For all you readers in the
”
over 40
”
generation, you probably remember the Batman television series
of 1966-1968. The TV story’s plot had the Caped Crusader defending
the city of Gotham against sick-minded criminals that continually
popped-up on the scene to wreck havoc with societal law and
order.
For all you readers in the “over 40” generation, you probably remember the Batman television series of 1966-1968. The TV story’s plot had the Caped Crusader defending the city of Gotham against sick-minded criminals that continually popped-up on the scene to wreck havoc with societal law and order.
Of course, the series itself was, as one critic called it, “campy nonsense” but nevertheless, it makes the basis of a good analogy, because even in Gilroy, modern-day local Crusaders are at odds against various local “enemies.” So let me stretch my point by alluding to various “villains” that Batman faced, identifying their likes in Gilroy today.
The Riddler. I’ll compare this enemy of Batman to those Gilroy residents who harbor blight with all its ugliness, not giving a rip about their neighbors or their neighborhood’s home values, and leaving anyone with any sense of aesthetic sanity puzzled how they can live with such mess.
Typical “Riddler” justification for such slothfulness is “it’s my property and I’ll do with it as I please” or “mind your own business.” Fortunately there are local Crusaders like Jack and Diane Greer who did not accept such excuses, and approached the city asking for a law to target blight. Thanks to their efforts, Gilroy citizens finally have some means to fight this public enemy, who continually shows his presence around town.
Mr. Freeze. Paralyzing his victims with a cold freeze, I’ll compare this enemy of Batman to the out-of-towners who blew into Gilroy within the last year and “froze” a number of local businesses with lawsuits, alleging that those businesses failed to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
This was simply a greedy “snow job” to take advantage of a hole in the law and reap monetary gain rather than seeking real solutions. Watch out business owners, Mr. Freeze might blow into town again. Unfortunately, he’s too big for any local Crusader to handle, and he won’t be thawed-out until federal/state legislation is passed calling for a 90-day noticing period before an ADA lawsuit can be filed.
The Joker. Living on the basis that the property of others is a joke, I’ll compare this enemy of Batman to those Gilroy people who think it’s cool to apply their talents as “artists” to walls and whatever else can be painted with graffiti, while not caring what the community would look like if their “artwork” spread unabated.
Thanks to a local Crusader like the Gilroy Task Force on Graffiti, Gilroy does a good job keeping the Joker under control. But watch out, now that Gilroy will have it’s own “Wall of China” running on the west side of Santa Teresa Boulevard from First Street north past Longmeadow, we’ll see if the Joker will attempt to foul-up that local landscape with his artwork.
Egghead. Using his self-proclaimed intellect, Egghead thought the common people were too dumb to stop his criminal activities. I’ll compare this enemy of Batman to those local government leaders who are pushing the Bullet Train as a solution to get the masses to accept mass transit as a viable government provided service, when in fact it’s just another part of the sinkhole of government wasting taxpayer dollars.
Local Crusaders like Joseph Thompson continually fight against this public enemy, trying to alert people to the fact that socialism under any guise, will always take more and more public money to feed it’s unquenchable thirst, while propagating the philosophy that the government can do more for you than the private sector.
Unfortunately, villains like Egghead can only be dealt defeat at the ballot box.
The Penguin. Often teamed with The Riddler for a joint crime spree, this enemy of Batman can be likened to those people in Gilroy who “waddle around” town in their vehicles under the cover of darkness and dump their loads of junk anywhere they see fit, whether it be along the railroad tracks, in back of downtown buildings, or on Murray Avenue north of Tomkins Court.
Even pigs have more decency to stay in their own squalor than to spread it onto public view. Unfortunately, people like the Penguin pretty much can’t be stopped unless caught red handed by the police.
So good people of Gilroy, be on the alert for these public enemies. One thing’s for sure – they don’t care about you or Gilroy. They need to be stopped from their dastardly deeds, so become a Crusader yourself. And by-the-way, if you ever wondered, the Batmobile was a modified 1955 Lincoln Futura.
