Letters 7/7/05

July 6, 2005

Whither the Waterfront?
I attended the waterfront planning meeting for Traverse City at the Hagerty Center on June 23rd. I was pretty excited and anticipated hearing new ideas with some point-counterpoint discussions. I noticed two large slide screens with waterfront pictures, which led me to think we were going to use pictures as an aid for discussions of specific areas across the waterfront and downtown. This was going to be fun and interesting, an open and transparent meeting with good media coverage.
The meeting opened with Mayor Pro Tem Rick Csapo and City Commissioner Ralph Soffredine giving really nice and funny speeches. Waterfront Planning Committee Chairman Cecil McNally gave a fine closing speech. What happened during the two hours in the middle? The two action-packed hours of ideas and discussion which would give the students from MSU and U-M the tools (information) they needed to design our future waterfront.
Basically, nothing of consequence occurred during the entire meeting. It was so pointless I felt a little embarrassed by the end. A young lady sitting next to me said she thought the meeting was supposed to be about designing our future waterfront. I shrugged my shoulders, and said I did too. I asked ex Mayor Margaret Dodd, who was sitting across from me, where she thought the gentleman was leading the meeting. She shrugged her shoulders also.
If the students needed specific input in order to give our community valuable, specific output (the design), they didn’t get it. Three questions were tossed to the public. What do you like about downtown and the waterfront? What do you dislike about downtown and the waterfront? The last question was the real killer: Fifteen years from now in the winter, looking down from a hot air balloon, what would you like downtown and the waterfront to look like? The responses (summarized) were basically: liking the view of the bay, not liking the traffic interfering with the view and activities on the bay and I can’t remember if anyone cobbled together a response to the last question. Deborah Knudson ( TC Convention and Visitors Bureau) and commissioner Scott Hardy both gave the only specific suggestion I heard -- that being to improve the appearance and usability of the river downtown.
The man leading the meeting said the students would use data from this meeting and from interviewing other organizations downtown as the basis formulating their designs. If no specific ideas came out of this meeting, then that leaves only the ideas that come out of the interviews with the downtown organizations. The only organizations I know of downtown are the Downtown Development Authority and the Cherry Festival. Whoa Nelly!

Rick Buckhalter • TC

The Opt-Out option
Ever wonder how the military recruiters get your or your child’s address and phone number?
The “No Child Left Behind“ Act of 2001 requires schools to provide all students’ names, addresses and telephone numbers to military recruiters. Some school districts have started to send this information even on middle school students.
Because the decision to enter the military is an important one and should not be entered into without serious consideration of the risks and consequences, pros and cons, the “No Child Left Behind“ Act also provides that you or your parent may “OPT-OUT“ of this disclosure. You then have control of when or if you will ever talk to a military recruiter.
All you as a parent or student have to do is provide in writing to your school that you do not grant permission to release the student’s name, address or telephone number to any and all branches of the military. Get your Opt-Out notice in early in the school year before the names are provided to the military.

Marian Kromkowski • Suttons Bay

Belt behavior
Anyone else feeling the ass-kicking effects of going downstate after Memorial Weekend? I am speaking about the 10-day window of seat belt enforcement.
First, I discovered that most of us technically wear our seatbelts; it’s that friggin‘ shoulder harness that stuffs itself against the carotid artery (that causes problems). Additionally, the definition for “proper seatbelt use“ can nowhere be found in Michigan law. It’s a federal statute duly hidden with no access pointers in the Michigan regulation stating, “Please refer to federal code...” The fact this definition is not readily available makes it pretty hard for the average operator to know they are causing a civil infraction simply by trying to avoid a driver distraction, and yet conscientiously buckling in their seat belt all the while.
If you’re fighting an improperly laying shoulder harness every few minutes, you are not going to be focused on your driving.
The “We don’t make the law, we just enforce it.” phrase pales considerably in light of this valid safety concern.
If the State of Michigan cannot come up with valid alternatives (like, say, passing out a clip that attaches to the waist belt and allows the shoulder harness to lay properly) they have no right gleefully collecting their $40 portion of a $65 ticket. It is pernicious behaviour that borders on malice.
As a Class 11/CDL operator since 1975 with a damn good record, I am acutely aware that each machine has its own idiosyncrasies. To be a safe and excellent operator one must be willing to adjust to the idiosyncracies in every machine.
Certain vehicles‘ straps are not adjustable. In the case of commercial equipment one can adjust an air seat to be in compliance. It is not safe for any driver to use a phone book (as my particular magistrate suggested) and the fuzzy sheepskin coverlets do nothing to prevent the belt from slipping up around the neck and causing driver distraction.
Until this matter is properly addressed by the State Legislature, the auto manufacturers, the insurance lobby and any other folks involved in “the law,” the seat belt citations issued for lack of shoulder harness wear are simply malicious negligence on the part of the State, and every citation issued in that 10-day period should be reimbursed to each individual paying the $65. It enforces an unsafe situation that serves only to distract operator focus.

Chris Convissor • Lake Ann