Here is a link to an article in Sunday's Hickory Daily Record:
Downtown Vital to Hickory's Identity
Take a good whiff of the aroma of your morning coffee to disguise the smell of this manure laden article. It is time to get real. Downtown is a Boondoggle. Look at definitions 2 and 3 of Boondoggle below. That is exactly what our downtown area is. I have linked to the posts that I have written about downtown at the bottom of this article. You make the choice. In these trying economic times, I feel that it is not only time to reign in the power the Downtown Development Association has within this city, it is time for it to be self sustaining and stand on its own two feet.
Boondoggle:
1) a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.
2) work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.
3) a project funded by the federal government out of political favoritism that is of no real value to the community or the nation.
Our downtown has been mismanaged and good money has been thrown after bad for over 20 years. Here come the same ole people, Fox, Kincaid, Yates, et al, waddling up to the trough looking for more of OUR MONEY. I guarantee that this article is the precursor to that.
Connie Kincaid's salary comes from funds furnished by Hickory Tax dollars approved by the Hickory City Council. Mrs. Fox has conflicts of interest by sitting on the Downtown Development Association Board that receives funds that are directly approved by the Hickory City Council. She needs to step down from one or the other. Mr. Yates group bought the Hickory Station two years ago and it continues to rot. When is that restaurant ever going to open?
Mrs. Patton and Mrs. Fox were directly responsible for the Hickory Drinking Establishment Moratorium issue that was basically smoke and mirrors to keep a couple of Hispanic-American brothers, who are citizens of this country, from opening up a dance club near downtown. They have tried to micromanage every facet of our city's economy. Haven't they done a wonderful job?
It is high time to get responsible and accountable people in decision making positions in our city and it is time to get these people out of our pockets.
Links from the Hound that have valid points about our Downtown issues:
An All-American City deserves first-class leadership
Building the Bridge to Hickory’s Future
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 16, 2008
This Ain't Podunkville Anymore
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of October 7, 2008
Nuisance Law is a Nuisance
Newsletter about the Moratorium Workshop on November 4, 2008
Watch Out Folks -- Taxpayer Alert -- Downtown Parking Deck
A New Equation!!!
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of November 18, 2008
TIME TO CHANGE WEAK ETHICS RULE by Harry Hipps
Tax Money Spent on Downtown Interests from 2002 to Present
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Sunday, February 15, 2009
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4 comments:
See my comments as a former business owner at the article's site.
Great comment on the article Anonymous. Your insight reflects the wisdom of someone who's gone through the ups and downs of a business cycle. You end discussing the customer and rightly, we must ask ourselves, what will bring consumers to downtown hickory? An idea of what a "Downtown" should look like is fine, but if that idea only exists on the good graces of the tax dollar, it will eventually fail. This really isn't rocket science. If one thing doesn't work, try another. We can afford mistakes; we just can't afford repeating them.
Who is missing from the equation in this article. We have three individuals running for city government positions in the upcoming election and one who is suspiciously missing. Any of you care to guess who that may be? It is Z. Anne Hoyle
Did Mr. Gould even care to contact her? She deserves as much input on Downtown Development issues as either Mrs. Fox, Mrs. Patton, or Mayor Wright. Why is she missing from this article?
Ms. Hoyle is the Alderlady from the Ridgeview section, which is just three blocks from Union Square and as much a part of downtown as any of the sections in Northeast or Northwest Hickory.
The grocery store went out of business downtown, because of the ignorance towards the need to develop Ridgeview. Ridgeview became blighted and problems were ignored and allowed to fester for years during the late 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Anyone remember the InnTowner motel? These problems led to the Galaxy being robbed out of business.
That was a thriving store when it was the A&P when I was a child. My Grandparents would all go there to shop.
My grandmother is Mattie Padgett, she was Lilly Ann on WIRC before doing the Swap Shop for years after Lee Douglas Retired. My mother used to work for Dunhill Employment when I was growing up.
I remember the days of the thriving downtown. We shopped at Sears. We shopped at Belk's when it was where Hong Kong Cafe is.
I received a $50 bank account, because I was born on the 75th anniversary of the First National Bank -- July 15, 1966. I was there the first day the First National Bank Building opened downtown -- The Wachovia Building. We thought downtown was going to be something then. I was there when the last passenger train passed through in 1975.
I used to eat Chef salads and Club Sandwiches at McGuire's while my mother worked in the building above it. I remember what a thriving downtown was and it certainly isn't what it is today.
Downtown had direction then, but then the closeknit cabal closed out everybody and didn't want any diversity of suggestions. They have had all the answers.
The problem today is that cheap begets cheap and these people aren't willing to invest in their own property. How many coats of paint can you slap on those 100 year old buildings and still call it renovation?
We need to start working on the health and well-being of areas of this city. A healthier robust economy will allow downtown to enjoy the fruits of diversity brought about by increased standards of living. We need to build up downtown from the outside-in and quit trying to do it from the inside-out.
The downtown area of Hickory missed the boat when the minor league ballpark was not built as a multi-use facility near the center of the city. Aside from that, it will likely never thrive without a bell cow retail business, a grocery store and a hotel, all of which it once had. You're right that the city seems to fear anything on the other side of the tracks.
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