Village Budget...
A few days ago, I Blogged about the "zero budget increase" discussions that have commenced within the Village Board and the concern I had that we could potentially see some valuable things axed that we might later regret not having properly funded.
I have been discussing participating in the police ride-along program and in becoming one of the next class that goes through the Citizen Police Academy (CPA) program. My hope is that these experiences will give me a much better understanding of our police department. I think these are good examples of things that have virtually no added cost but that are immensely important to the community.
The ride-along program is just as it sounds. A citizen is given the opportunity to ride along with an officer during the regular patrol routine of that officer. There is no added cost to the community. Both the citizen and the officer complete after-action reports so that the program's value can be constantly monitored and improved upon as necessary.
The CPA program is similar although police instructors do participate in compensatory time off if they are involved on an 'overtime' basis for their segment of these sessions. The comp time earned in this fashion, if any, can only be taken by the officer when it doesn't create a vacancy for the force. The 'graduates' have, in the past, felt a kinship that has resulted in citizen donations for various things that the department would've otherwise not been able to secure or that would've otherwise been funded by tax dollars. The crime prevention budget has community-based donors, the alumni of the program volunteer to assist with many police department outreach programs, and the community as a whole benefits with virtually no taxpayer dollars used.
This is but one example of the types of things I hope will not be adversely impacted during the coming budget debates.
If you happen to see the Curmudgeon in a squad in the not too distant future, I trust I'll be in the front seat and not cuffed in the back seat!
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Papa John's Pizza...
I don't know when this happened or why it happened, but when we called for a pizza last Saturday evening, the phone wasn't answered. When we went to place our order in person, the doors were locked and a note taped to the door thanked customers for the last ten years. It sure didn't seem like ten years had passed since that store opened in Germantown.
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Sendik's Market in Village Centre...
will open soon after Labor day according to a Business Journal release this afternoon quoting Greg Devorkin of Devo Properties. Devorkin said that the 52,000 square foot store is hiring about 135 full and part-time positions to staff the new store.
I wonder what kind of traffic the new Sendik's will have upon opening? I suspect that prices will be a bit higher on some items than either of the other two markets in Germantown but I also suspect that selection will be better for specialty items.
The other thing of interest will be to judge the reaction, if any, on the part of Pick 'n Save just a few hundred feet to the west.
