[ back ]
Police station is up against wall
(by Barbara Christian - June 30, 2010)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Police station is up against wall
The folks charged with selling a new police station to Chagrin Falls voters are becoming their own worst enemy.
In a recent public-relations move, Mayor Tom Brick announced that he had directed an independent review of two alternative police-station plans suggested by village residents Henry Piper and Dave Hageman.
We aren't saying that the mayor underestimates the intelligence of the voters or was trying to put one over on us. But what he proposed next was mind boggling. He called on the current police-station architect and the village engineer to do that "independent" review. It was a "what-the-hell" moment and brought to mind the old fox-in-the-chicken-house analogy.
Pardon our cynicism, but won't an architect and an engineer, both under contract to the village, do their best to defend their own work and the village's official position?
The powers that be (hereafter referred to as PTB) seem calcified in the same old, same old approach, plans and campaign talking points which failed to move voters twice before.
To be fair, there was some movement on the cost and size of the first plan that voters rejected. The architect sharpened his pen and lopped off a second story. But it wasn't enough, and voters said no for a second time.
Could it be that it wasn't the cost and size of the police station after all? Did voters have another reason for giving it the old thumbs down?
Perhaps the elephant in the room is the location of the proposed new police station -- at the far south end of town.
To understand this is to understand Chagrin Falls. Its people are traditional. They buy up the old homes and honor the past. Chagrin Falls has one of the most active historical societies in the state.
When the streetscape project was in its infancy, those guiding that process insisted that the face lift be "authentic." New and shiny is not a top priority with Chagrinites, and don't get them started on the evils of franchise restaurants, chain stores or big new houses in old cozy neighborhoods.
In other words, Chagrin Falls folks are set in their ways. They like things the way they are, and that includes keeping their police station comfortably close where it has always been.
Unfortunately, the PTB have brushed that off as a reason why voters said no. Twice. To think otherwise means starting over again from ground zero, and that is simply not on the PTB radar.
Maybe it should be. Maybe they should take another look. Send out another survey in the next water bill? Ask the question. Find out for sure.
As of now, the PTB plan to go back to voters with the same plan that failed the last time. It's slightly less expensive at $3.9 million, because the long-awaited communications grant is finally in hand.
Are the PTB on the same track to failure a third time? Before that is allowed to happen, it would be wise for them to remember what Albert Einstein once said: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." A cautionary quote from cartoon character Pogo is also appropriate: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
[ back ]
