To the editor:
Maybe Gloucester shouldn't need the intensive effort that city government has undertaken to spur economic growth, as the Times' editorial states (Opinion, Tuesday, April 24).
But, it's all too easy to criticize how they are going about it and, frankly, it is simply more of the same bickering and naysaying that has, for decades, prevented any concrete steps toward revitalizing this city.
"The city's empty efforts to land a developer for its I-4, C-2 waterfront property" is one more in a long line of defeatist statements.
I'm pretty sure it's still up for developnment. How about some productive suggestions about how to move the city forward? The time and energy spent nitpicking and tearing down the effort involved in trying to make use of an incredibly complex property is unhelpful, at best.
There are no sure formulas to gauge the end result of any roadmap for economic recovery — ask Milton Friedman. But shooting down every attempt at the outset is pointless. The only "turf war" the people of Gloucester are interested in is the one that serves the interests of the people of Gloucester.
Stop whining. Gloucester surely needs economic growth, as does the entire country.
If you have a better way to make that happen, say so. Lead, follow or get out of the way.
Anyone can sit at a computer and poke holes in other people's efforts, as evidenced by this and many other diatribes on the Opinion page, which is part of the problem.
Try being part of the solution, and let's at least give the current administration a fair chance before the inevitable brilliance in hindsight.
Jeff Dunleavy
Gloucester
