Jon Edwards
The State Journal-Register
SJ-R May, 5: “ShotSpotter … agreed to provide the service for $643,750, a significantly-reduced rate from the original $838,750 price tag. The city will pay $75,000 in the first year and $284,375 in both years two and three.
″ … some aldermen, fearing the oncoming budget crunch brought on by the pandemic, questioned whether it was an essential purchase. Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer voted no.”
My sincere thanks to Chuck, Joe and Ralph for showing common sense. If a house price dropped by $195,000 but is still far more than you can afford, don’t buy it.
The city, state and federal government are broke and the pandemic is pushing all further into debt. When you’re in a hole, stop digging.
Where can costs be cut? Start with postponing (or dropping) the railroad relocation. With the state’s revues diving, they may drop the Amtrak subsidy, leaving two passenger trains a day at that new station. Traffic can wait for freights on third street to delay spending $300 million.
Stop extending/widening west side roads. Instead of encouraging sprawl into Chatham and Pleasant Plains school districts and stretching city services, improve existing Springfield neighborhoods to support District 186. Repair the roads and bridges we already have.
Free yard waste pickup 3 or 4 months a year, not 12.
And as for the hotel/luxury apartments idea on 4 th St., remember Kayport Package Express? If it sounds too good to be true …
Jon Edwards, Springfield
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 