Mayor Purzner did it right!

I am a bit disappointed in some of the belittling of Mayor Purzner's efforts that I have seen around the Internet.

The bottom line is that from what we know so far, she made the right decision.

She put the Emergency Management in the hands of the Chief who has the experience and knowledge to handle the big issues. She then went to the community center and helped out in small ways, making sandwiches, visiting with residents etc. Call it a "photo op" if you like, but you would be screaming 'where was the Mayor' if she was not there.

How many times have we seen public officials jump in and try to take charge in situations like this when the have now experience or training in these matters? They do it because they feel that politically, they need to be seen as "in charge", or as the person solving the problems or what not. In the end they only cause confusion and make it harder for the emergency responders and other professionals to do their jobs.

The Mayor, IMHO made a very smart decision that was the best decision for the city. She left the management of this emergency to the professionals and took on a support role, to comfort residents in needs as well as be on hand should she be needed. Photo Op or not, this was what we needed here to do, and I am glad that is how she handled it.

Now, I am also disappointed in the Ann's supporters.

Why did Councilman May not give up the Wild Acres Gym to use as a cooling center when the power went out at the community center? Well, the storm that took out the community center's power also dismantled our heat wave. Temps dropped like a stone (Friday's low was in the mid 60's). If it is not hot there is little need for a "cooling center".

However, there is still the possibile need for a shelter for those who's homes were severely damaged. Well the community center was not allowing people to sleep there anyway, and the closest 24 hour shelter was the Salvation Army on Page, that has a capacity of 74. They told me on the phone that they were no where near that many (and that is with St. Ann closing their cooling center at their community center as well). So it would seem that we had the shelter issue covered as well.

With that in mind, is it not possible that Councilman May did not give up the Wild Acre's Gym because there was no need for it. Would you give up all the money spent on such and event and tell all those who traveled to attend that they would have to travel out at another time (if they could get more time off and could afford another trip) if there was no need for the space? I know I wouldn't. Also, it would have been the Mayor's job to take control of that property for the city if it was needed. I am sure she decided not to do this partially because there would have been those who said she only did it to ruin the May family's event, and mostly because there was no real need for another "cooling center" in our area or shelter for that matter.

They also ask: Why was Councilman May not at the Community Center helping everyone? Well, perhaps he was helping with the family wedding. However, being that he is an actual Registered Nurse it would seem rather likely that he was busy attending to those in need as well somewhere else.

And as for the question about the other council members not being there. Who knows. I know I worked my butt off to help my family and my neighbors and I never set foot in the community center. The community center was not the only place where people were in need.

Thank you Overland Police, Community and West Overland Fire, as well as all of the hard working Overland city staff that turned out to help. You are all amazing, you are all appreciated, and we Overland Residents are lucky to have you.

I am really sick of both side politicizing this thing. The bottom line is, we as a community did a pretty good job facing this crisis so far, so for god's sake cheer for us, and stop all the whining and maneuvering.

I was really proud of the way everyone on my block worked together to make thing better and to help each other out. It made me really proud of my community. That was of course until I got my power back and could access the Internet. Now I am simply disgusted.