FOCUS: Fireworks

Nitpicking over fireworks is typical of Ann Arbor

The fireworks fiasco is another frustrating example of the micro-management mentality that runs rampant in Ann Arbor. It is evident everywhere - city government, historical commissions, the school system, the University of Michigan.

Soon it will be the Fourth of July, the biggest secular holiday in America. This is a fabulous opportunity to remind young and old that, unlike many other countries, we live in a land of freedom.

We could join many other proud communities throughout the country and celebrate America’s birthday with flags, music and fireworks. We even have a business ready to help foot the bill. But no-o-o-o-o. We have to nitpick the idea to death, just as we deal with many other issues.

What if there’s a traffic jam? What if there’s trash? Gee - he fixed up this broken-down house real nice, but the door has to go, too ornate. Do we fund the at-risk children at the expense of able learners? Do we fund able learners at the expense of the at-risk children? Do we find a teaching job for the professor’s girlfriend, or not?

FOCUS: FIREWORKS

Freedom encourages debate. However, this debate for debate’s sake is not healthy. It is negative, going nowhere, “love to hear myself talk,” assuaging-our-guilt talk. Nobody wins.

Ann Arbor is a community rich with diversity with so much to offer through its people and institutions. But we must reach a consensus in order to do that. Let’s stop paying lip service. Let’s stop promoting our personal agendas. Let’s stop trying to figure out why something won’t work. Instead, let’s teach our children to have a vision, set a goal and work together to make it happen.

Baiba Bomis Ann Arbor

Whiners, NIMBYs kill community celebration

Ann Arbor is a great place to live, but I am sorry to see the whiners and NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) kill off the kind of community celebration of the Fourth of July many of us enjoyed as children and which many places still enjoy today.

Last Fourth of July, I was in the city of Upper Arlington, Ohio, the suburb which adjoins Ohio State University. A major fireworks display took place in a large park in the center of town. Hundreds of families and individuals sat around on the grass and on blankets watching. At the homes surrounding the park, residents set up lawn chairs and took advantage of proximity to the fireworks as a way to entertain their guests.

Charles Gelman should know that some of us appreciate the civic spirit of the substantial offer Gelman Sciences made to give us all a treat, the jobs that Gelman Sciences brings to the city, and the efforts the company is making to solve past hazardous waste problems.

Barbara Everitt Bryant
Ann Arbor