Gleaning Facebook: Save Rome's Central Park

Folks, I would suggest that those of you who live in the city of Rome continue to call, write, e-mail each of our commissioners and commission candidates, (and the Rome News as well) to remind them that the people of Rome:
• WANT our 80 acres of park to stay in OUR hands.

• WANT a restored and landscaped "Duck Pond" as one little oasis of calm and beauty on our main thoroughfare (Turner-McCall/Shorter) that now can now only be described as unplanned sprawl.

• WANT a beautiful wetland with boardwalks, trails, and wildlife viewing platforms.

• WANT expansion room for our Central Park as Rome grows over the coming decades and century.

• WANT an undiminished, as a matter-of-fact improved, connection between Ridge Ferry Park and Jackson Hill for the future.

• if anything, we should be buying up the land on the other side of the tracks under Jackson and Blossum Hills for future growth of our city's parks, recreation, and arts needs.

I have personally heard one of the folks who has so far voted consistently to squash this dream speak eloquently about the very reasons we should be talking about how to USE this gem in the heart of the city. Evie McNeice gave, at a caucus recently, a heartfelt plea for the preservation of greenspace as a positive good for Rome - environmentally, recreationally, financially, and promotionally - for the future. I cannot imagine how Evie can believe her own words, then destroy the wildlife, the gorgeous wildflowers, the crystal clear stream...

 ...the tall oaks, hickories, and pines, the wetland storing flood waters and filtering our pollutants. That huge Star-Spangled-Banner atop Jackson Hill beckons to the folks on the Riverwalk to come enjoy the forest trails around it. How can anyone consider allowing Rome to lose the connective tissue that combines the Riverwalk and Ridge Ferry Park with Jackson Hill as a Central Park? How can we contemplate giving up the opportunities, the dreams that those 80 acres hold for the much larger Rome in our grandchildren's futures?

Please folks, our chances for preservation are dwindling unless we can win this election and/or change some minds.

Vote for ONLY the challengers. Vote for NO incumbents.
Vote tomorrow, Friday October 16, 8-5, at the old courthouse/post office on Fourth Avenue. You'll be in and out in just a few minutes with no wait. It wasn't many years ago that one commissioner won by seven votes and another by four votes. Never will your vote hold more sway. 

From Joe Cook's Facebook post: 

Terrell Shaw puts out the call to Rome voters. The abuse of Tax Allocation District financing to benefit developers at the expense of city greenspace and ordinary citizens needs to be a lead topic in this year's Rome city elections. Like Terrell, I appreciate the work of the sitting commissioners, but I too will not be voting for these incumbents. Those who care about preserving greenspace, parks, trails and quality communities should vote for candidates that support those ideals. By continuing to support the proposed City Center development in the Burwell Creek wetlands,(Save Burwell Creek Wetlands) the incumbents have proven they do not really support these ideals. It's time for new leadership!