A familiar song

There was a familiar tune playing across the front page of the Morning News Thursday. 

MAJORITY IS DONE: Work Nearing Completion

Then, in the subhead: "Veterans Park Improvements Almost a Year Behind Schedule."

Somehow, I feel like someone is playing a joke on us all.

This ongoing drama has been a nightmare for the city, and the community has now adopted a believe-it-when-I-see-it approach to the park. It's had almost as many expected completion dates as it has subcontractors. Both numbers are way too high.

In fairness, there wasn't a whole lot the city could have done differently. They chose the low bidder, as required by state law, because Bossler hadn't yet shown itself to be incompetent. But now, the revised completion date is a recurring item on the Parks and Recreation Commission agenda. John Mack said he'll make sure the project is finished by Dec. 31, but with his track record with Veterans Park alone, his reputation is now soiled. Some inside City Hall have said no one involved with Veterans Park will ever work with the city again, although for some of them, that promise must wait until existing contracts are completed. But that doesn't change the fact that, for the second straight year, Rick Stocker is trying to figure out if those fields will be finished before baseball and softball season. At least the fields are game-ready, even if they did have to be jimmy-rigged to  pull that off.

Play ball.