18 - Pointing Fingers

I have stated and I will state again that I am neither generally pro or con the RUPCO project in Woodstock. I will insist on the safety of the project, if it will be built for other reasons, and if it cannot be safe, then I will try as hard as I possibly can to make sure it is not built.

In any development, there are a number of environmental externalities, meaning elements that are very difficult, and therefore "external" to the cost-benefit analysis. Wetlands have their advocates. The neighborhood character preservation effort has its advocates. Prevention of light pollution has its advocates. Who advocates for safety? I do. To my knowledge, there is nobody else who is thoroughly and consistently clearing all of the other issues away, in the interest of safety, not simply the safety of people living in the houses, or even up Playhouse lane, but the safety of everybody, residents and visitors alike, who drive into our town.

I have been told to point fingers at some people for their roles in this project, and to not point fingers at others. I will point fingers at nobody. I will only point to information, where it is germane, where it helps and where it hurts, where it is distracting and where it is absent but needed, and, where it is false. Whoever puts out that information will be, naturally, part of the discussion.

To date, here is how the handling of safety has worked out: the opposition to the project has done great work in raising a lot of issues. They cannot be blamed for not having the resources also to handle the safety concerns in this project. The parties that have issued irresponsible, outright false, and negligent safety-related comments and claims are: RUPCO's traffic engineering consultants: Crieghton Manning; RUPCO itself, and the consultants hired by the planning board to verify what these two parties submit to the planning board. It is also shameful that the planning board does not seem to be aware that safety is being treated like the wretched stepchild of the project. And, whoever made the bushes disappear and moved the parking signs after I brought these things up in conversation and in writing, I can only applaud their response.

The bushes and the signs were easy fixes. Next comes dealing with blatant misinformation in and false claims in expert reports. How will the parties deal with them? I don't care how, as long as the result is safety for the drivers and pedestrians at the intersection of Route 212 and Playhouse Lane. I will be here, ready to point my finger, not at a person, but at the words that compromise the pricelessness of safety.