All this trouble to buy a hot dog

The Hot Dog Man fiasco has gone directly from stupid to dumb, without pausing at ridiculous, in what has to be the worst waste of time in city history.

For crying out loud, why does it take two ad hoc committees, both including three aldermen, to come to a conclusion about whether a guy can sell hot dogs on a street corner? Maybe we could have used a couple of ad hoc committees before those tire recycling jobs were voted down over at the old Aquatech building. Unlike the case of The Hot Dog Man debate, the need for jobs in McMinnville and Warren County does amount to a hill of beans. In case you haven?t noticed, unemployment is around 10 percent and yes, McMinnville is still part of Warren County.

Hey, instead of an ad-hoc committee, maybe they should have called in the markers on that $23,000 consulting fee they paid our outgoing city administrator. I?d be interested to see what $23,000 worth of consultation looks like. While it may not be a lot of money to the people who gave it away, it sure is a lot to a person like me. Sure would buy a lot of hot dogs.

The Hot Dog Man is just the most recent in what appears to be a cycle of questionable decisions as of late in the city, decisions which have never been adequately explained by the people who made them. The whole course has been making me more irritated by the week. The Hot Dog Man, the tire plant rejection and the $23,000 paid to a guy who no longer works here all have me and everybody else wondering what is going on.

Now, looking at The Hot Dog Man question in a light most favorable to the city, I can understand their concerns somewhat. They may be afraid some folks will come down there trying to sell junk and The Hot Dog Man will open the floodgates for all kinds of folks.

If that is the case, maybe they should draw up an ordinance banning the sales of trinkets downtown.

I don?t want to see a bunch of junk salesmen downtown either. Just limit it to food sales, then you?ll have the second check of a food inspector to discourage everyone and their cousins from locating downtown.

The Hot Dog Man has an official function down there, that being the satisfaction of appetites of folks who don?t have time to invest in a sit-down meal for lunch. This is a guy who was down there when downtown was far less visually inviting. Now he wants to come back.

If nothing else, grandfather him in. A hot dog wagon lends itself to a nice small-town feel. Someone having an open-air yardsale downtown does not.

It seems there should be a way to write an ordinance without convening the modern equivalent of the third continental congress to do it. This all smacks of Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned, because if our job situation isn?t reversed hot dogs downtown won?t matter because they won?t be anyone left here to buy them.

Let the man sell hot dogs for crying out loud. I bet eight out of 10 McMinnvillians feel the same way.

Come on folks, they want him to have push cart instead of a pull cart? Now that?s just plain silly. As much as we paid for those sidewalks and pavement, they should be able to take the wear and tear of a guy selling hot dogs without crumbling.

Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].