Unfettered Letters

Praise for Fairway and bridge

I wish to commend the elected officials in the city of Fairway for the very attractive and infinitely safer bridge on Mission Road just south of Shawnee Mission Parkway.

The council members had to hold fast to their convictions that this was the right thing to do amid extreme pressure from a vocal few to change the plan. Because of their strength of character under siege, the bridge was built without raising our taxes.

My prayer is that the loyal opposition begins to appreciate the difficulty experienced by those whose job it is to serve the public good. As a former council member, I understand how hard those decisions are to make. Most important is remembering that whatever the decision, it must benefit the whole city, not just a vocal few.

I hope now that those who opposed the bridge will realize that the council did the right thing going forward with the bridge and that the new bridge will benefit citizens of Fairway and all others who pass through our city.

Marcia H. Bailey
Fairway

Our friend, Don Sewing

I grew up in Fairway and hold the claim of being the Sewings’ first “yard guy” at about age 12 (10/6 editorial, “Housing pioneer improved KC area”).

I remember trying to get on TV after this fine family moved in, as I cut their yard, never really thinking about why the news cameras were there.

Mr. and Mrs. Sewing, daughter Evelyn and son Henry, are absolutely the best family. They added so much to our neighborhood.

Mr. Sewing and the whole family were positive, enthusiastic and fun. Friends to us all, they are part of many great memories.

Mr. Sewing would attend, with his family, pool and swim team events, and I would go away from our conversations ready to conquer anything.

God bless pioneers, great neighborhoods to grow in, great people, his family in this time of loss, and the spirit of Don Sewing. We all grew together.

Mark Anderson
Mission Hills

Fairway city hall

Mike Hendricks may not have come up with a new idea about the Fairway city hall issue, but he absolutely came up with the right idea (4/12, Metro, “A fair way to help small cities”). I am a nine-year Fairway resident. It’s a terrific neighborhood, but I’ve always thought we should merge with one or more of our neighboring small cities. Thanks to Mike for pointing out so many great reasons to do so.

I bristle at the idea of a new city hall, period. Why do we need one? Why do we need a city of Fairway? Why spend millions of dollars on a building for a government facility? What does that do for residents? What possible reasons do our city leaders have for not even considering a merger?

Amen, Mike. Let’s do away with Fairway.

Chris Crabtree
Fairway

In Mike Hendricks’ April 12 column, he suggested that the communities of northeast Johnson County would be better served by merging into one super-municipality and become like the Brookside and Waldo neighborhoods of Kansas City. Hendricks cited Fairway’s current consideration of a new city hall as an illustration of this need.

As a member of the Fairway City Council, I suggest that the city hall discussion, despite being contentious at times, is exactly why Mr. Hendricks’ suggestion is a terrible idea.

In Fairway, we have an obsolete city hall that is inaccessible under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The city has committed to putting any proposal for a new city hall to a vote. Therefore, to ensure that Fairway gets a functional, handicapped-accessible city hall, it is imperative that we only put forth a plan that has broad community support.

I wonder whether this is the same process available to Waldo and Brookside residents when the municipal government of Kansas City makes important decisions that affect them.

Thurston Cromwell
City Council member, 1st Ward
Fairway