FeedsProgress doesn’t happen by accident
When the Wayne 20/20 Committee gets together, it’s a pretty safe bet that the downtown area will be a topic of discussion.
That was no different at the regular meeting last Wednesday, when they talked about the downtown and the reception they experienced at the Wayne Wheelfest, among other ideas.
Downtown Wayne is of particular interest to the group, which grew out of the ‘Cool Cities’ concept promoted by Gov. Jennifer Granholm a few years back. A cool city has a vibrant, walkable downtown and anyone who has driven down or walked along the downtown district knows that Wayne may have made some progress, but there’s still a long way to go.
This has been a sore spot with me through the years, because the City of Wayne has the capability to dramatically improve the downtown with aggressive efforts through the Downtown Development Authority (DDA). The Wayne DDA has one of the largest DDA budgets in western Wayne County since the Ford Motor plants fall within its boundaries, yet the board meets sporadically, recruitment efforts seem minimal and most of its money goes into the general fund, anyway.
Peter McInerney, community development director for the City of Wayne, had a sad but true answer when asked if it would make a difference if the Wayne Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Board met more often.
“Not necessarily.”
It’s sad because the DDA falls under his responsibilities as the community development director. If the administration doesn’t think it would help, chances are it’s not going to happen.
But it’s true because it won’t make much difference if the board gets together more often since there doesn’t seem to be a plan in place or the political will to push the envelope and make things happen. Wayne still seems to be stuck in the ‘something is better than nothing’ mentality. That’s why the concept of the city purchasing the old Comcast building—which was vacated Friday afternoon—scares me to death. They’ll buy it and throw anything in there just to keep it from being vacant rather than plan and promote it for its best possible use.
If there’s going to be any major progress in town, though, it has to come from the DDA. There has to be someone dedicated to it and a group of progressive, active business people and residents to back them up. At the 20/20 Committee meeting, the concept of a DDA director was brought up; Steve Johnson, a candidate for Wayne County Commission, brought it up at a recent city council meeting, too. He was accused of looking for a job.
The city administration has made the concept of a DDA director a pretty hard sell. They’ve continued to hand out and accept raises at the higher levels while laying off personnel at the bottom or leaving other positions vacant. They take the vast majority of the DDA budget to balance the general fund. It is still something to work toward—or, at the very least, rededicate existing staff to.
Change can happen more quickly if there are more people paying attention and putting effort into it.
We can’t wait for the city council to come up with any ideas and we certainly can’t wait for development to come to Wayne.
Nobody was exactly beating down the door when the economy was in good shape, let alone now.
