And then there’s the issue of the City of Marion buying the soon-to-be closed Golden Living Center building.

I have always been one to encourage the city to plan ahead and position itself to accommodate growth but I’m not completely sold on the city purchasing the older nursing home building.

In this case, I would rather see the city let the business take its steps in closing and trying to sell it. It’s fine that the city wants to assist the owners of Golden Living Center but the city shouldn’t purchase the building unless there’s a plan to go with it.

The building/land is in a great location and there should be quite a bit of interest from USD 408 and Marion Housing Authority, to name two, without the city having to purchase it.

These decisions and issues (renaming Central Park and purchasing abandoned buildings) wouldn’t be difficult if the city had a vision/plan in place.

What is the city’s plan for the future? There doesn’t appear to be any planning taking place. It appears that the council and administration reacts to circumstances instead of getting ahead of the game.

Perhaps it’s time for the city to hire a consultant who has experience in city planning and ask for feedback from the public before taking too many steps that cannot be undone. There are times when committees get in the way of progress but when it comes to planning a city’s future, it’s important to go the direction citizens will support.

— susan berg