Letter to the Editor by Donald Weyer:
Cue Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: "Don't do me like that, don't do me like that, what if I love you baby!"
I refer to Joanne Beck's report in The Batavian on Feb. 13 detailing Batavia City Council deliberations of Feb 12.
I forward my opinion on one of the topics, a different aspect of the safety of Batavia city streets, which I originally submitted to the Batavia Daily News on Feb. 6. I am offering it for the readers of The Batavian today. Also, it might help the Council in their deliberations. I have addressed the issue of the city's proposed 2 percent property tax-rate increase in numerous, and previous, submissions posted by The Batavian. Again, as assists to the Council in its budget hearings.
Anticipatory of how these affairs proceed along their timelines? Maybe. Clairvoyant? Nah, leave it at a simple one-word "anticipation." (Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as atmospherically and searchingly prescient as Carly Simon was on her "Anticipation." I can't even promise to makin' no one late. But maybe I will be able to say something about "these were the good old days, these were the good old days")!
And now I have a new foreseeable future in my head, related to the street safety feature that will hopefully be studied by the Batavia City Council and/or the Batavia Police Department, both august and respected in their respective vision.
Man oh man, do you feel safe on the clearly urban streets of Batavia? I don't today, but I did once, maybe as recently as 10 years ago. I spend as much time on the streets, and I don't mean in a vehicle, but walking, and riding a bike, today, as I did then, mainly in the daytime. (Unlike city resident, Mr. Houseknecht, speaking to the Council on this same topic on Feb. 12, but concerning the nighttime streets). Now I find that I'm constantly looking ahead, looking behind, looking side to side, unlike I did in the past. And I marvel; there are so many new, unfamiliar faces on the streets of Batavia, just within the past 5 years And in the daylight hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., I wonder do any or all these new faces work, as they are mostly of working age, 20-50 years old, unlike my retired self? What was said, idle hands and brains are the devil's workshop. And, on foot. Can't afford, or are banned from driving? So maybe that is a reason for not working, no transportation. Or maybe there is something else going on here on the sidewalks of Batavia? Only saying!
These were the good old days: a policeman, or two, walking a beat.
These were the good old days: a policeman riding a bike patrol, and not so very long ago.
To emphasize, I am fully welcoming and supportive of new residents of Batavia, as long as they, their relatives, their friends, and their acquaintances, are somehow contributing to a positive, safe, environment in Batavia. Not contributing to unsafe streets, for whatever reason, physical or property crime, drugs, or threats to adults or children, in the city.
The city managed these visible tendencies in the good old days. I'm not asking the Batavia City Council or Police Department to provide work and jobs, for our new city residents. I am asking to see some evidence that the city is doing some "managing" the streets in the present day!
Closing, 3 comments/takes on the City Council meeting on Feb 12:
- Councilman Viele - leave off your harping on, and comparisons to, school taxes. Those will be addressed or not addressed at the appropriate time and place, certainly not at City Council and certainly not now. I see what you're trying to do. I suggest sir that you examine or research scapegoat, or scapegoating. It has an interesting history, kings, success or failure of agricultural harvests, fertility rituals, etc. Nothing is in the purview of City Council budget deliberations, especially as Batavia is not part of a monarchy, its agriculture is far in the "rearview mirror" in 2024, and we don't dance around worshipping the sun, the rain, the soil!
- Fellow-resident Roach - surprisingly, your input at City Council was pertinent on budget cuts. Unfortunately, I addressed the issue of Council cutting/voting on the Bureau of Maintenance parking lot resurfacing in my prior "Opinion" submission to The Batavian on Feb. 9. I even provided a solution. Please read that writing if and when "The Batavian" chooses to publish it.
- Again, "Don't do me like that, don't do me like that, what if I love you baby". Substitutions for baby: The Batavian; Joanne Beck; new city residents; Messeurs Housenecht, Viele, and Roach; City Council; Police Dept.
These complaints about…
These complaints about Batavia's city streets somehow being unsafe remind me of an exchange I had years ago with Richard Gahagan.
Gahagan insisted there were ghettos in Batavia. I said there are no ghettos in Batavia. I've been through ghettos in San Diego, LA, San Antonio, Atlanta. There are no ghettos in Batavia, I told him.
Obviously, he said, you've never been to State Street or Thorp Street.
Dude, I told him, I live at the intersection of Maple an Thorp. Thorp is not a ghetto.
The idea that it is unsafe to be on any Downtown street any day or night is equally as ludicrous. I've walked the streets all times of day and night (late-night walks are not unusual for me). I've never felt the least bit unsafe, no matter who else I see out on the streets.
As far as I can remember, we've had one stranger assault on a city street in the past 16 years. There may be others but they are few and far between. Nearly all the violent crimes in this city are people victimizing people they know, not random strangers.
People saying they feel unsafe in Batavia says more about their own biases and prejudices than it does about the actual safety of the community.