Letters to the editor - Springfield
Union News
Sunday, December 11, 2005
State thinks of Springfield in
'Third-World' category
As a former citizen of Springfield who still has many friends and
family within the city's borders, I write this message. I also lived
in
and went to school in Boston, so I know how much pull the city of
Boston has on the commonwealth of Massachusetts's budget
The city of Springfield would not be in half the trouble it
currently
is in if it got its share of state monies like the city of Boston.
The
very condition of the Forest Park curve along Interstate-91 vs. the
state of the Big Dig speaks volumes on the difference between Boston
and Springfield. The differences in the condition of Worcester's and
Springfield's train stations further shows that Springfield is
viewed
as a "Third-World city." Worcester is inside the expanding
second-class
region known as "metro Boston." Maybe someday, with high speed rail,
Springfield can join the ranks of metro Boston and become, at least,
a
second-class city.
Springfield Mayor Charles V. Ryan is a good man who loves his city.
Having gone to Classical High School in the 1940s and been mayor
back
in the 1960s, he could have sat back and left the city's problems to
someone else. Instead, he decided to try to do something, only to
find
out that Gov. W. Mitt Romney has little use for anything
west of
Worcester and east of exit 2 on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Over the past 20 years, the city of Springfield has been exploited,
used and ignored. While I know that the city of Chelsea has gone
into
receivership, I am sure that receivership for a metro Boston city is
not going to be the same thing as it will be for Springfield. While
Springfield is one of the best cities at collecting taxes from its
citizens, it is one of the worst at getting its fair share at the
state
aid trough. Boston and the metro areas are served first. For
example,
the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is constantly being
propped up while Pioneer Valley Transit Authority is constantly
being
cut. As PVTA shrinks the state then justifies further reductions to
PVTA while shrinking MBTA ridership would warrant major studies.
In conclusion, while the city is owed back taxes, it's also owed
many
years of back state aid. So either treat the city of Springfield
like
the city of Boston or one of its metro areas, or continue to create
the
atmosphere that inspired Shays' Rebellion over 200 years ago.
FREDERICK
M.
PICROSKI Derby, Conn.