With two attraction-filled cities to the north and south, Columbus needs every inch when it comes to attracting those camera-wielding, money-spending tourists which help a cities’ finances.

Unfortunately, every play Columbus makes seems to lose a few yards.

These days local governments only seem to be thinking about how they can profit instead of how they can help the “average Joe.” They just want to find ways where their pockets can bulge with richness, and don’t think about how their actions can hurt other people.

One example can be seen with the Bogey Inn, a famous Delaware County restaurant and bar with roots dating back to the Prohibition Era, recently shut down after they got swept up in a messy poop dispute.

An ongoing and controversial lawsuit between the Bogey’s current and former owners over the rights of Bogey’s sewage services has left the future of the establishment non-existent.

It seems the only thing fueling this unfortunate, self-gratifying sword fight, has been the desire of two big cities to impose their will on a smaller community. All Dublin and Columbus have shown thus far is their ability to flex their muscles and drown a legitimate business in a sea of legal muck that stinks to the high heavens.

Bogey’s isn’t the only thing that smells. The soaring price of rentals are reaking with bad odors, and all the smells seem to be coming from one source – the city of Columbus.

Now, I admit – at times, I’m a very forgetful individual. My girlfried can attest to the fact I often fail to account for the location of my keys, wallet and cell phone. But hey – at least I’m not the city of Columbus, that somehow isn’t able to account for the $25 million to $35 million budget defecit in 2003.

The mayor’s office has been strangely vague and non-specific about why the money isn’t there, but they already have a plan to replace it: If you want to rent a car in our fine city, you’d better be able to shell out an extra $4-a-day. Once again, Columbus consumers and prospective tourists pay through the nose.

Issue 18, as it is known, received a November ballot referendum when local car rental companies fought a June 24 approval of the $4-a-day rental car tax by the Columbus City Council.

The council argued in favor of the tax, citing the extra $6 million to $10 million annual return would add to the city’s general fund, as well as the budget of the Greater Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau.

However, rental car companies insist such a tax will only hinder the tourism industry and be unfair to Columbus residents to want to rent a vehicle for a family vacation.

It may not sound like a big increase, but if you rent a car for a week, you’ll pay an extra $28 for a rental car that used to be a lot cheaper. That’s a 20 percent jump in the cost of renting a car here in Columbus automatically thrusting the city from 57th to 30th on the Business Travel News magazine’s list of most costly rental car cities.

It seems completely logical that because Columbus’ tourism and convention industry is also growing, the city would want to do everything in its power to attract prospective business ventures and pleasure-seekers by making it as easy as possible for them to operate here. A $4-a-day car rental tax is just another thing to limit this city’s opportunities.

With both these issues, we have seen the “little guy” lose out to city governments who that are treading in unnecessary terrain. It seems these governments don’t work “for the people” anymore when there’s a chance for their pockets to grow even deeper.

Andy Topetzes is a senior in political science and criminology. Send all comments to [email protected].