That’s a crack pipe. Why I am writing about crack pipes? Because as I’ve been working with our new Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) over the last month, I’ve been involved in more than twenty hours of formal presentations and Q&A sessions about what the City is doing; how we’re doing it; and why we’re doing it. The BAC has given me a great deal of feedback on how they think we can improve our City services and operations.
After a five hour meeting last night with the BAC, I was driving home when I happened to catch a story on CBC radio explaining that the City Council in Ottawa, Ontario had just voted 14-7 to end a City-sponsored program of providing free crack pipes to anyone who needed one. The City’s Police Chief said the program was a bad idea. It enabled people to break the law and increased drug usage. The City’s crack users said the program helped them stay healthy. Well, healthier than they would have been had they not been using crack in the first place, I suppose. Anyway, the program has been canceled. Crack users will now have to supply their own crack pipes.
At the end of this radio story I found myself thinking about the hours I’ve invested over the past month listening to my staff justify and explain to the BAC the many, many things that we do as a City. I thought they did a wonderful job of explaining the who, what, when, where, why & how of City services. And then I felt this warm feeling of relief that it wasn’t me facing the BAC or the City Council having to explain and justify a City crack pipe distribution program. Whew.
Have a nice weekend.
