Category: economy

Not Alone, Against a lot

I heard about this while listening to NHPR, and though I haven’t listened to it yet I read the short version. It profiles Pittsburgh, a former steel town that now is trying to find its place in the present. (Incidentally, isn’t it great how sports teams used to represent the industrial? The Steelers, from a steel town; the Pistons, from the nation’s auto capital; the Bulls, from Chicago, the slaughterhouse city. A great history I think people forget.) Berlin could be in the rust belt, only instead of cars or steel it’s trees. But the struggles are the same. What’s next? they are asking in Pittsburgh, Ohio, Michigan and other states. I thought the parallels were apt.

Update: Listen to or read the complete story here. Or just sign up for the podcast; Marketplace never disappoints.

Along the same lines, someone recommended this to me as well, which talks more about the rural brain drain, something northern New Hampshire knows well.
I don’t know how anyone will use this information, but understanding the problem helps when formulating the solution.

On another note, as I drove home from the coast of Maine this evening I caught part of a radio talk show where the host was criticizing the President from a conservative slant that had little regard for the facts. I don’t have a problem with criticizing an administration, Republican or Democrat, but nonsensical ramblings with obvious biases do nothing to further discussion. Neither Keith Olbermann’s observations about the Bush administration nor Bill O’Reilly view of the Obama administration did anything constructive for the American people, and it is a shame millions of people’s minds are swayed by these men every day.
Berlin has to deal with the same kind of bias. When the mill was there residents dismissed the stink as “the smell of money,” I’ve been told. The money is now gone, and the city has to toughen up to the insults. There is no appropriate smug response today. The city can’t let the criticism get it down — heed the part that is accurate and let the rest go. Residents have to take a hard look at every aspect of the city in its current iteration and decide what to shed. That task can’t be taken lightly, and the city should never lose its sense of history and community, but it has to be done. No matter what the city does, there will invariably be detractors who have no investment in the community. Or there will be those people who are still trying to get past their own hangups associated with Berlin. Everywhere I go I hear this negative perspective. I heard it before I started working for the Reporter. Some of the criticism is valid, but much of it isn’t, it’s inane mudslinging, like that of Olbermann and O’Reilly. I have time to engage in discussions with thoughtful people who have misperceptions about the city; I don’t have time to argue every stupid comment someone makes. But someone has to, because there are people out there who take these nuts seriously. Just like Olbermann and O’Reilly, these people have followers who listen. It’s sad that Berlin has such an uphill battle, fighting bias along the way, but that seems to be a tenet of our society today. Get over it, ignore it, and formulate a plan to deal with it. Make the moves forward, regardless of what detractors are saying.

By the way: Both FOXNews and MSNBC are sad examples of news networks. I feel bad for anyone who watches either station. Watch both at the same time and you’re brain will catch on fire.

Bringing It In

Last weekend Brad White, the owner of International Mountain Climbing School in North Conway, guided a rock climbing client on Mount Forist, perhaps the first use of city’s resource in such a way. They climbed three routes, and it was the first time the client had ever been to Berlin. Mr. White told me she loved the entire experience.
Mr. White went to Mount Forist after hearing from an employee how good the climbing was up there, and that employee heard about it from me.
Mr. White approached me on Friday to ask if I knew who owned Mount Forist and whether there would be a problem if he put new routes on the cliff. I told him I thought it would be fine, since several city councils have expressed interest in making the cliff a climbing destination, and since I’d climbed up there with out any problems. If anything arose, I said, he’d at least have some supporters in his corner. He said good, because he’d like to go up there to establish more climbs.

It’s a good story, right? Something positive for the city? Climbing as a tool for opening up Berlin to new blood, a new industry inline with 21/21.

Maybe, but I see it as something more: it is a call to action for the city. It’s time to stop relying on random outsiders (me) to talk up Berlin, and it’s time for the city to take its future into its own hands.
Berlin has changed in the decade since the mill closed. I was never here to see it before, but lots of people were. Those people are still perpetuating an image of the city from that time.
Mr. White has been climbing in the area for 20 years, and he has owned IMCS for 10. He said he thinks Mount Forist will make a perfect beginner cliff, something that’s lacking around New England. He wants to develop it, guide on it, expose new people to the area. He wants to do what 21/21 wants to do, and he’s a guy with the connections to do it. Why did it take this long to get him up to Berlin? Because there is no indication in North Conway, just an hour away, that Berlin is any different than it was a decade ago. And if it takes 10 years to change opinions an hour away, I hate to think how long it’ll take to change people’s minds in Boston.

What about a bunch of posters at rest stops that say, Berlin, New Hampshire: It’s not what you think, with a photo of the river south of East Mason Street at sunrise? Or a view of the snow-covered mountains? Or of a climber on Mount Forist? Or a canoe on the Androscoggin? Would it really be so hard to make people question what they think they know about the city? Isn’t it obvious those opinions keep people away?

I’ve heard enough griping about how WMUR and other statewide media portray Berlin. “They don’t cover us unless we have a fire,” someone told me the other day. So? Is the city really a slave to some ABC affiliate? Is there really no other way to reach people?
What does it take to change a mind? I don’t know, but it will never happen unless someone challenging the inaccurate assumption.

There is a documentary project about Berlin in the works, and a few movies being aired in different places about the city, but the city lacks a concerted effort to change people’s minds. Who is going to trumpet the good in the city? Who will make it their full-time job? Changing those opinions takes work, but for 21/21 to work it has to happen.

The local outdoor communities are the next low-hanging fruit. There are hundreds of climbers every weekend who come to North Conway. Many are beginners who stand in line for the same crowded routes they climbed last weekend. Every one of them could be exposed to the new Berlin, but it will take an effort the city isn’t accustomed to.
First, you need the climbs to be there. That takes the New Hampshire climbing community shedding its bias against Berlin, and coming up to develop new routes. Will they shed that bias without a push from the city? Maybe. But I’ve heard Berlin is trying to be more proactive, instead of waiting for things to happen to it as it did in the past. Here is a great opportunity to prove it — figure out how to get those people up there putting in more routes. (Want suggestions? Just ask.)
Then, once the cliff is developed, go on neclimbs.com and start posting pictures of people on the rock, the routes and the beautiful view of Success and the Mahoosucs from the cliff. Appeal to the climbing community with a new, well-developed cliff and they will come.
And then wait for the season to change. I can’t tell you now if Mount Forist is worth ice climbing, but I can come January. Then do the same thing on neice.com.

I don’t have a solution for Berlin’s troubles, but that’s because there isn’t one. One solution was the 20th century model for doing things in Berlin, with one employer supporting the entire economy. Now the city is looking for strength in diversity. ATVs seem to be taking off. I am offering a lead on how to revitalize the area through outdoor recreation. These are the makings of the broad-based economy Berlin has been looking for. Who is going to follow up on this lead? Who is going to make it happen? Change some minds. Remake Berlin.

Berlin, New Hampshire: It’s not what you think.

Blue Collar Prophets

It is my first day home after a four-night holiday weekend. My wife and I mini-vacationed on the coast of Maine, visiting family along the way. The drive back to northern New Hampshire was eerie after a summer of traffic. The roads were quiet and the sidewalks were empty; my first thought was how nice it is to have our town back. Shops are still open though, and businesses will have to shift into survival mode for the next few months. It’ll be a long fall before the skiers arrive.

Where I grew up on the coast of Maine there was only one season — summer. Midcoast towns are bleak in January, with boards covering windows and vacant parking lots. Tourism is a tough industry to build an economy on, with its seasonal nature and unpredictability.

What does the current economic upheaval mean for those businesses, and by extension, those towns? They are still guessing at what the environment will be. A city like Berlin may be well positioned to become an outdoor recreation destination, but for the first time in half a century the way Americans recreate is threatened.
What happens if disposable incomes dry up enough to impact the number of skiers and riders coming north this winter? What if it costs too much to cart three snowmobiles 100 miles north for a weekend ride? What will become of the North Country? What will happen to the cities that rely on that income?
Last year I did a story on NHPR News about ski areas. I was interested in how the economic crisis was affecting their business. The basic attitude was snow conditions trump economic conditions. If the weather cooperates, ski areas do fine. In addition, the New York Times reported people accustomed to vacationing at Western resorts like Vail or Jackson Hole were staying closer to home, resulting in greater numbers of skiers in “drive markets.” The result was a busy year for Attitash and Wildcat. The poor economy, it seemed, didn’t affect them.
But mulitply that scenario out over several years. The economy does not rebound; it plods slowly forward, another jobless recovery. Credit markets stay tight, and Americans no longer spend fast and loose. What does that mean for those towns that rely on that income?
In North Conway, which has a long history as a recreation destination, such a transformation would be devastating. A huge portion of the jobs there are in retail and hospitality, almost entirely supported by outside dollars. There isn’t the population to support the outlet stores, hotels and restaurants in the town, and if the tourists stopped coming they would quickly fold.

How different is that from the mill that supported Berlin for a century? What type of cataclysmic event would it take to devestate North Conway’s infrastructure in a similar way? Could a loss of American supremacy in global markets and the corresponding loss of the American consumer’s purchasing power do it? What happens in North Conway if China overtakes the U.S. as the world’s economic driver? Where will that leave places like the coast of Maine?

How will out of work people go on vacation? Who will pay those communities’ bills when there is no gridlock of Massachusetts license plates?

Berlin has a blue collar mindset, people say. Some complain about it: it holds the city back from joining in the new economy. But part of that blue collar history is a yearning to make something. Berlin is a city with a history of exporting a product, something this country does too little of today. The idea that computers or ATVs or anything else will replace manufacturing in Berlin is no more realistic there than it is for the rest of the country.
A city that relies on tourism in a country that over-borrowed and is now trying to make good on its debts it is bound to see tough times. Only so much paper can be shuffled, websites can be built and meals can be served before the fact that no one makes anything becomes clear. There has to be some sort of production for the country to survive, and it is that blue collar mindset that reminds us of that.

It can’t be furniture or shoes — they are made cheaper elsewhere, as former Ethan Allen and Bass shoe workers around the North Country can attest. But providing tourists with “good times” only works with a robust economy, in a robust future. Without something solid to base the national economy on those jobs are no more secure than a paper mill.
Berlin has an aversion to letting go of its industrial past. That sentiment is a good one, not just for the future of Berlin, but also for the future of the country. It is a sentiment key to reestablishing a foundation on which tourist towns can survive. If the city of Berlin is the last outpost resisting a service-only economy, where food is cooked and hands are shook but nothing is created, it should be celebrated. The industrial base has to be there.

Like all things, the blue collar mindset is part good and part bad. It may be a hindrance to developing in the city into its early 21st century iteration, but it is also a pertinent reminder of the failing of that iteration. It is a reminder of the rotting underpinnings of the current U.S. economy. This isn’t a problem Berlin can solve, but it is a perspective residents shouldn’t forget. It is a perspective that will hopefully keep them from once again constructing an economy around what could prove to be a bankrupt model.
The idea of a tourist destination may be attractive, but the “smell of money” the city lost was an economic foundation the country needed, and needs to figure out how to replace. The grumblings of a few who reject the new chosen path may have some value after all.

Mission: Accepted

The city has the opportunity to apply for a grant for $14 million to fix every city street. Every road would be repaired and brought from its present condition to very good or excellent condition. The understanding, however, according to city manager Pat MacQueen, is that if the city accepts the grant it will spend $600,000 a year to maintain those roads. The city currently spends between $120,000 and $300,000 a year, according to public works director Mike Perreault. City councilors did not balk at the idea; in fact they were enthusiastic about the chance to improve the city’s infrastructre.
At the same time, housing coordinator Andre Caron has several buildings slated to come down in the next several months. October will be a busy month, he said. The two burned out buildings on Main Street will be among those razed.
Sylvia Poulin and the Main Street program worked in partnership with BIDPA over the weekend to beautify the Rite Aid block, planting trees, mulching, adding benches and more. Their efforts are noticeable as you pass on the street.

People have had criticisms: Why did it take until now to get those buildings demolished? Why did city beautification wait until the fall? Why has the city let its infrastructure fall into such disrepair in the first place? These are valid critiques, but they miss the big picture. Berlin is improving. The city has people dedicated to finding their own path forward, not relying on the benevolent will of an industrial polluter to balance their budget. True, they haven’t had that option in a decade, but the “mill mentality” kept the city plodding downward at the same lethargic pace. These efforts, though but a drop in the bucket, represent the turning tide of Berlin’s approach. Residents needs something to rally around, something big to draw them out of their shells to embrace their municipality. These aren’t it, but what they are is something residents can be proud of. Instead of cursing the city for its backward leadership and petty infighting, these are examples of forward thinking actions and decisions. As I said, I feel like I’m here at a time of tremendous positive change in the city, and yesterday I stumbled on a number of examples of it. What are some others?

Strained Responses

Marketing, people, I’m talking about marketing!
I know there are people who are passionate about Laidlaw, one way or the other. I agree it is a big issue, and both Berlin papers have done a miserable job reporting on it. I intend to change that. I want to find out more about the company, about its history, about North American Dismantling, and about every aspect of biomass as it affects the citizens of Berlin.
BUT IT IS ONLY ONE ISSUE!
Will bringing Laidlaw to the area solve all Berlin’s problems? No. Will keeping Laidlaw from opening in the area solve all Berlin’s problems? No.
Stop trying to make the story of Berlin the story of Laidlaw. It isn’t; it is only one part. I intend to use this blog to discuss all the issues I see as pertenant. Anyone who would like to join in the discussion is welcome.
Nancy Clark, owner of the Glen Group, a marketing company in North Conway hired to market the North Country, said she doesn’t see the boiler as that big an issue, whether it’s making electricity or rusting away. There are bigger issues to deal with than this. Even if North American Dismantling conspired with Laidlaw to sell them the boiler so PSNH can buy a biomass plant in five years that isn’t the biggest issue in Berlin. It isn’t the thing that will cause the city to fail or allow it to succeed.
Norm Charest said Berlin doesn’t have anything to market. He said the blight has to go before it is worth it. I completely disagree. I think Mr. Charest is afflicted with the same disease everyone else that has stared at the boiler too long suffers from: blindness. Or call it a lack of vision. There are business people moving here. They see opportunity. Burned out buildings will keep some people away — people looking for a sure thing. But that doesn’t mean they will keep everyone away.
People in search of a guaranteed investment will not come to Berlin. The city can’t offer a 10 percent rate of return. But people like Curt Burke are willing to invest millions of dollars in the area. Is he crazy? Or does he see something?
Coupled with Tim Cayer, Katie Paine, and Tom Bendah, that makes a spark. As Berlin knows, it only takes a spark to start a fire.
People are moving to the area. I have been profiling businesses for more than a month of people from here and from away who want to live in Berlin. It can draw. Why does even Mr. Charest refuse to see that?
I worry when the economic development director has lost faith in the city. But in this case I don’t worry for Berlin. The city does not have its plans in order to attract people. It is not doing a good job at marketing. But people are coming. The efforts of the state, which have failed Berlin for years, appear to be one of the few efforts citizens can count on. And yet people come.
Dick Huot, manager of Northern Forest Heritage Park, got a Maine television program to profile St. Kieran Community Center for the Arts, Northern Forest Heritage Park, Gorham Moose Tours and Jericho Mountain State Park. Where are other efforts like this? If the opinion is the area is too blighted and burned out to market, than this would be folly. Guess what? It isn’t folly. It is exactly what the city should be doing, the economic development director should be doing, and every private business in the area should be doing. The chamber of commerce, of which Mr. Huot is a member, should be working as hard as possible to get these images of the city out there.
Take a look at this video. Is it really so hard to imagine these pictures can’t bring people to the area? Is there really so much blight this sort of effort is futile?
I don’t think so, and so I don’t want to see a valid discussion about marketing turned into a debate about biomass.
Want to talk about Laidlaw? Fine, but don’t try to drown out other pertinent discussions with your personal obsession, at least not on this blog. I, as the local newspaper reporter, am working to improve every aspect of Berlin and the surrounding towns. That means I will be covering dozens of issues, and one issue cannot take all the oxygen out of the room, extinguishing all other conversation. So please, open up a little, and care about more in Berlin than just one issue. It does not all come back to Laidlaw. It used to all come back to the mill. Those days are over; help me determine what comes next.

And one more thing: instead of asking, “What is the state going to do to market the area?” when I say, “You can read about it in next week’s Berlin Reporter,” pick up a copy of the paper. Don’t ask me to tell you what I’m reporting on for free. You can buy 40 hours worth of my work for 50 cents — that’s cheap enough.

More on Marketing: Relying on the State

New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development has hired a North Conway company, the Glen Group, to do marketing for the North Country. Part of the plan is to throw an event at Jericho Mountain State Park. Mayor David Bertrand said previous councils relied on the state to market Berlin, and the results didn’t do much for Berlin. Is this one more example of the same?
Chris Gamache from New Hampshire Trails said if a campground wasn’t completed by the time of the event next July they would route people down the railroad bed to Moose Brook State Park in Gorham. Councilor Ryan Landry spoke up and said the council would rather keep the people in Berlin. But Berlin’s hopes aren’t the issue at the top of the state’s list. Councilor Landry said he wanted to keep people in the city; is DRED and NH Trails working to further those goals, or to promote the state park for the state park’s sake?
The city needs to continue working on its own to change people’s minds. Mayor Bertrand was correct: the city in the past relied too heavily on the state. They don’t want to do that again this time.
I’ll be talking with the Glen Group, Chris Gamache and DRED to find out more about this proposition; look for it in next week’s Berlin Reporter. Hopefully the city will not rely on these organizations’ efforts alone. The city recognized the 21/21 initiative as something they should embrace to move forward, but when it came to marketing the talk got fuzzy. Who in the city is going to make sure that doesn’t once again fall to the wayside? If everything changes and the city is renewed, but no one comes because no one knows every business will fail before people’s perception of the city changes. The marketing has to start now, so people will come so the businesses can survive and grow.

Tonight’s Meeting

On the agenda for tonight at Berlin City Council: Economic Development/Promoting Berlin Discussion.
Councilors will be discussing what the city can do to better promote itself. I hope that is a discussion that continues throughout the city. It isn’t something that should just be happening at city hall; the ramifications continue down Main Street, out Route 110, and throughout Coös County.
Hopefully that discussion will spark more of them, and marketing can become the thing residents rally around.

I was discussing marketing today with someone, trying to get some background on Laidlaw, and they pointed out that, from a marketing perspective, an abandoned stack in the middle of town is probably worse than a biomass facility. Who will come up with the money to tear down that stack if it isn’t used? I’m meeting with Mayor David Bertrand in half an hour to ask that question. Laidlaw has become an issue that divides this city, when it needs more than ever to be united. I’d like to find some answers to those questions, to poke holes in all sides of the debate. I can’t see the city spending money to demolish the stack, so how will it ever get better? A tweeter told me Dover declared their stack historic and stuck cell phone antennas on it. Honestly, its the only idea I’ve heard, so right now it sounds like a good one.
I’m coming into this debate, as I said last night, like the last one to a busted up party. But I still think there is a discussion worth having that does not see eye to eye with either side.
Is Laidlaw good? In the sense that it would provide jobs and do something with that stack, yes. Is the company bad, as some insist? I don’t know. I will be looking into that in the near future.
But what about Berlin? What does it do? A couple weeks ago Councilor Ryan Landry said if Laidlaw doesn’t build there someone else will. Likely true. Will it turn off tourists? Councilor Tim Cayer is working to bring ATVers here with a hunk of junk on the mill site. Are they turning away because of the stack? The ones I spoke to at Jericho didn’t care, but of course they are the ones that came. It is hard to determine what the real ramifications of the city’s decisions will be.

I guess that’s my question: If not a biomass facility, then what? Forget Laidlaw. Who will take down that relic? Who is going to pay for it? What is the better alternative?

The city is getting serious about its image, it seems. What will that image be? Councilor David Poulin had the great idea to get the stacks off the city seal. Who is proposing getting the stacks out of the city? How are they going to do it? Who is going to pay for it? Isn’t Clean Power building stacks instead of erasing them? What is this fascination with the old mill site and where has it gotten the city? It’s like an ex-wife the city can’t get over, can’t seem to escape the memories of.

I intend to find some answers, but I’m interested in your response. Laidlaw is just a symptom. I’ll find out about it, but that still doesn’t deal with the pink elephant in the room. Or is it a gray boiler? Whatever.

In Medias Res

So I haven’t posted in the last several days because I spent most the week chasing down stories more complicated than I understand. I spent so much time at conversations with people that didn’t result in stories that I wound up scraping for stories by the end of the week. Whenever I write a story I usually only put 25 percent of what I’ve learned into the paper. The rest is background and information to make sure I can explain it effectively. With what I’m looking at now, that isn’t the case. It is so vast and complex I’m treading water trying to comprehend it all.
Laidlaw and Clean Power — two companies the city has been fighting over since long before I arrived. What does each one represent? How many jobs would each bring, and what kind of jobs would they be? Can the forest sustain both? What sort of neighbors will they make? These are big issue to some people, and so they have to be to me too. The Reporter is the residents’ paper first and my paper second; if an issue is important to them it is important to me. It’s just up to me to explain it.
But this issue is different than explaining the city’s marketing problem, or its blue collar mindset. It’s different than recounting a city council meeting, or explaining the RSA 155B process, or profiling a restaurant. It’s about power purchase agreements, and PUC rules, and least cost options. It’s about Ellicottville, NY, and Portsmouth, and Concord, and Berlin. It’s about power, and it’s about power.
I don’t care about debates; I care about facts. Will a biomass plant look like hell in the center of town? Sure, if your priority is scenery and a tourism economy, but not if your priority is industrial jobs. I’m not looking for scenery, and I’m not looking to cover fluff. That discussion belongs in an article about marketing, not in one about power. The real questions I’ve got involve substance.
I find myself in the middle of a debate I don’t know the history of, expected to get to the root of it to explain to the people who were around for it. This is a blog, and not the place where I actually report; that’s in the paper, where more people actually care what I write and it affects people’s lives. People in Berlin seem to have already made up their minds about this issue, and I’m not sure they’ve done so on evidence. More often it seems they decided on gut feelings. I’m going to find evidence to prove whether those gut feelings are right or whether they’re crap. Love Laidlaw? I want to show you it’s evil. Hate Laidlaw? I want to prove their perfect. My goal is to test every hypothesis from every side, to tap it and poke it until the actual facts fall to the floor screaming, “Here I am! Here I am! Just leave me alone!”
Berlin’s economic future it tenuous, but the sun is rising after years of black. The residents deserve to know how their actions (or inaction) will affect them. I’ve heard that my stories have brought new customers to businesses struggling to survive. They have breathed life into things formerly dormant. The city of Berlin needs something to believe in, I hear. I can’t deliver something to believe in, but they’ll be able to believe the Berlin Reporter.
I’m not sure if this is a threat, or who it goes out to. To a reporter, truth is thicker than water. If you live in Berlin I wouldn’t expect to stop hearing about this issue anytime soon. And expect to hear from some voices you haven’t heard before. This is why I chose this profession. Now I get to see what I can do.

A Little Respect, Please

I sat down with economic development director Norm Charest the other day and had a talk about marketing and Berlin’s future (a good recap of the conversation will be in next week’s Berlin Reporter). He pointed out that marketing will only go so far when the first thing people see in the city is burned out buildings and decrepit houses. He said he didn’t see that marketing would amount to much, which I don’t agree with, but he did make an interesting point. He brought a business owner to the veteran’s park along the Dead River to show how beautiful the area is. They walked along the river for a little bit and then popped out the other side, with a great view of Mount Forist. The first thing the guy noticed, though, was a burned out building on Second Avenue.
That inspired me to take a walk along that same path, to see what that park is really like. I ducked in the woods wherever I could, checked out the Dead River and sat under the railroad trestle. What astounded me wasn’t the burned out building on Second Avenue, or the one on York Street, but it was the condition of the park, from A to Z, and the crap sitting in the Dead River.
Mr. Charest said it had been a long time since Berlin residents had anything to rally around, anything to really bring people together. He and I don’t see eye to eye on all aspects of Berlin’s development, but I can understand his point there. I think the Notre Dame renovation has been a rallying point, but not enough to energize the city. There needs to be something to pick the city up; something people can believe in.
But then, I remember what Dana Willis said. He is one of the developers of the Notre Dame project. He said it was the community involvement and effort he saw from Project Rescue Notre Dame that convinced him to do something with the building. PJND painted the windows blue, the school color, and cleaned up around the property. So was is it the renovation of Notre Dame that rallied these people, or was it the rally that led to the renovation?
Walking along the Dead River, it wasn’t the burned out buildings that caught my eye. It was the truck tires sitting in the river and the trash along the bank. Wondering what the photo is at the top of this post? It’s the bicycle sitting in the Dead.
Berlin needs to rally. Yes, there are burnt out buildings, and they aren’t going away fast enough. But what about the bicycle in the Dead River? What about the tires there too? What about the properties not adequately maintained? What about trash on the side of the road.
I hear the arguments already, about people not doing their part with their property. So what? Did Project Rescue Notre Dame worry that there were other vacant buildings on their street? Is there any excuse for the amount of debris in the Dead River? Does anyone need permission to clean it up?
This evening I volunteered to go out and pick up trash around Cathedral Ledge, to keep a place I care about clean. There are people who throw beer bottles off the top of the cliff. It will be me and others like me that clean up their trash. Who will clean up Berlin’s trash? Who will invest their time to clean it up?
No one can clean up the fires though, right? Wrong. The city is doing what it can to obtain and demolish dilapidated properties. Having worked on a story about this I am convinced the city is doing everything it can. Every few weeks at the city council meeting I hear about another building going through the RSA 155B process. It is hard for the government — city, state or federal — to deprive people of their property, which everyone should be grateful of. It takes time to change the charred landscape. Be patient.
And if you feel like complaining, go out and fish some trash out of the Dead River. Ante up and do your part, instead of bitching the city isn’t doing theirs. Become part of the rally that turns Berlin around. Or shut up and let the people who care about Berlin put the city back together.