keep it down. And that's what we're asking for. Again, this seems lost on him. Poverty, disease, injustice, etc., will never be ended, either. So should we give up on fighting those, too? Someone better tell the US government that terrorism will never end, so we might as well surrender now.
Again, thanks for the opportunity, but it just proved to me that Mayor Becker is out of touch with common people in Racine. He's in his element in trendy places like coffeehouses. How nice for him. And too bad for the rest of us.
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7 comments:
Excellently articulated report orbs. Unfortunately, his stance was much as I assumed. Actually, I'm surprised the mayor even showed up.
You aren't the only one who has had very disappointing encounters of indifference and negligent behavior with the Racine Police Department.
Even after taking hours of my time to file a complaint form against the RPD, their "internal investigation" of wrongdoing proved they were not culpable. Big surprise.
I left before the mayor was done talking, so more may have transpired than what I've reported.
I'm a big backer of police. I don't want to comment specifically on RPD, but I will say that past experiences with them have led me to avoiding contact with them whenever possible. I do not report crimes or get involved in anything in my neighborhood anymore. If I have contact with them, I say "Yes sir" or "No sir," keep my eyes on the ground, and get away as soon as possible.
Yes I went downtown to listen to the mayor talk and I could hardly hear him. I talked with (I think he’s the owner) the guy behind the counter and he told me he didn’t find out until last night Becker was going to be there otherwise he would of have a little PA system set up for him. There were a couple young women with kids and with the noise they were making it wasn’t too good.
I really wanted to ask him, with all the crime going on, what is going to happen when the citizens of Racine start to form valiantly groups and what would he do to prevent and or protect them?
I told the lady sitting next to me they should allow the police to shoot these idiots in the head, she didn’t like that. She told me, then the police would go to hell and not heaven. I giggled at her, trust me that was the end of our conversation.
But the cup of coffee and the beer I had was good, so all wasn’t lost.
The Journal Times reports in their story on this event:
"Frustrations were evident among a couple of the participants, even leading at one point to a loud exchange from a man, who left the gathering in disgust. Otherwise, the hour-long exchange was civil.
“'Crime and violence is always going to be with us. You have to hold it down,' said the angry man, whose identity could not be obtained before his abrupt departure. 'You (Becker) are the leader. You’re the lightning rod. You have to stand up and say these things (address problems and provide solutions). People are upset, sir.'”
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/08/02/local_news/doc4894b67860a97624614482.txt
I was the man who engaged in a "loud exchange" and left in disgust, but it had nothing to do with the mayor or the meeting. A woman seated next to me revealed that she was one of the "sisters" who work for "social justice" in Racine. Sorry, but I'd rather sit next to Adolf Hitler. I will not stay in the same room in the presence of such evil.
Like Orbs and SER said before,it was really hard hearing what the mayor had to say. The acoustics were bad,chairs scraping on the floor,and noisy kids.
It seemed to me all he was talking about were statitics and numbers. To me,stats don't mean anything when some crimes goes unreported.
I don't think the mayor has experienced any crime.I had asked him if he ever walked around 10th & Grand at night. He said that he driven around town. That is not going cut the cake for me.
Needless to say,I walked away disappointed.
On the good note,the coffee was good.
I was there, didn't you see my wings? lol
I am still processing this meeting. I intend to write something up tomorrow and post it here and on the JT site.
Yeah, Orbs, the "Social Justice" lady made a comment about how "punitive" actions don't work. It would be laughable if we weren't discussing life and death issues.
The JT also mis-quoted the remark regarding the "hit squad". He said he wanted the Mayor to form a hit squad to go after the drug dealers and gang bangers, not that he wanted to form one himself. They made him sound like a vigilante.
Such rebels, tisk, tisk...
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