Dear Editor,
The first step in resolving any issue in life is to identify and define the problem and its origin, honestly. Kingman is my chosen hometown and just like you I care a great deal about my community, the people, and the quality of their lives.
The Kingman City Council and the city government have shown time and time again they really do care about the city and they are currently doing a decent job trying to keep the Kingman residents informed, yet the city faces dozens of critical ongoing problems:
• Uncontrolled Growth
• Aging and inadequate infrastructure
• Population Density
• Lack of Affordable Housing
• Seriously deteriorated roads
• Lack of sufficient Medical Providers
• The Rancho Santa Fe Project and questionable Partnership
• Water: a) Security b) Control c) Surcharges d) Conservation • Need for more consumer shopping
• Need for more consumer dining
• Traffic Density
• Rising Taxation
• Can’t keep a City Manager
• Need for face-to-face direct contact between the City Council and the public. The City just denied a Town Hall Meeting.
• Budget Deficit? ….. and we could go on.
It is my humble opinion the City Council over time and circumstance could have done better by not placing so much emphasis and money on Tourism but rather taking a broader look at the big picture of Kingman’s people and their needs in shaping and sustaining our hometown. The council apparently may not understand or appreciate the larger situation because it is focusing on only a few parts of it.
I am just a rank-and-file common Kingman guy who cares about my hometown with an optimistic vision for the Kingman of the future. Sometimes a city can get stuck in a rut (no pun on potholes) and just listening to the public about our city’s issues and the people’s needs helps create a better mutual awareness of their origins and a quicker more direct path to teamwork and resolution.
I think Kingman may be overdue in seeing the “forest for the trees”.
Elliot Chalew
