Letters to the Editor

I write letters to the editors of our local newspapers whenever I have a concern. These have been over many topics over the years. I used to write directly to our congressmen and always received a reply so I assumed my concerns were being noted.

I have a young friend who served as an aide for Al Gore when Al Gore was vice president. He told me that I was wasting my time by writing to the congressmen and women. He said one of the responsibilities of the staff was to read and answer mail using what he called a "position book". Then the name of the congressperson is stamped on the answer with a signature stamp. I should have known!

I asked him about the best way to get their attention and he told me to write letters to the editors of the local newspapers. He said, they had a clipping service and kept track of those expressed concerns because the letters were reaching thousands of their constitutes. That's what started my letters to the editors.

I used to write a lot about the war and our need to get out of it. Both my sons have served in this war. My eldest, 53 years old, was in the National Guard and was activated and sent to Iraq. Our youngest, in regular army as a career, has been deployed three times. Actually counting Bosnia, he has been deployed four times in five years. Both men's marriages were destroyed. Keith's was a marriage of five years but Scott's was a 24 year marriage. Keith has remarried now but Scott is still single and very unhappy about it.

Lately my concerns are different. They concern my hometown. This used to be a charming little town of around 10,000 - 20,000 people. After Urban Renewal in 1969, it began to go downhill. Urban Renewal installed tile awnings over the buildings that would have been appropriate in Phoenix but were not at all appropriate in Kansas. The pigeons roost there and drop their droppings on the sidewalks below. Urban Renewal also made several one way streets which were not necessary in a small town. Over the years, the buildings downtown were allowed to run down and business, what there was of it....fast food, mainly, moved to the highway.

Little by little the retail business disappeared. It is a shame.

A year ago, two historic things happened. We were granted a "Main Street" status to help spruce up the town and we had an historic flood that completely wiped out the east side of the community.

The worst part was that the sewer plant from Independence, up river, was inundated in the same flood and their raw sewage washed down to Coffeyville. Besides that, one of the tanks full of oil at the refinery here was inundated and oil washed over the entire east side too. Between the refinery and the FEMA program, the east side has been involved in a buyout and over the past year, demolished. Now we will have a gigantic park on the east side of town that will have to be constantly mowed to keep it neat.

Nothing much has been done with the Main Street designation. There has been a lot of talk but no action that is discernible. So that is the topic I have addressed lately.