Monday, February 25, 2008
Where is State Rep. Cheryl Coakley Rivera?
After learning of the recent closing of Luvas and Rein's Deli in downtown Springfield, my first reaction was, well it was the power of the market force, there was simply no demand for the product they were offering. However, as I drove through downtown recently on a weekday in the middle of the afternoon, I was suddenly confused? Is this Springfield downtown? The Cultural hub of Western Massachusetts? There was virtually little to no pedestrian foot traffic, and the car traffic seemed to be in a rush to get out of the area. Sure, there is probably a couple of factors that might have contributed to these two good restaurants demised, but I am sure that the lack of foot traffic did not help. We need foot traffic for the downtown business, in fact for any local business to succeed.
The Western part of the city, from Forest Park to the North End is in a business staleness that is very worrisome. There is real crime issues in the Forest Park neighborhoods, the South End in plague by drugs and prostitution and in the North End, well to say it simply, no one wants to stop. State Rep. Coakley Rivera has been silent, almost absent in these past year or so. This is a dangerous situation for the City and the neighborhoods. We need a State Rep. to actively work and promote the area, not to be feature in the local paper planting a tree every so often. Grandstanding, does not translate into Economic Development. State Rep. Cheryl Coakley Rivera has been in office for about 10 years, I wonder how much more effective, if ever, she can possibly be? Oh, by the way I can see the campaign slogan now," give me one more term and I will show you how much more effective I can be ". Luvas and Reins Deli did not have the luxury to ask for more time.
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6 comments:
One of the things I remember hearing about former Mayor Ryan, when we were trying to get him to push ward representation through the Legislature so we all could vote on it, was that he basically had no relationship with the WMA legislators.
I wonder if/when Mayor Sarno, if he hasn'r already, will make it clear to our legislators that he expects them to be ACTIVELY looking out for Springfield?
Enjoy your Blog, would like to see a complete profile of you. I think we should get to know more about you!
Please run for office....Someone, Anyone will do a better job of getting the voice of Springfield heard than Cheryl, Ben and Sean..... We need new legislators.
Great blog, I did notice that Plainfield has a rename "Rivera Way" of some sort. This is a very pressing matter in a community with such low self-esteem that trash is dumped on the side of streets. Not to mention the cost of living forcing so many into loosing their homes.
Oh, well vote on for the best, not the race.
JJohnson
The crime problem is real. Promoting the city won't do any good once people see through the BS, and that downtown Springfield is not safe for ordinary citizens. This past summer, my truck was broken into while I was at work, in broad daylight on Main St. After waiting 2.5 hours for the cops to arrive, they told me they don't investigate these crimes because they are 'too common'. However, they have time to investigate minor traffic violations, a few weeks ago I had to pay $150 to get my truck back down from a towtruck because it was allegedly parked on the wrong side of the street during a 'snow emergency'. Guess what I'm going to do as soon as I graduate school and become a taxpayer? Move out of Springfield! The company I worked for is looking to do the same thing, as many other employees do not feel safe in that environment.
Mayor Giuliani in New York City turned the city around by enforcing the law. 'Petty' criminals were arrested, and jailed before they got around to committing more major crimes, and people actually were willing to live, work and shop in an urban area if they could do so without the fear of being subject to 'petty' crime.
The real way to fix Springfield is to get a police commissioner with a more long term view toward the health of the city. Stop with the harassment of law-abiding citizens for the sake of a $100 ticket. Seek out the real criminals, arrest them, and get them behind bars and off the streets. Otherwise, you are going to end up with a city full of people who only live there because they can't afford to move out.
Your on the computer bashing the legislators we now have. But who's bringing the money to Springfield. How does retiring the number of Roberto Clemente help the community or the city. It seems to me you have lots of time on your hands to write about businesses closing but maybe thats all you have is time to do nothing.
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