Madison taxpayers foot $30,000 bill for Trump appearance (al.com) {guest opinion}

Guest Voices By Guest Voices
on March 09, 2016 at 9:49 AM, updated March 09, 2016 at 9:51 AM

By Hanu Karlapalem, a tech entrepreneur and candidate for Mayor of Madison, Alabama

Are you familiar with the term "going rogue?" It describes a person who ceases to follow orders; who acts on one's own, usually against expectation or instruction; one who abandons the group to pursue one's own interests.

To see rogue in action look no further than Mayor Troy Trulock's recent antics while hosting Donald Trump at the Madison City Stadium. Reports say the Trump appearance cost Madison taxpayer's $30,000.

According to members of the Madison City Council, Trulock never notified them Donald Trump was holding a campaign event at the Madison City stadium. Madison City Council President Tim Holcombe says the turn of events "highlights a growing communication gap between the council and the mayor." Considering the Trump campaign didn't pay the city for security, one must wonder if Trulock went rogue to ensure his pet project was pushed through. Adding fodder to folly, the price tag for hundreds of city employees to work overtime at the event is definitely – in the words of the Donald himself - huuuuuge.

Madison City Police Department Maj. Jim Cooke also voiced his frustration with poor event planning publicly, saying, "I never imagined that I would be notified at 10 minutes after 5 on Thursday afternoon that we needed to plan for an event that takes three weeks to properly plan." That poor plan resulted in rally attendees going rogue --- in the bushes. With only one Port-O-Let for somewhere between 10,000 to 35,000 people, many citizens experienced a side of public planning they had never considered. Further showing a complete lack of regard for citizens, Mayor Trulock later defended his actions when questioned by journalists. Of particular note is Trulock's comparison of the public services provided by Madison to the Trump event with a gathering like a 5k run, and the Trail of Tears commemorative motorcycle ride.

Let's ignore for a moment that the scale of an event like a 5k run is much smaller than a Presidential front-runner coming to town. Let's instead focus on the fact that bringing Trump to Madison is a partisan campaign event. Can you imagine the public outcry if Trulock used the same taxpayer resources to bring Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders to Madison? Granted, the size of a city-sponsored Bernie brigade would have undoubtedly been smaller.
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more: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/03/madison_taxpayers_foot_30000_b.html