From the perspective of a resident who actually lives in the 6th Ward, I would like to point out my disappointment in the current councilman as well as the broken campaign promises.
For one, the lack of recreation opportunities for our youth in the 6th Ward is adversely affecting our kids. While the current councilman advocated for the 4th Ward to set up a Boy Scout troop when he was running for Mayor, he still lacks ideas for our youth in the 6th Ward. He hasn’t advocated forcefully enough in tackling quality of life issues, aside from shutting down a few businesses over his eight years.
There is still a homeless population on Main Street and 21st Avenue that haven’t been helped; meanwhile the current councilman has advocated for increasing taxes on businesses through SIDs.
There has been no vision or cooperation in an effort to bring taxes down, only empty rhetoric and empty promises. And recent news reports that have covered his poor record on transparency regarding his campaign finance, as well as not telling the 6th Ward residents who is paying for his campaign materials, are greatly alarming – we expect our leaders to walk the walk on being transparent, not just talk the talk.
Mr. Symond’s letter to the editor mentioned that the worst thing about the current councilman is he’s a Mets fan. I think that’s the least of Councilman Sayegh’s poor qualities. He should put the 6th Ward before all other priorities – even before the Mets. Now more than ever, it’s time for change.
Jesus R. Castro
Library trustee and 6th Ward resident