A number of years ago, my husband and I were vacationing up north and while hiking through downtown, we noticed a large team of city workers emptying public garbage cans. We mused – how many government workers does it take to empty a garbage can? As many as possible – drawn out as long as possible – at taxpayers’ expense.
The same can be said for the recent vandalism that occurred in country music legend Johnny Cash’s hometown of Kingsland, Arkansas.
A perfectly placed bullet hole in the town’s 50,000-gallon water tower appeared on a silhouette of Cash – aimed in such a way so as to make the outline of Cash appear as though he’s relieving himself. “Somebody shot our water tower, shot the silhouette of Johnny Cash in a very sensitive area,” explained mayor Luke Neal, glancing up at the Man in Black. “It’s been leaking for the last week.”
According to Mayor Neal, the repair work began with the tower being drained and city water services switching to well water sources. Neal added that welding crews are heading up to patch the hole in the Man in Black but noted that it could take two to three days for the repairs to be complete.
The image of Cash apparently letting loose quickly went viral, with people driving into town just to see the leaking tower. But although the situation is humorous, the impact of the water tank is not. Close to 30,000 gallons of water are flowing into the dirt every day that Johnny continues to “walk the line,” a lot of water wasted and a negative impact on taxpayers at a daily cost of $200 and that the repairs would cost upwards of $5,000.
“It might seem small in bigger places,” the mayor said of the cost, “but for here it’s a pretty large number.”
Hope they don’t have ‘trouble’ with PFAS in Kingsland.
Note to Wausau Mayor Rosen-twerk: Johnny Cash walked the line, but he would have had too much self-respect to drop it down low.
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