The Boring Side of Blogging

Brian here, throwing in my 2 bits for the day.

Rachel is great to get this going as a way to update friends and family on what's going on in the Maxwell home.

Every blog has a personality, and I think that's good. Our blog is just going to be a bit schyzophrenic, with Rachel's updates usually on "wazzup", and my updates probably consisting of a heavy dose of politics and random observations. You can just skip my posts.

Or, if they are more your style, check out my political blog: http://livefromtheninthcircle.blogspot.com/. That's what I consider a sly reference to Dante's Divine Comedy, which says that the ninth circle of hell has a portion set out specifically for political traitors. But more generally, Live From the Ninth Circle is a reference to the idea that, in modern culture, for some reason, discussions about politics are viewed by some as akin to the worst kind of hell. By all means, come visit...

Watch out...Political wall of text coming...

I noticed this http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10099732 in the Trib this morning. Basically, Hogle Zoo is attempting to convince the County Council to reconsider their actions on the Zoo Bond. You can read the article, but basically, the County Council, Republican controlled 5-4, told Hogle Zoo that in order to get their $65 Million bond on the ballot, they would have to raise the $20 Million they promised the County Council they would eventually raise to fund the project before taxpayer funds are used. This has Democrats and Zoo supporters up in arms, saying that the standard being set is too high. In fact, the Zoo folks are wondering whether they'll put the bond issue on the ballot at all.

Since I actually pay property taxes now, I've earned my opinion. And I'm with the Republicans on this one.

Reason: I know it's a small tax hike to my newly purchased town home (10 bucks a year or so, if I recall), but if Hogle Zoo says they can raise $20 Million in private money to fund this project, I think, as a taxpayer, it is my right to ask them to "show me the money". Because I would hate to think that, call me a pessimist if you like, Hogle Zoo gets the cash infusion, then falls short on fundraising, and either A) comes back to the taxpayers for more, either via ballot initiative or the County Council, or B) just scales back their projects, and simply use the taxpayer money to create an exhibit that doesn't meet the standards being sold to the taxpayers in order to pass the ballot initiative. To put it in poker terms, this may be the County Council Republicans doing a fantastic job of not only calling Hogle Zoo's bluff, but raising them as well. And Hogle's response says to me that they aren't holding the cards to back the chips on the table.

Even if it gets on the ballot, I may still vote "no". But I'm glad Republicans like Mark Crocket, David Wilde, Marv Hendrickson, Michael Jensen, and Jeff Allen are watching out for my money, and are making sure that, if I do get a property tax hike, Hogle Zoo can't play games with that money.

Now, about that soccer stadium...