Engstrom displays pretence, arrogance
Published 9:39 am Friday, July 11, 2008
Regarding Tim Engstrom’s Jul. 8 column about the virtues of his neighborhood: It’s funny, Mr. Engstrom seems to conveniently forget that a large concentration of privately-owned lakeshore is in one of the very areas he claims as “his” neighborhood — the Park Avenue Peninsula. Then there’s private lakeshore on Dane Bay, which is dangerously close to, if not a part of, his neighborhood. On the “north” side of the lake, virtually all of Fountain Lake is adjacent to a public street. I would guess that in excess of 75 percent of Edgewater Bay has public lakeshore.
Even Bancroft Bay has a balanced mix of public and private shoreline. He also makes the claim that having the mayor live in his neighborhood and ward as being a plus, as if it means having two council members. However, the mayor represents the whole city, not just the ward in which he happens to reside. So really, the entire city is represented on the council in two ways, by their elected council member, and by the mayor. Sorry, Ward 2, you’re not that much better than everyone else, just the same.
Maybe not all areas of town have sidewalks, but I sure do see a lot of people using the sidewalks along the lake, Lakeshore Drive and new trail to walk, jog, bike or Rollerblade around the lake. Oddly enough, this is primarily on the “north” side of the lake, so I find the claim that somehow one side of town is more “heart-healthy” than another is pretty weak.
Rather than feeling my neighborhood is better than someone else’s, my preference is to say I am proud to live in Albert Lea regardless of where I live. Proclaiming where you live in town as better seems pretty pretentious and arrogant to me. My suggestion is, wherever you live in town, you’ve invested in our city and whatever you do to make your part of town better will benefit everyone.
Mike Murtaugh
Albert Lea