The hole on Washington Street and other things

I gaze at that hole in the ground on Washington St   I call it Menino’s Maw.  How long has it been there, four years?  The explanation I hear is that the sleaze ball developer demands unreasonable tax concessions from the city.  Menino refuses because his ego can’t stand it.  So the City loses and you and I lose. Someone should compare the cost of the concessions against the sum of the benefits obtained by going ahead and building the dang thing.  They’d be plenty of opportunity to get even with the sleaze ball later.  Just build the building.  Thousands of jobs, millions and millions in retail sales.  Happy citizens.  Admiring tourists.  Menino’s a good guy but his thinking cap has fallen off.  Why did he let himself get into this pickle in the first place?

Construction parking permits.  For the last few weeks, the parking Permit People have issued permits which block most resident daytime parking on Mt Vernon Street.  I wonder if the permit people ever thought that maybe they should not issue as many permits.  Also some permit holders don’t show up. How about a use it or lose it rule?  Maybe the Permit People should get up from behind their desks and go out and look at what they caused.

And before I get off the subject of parking, I would like to propose life imprisonment for any car owner who leaves excessive room in front of or behind his vehicle.  I imagine that 20% of available space is wasted in this manner.  Life imprisonment might be a little harsh.  How about we set up adjustable wooden stocks exposing the evildoers to public ridicule?  Yes, that’s the ticket!