He's closed the Hammond Health Department and homeless center and cut funding to the McCauley Clinic. Services that the economically disadvantaged in Hammond greatly need. Before he backed off and threw the "political hot potato" in the City Council's lap, Mayor McDermott wanted to cut the Hammond transit service.
Now on the front page of Tuesday's Times, there is an article about Mayor McDermott bringing a 130 foot Statue of Liberty to Wolf Lake. The statue will be donated, but the city will pay for its installation and upkeep. The mayor could not give an estimated price tag on what that will cost. Why not? Is he afraid there will be a taxpayer uproar over the cost? Shouldn't the people of Robertsdale have a say in whether they want this statue on Boy Scout island in Wolf Lake or not?
The idea of spending money on this statue when the good people of Hammond are losing their homes and being deprived of needed services is absolutely ludicrous. There are much better ways for the City of Hammond to spend money, taxpayer or not, than on a 130 foot statue. Shouldn't he be more concerned with cutting out bloat and waste from city government than spending money on willy nilly ideas? Not to mention the fact that we will be the laughingstock of Northwest Indiana.
And before any of our detractors can start blogging about our lack of patriotism, many of our Team Hammond members served in the military and with great pride. We don't need to look at a statue to be patriotic. We would rather the city's money be spent frugally and wisely.
If the mayor really has to have the statue, put it on the golf course next to his new clubhouse/banquet hall and leave Boy Scout island alone!