Musical Chairs anyone?

I remember fondly playing musical chairs as a child (yes, believe it or not, I was not born a cranky, uneven tempered codger).  There are a fair number of people still waiting for me to grow-up too.  Might need to do some of that, because I still get a good chuckle watching a game of musical chairs.

The latest one comes from the most recent proposal being floated out there to deal with, you guessed it, the new location for the tourism department.  

As I understand it once the music starts, the Community Nurses get booted out of the basement of town hall, building and health get moved down to the basement, planning gets moved to the building office and tourism gets a penthouse suite in the building. 

All the while the Historical Society stays put.

Let's start with the 500 lb. gorilla in this scenario, the Community Nurses.  I have heard all the arguments relative to why they should be where they are, and why they shouldn't be.  Problem is the "shouldn't be" arguments don't float too well, at least not under the present arrangement.  

The issue of occupancy in town space for all groups needs to be addressed.  All groups need to be on equal footing.  It hasn't been addressed in this blog as to other groups because of several reasons.

First, the specific issue being dealt with has been the location of the Academy Building. Hand in hand is the simple fact that no one had even suggested giving the boot to the Historical Society from the building, nor making any changes to the "arrangement" until the society itself complained about tourism moving in.

Seems like now however we are back on the school yard playground in the realm of "if I can't have it my way, nobody else can".

Fine with me.  

It really is a realm that does merit some exploring, but not one that should be entered so as to be able to perpetuate one wrong by committing another.  The occupancy of town buildings by all groups needs to be addressed.

Problem with trying to use the Nurses, and the several other groups which have been pointed at as justification for letting the Society rule, is in fact it is not the other groups, but the society which has a truly unique one sided arrangement.

You see the town has a contract with the Nurses to provide certain services that are in fact, I am told, required by law.  The amount of the contract, i.e. what the town would otherwise have to pay for the services it receives, has remained stagnant for a number of years, the "costs" offset by the providing of  office space.  Guess what, other groups have written contracts too.  They get this (occupancy) for doing that for the town, i.e. something concrete, or believe it or not actually paying for the repair, maintenance and utilities for a building!

You see there are actually agreements with the others, all except with the Historical Society that is.

You might not like the terms, and I may personally think the same should be reviewed, but they exist.  I hazard a guess that in the case of the nurses though, the town is getting "fair rental".

I also hazard a guess that what has been paid and is required to be paid or done by the other groups with actual agreements is a bit more than can be said about the Society.

Will have to do a little digging to confirm a few things, but it appears safe to say the big difference between the other groups and the society, one can at least say the other groups aren't getting a free ride.

In fact the only written anything dealing with the society is a 20 year old proclamation.  More on that later.

Back to tossing the Nurses out so the Society gets to stay put.  Let's ignore the sticky issue of an existing written agreement, and the probable significant increase in costs to the town for the services provided by the nurses.

Quite simply removing the nurses so the society can benefit would be absolutely shameful.  Moving three town offices so the Society gets to stay put is ridiculous.

Put in the bluntest terms possible, the Nurses do more good for the Town in one month than all the good you can even hope to attribute to the Society over the two decades plus they have laid siege to the Academy Building.

As for tossing the nurses and making the other moves so as to accommodate the Historical Society, seriously?  

Think of it in this way.  You operate a business.  You have multiple offices.  Most in buildings you own, one or two you pay rent for.  The only reason you decided to rent other space in the first place is it was suppose to be a temporary solution.  You look at your books.  You decide it doesn't make sense anymore to pay rent when you have space you own.  You have a tenant occupying the space you could use.  Well not really a tenant, because they don't pay for anything.  They don't kick in for the building costs.  Nice people, but your choices are: to continue to pay out of your own pocket so they can stay there free; or, take some space from them to meet your needs; or, go through the convoluted process of rearranging a number of your busier operations, incurring significant costs to do that by the way, make your business less user friendly, and a whole host of other issues.  Just what would you do?

Part of me doesn't even want to take this seriously.  It is extremely hard to take the on going saga seriously.  I mean think about it in the terms outlined in the previous paragraph.

Yet knowing what I do know about the behind the scenes moves, players and chatter, all that has gone on and is going on, it cannot be ignored.

Yet I am proceeding under the hope that this is just one of those wild rumors that float about.  I am truly hoping it is.  

Nonetheless, if I am to be honest, the devil in me has a grin from ear to ear though.  Thinking of how this scenario can play out is a blogger's dream.

I mean how could any serious thought be given to moving building and health downstairs at town hall.  No elevator to get there, unless they got a secret one somewhere.  So two of the more busy town departments become non-accessible. 

Move tourism to the third floor.  In a location that I for one still need directions to find after 20 years.  Heaven help the unsuspecting visitor who takes the wrong stair case.  Then again, after a while town hall may be able to make a "ghost story" show.

If this is what is even proposed, we will have moved from the just surreal into the true "Twilight Zone",  all because a group does not want to share something that isn't its to decide in the first place as to whether they have to share it.

As absurd as that gets, there seems to be something going on to ascertain whether the building is actually safe enough to move tourism into it.  More specifically, in an end round, to see if the second floor is safe enough to house the Society.

If it is not, more reason to just simply toss them out of the building.

And just how does that eliminate the very real issue of the Society using that building for free?  Not to mention allowing them to use an unsafe building.

But I digress.  Need to leave something to write about on another day.  Not to worry, up to and including today, I haven't been doing anything but using a hand line to fish in a barrel.  I got a whole tackle box and several rods and reels when the boat is ready for a real fishing trip.

And besides, and again, this is just being classified as idle chatter for now.  I haven't heard a formal proposal, and if there is one in the works, I hope someone seriously rethinks it.  

I wouldn't have commented at all, but for the fact this isn't the first time something along these lines has been chatted about, and that is exactly what worries me.

So here is my challenge to anyone out there, answer these questions:

1.  What great irreparable harm will be inflicted upon the Historical Society if Tourism is moved into the Academy Building? 

2.  Outline for us exactly what contributions the "Society" has made to that building.  Please be specific, because we want to make sure it gets credit for everything.  Feel free to detail all the sweat equity, along with the monetary contributions.  When that very short list is completed, then let us know what the fair market rental for the building is.

3.  Let us all know your hours and days of operation, your visitor count, when the building would be unavailable so you can hold your regular or special meetings (they are held in the Academy Building aren't they?).

And then, anyone who thinks the possible game of musical chairs makes sense, all to accommodate a non-town entity, with no lease, making no contribution to the financial expenditure for housing it, I would love to hear why.

To those who have to make a decision, while there may be a 500 lb. gorilla in the equation, there is also a 3 ton white elephant.  You want to continue to carry that creature on your backs, be my guest.  But when you tell me it is for the greater good of the town, help me with some specifics, real ones, because I just don't get it, and from the overwhelming talk I hear, neither do most people.

Whatever proclamation issued 20 years ago that continues to be bandied about as rationale for allowing a private group to annex a public building, I submit the same is null and void because the real and implicit "benefit of the bargain" for the same has not been met in the first instance; and, secondly cannot be used as a grant of right in perpetuity.

I would also do a bit more research about what has been discussed and anticipated for the use of that building over that 20 year span to boot.  Not to mention what alternate accommodations the Society itself has turned down over the years.

We have heard there is overwhelming support for letting the society stay as is.  If this is the case, then put an article on the next special or town meeting warrant authorizing that, like had to be done when a former group was given control of the building.

I for one would have absolutely no problem accepting such a grant from Town Meeting, if that is what Town Meeting would decide to do.  

Whatever is going to be done though, do us all a favor and just do it.

It is time for the chairs to stop spinning, the music to stop and everyone to grab a seat.