Don’t be too quick to crucify mayor for parking suggestion

Mayor Bill Billings is going to get beat up Tuesday night.

Not literally obviously, at least, I don’t think, but certainly figuratively at the City Council meeting.

During the last Council meeting, fresh off Red Oak’s biggest snow of the year, the newly-minted mayor suggested changing the City’s snow emergency ordinance. Instead of allowing parking on certain streets during alternating days, he suggested banning parking on the streets during the entire emergency.

Based on the comments I’ve heard, this suggestion is going to be as popular as a fart in a car without working windows.

And I’m sure the mayor has, and will continue to hear about it at Tuesday’s council meeting.

To some extent, he should. While it’s a great idea in terms of getting the streets cleared faster and more cost-effectively, practically speaking, it’s a nightmare waiting to happen.

The Mayor stated at the last council meeting he doesn’t think there are many residences that don’t have access to off-street parking. He’s wrong. There’s a lot of people who don’t have a driveway or garage to park their car, and the suggestion they park in their yard is as comical as it is ludicrous.

So yes, the mayor is definitely guilty of not researching or thinking this idea through.

But with that said, I don’t believe he deserves a full public flogging for the suggestion.

As bad as an idea as I may think it is, at least its an idea. The mayor saw a problem, or at the very least, an area for improvement, and made a suggestion to help the situation.

It may not be a popular suggestion, or a practical one, but at least he gave it a shot, which in my mind, is worth something.

Billings is clearly going to use a hands-on approach during his tenure as mayor. He’s going to make lots of suggestions and odds are, some of them are going to stink.

But by those same odds, some of them are bound to be good ones, and will make life better here in Red Oak.

So keep that in mind and maybe cut the guy a little slack on this one.

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Also at the same meeting, the council will be considering another of Billings’ ideas, a hotel/motel tax.

Actually, this isn’t really the mayor’s idea per se, as voters squashed a similar proposal several years by a 3-1 margin.

However, Billings and the Council are confident the tax will pass this time as no hotel owners have publicly voiced opposition to it.

The tax seems to make sense (no pun intended) as it would primarily be paid for by out-of-towners, while generating some much needed revenue for parks and recreation programs in the community.

The only point of contention that needs to be resolved is how the money will be divided. State law requires 50 percent of it goes to recreational and cultural activities, but the other 50 percent can go anywhere.

It’d behoove the City, and the possibility of the tax passing, for the entire 100 percent to be earmarked for a specific purpose, and the more that goes to recreation, the better.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com