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Saturday, Aug 30, 2008
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Time for a change |
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| Time for a change | ||
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by Dennis Cavalier -
Special to the SGN
Seattle has experienced serious growing pains in the last couple of years. We are no longer the little city that rests sleepily along the waters of Puget Sound. Over the last decade, Seattle has grown larger, denser, noisier, dirtier and more dangerous than ever before. Condominiums are popping up like a cancer cell gone wild, replacing homes and businesses with mid-rise corrugated-tin abominations of design. Attempting a walk down the street has become gradually more difficult as luxury condominium projects fence off our sidewalks and streets for dozens of months at a time to pave the way for profit. Landmark buildings we all knew are being demolished, almost overnight, to make way for these million-dollar shoebox homes just big enough for a small table and a chair. Traffic woes are beyond anything we could have imagined here in the Northwest. Couple that with the sad condition of the roads we have to drive on, the fees we have to pay just to get out of our cars to go to work, the store, or even just to stay home - and the lack of available space to park our cars in - and it's a wonder how anyone can live here without wanting to scream, "Enough!". The crimes reported in the papers and on television are escalating in seriousness. Hate crimes against LGBT people are still happening here in our own neighborhoods, and prosecuting them has been difficult as the Seattle Police Department struggles to adapt to diversity and sensitivity within their ranks. Having once been in a relationship with a closeted policeman here in Seattle, I heard many stories of the crude remarks, and hate-based complacency that permeates the "benevolent order" of law enforcement when it came to protecting LGBT people from violent crimes. One exception is the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, but if the cases don't come to his desk - they can't be prosecuted. Despite current efforts, more and more people are ending up in jail or prison due to "Meth". In the most recent funding decisions, our city cut funding for mental health agencies and chemical dependency counseling, forcing many back out onto the streets or into their addictions and mental illnesses. The murder of Mike Webb raised even more red flags about what is happening, but is anybody looking? Are our Councilmembers listening? What about our Mayor? It's time to start asking our community leaders to get to work, or find another job. This year, we all have another opportunity to voice our concerns; it's called "voting". The primary elections are about to take place and those of us who are unhappy with the direction in which our city is headed have a duty to make this change happen. It's time to take back our city and point it in the direction it should be going. Get rid of the dead weight we have been carrying around in our city's administration, and let's bring accountability and performance back into the picture. Here's your chance. What are you going to do? |
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