It really would be nice if you spent actual time in the actual city, talking to actual residents (like me) before giving your "informed" opinion. Why not comment on the development the FFE has initiated over recent decades, like Arcadia Festival site, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo riverfront clean-up and creation of Mayors Park, the KVCC downtown campus, new WMU medical school facilities, and the East Town redevelopment plan? Why judge city council decisions by the gripes of random citizens who Zoom in when people will always gripe compared to rare praises? Why not notice that the City is funding & building a community of individual shelters for our unhoused community and is taking delivery this very month, which I hope you might agree is far better than allowing a TrumpVille of shanties, trash, and lawlessness by the river. Why not reference actual facts, which include the vice mayor TAKING HERSELF off the ballot long before the election, not the way you presented it. Why not acknowledge that the mayor who just won re-election has also been active in city government for decades and is well known and well liked? In short, are you really the person who should be writing about what is going on in Kalamazoo? Or perhaps you think our rich people should just be like most other rich people and buy private islands instead of giving back to the community they love that raised them.
Lorraine, the author did actually spend actual time in Kalamazoo, which you’d have known if you had—actually—read her piece in it’s entirety and with an open mind.
Furthermore, the FFE was started a mere 4 years ago, so you simply cannot “actually” credit it for things that have been around for decades.
I’m actually open to others’ opinions, but they have to be logically sound to merit space.
There will be homeless people every where in America as long as people have the freedom to choose to be homeless!!! This is America should we take that choice away???
In my opinion, this article is not a full picture of the leadership in Kalamazoo, at least from my perspective as a long time resident of the area. Mayor Anderson is well-known as being missional regarding homelessness in Kalamazoo. There are few who have done more to address homelessness in Kalamazoo. He literally has provided numerous housing arrangements for the most vulnerable populations in Kalamazoo for at least a decade and a half in his career with Kalamazoo Community Mental Health, which is a role outside of his local governmental position.
More perspective would be helpful to paint a clearer picture of what is happening in our town. Several of the people interviewed as antagonistic towards the foundation are fairly well known here, from news coverage, as being offended/jilted/bitter about other issues unrelated to this story, imo. You amazingly seemed to find the few people most here would know would like to capitalize on a story like this, but didn't seem to find the 1,000's of others who don't feel this way, or don't even realize how the money given to the city impacts them and are likely very thankful it is helping to keep their taxes lower. Kalamazoo, as you have pointed out, is a town full of hardworking people that do, in fact, benefit from lower taxes. I don't think this article paints a real picture of the character or the motivations of those it is attempting to explain... on either side of the issue.
It really would be nice if you spent actual time in the actual city, talking to actual residents (like me) before giving your "informed" opinion. Why not comment on the development the FFE has initiated over recent decades, like Arcadia Festival site, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo riverfront clean-up and creation of Mayors Park, the KVCC downtown campus, new WMU medical school facilities, and the East Town redevelopment plan? Why judge city council decisions by the gripes of random citizens who Zoom in when people will always gripe compared to rare praises? Why not notice that the City is funding & building a community of individual shelters for our unhoused community and is taking delivery this very month, which I hope you might agree is far better than allowing a TrumpVille of shanties, trash, and lawlessness by the river. Why not reference actual facts, which include the vice mayor TAKING HERSELF off the ballot long before the election, not the way you presented it. Why not acknowledge that the mayor who just won re-election has also been active in city government for decades and is well known and well liked? In short, are you really the person who should be writing about what is going on in Kalamazoo? Or perhaps you think our rich people should just be like most other rich people and buy private islands instead of giving back to the community they love that raised them.
Lorraine, the author did actually spend actual time in Kalamazoo, which you’d have known if you had—actually—read her piece in it’s entirety and with an open mind.
Furthermore, the FFE was started a mere 4 years ago, so you simply cannot “actually” credit it for things that have been around for decades.
I’m actually open to others’ opinions, but they have to be logically sound to merit space.
There will be homeless people every where in America as long as people have the freedom to choose to be homeless!!! This is America should we take that choice away???
In my opinion, this article is not a full picture of the leadership in Kalamazoo, at least from my perspective as a long time resident of the area. Mayor Anderson is well-known as being missional regarding homelessness in Kalamazoo. There are few who have done more to address homelessness in Kalamazoo. He literally has provided numerous housing arrangements for the most vulnerable populations in Kalamazoo for at least a decade and a half in his career with Kalamazoo Community Mental Health, which is a role outside of his local governmental position.
More perspective would be helpful to paint a clearer picture of what is happening in our town. Several of the people interviewed as antagonistic towards the foundation are fairly well known here, from news coverage, as being offended/jilted/bitter about other issues unrelated to this story, imo. You amazingly seemed to find the few people most here would know would like to capitalize on a story like this, but didn't seem to find the 1,000's of others who don't feel this way, or don't even realize how the money given to the city impacts them and are likely very thankful it is helping to keep their taxes lower. Kalamazoo, as you have pointed out, is a town full of hardworking people that do, in fact, benefit from lower taxes. I don't think this article paints a real picture of the character or the motivations of those it is attempting to explain... on either side of the issue.
Thank you for the article and this explainer piece as well. It will surely create some much needed discussion.