To the editor:

The SunCrest Call’s Opinions page each Wednesday provides readers with an abundance of pistol packin’ verbiage ripe for rebuttal.

However, the detailed and somewhat redundant “column” coverage about Crest-wood tends to cause blurred vision and I run out of the impetus to peruse the ads and other news I would otherwise enjoy. With rested eyes and joyful soul, let me express the kicks I get from my town on Route 66.

Crestwood enjoys an amazing citizen group called “residents” around 12,000 strong, a majority of which elected a new mayor and defeated the bond proposal preferring to see indications of financial reckoning. Over 2,000 of these residents signed a petition to halt all construction and political maneuvering associated with the ill-advised $9 million dollar City Hall rehab.

This poll and referendum activity did not happen because all these people thought Crestwood was moving forward. It happened because they wanted to see it move forward.

No question, businesses were shuttering; revenues were shrinking; people were anxious. Now, the wind has changed directions.

The new mayor’s plan has become the more-than-welcome “Fresh Air Plan,” a plan inspired, supported and approved by forward-thinking — non-packin’ — residents.

We, as can the SunCrest Call, see new housing; an enlivened spirit and hope we can shed the image of the past six years and host more inviting retail incentives. Aldermen meetings have become a hub of interest. Residents are united in their expectations of restoring finances through budgeting and cost cutting while preserving priorities; patient, knowing there is a mess to clean up. This is a “good” sign of things to come.

Verbiage such as renegade, contentious, cantankerous, divisive, distraction, acrimony and ill will are best left to the scrabble game in neighboring communities. Crestwood, with the amazing support and energy of wonderful townspeople, has the more pressing challenge of removing leftover tumbleweed from Watson Road.

Carol Casey

Crestwood

Editor’s note: Carol Casey is listed as a member of Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility in a handout distributed at the July 12 Crestwood Board of Aldermen meeting by the citizens’ group.