Bill May and $14,625,000

As a public facility, this building would not have been reviewed by the ARB. This is true of all state, county and local government developments - no required compliance to historic preservation ordinance or ARB review.

Can someone tell me what the approval process of the architectural design was? Was the ARB involved? Why was this design approved when everyone else in the historic district is under strict regulations on what can be modified and built? Why does Shelbyville have new construction which fits with the existing historic environment and Frankfort continues to build things which are jarringly out of context with their surrounding environment? ----- The garbage situation was put on the agenda by the PREVIOUS Commissioners, the corrective action seems transparent and cost effective to me at this time. -- We'll be servicing the debt racked up on the Public Safety Building for at least another SEVEN YEARS. --- Time to cut the golf course loose, we cannot afford the ongoing operational losses.

As far as I can tell the Public Safety Building is being used in a highly functional way...every day of the year. What makes it any more of a waste of tax dollars than any other capital expenditure? The author seems miffed that we didn't pour even more dollars down the East Frankfort Swimming Pool drain. Why?

Chazrigz, what do you mean "bad location"? You mean Myrtle ave, Hickory Hills, Douglas Ave are bad locations? Juniper Hill golf course is a good location, I guess then. The golf course is only losing $500,000 per year but its in a better location. Or is it because mostly poor and lower middle class used the EFK pool? If you folks don't like direct "copy and Paste" quotes from past Commissioners straight from the State Journal with attributions, I can't help that facts mean nothing to either of you. Bill May has a record of spending our money and then going way beyond needed. It is way over-built and in a terrible location. But in the end whether all the Commissioners voted for it or not, Bill May was the leader of those groups. The buck stopped with him, especially since he is on record wanting it built so quickly. So quickly in fact, he forgot about a parking lot and had to purchase a thriving business's building next door to tear it down and construct parking. Yep, that's the kind of leadership you want.

Oh, and while you're carping about the east Frankfort pool, be sure to note that the pool was put in a bad location, that it can't be refurbished and its useful life is OVER at a significant cost and that it's been standing for a couple of years now while the kids on that end of town have not had the use of it. And none of that was Bill May's fault.

****, so now Bill May is the ruler of Frankfort, and he singlehandedly rammed through the construction of that building over the objections of every other member of government! What incredible power! What bunk. Bill certainly was a strong advocate for that building, but the reality is that it was needed, and that it's serving its purpose. Now the police aren't being housed in a leaky former grocery where the evidence room had holes in the roof, and the ability to respond to emergencies is enhanced by the facilities and communications resources housed in it. If Bill May had made money off of it, as the contractor or by receiving kickbacks I could understand there being outrage over it, but this posting by speedracer is nothing but a disjointed hatchet job. The building's done, the ENTIRE city government approved it and it's serving its purpose. End of story.

I am glad May helped get something useful done. The police worked out of a run down store building and it was a shame politicians neglected one of the most important city departments for many years. They built a specialized facility and equipped it and it will serve us well for a long time. Nowhere in this article does it explain how the price is a bad deal for the taxpayer. And I don't think the author is a property appraiser. I don't see any invoices for $1000 toilet seats here. This is just another internet cut-n-paste political attack. As for the swimming pools which didn't make enough revenue to sustain and recycle truck labor costs and fancy recycling cart fees from the "young commissioners" - I know these projects received more budget priority than they deserve (we're talking a $1 million for unneeded trash cans) in the type of economy we have today. Neither pools or recycling are worthy of any tax increases on a worker's paycheck. The hasty "young commissioners" later forced through a tax increase on the local workforce to pay for the recycling truck labor and fancy recycling cans. These politicians are recklessly spending. And "Speed racer", your government priorities are not in the best interest of our community. Support the police department.