Encouraged by citizens speaking up
It has been a good week for the citizens and a wake up call for the city leaders. At the last council meeting two citizens brought their concerns about drainage problems. This week, Southside citizens came out and voiced their concerns about city services and the response to calls. “SeeClickFix” and the city’s action center were shown as not efficient at addressing the city’s problems. In my opinion the solution to the city’s problems have been ignored for too long. Ms. Studdard stated some excellent points in her letter, that I have been writing about. I have been criticizes for addressing some of the short coming for several years. Some from the city administration and lately anonymous letters. My concern is for the city, my city and my home. The city has hired J5 to oversee all the over seeing for $90,000 per year plus a percentage of most construction in the city and our infrastructure has crumbled. Are the citizens getting their money’s worth? Time will tell, but if the city doesn’t get their act together, we might lose more the businesses. What about CAFB? Columbus would be a ghost town if the base closed. Think about it.
I have one other matter that I am disappointed in. The new street lights. I have noticed driving throughout the city, the new lights on the neighborhood streets are single bulb fixtures and do not give out as much light as the old ones. They look like a flashlight pointing directly down. Intersections have three bulbs and other locations have five bulbs. LED lights are energy efficient, but are we sacrificing security for energy savings? Neighborhood streets need to be well-lit. When this deal was voted on by the council, I thought the lights would be like the LED’s the Columbus Light & Water Department installed. Well I was disappointed because they aren’t. But, what does one expect for a $3 million-plus job? I expected great lighting didn’t you?
The citizens of Columbus need more transparency and accountability from our leaders. Is it just me?
God Bless Columbus and America.
Lee Roy Lollar
Columbus
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