I went down to Harlem Park with my helper, just around the corner from where that detective got popped by his partner. I tell you, they just need to level that place. We have a service call at the neighborhood school—it’s like a crime that they even have a school there.
The building looked like Godzilla had busted one on the side, there was so much ice pouring out of the second story from the water pipe that broke. It has to have ruined walls, windows—not to mention the interior.
We park out back, go talk to the principal, go back around and she lets us in the back door. In the mean time we are standing next to the door between our truck and the dumpster and there are about eight, maybe ten of these rats. These were RATS! I’m talking as big as a cat without the tail. These suckers were not worried about us at all, just walked right by is out of this hole in the base of the dumpster, past the back door and through this hole in the wall.
She opens the door and says, “Please keep the door closed so the rats don’t get in,” and we’re like, “Okay, lady.”
We walk in there and it’s thirty degrees inside the building. All the teachers and kids have their coats on. The principal says to us, “I hope you are here to fix the heat.”
I said, “I could and I wish I could, but we only have the refrigeration contract. We can’t work on anything else.”
She looks at us and I said, “Honestly, we are here to fix your walk-in. The dispatcher said it’s not holding temperature. Now, since it’s a mid-range case you could really just leave the door open and it will cool down, but then when you do get your heat fixed we’d have to come back. So we’ll fix it today.
She shakes her head and takes us into the kitchen and it was really warm, I guess because the ladies in their coats were in there cooking lunch. The temperature was all the way up to thirty-one! The principal was just beside herself, told us that the City had already given back a bunch of grant money—millions, that they hadn’t been able to spend. These school administration people are so lazy they can’t even spend all their money!
We got the walk-in fixed. Unfortunately, I guess whose ever relative got the bid for doing their heat doesn’t have the mechanics he needs to satisfy the work orders. Hell, if I had three guys I’d be able to get the heat back on in two or three schools a day. But that’s not how it works.
Let the World Fend for Itself
Big Ron's Baltimore: A Working Man's View of Urban Blight
I love these man on the ground reports. Sounds like the system is damn near total collapse! They need to ruthlessly fire/demote incompetent administrators. A program offering 25-50 cents per rat head to the kids would probably wipe out the population in short order. At least it would breed fear of humans back into the rats. They used to pay a bounty for corn-eatin crows in the midwest and it almost wiped out the crow population.
Anyhow i feel sorry for those kids, but it is clear that when the blacks are running the show... well you know.
Obviously a union job. Unions have flooded the urban machinery with wrenches and mud. A job that would have taken the private sector a few hours, now takes weeks because the only people authorized to effect the necessary repairs are union people, and the backlog is monumental.
Years ago, I had the opportunity to converse with the CEO of the Detroit Renaissance Corporation; an organization dedicated to convincing moneyed people to pour money into the economic development of North Dindustan. (This was actually a euphemism for 'stealing their money') The CEO assured me that there would never be a Renaissance or any other recovery for North Dindustan because Dindustani corruption had cemented itself into the city's infrastructure.
Case in point: She had to write an annual evaluation for her subordinates. One in particular, an individual that was appointed by former Mayor Coleman Young as a favor to a crony, she rated 'Unsatisfactory'. Upon receiving said evaluation, the City Manager called her into the office and suggested she change the rating. Lady CEO explained that she rated the employee as she did because she, and I quote, "Did NOTHING all day long. She comes in after getting a coffee and doughnut at the cafe downstairs, spends about an hour working the crossword puzzle in the morning paper, and then talks to her daughter on the phone until lunch. After lunch, she wanders around visiting friends and acquaintances in the building, and spends the rest of the day talking to friends on the phone. We are paying this woman $55K a year (This was 1998) to do this; it's insane!"
The city manager explained that, if this woman were fired, AFSCME (the city workers union) would protest and possibly go on strike, thus shutting down the whole city. He 'suggested' that she instead rate it an "incomplete".
Realizing that she would make no progress with this case, she capitulated and did so. The woman received her COLA raise of 5% and went on to retire with a nice, cushy, pension. Wherever Dindus run things, from Africa to Detroit, the hallmarks are corruption, incompetence, and ruin.
At the conclusion of our conversation, Lady CEO assured me that she would finish out her contract and then work to see that NO ONE invested in Detroit, ever.