By Ashley Toland Editor

Usually I serve up columns loaded with saturated fat, high fructose corn syrup, cheese, preservatives and black dye #109. Hey, I just cook these things with the ingredients the council provides, well except for the black dye #109, our printer supplies that, but everything else is all them. And in the last few weeks, they have been dishing out some stuff that’s a little bland but will aid in our civic brain function. So look at this column as a political vegetable plate for the mind. I know, I know. No one likes to eat their veggies, but don’t worry, I’m from the country, we flavor ours up with bacon grease, so this should be totally edible.

Budget Greens

Ahh the budget, or the boo-zhay, as the French call it. OK, maybe they don’t, but anyway, Mayor Jones’ first boo-zhay passed (6-1), though altered by amendments offered by Councilfolks Brooks and Hudson, with Brooks being the lone dissenter.

The city will fork out nearly $248 million dollars over the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. This is an about a $24-million increase over this current year’s budget of about $224 million. The mayor and administration feel confident their budgetary nuts will be covered because of an increase in hurricane-related tax revenues, as well as other economic booms in the community.

It specifically adds a 5 percent merit raise for city employees and raises for paramedics and provides money to fund the mayor’s Citistat program, which measures governmental efficacy. It also allows for the hiring of new employees to work on roads, ditches and other capital improvement projects.

The successful Brooks-Hudson amendments cut out a position for a retail and transportation director, two new city attorneys and cut the salary of current city attorney Wanda Cochran in half. Wanda wasn’t the only one feeling pillaged, as they also cut funding for a contract that monitors the city’s storm water emissions. The council pirates plan to use their booty for capital improvements in each of their districts. Arghh!!

Councilwoman Gina Gregory said she felt this process “was not nearly as brutal” as some in the past. She felt overall it was a “good budget,” citing the monies for capital projects and ditch maintenance.

The lone ranger, Ben Brooks, said he voted against this budget because it “lacks restraint and caution in a year where we need to exercise restraint and caution.”

He is concerned we are overspending based on anomalies, fearing we don’t have a “good grip” on the city’s economic trends because Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina have artificially inflated our revenue stream the past two years.

Brooks said the mayor and Chief of Staff Al Stokes brought Mobile economic study rock star, Dr. Semoon Chang, to a finance committee meeting to explain how they expected increased revenues to persist and cover the nearly 11 percent increase in next year’s spending. The Brookster was troubled that Chang’s projections were largely anecdotal. He said most of the factors he brought up could have been garnered from simply picking up a newspaper; he did not rely on any economic models nor did he crunch any specific numbers. Brooks said Chang told him he was not asked to perform such a task.

Either way, it passed, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Squash-ing Downtown Noise

Last week, I got some calls from concerned LoDa bar owners who had heard tale of a proposed resolution to create a special noise ordinance for downtown. I got my hands on an early draft of it, which states “loud and raucous noise degrades the environment… interferes with the well-being, tranquility, and privacy of the home and causes and aggravates health problems.” I was wondering why my allergies were acting up. You people need to keep it down.

Legalese aside, the part of the ordinance disturbing the bar owners most was a clause that said loud speakers, amplifiers or other devices for reproducing sound were prohibited between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. an d 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays in areas within or adjacent to residential or “noise-sensitive” areas. “Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling and singing” are also prohibited in these areas.”

Dang, son! Well, I guess I cain’t hoot downtown anymore, but they didn’t say nuthin’about no hollerin’!

I was a bit panicked after hearing this, fearing this would somehow interfere with all of the great live music we’ve been getting around here lately. But I spoke with Councilman William Carroll, who represents downtown and Downtown Mobile Alliance Executive Director Elizabeth Sanders, and they both promised and pinky swore this was not designed to adversely affect any of the downtown businesses. They just wanted to have something on the books to protect all of the new residents from “unreasonable” noise – like if some club started blasting music on the sidewalks at 4 a.m. – that kind of thing. They also reminded this was all very preliminary and they would be meeting and talking with residents and bar owners to get their input on this.

I agree there probably needs to be something for crazy situations like the aforementioned example, but then again, if you move right across the street from Soul Kitchen or Atlantis, do you really think you’re going to be able to hear the owls hooting as you lay yourself down to sleep each night? Not likely, but if you do, make sure to call the police and have them arrested.

Ashley Toland is Lagniappe editor. Contact her at ashleytoland@lagniappemobile.com.

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