Focused Citizens Can Restore City Vision

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Considering the low priority and funding category the city administration allows it’s parks to fall into, the Sunday Janesville Gazette editorial headline, “Friends can help city restore Riverside Park” seemed to be another shot at the usual synthetic publicity excusing the city administration of it’s core responsibilities. Perhaps the title,”City can help Friends restore Riverside Park” would have more accurately portrayed the parties.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Money that the group raises and labor it can provide will help restore luster to the crown jewel in this City Of Parks.

Crown jewel,eh? In many ways, Riverside Park is to Janesville what Lincoln Park or perhaps even Navy Pier is to Chicago. It has gobs of potential. That a
citizen group of passionate individuals start up a web page, create a citizen board, spent 450 hours of labor and raised $4,200 to provide fishing access is a direct reflection to how far out of touch the city administration is with the community.

What is the city focused on? In a recent display of budget priorities, the city council of Wisconsin’s Park Place thought it wise to siphon the funds for maintenance needs of one of Janesville's architectural and historical treasures, the Tallman House, out of the city park mowing fund, a tank already running on empty.

I sense that people want change, but not by bulldozing Janeville’s history or shortchanging the quality of life for the sake of growth – but by changing the people at the controls. The recent uptick in both activity and publicity surrounding property purchases by the city, the downtown revitalization plan and an aquatics park seem like a made-up reality to divert attention away from the truth.