Shelton’s Crumbling Infrastructure Battle
Citizens are left to 'go to thunder' after the City Board funnels the town's remaining street funds into a bridge project that disproportionately benefits the members themselves.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Citizens in this vicinity had hoped for street improvements to connect the town to the Court house, but the project is blocked by a game played at the Board meeting. Nearly all available money was appropriated to the First street bridge, leaving all other street work in an unfinished, muddy condition. Two board members who are directly interested in the bridge project successfully maneuvered the appropriation and even voted on the question—a clear conflict of interest. The inhabitants of this neglected part of town are left to 'go to thunder,' dodge stumps, or walk an extra mile just to reach the Court house. In this grasping age, it seems we cannot expect officials to overlook their own interests. We are somewhat consoled by the fact that there is no more money left to 'blow in' until next year when we will have a new set of men.
“The inhabitants in this benighted part of town can 'go to thunder,' in a figurative way... and dodge the stumps.”
Civic friction over the allocation of public funds—particularly when officials appear to be favoring their own properties or pet projects—is a political struggle that persists in every era of Shelton's development.
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