COM-Westfield-Towers-1

 

I attended the Westfield City Council meeting last night which had the exciting new “Landmarks” on the main agenda and Public comment was in store.  First of all, the format of Public Hearing could not be more out dated and a waste of time.  With the use of the web and written submissions, you would think this process could be sped up a bit.  But thats neither here nor there.  Second, I want to commend the Mayor and City Council for making a hard decision which in the long run will be a fantastic symbol of our city and will provide visitors and residence with a point of reference and pride for decades to come.   The City is clearly searching for an identity and Hospitality may be the  new ATM machine, but we still need a physical image and these Towers can be just that.  Third,  I want to say Boo Hoo to 99.99999% of downtown merchants(the few there are) for not participating in these types of issues.  These landmarks are a gift to anyone wanting to stay in business downtown and will create a curiosity from the West that our neighbors to the South seem to understand and leverage so much better.  Overall its pretty lame how un involved the majority of local businesses are in the community.  There has never been a better time to form a downtown organization that drives a business community.  So I look forward to what will hopefully be a YES vote on these Landmarks and I am excited to watch as our downtown continues to progress through growth and investment.  

-curt