I got a few people stirred up with my comments about Easter. No one raised an eyebrow though about the pagan origins of the holiday.
It does amaze me that people get so upset at the mention of religion. As someone said, "though do protest too much."
Some people just don't like that freedom of speech thing. Its fine to disagree, but attacks seem a bit much.
I should not have gotten caught up in that.
An honest debate would be good, but ...
Also the window flap.
Give Scott Margolius credit, he already has a meeting set up with the committee. I asked him if this would be an open meeting and he didn't bat an eye in saying yes.
So ill be sure to be there.
Can we give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens?
He is showing some leadership i think.
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18 comments:
"I should not have gotten caught up in that.
An honest debate would be good, but"
Ah, some people are just mean & vicious when being kind would be easier.
I enjoyed reading what you wrote.
Thx.
I like the fact that there are people coming together to "Discover" their options!
But its too bad that many are too quick to pull the trigger on Blame!
One of the posters suggested an Urban Renewal Bond to replace the whole downtown?
I am definately not an expert but what if due to ADA regulations the only usable commercial areas of most of old downtown are ground level!
That doesn't justify the de-molition of the older buildings but it does present a problem of how to make them more usable and to promote their upgrade and maintenance!
We need "more people" in Cowley County that are willing to take on these challenges - to ignore them and pass them on - that "blame" falls broad and wide!
I lived in a town that went through urban renewal in the mid 70's and it turned a blighted town into a very thriving community. It was the catalyst for a doubling population of the town and a huge increase in tax revenues.
The identifiable historic buildings were preserved (and restored and are prime real estate now), but the ones which were only a 100 foot long roof over 25 foot zero lot line walls (with crumbling brick walls) were demolished.
The whole image of downtown businesses changed from almost hideous to wonderful.
I remember a music store that was trying to sell $10,000 grand pianos in a building which had ceilings with exposed gas and plumbing pipe lines, creaky wooden floors, 15 feet suspended flickery fluorescent fixtures and ceiling leaks when it rained. They set out pots and pans to catch the drips. The areas with suspended ceiling had tiles that sagged and were stained. Sound familiar?
It moved to a new building with a guitar room, a piano room, classrooms that had new and fresh looks and ZERO maintenance cost with 1/3 heating and air conditioning expense.
Most of the real businesses moved either into the mall or into upgraded office buildings which were made from the historic structures.
The music store bought central A/C instead of the poorly operating stand-alone unit trying to cool and heat the 100 year old uninsulated building shell.
Sadly, it eliminated the 70 year old guy's toaster repair shop who struggled for 40 years to keep the roof fixed, the shoe repair guy who opened 3 days a week on the afternoons, numerous crappy pawnshops, junk stores and keyshops and the coffee shop who was always on the edge of not being able to cover payroll each week.
The building owners were insistent on spending no money and making no improvements, just like Ark City.
How could they spend the money, they argued? There is no income to be had from renting the buildings or operating their businesses, and no profit from which to spend on improvements. Exactly the issues in Ark City. They were beating a dead horse.
They were bought out and the blight went away. To the landfill.
We had better start thinking what to do when more of these unreinforced brick walls start collapsing. Some have failed already. All the brick is about the same age and condition. It costs a fortune to repair.
Something to consider: What is the future of Ark City? Boarded up buildings? Think about it.
Should businesses be able to continue to board up windows?
The future is to either have it maintained properly or let it continue to slide. Or do something different.
"I lived in a town that went through urban renewal in the mid 70's and it turned a blighted town into a very thriving community. It was the catalyst for a doubling population of the town and a huge increase in tax revenues.
The identifiable historic buildings were preserved (and restored and are prime real estate now), but the ones which were only a 100 foot long roof over 25 foot zero lot line walls (with crumbling brick walls) were demolished.
The whole image of downtown businesses changed from almost hideous to wonderful."
THIS IS THE KEY.
There are a lot of people with "stuck" mindsets who only want to own a crappy old building if they think they can make it cash flow but they aren't willing to put anything into it because it would take a great deal and will still (by their arguments) only yield a small rent.
I say, let's get these buildings into NEW hands who want to invest so we can see a downtown renaissance. The businesses might not be the same, but we can get to a point where there IS business and it is thriving and maybe there are people who live upstairs in nicer than average housing.
et's get these buildings into NEW hands who want to invest so we can see a downtown renaissance. The businesses might not be the same, but we can get to a point where there IS business and it is thriving and maybe there are people who live upstairs in nicer than average housing.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
might this be an argument for socialism ?
"might this be an argument for socialism?"
Maybe, if you would like to call the current Supreme Court socialists because that is precisely what they ruled in the 2005 eminent domain case.
"The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that local governments may force property owners to sell out and make way for private economic development when officials decide it would benefit the public, even if the property is not blighted and the new project's success is not guaranteed."
I think the committee is great. It seems one of the commissioners is trying to hear from the public. I did notice that the members of this committee are very influential business people. How about some imput from a common person. What's to keep these business owners from bullying Scott into doing what they want and in the long run getting nowhere. I think I read where two of the business owners had plans to upgrade the windows. this is great. One mentioned the tin was put up many years ago. if he intended to upgrade, why has he waited until the city wants to do it and not when he wanted.
if he intended to upgrade, why has he waited until the city wants to do it and not when he wanted.
>>>
It's like when your wife asks you why you haven't taken out the garbage.
You tell her "oh, sweetie, i was just about to do that."
I think the only reason this particular commissioner wants to hear from the public is so he can have good reason to reject or avoid voting on glass in windows. He had an opportunity to make it happen. Unfortunately, instead of acting, he put it off, as he has done on other occaisions to give the issue time to die and disappear. Only this time he'll have help.
He loves to hear himself speak. He is longwinded often without saying anything. Remember the big box issue where he spoke for 20 minutes on both sides? The only other times I've heard him speak on TV is when he is tabling something. Has anything come back yet?
It looks like just another opportunity for a waffling commissioner to put something to rest without having to make a decision.
What happened to solving problems and taking action? Outside of regulating birds, has this commission accomplished anything at all?
I believe you are correct. This commissioner wants it to look like he is seriously studying the subject, but ultimately feels if he can prolong the decision long enough it will die and no decision will have to be made. Thus no one will be upset with him.
The commissioners have brought up numerous projects but nothing has been accomplished with any of them.
it will be interesting to keep in mind for next year's elections. There are commissioners that are not afraid to bring up what needs to be done, and others that try to shuffle it under the carpet.
yeah, but it seems the 2 reliable commissioners are ending. The ones that are left are the ones I'd like to think over again.
If the Sybrant family is dedicated to improving the buildings they own, then why have they not done so in the last 30 years that I have lived here in Ark City. They own several buildings in town and I have seen nothing but the lack of. They say they do not have the money to make improvements, I say sell them so someone else can. Maybe if the vote for the big box store had been approved then maybe the Sybrant family could have used the money on the sale of the property to improve their other buildings. I think not.
What else has been tabled and therefore died?
Since when is studying an issue in greater detail and getting public input the same as sweeping something under the rug?
What else has the commission waffled on? They didn't waffle when they killed your beloved big box.
I wish we had the big box. I wish we had the restaurant and other stores that came with it. I wish we had the more jobs that came with it. I wish we had the choices that came with it. I wish other people got what they wanted...they deserve it
I wish the tired old retreads in the town who have no ideas and only complain and don't want to do anything would move. I wish the wannabes who want to control the town and always have but now dont would quit crying in their milk long enough to see that life isn't fair and you can't always have things your way just because you've always had them that way.
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