In the blog posts "Nuisance Law is a Nuisance" and "Newsletter about the City Council meeting of October 7, 2008," there are many interesting comments in the comment section of those posts that seem to come from people in the know. It really got me to thinking of how we could use that knowledge to our city's advantage.
I want to talk about the problems people see with our city. I don't care whether you are a present city employee, a past city employee, or a citizen. I would like input from local businessmen, government officials, and regular citizens about the issues they are facing on the local level. Let's get it all out in the open.
I am begging you to participate in this forum. I really think that getting all of this stuff out in the open will 1) Be therapeutic, 2)Let everyone know where everyone is coming from, 3)Give us all a better understanding of how this city operates both publicly and privately, and 4) Help us think of real solutions to addressing the needs of this great city -- that can be addressed in the post below.
If there is any information that you feel might compromise your anonymity, there are ways that these issues can be addressed without doing so. You can e-mail me and we can figure out together a way to address the issue without someone figuring out where it came from.
I am going to archive "Problems and Solutions" at the right under the Blog Archives on this page. I truly believe that doing this will help our city mature, grow, and prosper; fulfilling the potential that we all know that we are capable of.
Thank You,
Let's Get Started
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Thursday, October 30, 2008
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17 comments:
Since everyone else might not know how best to get this off the ground I will get it started:
I believe that much of our problems with this city stem from issues with the Mayor and Sally Fox. Their authoritarian leadership has coincided with the downturn that our city has seen over nearly 8 years.
Time and time again I have seen what can be construed as arrogance on their part. Their is a difference between leadership and arrogance. I listen to Hal Rowe's show and I hear the mayor say the right things about citizen participation in government, but in the end we all get the feeling that our input is only welcome if we march in lockstep with their ideals.
An example can be found in the "Do We Need a UNC-Hickory" article that I posted. Information was leaked that made the leaders of Lenoir-Rhyne and CVCC look bad. To me it was more than obvious where this information was leaked from.
Mator Wright defensively stated, "I think political means public service. The only agenda I have is more and better education achievement of the people of this region. That will mean better jobs, more money, and an enhanced standard of living. I will do anything in my power to promote that agenda."
Maybe we should quit worrying about agendas or weighing political consequences of action and start thinking about what would be best for the citizens of our area. I like what is being done with the Higher Education Center, the Engineering Center, the expansion of L-R, and the continuing expansion of CVCC. These educational centers are truly fulfilling the needs of our citizens and we are getting the most bang for our buck from them.
As far as Mrs. Fox, I continually here her talk about the "Greater Good." I think it has more to do with the "Greater Sally" and what she deems fit. I heard about her huffing, puffing, and stomping out of the Planning Board meeting when she didn't get her way on the Moratorium. This woman believes that she is Downtown Hickory and that she has final authority over that realm.
Well, Mrs. Fox, you can have downtown. Our Downtown is dreadful. It isn't a viable area of commerce and it isn't going to ever get better under you "leadership" or your "vision." You can continually slap paint on those pigsties down there and it isn't going to make them places that people want to do business.
It is time to quit throwing good money after bad down there. It is time that the city makes that place survive on its own like every other business in this area has to do. All of the grants and funnelling of money in the world isn't going to bring entrepreneurs into that area.
Our downtown needs a complete revitalization, but not from inward-out. It needs a revitalization from outward-in. Downtown consists of a lot more than Union Square. We need to go 2 miles out (from the epicenter of Hickory) and fix those areas first and then Union Square will get better. We also need a major corporate flagship retail store to come in (and gut a few of those places down there) and open something that average people want. Our downtown died when Sears and Belks left 30 years ago.
We don't need more Bars and Boutiques, but the marketplace should decide that. We don't need to subsidize the little ole ladies that hang out down there. We need downtown to stand on its own and quit seeking welfare from our city's citizens.
P.S. By the way, when's the Station going to open?
It's obvious that we have very little real leadership. We are still operating like a small, one story, strip mall town. The city just piddles with small landscaping projects and doesn't seem to know how to break out of what has always been done. We will never get to the next level with the mindset we have now.
I've heard about downtown revitgalization until I'm sick of it. No progress has been made despite money and time being wasted on it. And by the way, downtown means Union Square and white Hickory. The black folks, who are also downtown by the way, don't get mentioned, much less considered. Until we think about how we ALL can benefit nothing will ever be any different. THINK BIG FOLKS. It is uncomfortable to change but we have to or wither.
i have not been town in over two years except to the farmers market...nothing interests me...i do not do bars or boutiques...downtown in my early years was the only place to shop we went to spainhours, mcclelleans, the drug stores, belks, murphys. ,melvilles, zerdens, and all of the mainstays of hickory... how sd all has gone to the outskirts of hickory...i have no desire but to go to the post office if i have to...how wonderful if hickory could become a real town again.....i dont want to live in a condo above a store..i want a real downtown hickory with the rich history i grew up with....cannot buy bass shoes in any downtown hickory store. let us get back to a real downtown hickory.....thanks for trying to revitalize a real historic town.
The city almost seems to neglect the people who actually live there in an attempt to bring in visitors for a day of 'upscale boutique' shopping and lunch at that 'unique little restaurant'...neither of which is a bad thing, but cannot support a whole town. It's been said before that the area needs a grocery store, although there is the question of where it could go. A grocery store would draw people in who live there, out of necessity, and then keep them there for other shopping, lunch, whatever, out of convenience in the fact that they are already there. The stores downtown now seem to cater to special interest..again, not a bad thing, but you can't have a viable downtown on just that. I too haven't been downtown in several years except for the occasional dr visit. I go to Spainhours around Christmas to add to my daughters' Vera Bradley collection. Once you get past the landscaping, downtown is all show, no substance.
As for the station, I know the city entertained quite a few proposals over YEARS, before finding the 'right' one. I believe one of them was from Clater Kaye Theatre Works. I'm not sure why that one wasn't looked into, but the facility they have on 127 in Mt View is ALWAYS busy with people coming and going, local and not so local. But hey, I'm sure the restaurant going in will draw some folks from out of town to come in, have a unique lunch, admire the flowers, buy an overpriced trinket, and then go home to look for the next town to visit for a day.
what restaurant has the city decided on...i have not read it in the hickory daily worker...is this just another attempt at a pub...what about the nuiasance law...how did they bypass this. why has the hickory paper not let folks know about the proposed new lowes grocery store..had to read that in the charlotte observer today....will MS Fox think this will create a traffic hazard for viewmont...i have not seen a single bad accident at the lowes of hickory on 127...no children from viewmont school have been killed either...we could have seen new jobs and a little more properity long before the city council the man that fought the issue for so long...he just held out to put more money in his pocket. also the cookout has not been a hinderance to the area...seems to have put the overpriced BT BURGER joint out of business.
That man's name is Clyde Stanley Hall, he used to be my landlord and I've always respected him because he treated my grandmother and myself well.
But, on that issue he certainly compromised his principles and created an issue where there was none. And it most certainly turned into a money grab and shed a very bad light on a lot of people in Northwest Hickory as far as I'm concerned.
Those shortsighted people were and still are taking our city in the wrong direction. We need to move forward into the 21st century and not surrender to the nostalgia of the 1960's. We see these people willing their archaic belief system all over this city and that is what has caused the economic malaise that we have been in since 2001.
You know that was the only issue that brought Jill Patton into office. They railroaded a good man out of office, because they said he didn't listen to the people. By all accounts John Watts was a very good councilman with a visionary view.
Look at that Lowe's hardware. It has definitely become an asset to Viewmont along with various other projects, such as the Panera Bread and Viewmmont Village.
When Pete Zagaroli's complex and the Lowe's Grocery store are completed, we will have the beginnings of a beautifully aesthetic North 127 going into the future.
Now we need to work on bringing other areas up to scale.
I think the Viewmont area is moving in the right direction of mixed residential and commercial property though I'd like more safe crossing zones for 127.
Dowtown while quaint-ish and nice for joggers, is a problem and a drain on Hickory, and I agree with many posts on this so far about getting real draws to the area and not gimmicks as well as addressing the surrounding poverty.
Still, I'm bothered by the big box march down hwy 70 just as much. Driving down hwy 70 from the exit off 321 by Mitchell Gold towards Conover-Newton saddens me. Here we've allowed large areas to go into complete disrepair and neglect as new shops are put up down the road. What's gonna happen when they keep moving? More empty, enormous buildings.
I would love the city to get some innovated ideas about how to inspire growth in the 70 corridor and reclaim those areas for viable business and even families.
In all fairness, perhaps it's being done; if such is the case, I'd love for city leaders to communicate with the people of Hickory what is being done about these situations.
Ant, The area that you are talking about has come about as a result of the neglect of South Hickory by city leaders and the mentality of "that's the way it's always been."
Well if it were that way back in the 1960s, then Sky City and Catawba Mall would have never been built in the first place.
One of the top 5 priorities of our city leaders needs to be to get the former Sky City complex revitalized. It fell into despair, in the 1980s and 1990s, when the area was not secured and the businesses were robbed out of existence.
It doesn't matter who is at fault for this problem as long as we recognize it and start trying to solve the problems.
There is revitalization going on in the area directly behind the Sky City complex (by Habitat for Humanity) and I applaud the city and Habitat for that effort.
We know that the vast, vast, vast majority of the black community did not condone the lawlessness and lack of security that took place in that area. Our community needs to empower this community to trust the police and know that the community is on their side and wants to help them police their community and make and keep it secure.
If this happens, then their community property will be more valuable and they will be able to have commercially viable enterprises where they live.
That will make the Hickory community as a whole better.
i know for a fact that the sky city complex is owned by a slum lord from greensboro. i used to write the rent checks to him on a monthly basis for the automall and the 3 spaces they rented there. the rent was thousands of dollars a month. i am sure he still owns that property. i cannnot remember his name or the realty company but as long as he is getting away with the rent prices there...nothing of any substance can be built there. i used to watch the prostitution going on in that area and up by the fence at the cemetary. what a shame. at one time there was a sw development organization run by steve ikerd...what ever happened to that. sure is ashame from 321 off ramp to the old pizza hut it looks so unsightly that hickory should be ashamed that prime property has gone to rack and ruin. did hear that big lots is moving to the old hamricks building but then there is another box store going to stand empty ! why cant the city condemn those properties and then have them razed. this was once the hub of hickory until the mall and catawba valley blvd came along. what a shame !
First and foremost we have inept leaders here in Hickory. Sally Fox is the second worst council member in History. John Watts aka: "Spanky" being the worst. Jill Patton is Sally's parrot. These past and present council members claim to be Christians but look at how they conduct their personal and professional lives.
Citizens also need to face the fact that Hickory is not a tourist town and never will be. There are no mountains here in Hickory like Boone and Asheville. No ocean, or beach, and no tourist type entertainments.
We had better start focusing on other areas of town including the Valley Hills Mall and the surrounding area. Most visitors from other areas are here to shop at Valley Hills Mall.
If Hickory built a Civic Center near the mall then that would attract even more tourists and bring more revenue to business owners and the city. If a Civic center were to be built we could have concerts with all types of music, sporting events, and all types of entertainment which would sell tickets, fill hotels and restaurants, and provide entertainment to citizens and tourists alike. It would also fill the mall with shoppers which is where most of Hickory residents shop anyway. Many businesses in the mall are owned by citizens and business owners who live here in Hickory. We neglect those small businesses when council throws money in attempts to "fix" downtown because "Silly Sally" owns a business there.
Let's build a large Civic Center in south Hickory near motels, restaurants, and the Valley Hills Mall. We would need at least a 5000 seat venue to bring inthe best entertainment. We could draw major acts and provide revenue to the city!
Bill Agapion is the G'boro slumlord that owns the old Sky City property. If you check the newspapers there, you'll see he was referred to as the worst slumlord in Greensboro. They actually bought some of his property to eliminate the blight.
He's apparently not doing anything illegal, though.
YOU ARE RIGHT !!!! I WROTE THOSE RENT CHECKS TO HIM FOR YEARS. WE EVEN HAD TO PAY TO MOW THE GRASS THERE...HAD TO DO OUR OWN REPAIRS. WHY CANT THE CITY BUY THAT PROPERTY AN MOW IT DOWN.....EVEN HE HAS HIS PRICE. PROBABLY HAS NOT SEEN THE PROPERTY IN YEARS. HE IS A SLUM LORD !!!! LET'S GET GOING ON THIS ISSUE AND STOP THE PROSTITUTION AND LOW LIFES IN THIS AREA IT COULD BE A VIABLE PART OF HICKORY AGAIN.
Todd Hefner - City of Hickory Economic Development Director...contact him with your thoughts on the old Sky City building.
Ant left the comment below in the section about 24,000 jobs lost in the Unifour -- I truly think it is pertinent to this dicussion.
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MDI is great and all, but those jobs don't address one of Hickory's glaring weaknesses, which is the low proportion of college-educated citizens. We need to bring jobs that will attract more highly-skilled, white-collar workers, who have the disposable income to make the service sector work well.
And on the whole downtown development thing, I found this quote from an article that was actually discussing the Kannapolis project, which seemed pertinent:
Creating a Substantial Foundation
According to Legg, to succeed in a downtown redevelopment requires “something substantial that moves downtown and creates well-paying jobs. And you have to create higher density residential sections that draw people downtown after hours and on weekends.” Bologna agrees and adds to the mix good corporate citizenship and developers with deep enough pockets to roll with the lean years. “You’ve got to have developers and clients who are not looking for a quick buck, who are looking to stay the course, and who can keep the vision they started out with,” he says.
Ultimately, says Legg, successfully revamping a downtown area requires a combination of vision and action. “You’ve got to get aggressive, take risks, and make it happen,” he says. “Most things usually fail because of a lack of vision. Once you get past that, then you can start working on the details.”
http://www.areadevelopment.com/siteSelection/aug07/downtownUpswing.shtml
Those who blast Fox and Wright must not remember the City Councils of the past. Almost every vote was unanimous with only token debate. It was truly a good ol' boys network. Yes, Sally can be aggravating at times, but I am glad to see some questions being asked when my tax money is at stake.
At least prior Councils, with Gary McGee as City Manager and Bill McDonald as Mayor, actually had some leadership and direction. If you were there, you'd have seen that they weren't merely "token" debates. Issues were thoroughly researched and questions were answered based on the law and the situation. Staff members were actually encouraged to speak the truth, regardless of which side it came down on. Under the Dictatorship that exists in City Hall, non-party views are neither appreciated nor tolerated. Now, we have the worst "Good ol' Boy" network imaginable -- one which can't get anything positive done, even among themselves.
Rudy's a lying snake. Anyone who's ever dealt with him personally or as the Mayor has realized this. He can't be trusted and his word is worthless.
Mick Berry, as the City Manager, is more worried about keeping Rudy happy and keeping his job than anything else. If he'd ever grow a pair and say, "That's not right, and we're not going to do it," most of the staff there would die of shock. He is truly the biggest toady who's done nothing but surround himself with yes-men that could possibly be imagined. Most of those with integrity that worked for the City have already left. Those remaining behind are too close to retirement to be able to afford to leave, or they're so far up Berry's backside that it's a wonder they can breath.
As you've pointed out many, many, times, Sally (and Jill, for the most part) care only about downtown. What's amazing is that Sally keeps getting elected -- she's got her little group of blue-haired friends who think that she walks on water because they don't need anything more done in Northwest Hickory -- which already gets a disproportionate amount of tax money for ridiculous, and often unnecessary, projects. This, of course, happens to the detriment of the rest of the City.
The best thing that could possibly happen to Hickory is for a tornado to obliterate the downtown business district so that we could start over again. If we're especially lucky, it'll be on either the first or third Tuesday and we'll have a chance at starting with a new Council and Administration as well.
One final comment -- most people in participatory government tend to get the administration they deserve. A majority of people keep electing Rudy, Sally and Jill. Because of the high lack of voter turnout, Hickory has no one to blame but it's citizens for the poor government we get.
I wonder how many of the 19% of our working population, that are high drop outs, participate in elections or in any local government issues. Yet, they are directly effected by the decisions of these people in North West Hickory and Downtown.
Should that Hornet's Nest get stirred up. then things could change drastically.
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