DEAR EDITOR:
Alan Viarengo’s response (letters, Nov. 14) to my letter of Nov.
13 was surprising in that it claimed I advocate socialism as a cure
for downtown blight. Actually, the opposite is true.
DEAR EDITOR:
Alan Viarengo’s response (letters, Nov. 14) to my letter of Nov. 13 was surprising in that it claimed I advocate socialism as a cure for downtown blight. Actually, the opposite is true.
I advocated that the city stop trying to use taxpayer money as a cure-all for downtown’s ills. Instead of endlessly studying broader schemes and getting nothing done, I believe something simple would be a good first step: The city should pressure the owners of dilapidated property to bring it up to snuff, and if that fails, THEN the city should take over the property and sell it to someone who would take care of it.
This isn’t a call for socialism. It’s a call for reasonable care and feeding of the city, and cities of every size do this all the time. When some owners intentionally let their properties fall into disrepair to the extent that their neighbors have difficulty attracting tenants and customers, it results in lost sales for all of them and lost sales tax revenues for the city and county. This is unfair not only to the other business owners, but to everyone. After all, cities count on sales tax to help pay for services such as firefighting, police, street lights, etc.
I’m not asking for a fancy-dancy downtown, as Mr. Viarengo states. And rather than stay out of downtown, I want to patronize local businesses (and would like to see more of them), because I’d rather keep my fellow Gilroyans employed than go elsewhere.
Furthermore, I don’t expect or want Monterey Street to be another downtown Los Gatos. But when there are empty, debris-filled, or boarded-up storefronts that don’t look even vaguely appealing to potential tenants, and the owners of those places don’t seem to care, then it’s time for city pressure – because nothing will change otherwise. Invoking eminent domain should always be a last resort, but short of using already tight tax dollars to perform the renovations to run-down properties, cities have few other options.
Tom Mulhern, Gilroy
Submitted Thursday, Nov. 14 to ed****@ga****.com
