City leaders share vision for Roebling rehabilitation
Gentrification or Trentification supporters have spoken. Several local politicians responded to real-life issues of physical, emotional and spiritual deterioration of people and places in Chambersburg and in other Trenton territories with typical smokescreen — Eureka! Let’s have another Mayor Reed Gusciora-sponsored clean up.
Lives of residents hang in the balance, Chambersburg looks and smells like crap yet these pol-cats think they can drop a dollop of whipped cream on this pile of patooey and convince us that dessert awaits. Wow, political double-speak that tastes like chicken.
Here’s the tale of the tape in a statement offered by the Gusciora administration regarding a clean up scheduled for an abandoned parcel of land identified as Roebling II. First up, East Ward Councilman Joseph Harrison.
“We cannot stand idly and let industry pass us by,” Councilman Harrison noted, “the only way that this is going to get done is if we get our hands dirty. This is our silver shovel economic plan, and we’re not afraid to pick up the shovel ourselves.”
“Cannot stand idly by and let industry pass us by” but we can let people drink all day on Bayard Street then pass out on sidewalks near St. Joachim Parish; can let people sleep on porches of abandoned homes on Washington St; can let responsible residents face off against drug dealers on Hudson St; can allow a slow deadly deterioration of people and dreams on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard; can allow break-ins of cars, can dismiss illegal actions of landlords and despicable behaviors of tenants; can allow people to trash Trenton, etc.
When concerns about industry move ahead of considerations of individuals then leaders have lost their way, minds or both. The business of business can never trump the conditions of people.
The statement identified Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli (D-15) as ‘equally enthusiastic about the (clean up) initiative. He stressed the need for community volunteers.’ “If Trentonians want to see change in their neighborhood, they need to come out to events like these. This council is committed to progress.”
If Trentonians want to see change in their neighborhood they need to stay home, break out a broom and maintain a level of decency. No reason for housecleaning with Mayor Gusciora and the dog and pony show when your streets line with trash and wanton weeds.
And the Verelli intimation that this council is committed to progress belies the fact that they stopped a Princetel redevelopment proposal that would have upgraded Roebling II although supporters of the project deliver misinformation. Redevelopment jobs would have dispensed to outsiders and the jobs at Princetel were earmarked for carpetbaggers. Plus, in this second go-round, only Harrison jumped on board to support Gusciora’s clean up effort.
The pressed statement noted Mayor Gusciora has sponsored cleanups like this one at a variety of locations throughout the Capital City since the start of his term last July.
“We need to show the world how primed our City is for redevelopment. What we cannot do is wait. The skeleton of industry is still here, and all it’ll take is a little elbow grease before businesses start to realize what an opportunity they’ll have in the City of Trenton,” Gusciora.
When leaders give redevelopment priority over people, place remediation of soil before the reclamation of souls, and discuss distant destinations ahead of investments in humans right here and right now, then they move us toward disillusionment.
The Battle of Trenton demands a call for action in the trenches of Mr. Trent’s town, on the streets where people wake to face the challenges of daily life and turn out the lights hoping they get blessed with another tomorrow.