Showin’ up in Salemtown – Exton, Gilmore and Player

In August, we will have lived in Salemtown for three years. The Salemtown Neighbors Association has been in place nearly that long. Our city councilman, Ludye Wallace, has not attended any of our meetings. Our city councilman, Ludye Wallace, has not returned phone calls or answered our e-mails. It took a contingency of ‘Neighbors’ attending a council meeting public hearing for Ludye to respond to our pleas on a recent zoning issue.

It shouldn’t be that hard. I’ve seen Ludye in our neighborhood exactly once. Perhaps if I lived near 1000 Buchanan Street, I might see him a little more often.

Last night our association held its monthly meeting. I do know it’s election season, but I was impressed that two of the candidates for District 19 (our council district) along with a candidate for Metro-Council-at-Large showed up. We are not a large group, but we do make noise. Candidates Erica Gilmore and Freda Player showed more interest in our association in one hour than we have received in two years from our current councilman, and color me naive, I don’t think that interest will evaporate once the election is completed.

I was also pleased that candidate Richard Exton made an appearance. He’s running county-wide, and our neighborhood is a relatively small slice of the pie.

All three candidates made a short plea for votes during the meeting, but I was far more impressed with the conversation after the meeting and the fact that they hung around, no glancing lustily at the exits.

Ludye has promised us a community meeting. If it occurs, I’ll be grateful. Just showing up can’t be all that hard.