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Almost a year ago in this space, we opined city officials should take seriously a city resident's complaints about safety in the Spring Street parking ramp.
That man said he had personally broken up assaults in the ramp, been threatened and seen people hanging around who shouldn't be in the ramp.
"I don't feel safe walking in the parking lot anytime, night or day," the resident said.
Perhaps, had the city acted more quickly on those complaints last Spetember, Sarah Zinni's car wouldn't have been severely damaged by vandals in the ramp two weeks ago. Another city man commented to The Post-Journal after we published Zinni's story that his car was vandalized at roughly the same time, noting it had been safer for him to park on the streets of Chicago than in the Spring Street parking ramp.
That is unacceptable.
Jamestown police can't be everywhere no matter how many officers the city hires. But don't pin this inaction on Police Chief Tim Jackson, who advocated for action 11 months ago. Jackson told The Post-Journal last week he asked for security cameras in the Spring Street parking garage last fall as well as signs saying the ramp is for patrons only so officers can cite offenders with trespassing.
"The security cameras would help deter these acts as well as hold those accountable for vandalism/theft," Jackson told our Eric Tichy in an email. "The police department, while doing nightly checks in the ramps, have found people sleeping and gathering in the ramp. The signage is important in order for officers to cite the offender(s) with trespassing."
In nearly a year neither of those actions were taken. That's ridiculous.
Neither action is controversial. No one should argue a few thousand dollars is a waste of money when city officials are actively trying to waste $150,000 on a North Main Street viaduct project that beautifies an area few people go in the first place. What's a bigger safety issue -- creating a beautiful viaduct parklet under the North Main Street railroad tracks or securing the Spring Street parking ramp. We haven't heard people complaining their expensive vehicles are being damaged sitting near an open-air viaduct that sees a fair amount of traffic and is easily policed by simply driving a police car through the area.
So why is the city's priority reheating a viaduct project that had been laid aside more than a decade ago because it was a poor use of limited resources? Why were obvious issues in the Spring Street parking ramp ignored for nearly a year?
We gave two reasons in our Sept. 26, 2022, editorial for the city to act quickly about the concerns raised about the Spring Street parking ramp. In case those reasons were missed -- and judging by the lack of action over the past 11 months, it's safe to say they were -- we'll repeat them again. One way to ease parking congestion downtown is to increase use of the city's parking ramps. But if people feel unsafe parking in the ramps then they are likely to fight for closer parking spaces on well-lit, populated city streets. The other reason to act quickly is a matter of reputation. A reputation for unsafe parking ramps isn't good for a city that is trying to build downtown vitality around niche shopping, restaurants, downtown apartment living and the National Comedy Center.
Get cameras in the Spring Street parking ramp. Install the signs necessary to help police do their jobs. It won't cost the $150,000 the city Development Department wants to spend in the North Main Street viaduct.
And for Pete's sake, take people's concerns seriously this time.