Truck? What Truck? Oh, THIS Truck!

Well, you've all heard and wondered about it, so here it is, the 2000 Ford Ranger Supercab, half-ton load capacity pickup truck with about 50,000 miles on it that the City put up on the auction block last month but removed (but almost not, because somebody didn't have a straight story) after some loud public outcry.

Now, a little history.

Remember when the ex-mayor (yeah, Joe, I like the "ex" part, too - a lot!) wanted to change the city's electrical inspections from private contractors to a city department? A department that she could totally have in her pocket and inspections that could be done (or not done) at her whim? And how the screams from the builders, the public and the inspectors could be heard across the county? Well, she gave up on that plan when it was exposed as yet another Barrie boondoggle and control freak exercise, but get this: she had the truck, ready for her inspector, before the plan was even on the ground.
After Barrie's electrical inspector plan was nixed and the dust settled, the truck was given to Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance, where somebody beat the living crap out of it, giving it something in the neighborhood of $3-4,000 worth of body and paint damage, according to city sources. How he/she did this by doing nothing more than staying on city streets doing inspections and carrying an occasional piece of equipment in the back is beyond me, but that's another story (and one that should be told.)
Rather than have the repairs made to a truck that was otherwise mechanically sound and of relatively low mileage and to give it to, say, Public Works, where a serviceable vehicle was needed for its recycling division, Barrie decided to declare it surplus and buy Public Works a new ¾ ton pickup and the new inspector hire at NSCC a new SUV. Savings to the taxpayers? Less than zero. A lot less. Where the $20, 000+ truck you see here could have been used by Public Works or NSCC (fixed or not), and the cost of one vehicle saved, two new vehicles were instead purchased for about $50,000. What to do with the used truck, worth a maximum of probably only about $4,000 cash on the block, but with a remaining vehicle life worth an easy $20,000 if kept in service, should have been a no-brainer. But arithmetic is evidently difficult for some in the administration. (I could name names, but you probably already know them. Hint: one of them does it for a living.)

So, where is the truck now? Well, as you drive north on Lake Street, there's a big fenced-in area on the left. There it sits.

Who's going to get it? Who knows? If it sits there long, though, it's only a matter of time until some enterprising individual jumps the fence and parts it out, starting with the tires and rims.

And who was it that took the power washer (or paint scraper) to the sides to remove the City seals and department I.D.s? Nice job. You went right through the paint job on the other side. Another $500 worth of paint work to fix.

My call? Don't bother doing any body work that is only cosmetic; just fix what will get worse by exposure to the elements. It doesn't have to be pretty. Then take a couple of cans of spray paint (primer then enamel) and cover the scratches. Leave the city seals the way they are and stencil (remember stencils?) along the side of the truck “This Vehicle Is Recycled, Courtesy of The Mayor of Salisbury and Citizens for Saving Tax Dollars” or something like it. Or, better yet, have a contest: best homegrown design that can be applied with a brush or spray can wins free trash pickup for a year. Get some kids involved and turn it into a community effort and something fun. Don't forget to tell the story of the truck along the way. We should own up to and learn from our mistakes.

And then, hire an experienced fleet manager, somebody who regularly inspects each one of the City's vehicles, keeps maintenance logs, schedules maintenance and repairs, and who reports his/her findings to the Mayor and department heads, all of whom should ensure that some measure of accountability is enforced for each and every person who drives a City vehicle. The era of the beating up and sabotaging of our vehicles (are you listening, SFD?) so that new ones have to be purchased is coming to a close.