I live in a small town.

In fact the town in which I live really can’t be called a town per se. At one point, in the 1860s and ’70s, my “town” contained up to 4,000 people. Chinese, Scots, and all points in between. It is said that the pharmacist from my “town” helped scout and formulate the Transcontinental Railroad for the Central Pacific.

Now, my “town” consists of no stop sign, no signal, no traffic devices at all. There is a store, a post office, a B&B, a realty office, a church, a museum, a community center, an antique store, a fire department with its own bell on a tower to call the volunteers. That’s about it. So I know a bit about small town politics. We’re small, we know it, but we still have our brains.

Further up Interstate 80 is a larger town called Truckee. Truckee recently incorporated and boasts a population of about 15,000 — mostly in the area surrounding downtown.

At an elevation of 5,840 feet, Truckee has a colorful past and, as far as I am concerned, a very questionable future. Because, clearly, those politicians who sit on whatever council exists in that town clearly think they are Much More than they really are.

Their Old Downtown area, consisting of a number of shops west of a remarkably-dangerous intersection created (but entirely unsolved by its council, though it could be) by the Union Pacific Railroad running tracks through the very middle of town, has now gone Big Time.

The downtown area now boasts nothing but a horde of pay-to-park spaces whereas — prior to incorporation — these spaces were once free.

A few weekends ago I took my wife to this town in order to purposely visit a store I knew called Jackass Flats (so she might look at some handbags — of which they mostly don’t have a great selection anymore, I might add — not like they used to), I encountered “pay-to-park” spaces everywhere. Before I could shut her down, she had already inserted her CREDIT CARD into a machine — so we could PAY for the PRIVILEGE of parking directly in front of the store I wished to visit. I almost immediately threw a camshaft until I looked around and realized that EVERY SPACE in “Old Town Truckee” required payment. Had it been me first, I would have refused to pay to park anywhere in Truckee. But my wife beat me to the pay point.

Let me be blunt: I have put up with this arrogant parking bullshit in Sacramento where I am forced to work. It has helped to kill downtown Sacramento, and it is killing downtown Truckee because:

There isn’t anything so spectacular that exists in Truckee motivating me to pay to park. Truckee is, predominantly, unspectacular. Its “downtown” is a waypoint on my destination to Reno, Sparks, Portola, Lake Tahoe or points beyond.

Sorry, Truckee shops and businesses. But I can find better, more comprehensive shops and businesses and better deals not only on the internet, but in my own downtown Sacramento area. And it won’t cost me gas to visit them.

Truckee Council: you want to screw over your Truckee businesses during an economy charging $4.00+ a gallon for gas, where your tourism DEPENDS upon those who waste gas to take the Truckee offramps?

I’m not coming back. Truckee’s shops are mostly boring. You have no attractions. You are a mere waypoint. And people won’t be making many trips during this economy considering the price of gas.

Guess what, Truckee: businesses are dying and going bankrupt and leaving. And still you think you’re All That.

Bottom line: just like Liberals and Demorats, you think fees and taxes solve everything. You’re nothing more than a collective of Small Town thinkers with a Small Town mindset. Good damned luck. You’re gonna need it.