To the editor:

Green Park Mayor Tony Konopka says that if he is re-elected, he will “protect and maintain the residential integrity of the city, protect (residential) investments by maintaining strong property values and make Green Park a safe and desirable place to live and work.” Those alleged intentions make for good reading at election time, but in Mayor Konopka’s case, they couldn’t be further from the truth. His actions as mayor the past four years speak louder than his election rhetoric.

Mayor Konopka has ruled Green Park with all of the arrogance and incompetence shown by elected officials at all levels of government these days. He, too, is a denier of reality. Property values in the city are on the decline and the city is home to an inordinate number of rental properties and vacant homes. Some homes are in foreclosure.

Abundant rental property, vacant homes and foreclosure are three ingredients in the recipe for a degenerating community. Konopka is either oblivious to this reality or he just refuses to take the steps necessary to prevent this obvious, ongoing decline.

Konopka also refuses — yes, refuses — to enforce property maintenance codes, which are intended to keep property values up and maintain a safe and desirable environment. In doing so, Konopka has in essence said that homes having yards laden with pet waste, brush piles, noxious weeds, dead trees, rusting and broken fences, old mattresses, rodent infestations and cars parked on front lawns are OK with him.

The city of Green Park could be a progressive, first-rate community with desirable amenities, stable property values and a clean, well-kept infrastructure and environment. It could be a place where people want to work, live and raise their kids and where businesses want to locate. But the city is destined never to achieve these things with the arrogant, incompetent leadership displayed the past four years by Tony Konopka and his inept administration.

Michael K. Broughton

Green Park