Being Random

Thanks to friend Stacey in D.C. for giving me a swift e-kick to get posting. The e-dust is still settling on my e-butt with her e-footprint firmly e-planted.

I'm still wondering just what happened with this week' s ruling that 200+ citizens in the County of Summit saw their votes hijacked because their absentee ballots weren't delivered on time. Judge Tom Teodosio was right to rule state law says the County Board of Elections couldn't just count the new-found ballots on their own but part of his reasoning was that Mayor Plusquellic and the City didn't have standing to file suit. Why wasn't anyone among the Silent 200 included since they had an obvious standing? Eric Mansfield's point that the votes should have been counted anyway (loved the reference to TV reality shows as an example...) makes a good point: there shouldn't be any harm in providing citizens a glimpse into what needs to be fixed about a system that says voters can play by the rules to make their voice heard but when the ballots don't get delivered they're out of luck.

Craig Simpson has a pretty extensive report on AkronNewsNow on what may be an intense battle brewing right here in Akron, and all the components are there for the kind of poster-case Eminent Domain critics dream of. The Dead Poets neighborhood has some crummy houses but there are also plenty of homes that counter the "blighted" tag City Hall attaches to the land they hope will keep Goodyear here. This could wind up being one of those cases used to make national "soup" with all the ingredients: big government (City of Akron) wants to help big business (Goodyear) and the little guy (Poet Streets homeowners who won't sell) gets knocked aside. Some homeowners are happy to sell their homes and get on with their lives; others may be holding out for higher prices (hell, isn't that the American way?) while others will plant their feet firmly in the dirt within the shadow of Goodyear and say home is home and they aren't moving -- effectively dismantling the City and State's efforts to keep Goodyear in Akron.

I'm a capitalist: those homeowners should be able to get maximum cash for making way. The City and State (Don and Ted's Most Excellent Adventure) should make every effort to keep Goodyear in Akron. Despite the wine-and-cheese sniffers who want to pretend Akron isn't the world's Rubber City anymore it is our history and Goodyear is not only a representation of the past but also a picture of the future on what Akron should strive to become: a center for something, and why not polymers and plastics and rubber?

That said, the spectre of Big Brother exemplified by the City's clumsy repainting of the neighborhood as blighted shouldn't come without debate and plenty of pain on the part of the politicians. Taking a home, no matter how modest, should be something requiring more hoops than a couple of public meetings and a hasty vote no matter how grand the benefit. At the very least the critics both local and national will keep the process honest and centered on what should remain a core issue: that government shouldn't take the power to condemn and destroy as its birthright.

Now after all this aren't you angry at Stacey for reminding me to post?