As a follow up to the 10-08-09 Blog “Walk the Walk” the above photo was taken to show progress. Yes, you are correct. Absolutely nothing has happened. In fact, the sidewalks are in worst condition. How can this be? A large group of concerned Delaware Street property owners actually had three meetings with City Hall department heads, City Council members, and even the Mayor to “Talk the Talk” about this problem and come up with solutions. Ironically, the Mayor represents both sides of this problem. He represents City Hall and he is a property owner on Delaware Street that sees this mess several times each day. The award-winning Midtown / Truman Road Corridor (MTRC) Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation also has some responsibilities that they have neglected even though the taxpayers are investing almost $40,000 a year to keep that organization in business. As a condition of “tax abatement” that was granted by MTRC for many of those property owners along Delaware, those sidewalks are suppose to be practically flawless. The failure to fix this very basic and blatant problem represents the dysfunctional nature of our community while reinforcing the main point presented in this series of blogs that the Truman Neighborhood is considered not that important to community leaders and local institutions. Could it be that our community leaders have been hit in the head too many times with hockey pucks? Should we change the symbol of our community from a “walking president” to a “falling tourist?” Should our Tourism Department be allocating a portion of their million dollar annual budget to place warning labels on their walking tour brochures? When taking the photo above, I was actually approached by a Park Service Ranger who stated, “I’m embarrassed to have visitors walk the neighborhood.” We are pleased to see the brand new sidewalks surrounding the Community of Christ Temple but community leaders need to recognize that there are other parts of town that are important also.
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