To the editor:

A new year is just beginning. Now is the time to start planning for a better year.

There are many things that need to be done. The roadways are still in need of changes to make travel safer. The budget needs to be looked at more closely to give the true worker a better deal. Council members should be more concerned with educational needs throughout the city.

With the new year, council members need to think about the ones they are serving, instead of themselves. How in the world do they think they know what is needed in their boroughs when they do not so much as try to have monthly gatherings to hear what is needed in the areas they are serving?

It is time for them to get out of their recliners and make an effort to meet the citizens of Suffolk.

I do not understand why the former Obici Memorial Hospital site has not been developed. It has just been sitting for more than 10 years, and nothing has been developed. Tax dollars that should be coming into the city are just being lost.

I am sure that if the city were to lower the price a little and give some incentive to a developer, things would happen real fast.

Maybe it could be an upscale strip mall, upscale apartments, a small-scale sports complex or even a top-of-the line RV park tied in with the many tourist attractions in Suffolk and the nearby events and attractions of Tidewater.

Considering the way things have gone the past four years, the citizens of Suffolk will have to make changes in November if they want to see changes in their city. It is a choice they will have to make, one way or the other.

May the new year be a happy and good one for all of us.

W. Rufus Powell

Suffolk

(Editor’s Note: Rufus Powell is a former member of Suffolk City Council and served as vice mayor from 1998 to 2002.)