Once again, the Rutland Herald 12/17/2007 has provided us an opportunity for humor in the sad reality that is Rutland City. In the Letters section, I laughed out loud to myself as Dick Rice of Rutland gives a clear picture of the mistaken priorities of Rutland City. His analogies are spot on with his characterization of the proposed Rec Center as a $15 million sandbox for 15% of the population and his frustration as a taxpayer to not get a dangerous water issue resolved to make his home safe. It becomes crystal clear that Rutland City has no intention of fixing what’s broken, only borrowing against it’s future and destroying it’s economic viability right now. Instead of Rutland City filling its present empty spaces, the RRA, Chamber and Partnership are all embarking on a new red herring, to fill a pit. According to historical knowledge, anything built by these entities lasts only 1/10 of its expected lifespan. With this math, the city will mortgage itself for 150 years and the actual capital improvement work will only function correctly for 15 years leaving our next generation in crisis. There is a vote coming up to decide the future of the Downtown Partnership by the members of the special benefits district. If you can vote in that election, please make your voice heard.
The most sadly amusing piece of the day was a cover story that The Paramount Theatre has elevated Tim Marceau and Eric Mallette to the Executive Director and Assistant positions without consulting the community it represents and without advertising the positions. Are these more political appointments of convenience as the Rutland Herald reported on its hand drawn graphic cover story recently. From the article we see exactly what Mr. Marceau has planned for the theater. The comments “he believes some of the musical acts in the past have strayed from classic rock, blues and jazz.” What Mr. Marceau is doing in this statement with the help of his pals at the Rutland Herald, is to let us know absolutely that we will see no change, no artistic or financial development… nothing interesting or progressive at the theater as long as Mr. Marceau is executive director. What is so disturbing about his comment is that the theater has never tried anything progressive and yet Mr. Marceau needs to blame the theaters failure on another red herring instead of placing the blame where it belongs… on the theaters tarnished reputation in the community, the last Board of Directors, and the past director who failed the theater with Mr. Marceau and Mr. Mallette as part of the losing team.
Thanks again Rutland Herald, for standing by and providing the propaganda for the elite class in Rutland City that bases its profit center on the misery of the community. If the Rutland City “community” wants to call the failure of its businesses and its people a success for the elite few, then we are all guilty of standing back and letting it happen. For all the adjoining communities, if we let Rutland City fail, then we have lost our commercial hub and will spend our time finding ways to avoid Rutland City in our daily plan. If us locals avoid Rutland City you can bet that industry and new business prospects will and are avoiding it as well, while all of our property values drop as crime and punishment become the big business in town. That would be a shame and waste. Its time to let Rutland City know that business as usual is not going to cut it anymore and the deadwood dominating Rutland City’s Friends & Family political clan for the last 20 years are just going to be known as Rutland City’s darkest times. Let’s all work to move Rutland City forward if it has no intention of doing it on its own.