SUN EDITORIAL: Our community and government wish list for the Southtowns
By: DANIEL MEYER
SUN EDITOR
Since we are now already into the third month of 2010, it seems like the ideal time to take a step back and look at the “big picture” when it comes to the Southowns, particularly what is happening in the community and actions by local government officials.
In no particular order, here is our wish list on some of the people, places and things that impact the everyday lives of our readers:
• Too many signs — We wish that state transportation officials would take a closer look at the revitalized central business district of the Village of Hamburg. While the village’s major thoroughfare along Main and Buffalo streets looks great, we still believe there are too many different traffic signs.
While we understand that some of the signage is required because of federal and state legislation, we think a return visit sometime this spring would allow state officials to meet with the Hamburg Village Board, small business owners and residents and hear their concerns about how the excessive number of signs take away from the beauty of the heart of Hamburg.
• Shop local — We wish that all residents of the Southtowns would keep in mind that our locally owned and operated businesses need to be supported all year long, not just around the time of major holidays. Please remember to patronize these hard working folks whenever it comes time to spend your hard earned dollars. These “mom ‘n pop” shops are vital to the development of our local economy, particularly the villages of Angola, Blasdell, Farnham, Hamburg and North Collins.
• Cooperation and collaboration — We wish that the Eden, Frontier, Hamburg, Lake Shore and North Collins school district’s would look into the possibility of holding some type of forum or summit where elected board of education members, superintendents and other administrators come together sometime between the annual school budget votes in May and the end of the current school year.
An informal “roundtable” type of gathering that could feature presentations and a brainstorming session to explore further collaboration and consolidation opportunities for certain operating costs related to programs and services may prove to be very beneficial. Any chance of sharing resources or perhaps even combining clerical and administrative positions in an effort to save taxpayers money deserves some type of public discussion as all five districts deal with the fallout of the state’s ongoing fiscal crisis and its’ impact on education.
• Can’t we all just get along? — We wish that all business owners, elected officials and other major stakeholders could put their personal differences aside and do what is in the best interests of the entire community.
We’ve recently heard a few stories about specific businesses trying to negatively impact the bottom line of their direct competitors. In our mind, competition is good and helps to establish and maintain a healthy economy.
We’re rather see storefronts filled and customers hustling to and from a wide variety of different businesses than a plethora of “for rent” signs. As important as it is for local residents to support our small businesses, it is crucial that all of our hard working entrepreneurs be good neighbors and help support one another.
• We moved. Please make a note of it — We wish that all of our readers, customers and the people who supply information to us for publication in The Sun would make sure that they are using our correct mailing address.
We moved our editorial and sales offices at the beginning of this year. If you have not done so already, please mark down our new address:
The Sun, Hamburg Village Square Plaza,
141 Buffalo St., Hamburg, NY 14075
(Comments? You can either call 649-4040, ext. 255, send an e-mail to: meyerdan@thesunnews.net or write a letter to the editor care of The Sun.)
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