-=> Quoting Charles Hunter to Neal Godfrey <=-
 CH> I'm surprised!  I would think that in Manchester, NH the peoplel would
 CH> be concerned and involved.
Unfortunately not Charles, a good chunk of the inner city population up here 
is highly transient. And with a highly transient population you get minimal 
citizen involvement. However there are individuals who do volunteer their 
time with the PD at the local neighborhood sub-stations (there are 2 of them 
in operation) provided under the COPS program. An excellent concept IMHO just 
wish there were funds available for a few more. 
I am not sure if everything that I have said up to this point makes sense or 
not. While I am concerned with what happens within my community, I am making 
every effort to get my family out of here due to the low quality of life in 
many other areas. The Police and Fire Departments do an EXCELLENT job, the 
other city departments could take LOTS of lessons from them in dealing with 
the public and in public relations. 
The cops up here I give a great deal of credit to, they had been forced to 
endure working for a few years without a contract in large part due the 
incumbent mayor of this city. They finally got a new contract last  year 
after the mayor who IMHO didn't have a snowmans chance in hell of getting 
re-elected if the issue was NOT resolved. Needless to say he  managed to get 
re-elected:( (This clown almost makes me feel embarassed to state that I am a 
Republican)
Bottom line what it boils down to up here is the simple fact that the tax- 
payers do not get the full value for their tax dollars. City services as a 
whole need MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS, and priorities need to be reevaluated in a  
major way. A prime example is last year the city spent several million 
dollars replacing sidewalks in the downtown area. While the work was very 
nice once it was completed, it wasn't entirely necessary when you have  
schools that are in tough shape (Overcrowding, structural deficiencies, etc), 
a police department with SEVERAL aging cruisers, parking problems in  
residential areas, shoddy snow removal after a snowstorm, troublesome traffic 
lights....... I could ramble on for hours, but I am afraid that I may stray 
from the topic of this echo. Then again I could be wrong...
Take Care 
Neal
... If You Voted For Clinton, Then You Must Have Inhaled... ___ Blue Wave/386 
v2.30 
--- InterEcho 1.19
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