discarding responsibility
This is not about Burger King
Believe it or not, Burger King is not the problem. Leadership (or the lack thereof) is the problem.
Are you or is AY PAC thrilled to have another fast food joint littering Michigan Avenue? Not really. Did we expect to see some fast food there at some point, possibly. But the Burger King belies a symptom of a much more troubling problem – that is the apparent lack of leadership on the Water Street issue.
Murdock, Robb and Bodary all promised leadership, maneuvered to get named to the committee to address Water Street, and then did nothing with the opportunity. Absolutely nothing!
So far, these three stalwarts of “leadership” who embody the Water Street committee have been content to let staff set direction, let recommended zoning changes slowly languish and simply allow the few (weak) development opportunities that bubble up on their own to set the agenda for council.
In lieu of responsibility, they seemingly blame the economy for the results. In the face of such a low level of action on their part, it is hard to figure out what the impact of the economy really is in this process. If they had taken any action, we could offer a different response.
While we say Burger King primarily exists as a symptom, it is somewhat of a problem in itself as it should be the business we slide in between other developments. Not the first development. Not the one that sets the course for future development. Not the one that possibly has to serve as our only space filler on Water Street for a while.
Citizens were promised leadership and action. We weren’t promised lazy committees, weak space filling as development and inaction on recommended zoning changes.
Pass zoning for Water Street! Pass the Planning Commission’s proposals or modify them as council deems necessary. Assume some responsibility now by taking action!
posted by B. Bashert and J. Gawlas
Playing their cards
Water (Street), Water (Street) everywhere,
nor any drop to drink
Brian Robb never misses a chance to mention Water Street. Pete Murdock runs a close second. Each City Council meeting, you can generally count on 2 mentions, as a running average. There is good reason for that.
Water Street is costing the city money…there is no doubt about that fact. Two city council elections (Bodary and Murdock) were decided largely because of their offers and promises to do something about Water Street. No specific ideas were mentioned during their campaigns, but voters liked their talk of supposed real progress and gave them an opportunity to directly address the Water Street issue.
Shortly after taking their seats, action was taken. A closed committee, consisting of Robb, Bodary and Murdock was formed to look into Water Street and they were to bring options to the city. One unpopular idea that came out of that committee involved a possible Burger King but no real ideas or proposals have come out yet.
It has been unclear whether they were meeting or what work was coming out of the meeting. However, thanks to Murdock’s resolution to expand the Open Meetings Act rules to all subcommittees including their closed Water Street committee, we now know more about their work. Or, should we say lack of work.
Since no meeting has been posted, we can assume they have not met recently. Since no announcements about communications between the three of them on this issue have been released to the city, we can assume that no work or ideas has been generated recently.
Most importantly, their committee has not put forth any zoning proposals for Water Street. Without that important piece, nothing will move forward. Robb, Bodary and Murdock pushed this issue to the voters, created the key committee to handle it, and have done nothing about it since.
It is this inaction which makes Robb’s repeated references to Water Street all the more frustrating. Does Robb think he can play blame Water Street as his personal ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card on the budget? He is certainly appears to be using it in that way.
AY PAC respectfully requests that city council stop bringing up Water Street until there is a solid proposal that will help this issue. AY PAC further requests that the closed Water Street committee reconstitute itself and include representation from Ward 1. When they meet, taking up recommendations of the planning commission proposed zoning should be top of their list for first steps.
AY PAC, along with the rest of the city, is eager for a positive resolution to this project and expense. Let your city council members know that you want action, not patronizing mentions [nor self-serving excuses], on this issue.
posted by B. Bashert and J. Gawlas