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Think progressively for the North Country, says Massena man

Posted 10/16/15

To the Editor: I have lived in Massena since my birth, and have witnessed this town go from thriving, to practically a crime-ridden shell of its former self. It wouldn't surprise me if a ghost town …

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Think progressively for the North Country, says Massena man

Posted

To the Editor:

I have lived in Massena since my birth, and have witnessed this town go from thriving, to practically a crime-ridden shell of its former self. It wouldn't surprise me if a ghost town is what's left standing here in a decade.

Yet it seems like very few people are doing anything. Repairs for the Parker Avenue bridge have been 'in progress' for several years now.

You can barely call our mall, a mall now with less than 10 stores operating in it. One of our beloved playgrounds (that my father helped build) is soon going to be demolished, with options of possible crowdfunding to repair it, ignored. And of course, the number of people turning to drugs and thievery is growing, not shrinking.

Massena, and a good portion of the North Country, now has a reputation that it's full of people of lower intelligence (as demonstrated by the countless "Cuomo's gotta go!" signs still plastered everywhere).

I realize that opportunity in this town has shrunk to the size of an ant, but it doesn't mean you give up and let everything fall to waste. I still keep myself looking at the positives after my employer's business tanked this past summer.

Even with fearful college debts still looming over me, I continue to seize the opportunities to keep myself informed, and to express myself when I feel I need to.

It's for these reasons that I'm encouraging the less fortunate of the town to speak up! Make your voice heard! And most importantly, go and vote. Even if it's not a major office, go out and exercise the rights you are lucky to have.

If you don't do anything, others will make the decisions (big and small) for you. Mr. Robar's toilet displays in Potsdam is an example of people making their voices heard and I applaud him for keeping at it for so many years.

Without fresh voices, the old guard will continue to harmfully influence the area (and if you've paid attention to Congress anytime lately, you can see exactly why).

Think progressively for the town, the North Country, and most importantly, yourself.

Jonathon Ralston

Massena