Why I love Ann Arbor : (hint its not for the proposed Vehicle idling ordinance)

There is so much to love about Ann Arbor. The beautiful parks, the diverse people, the culture, the general tolerance of everyone... it really is a wonderful place to live and work.

There is, however, a dark side to our beautiful city. It is an over legislated attitude that is becoming more and more pervasive and is driving a legal wedge between the people in power and the people whom they are supposed to serve.

It would be comical if it was not so crazy, and before I condemn any one person or entity let me just say this: it has not passed yet. Still the fact that it is being proposed, in its current form, is just mind blowingly stupid.

No, really, if you read the proposal it could not be more ludicrous, idiotic, and a waste of the cities time and efforts. Counsel please I implore you. Listen to the poles, look at what is going on around you and think about what you are doing.

Have we leaned nothing from the crosswalk law debacle?
Still think it might not be such a bad idea?  Before you decide, check out this story about it *here* and *here* but my understanding is as it reads in its current recommendation:

The proposed ordinance would make a $100 ticket the minimum punishment for a driver who leaves a vehicle running while unoccupied for any amount of time or running for five minutes while occupied. For commercial vehicles, that minimum fine increases to $500.

I don't care what other cities have done, and know that the city leans toward the tree hugging side of the scale and that is not in itself a bad thing but seriously who in there right mind could possibly think that this is a good idea.

What happens when the person that starts their car and takes off in less than five minutes can not see out of the frost laden windshield and kills a pedestrian at one of your newly anointed cross walks? Its not good enough to scrape the window when its 20 below, your breath alone will kill your visibility until your car warms up an that is going to take more than 5 stupid minutes in those temperatures. What about warming a car for your infant child, or the elderly or...wait why do I even have to explain to anyone why that is a terrible idea? If a bad idea itself could have a worse idea the crap that it came up with would still be a better idea than this.

Here is a partial list of things that are WAY MORE IMPORTANT to deal with then the emissions from idling vehicles:

Funding for essential services (PS funding them from this insanity is not the answer)
The growing homeless problem
Parking, the lack thereof and issues surrounding it.
Keeping downtown a safe, thriving business friendly zone
Just about ANYTHING ELSE you can think of honestly

All I can say it the people of the city are really at the limit of dumb laws that make no sense, create more confusion then good, and in the end cause more harm.

As I said there is so much to love about this great city. This ordinance and others like it are not why.