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How has 'Hagerstown Advance' worked out for the city?
To the editor:
I nearly lost my morning coffee in laughter when making my daily rounds to various online news sites and coming across the Herald-Mail headline, "Hagerstown city council to tackle downtown challenges," published Monday, Oct. 24.
The article summarizes the purported "accomplishments" with regard to implementation of the A&E District plan as well as the mayor and council's intent to discuss the direction of the city by attracting patrons and businesses to the city center.
The agenda packet released for the mayor and council work session on Oct. 25, acknowledged the exodus of businesses from the downtown area and other "hurdles" created by economic recession.
Gee, what impeccable timing — approximately five months before the 2012 mayoral and city council primary elections, the mayor and council now wish to "tackle" the challenges of the downtown. How convenient. As if the challenges of the economically depressed downtown are something new.
The gesture is reminiscent of the Dec. 9, 2008, city council work session where the mayor and council discussed a "specialized" city economic development initiative termed "Choose Hagerstown," with virtually the exact same functional goals as outlined for the Oct. 25 work session.
Choose Hagerstown would eventually become the Hagerstown Advance (HA) initiative, the key theme of Mayor Bruchey's 2009 mayoral campaign when the mayor contended that under his leadership and the HA initiative the city would shift from the reactive to proactive and aggressively pursue the "development of business that will bring higher-paying wages to our citizens."
So how is the "HA" initiative working out?
Jonathan R. Burrs
Hagerstown
The topic of race is only 'tired and worn out' to those who have not suffered from racism
To the editor:
This letter is in response to the column written by George Michael, which appeared on Oct. 14. I am referencing particularly the paragraph where Michael wrote that Leonard Pitts and Morgan Freeman couldn't resist using the "tired and worn-out tactic of using the race card."
It always amazes me that the race card is most often "tired and worn-out" by those who know little about what racism, bigotry, segregation and discrimination do to those that they affect. Mr. Michael, have you ever been denied entrance into a business because of the color of your skin? Have you ever had fire hoses and dogs used against you because you marched for what our Constitution said you were already entitled to? Have you ever drank from a "colored only" water fountain, or been told you can't be a member of a club because they don't accept blacks? Your answer is most likely no.
Your statement reminds me of the legal commercial, where the statement is made that "a lawsuit is only frivolous until it's yours." Likewise the race card is only tired and worn-out until it affects you.
You ask the question, why do they keep bringing it up? Because we are still on the losing side in the card game, and many like you are in denial that racism still exists. We have had the race card used against us for over 300 years. I am sorry that you and David Limbaugh think that we should "just get over it." Maybe someday you will get to walk in our shoes and find out if our feelings are tired and worn out.
Raymond Young
To the editor:
I nearly lost my morning coffee in laughter when making my daily rounds to various online news sites and coming across the Herald-Mail headline, "Hagerstown city council to tackle downtown challenges," published Monday, Oct. 24.
The article summarizes the purported "accomplishments" with regard to implementation of the A&E District plan as well as the mayor and council's intent to discuss the direction of the city by attracting patrons and businesses to the city center.
The agenda packet released for the mayor and council work session on Oct. 25, acknowledged the exodus of businesses from the downtown area and other "hurdles" created by economic recession.
Gee, what impeccable timing — approximately five months before the 2012 mayoral and city council primary elections, the mayor and council now wish to "tackle" the challenges of the downtown. How convenient. As if the challenges of the economically depressed downtown are something new.
The gesture is reminiscent of the Dec. 9, 2008, city council work session where the mayor and council discussed a "specialized" city economic development initiative termed "Choose Hagerstown," with virtually the exact same functional goals as outlined for the Oct. 25 work session.
Choose Hagerstown would eventually become the Hagerstown Advance (HA) initiative, the key theme of Mayor Bruchey's 2009 mayoral campaign when the mayor contended that under his leadership and the HA initiative the city would shift from the reactive to proactive and aggressively pursue the "development of business that will bring higher-paying wages to our citizens."
So how is the "HA" initiative working out?
Jonathan R. Burrs
Hagerstown
The topic of race is only 'tired and worn out' to those who have not suffered from racism
To the editor:
This letter is in response to the column written by George Michael, which appeared on Oct. 14. I am referencing particularly the paragraph where Michael wrote that Leonard Pitts and Morgan Freeman couldn't resist using the "tired and worn-out tactic of using the race card."
It always amazes me that the race card is most often "tired and worn-out" by those who know little about what racism, bigotry, segregation and discrimination do to those that they affect. Mr. Michael, have you ever been denied entrance into a business because of the color of your skin? Have you ever had fire hoses and dogs used against you because you marched for what our Constitution said you were already entitled to? Have you ever drank from a "colored only" water fountain, or been told you can't be a member of a club because they don't accept blacks? Your answer is most likely no.
Your statement reminds me of the legal commercial, where the statement is made that "a lawsuit is only frivolous until it's yours." Likewise the race card is only tired and worn-out until it affects you.
You ask the question, why do they keep bringing it up? Because we are still on the losing side in the card game, and many like you are in denial that racism still exists. We have had the race card used against us for over 300 years. I am sorry that you and David Limbaugh think that we should "just get over it." Maybe someday you will get to walk in our shoes and find out if our feelings are tired and worn out.
Raymond Young
