The most depressing thing about being a candidate is that you find ample evidence of the old canard "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I came across this headline in the Daily News: "Design of Park Plan is Shown".....October 15, 1999. Cecil Group was involved then too.
Maybe it can happen now: we can create and maintain a waterfront public resource.
As reported in today's Daily News which you can find on your porch this morning or online at www.newburyportnews.com, the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority will be hosting a forum at 6PM, Wednesday October 24th at City Hall. This is an opportunity for the public to give its input into the 'what' question: What do we want to do on the waterfront park?
If you see me slipping out early, it will be because I'm on my way to the Newburyport Mothers Club Candidate Forum.
Here's one of my votes for the waterfront: a skating rink. Call me crazy but I think it would be a way to draw people down there during the winter. If you've been to Boston Common anytime in the past 5 years and seen the year-round Frog Pond and skating rink, you'll see what I mean. At a 'coffee' the other night, a Ward 4 voter talked about a public skating rink she had seen in Newport, RI. Not to take away from the outdoor skating at the Bartlett Mall, but I think it would be great if you had a little cafe for hot drinks and a place to rent skates.
Tom Salemi has an interesting post today about the waterfront and Mary Baker has many many great commentaries on her blog. A great resource for 'public spaces' is here.
Bring your ideas. Remember we need to pay for all this, which I think is eminently doable without breaking City finances.
Or we can all meet in 2015 and hash this out yet again.
Ed Cameron
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