Letter to the Editor: What has happened to my hometown?

To the Editor:
I’ve written to this newspaper a couple of times before, each congratulating sports teams who had achieved greatness and how proud I was of them and to be from a small town where people respected each other; a place where a foursome at the Country Club might include a doctor, teacher, employee at Nordec and a farmer. Good, honest people who worked hard, had fun and had values.
The city council and mayor of Waukon have made a determination that a street in Waukon actually is not a city street but a private driveway. What’s interesting about this decision is that this private drive has been paved, maintained, garbage collected and snow plowed for over four decades.
In 1999 my father requested a building permit for an additional garage on his property. The location of this garage was denied because the City told him that at some point in the future they were going to extend that street to the property behind and to the north of my parents’ home. This property was recently purchased by the City.
Now, my father’s neighbor wants to build a garage on that same strip of land. Because the City is refusing ownership of the street at this time this neighbor has posted no trespassing signs land-locking my father and his property from the street. This individual is a teacher at the grade school in Waukon and his wife teaches at the high school. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams that Wayne Sawyer, Marv Strike, Elmer Alderdyce, Dennis Runge and so many of my other teachers I admired growing up, and still do today, would ever, ever, ever consider anything like that.
The mayor of Waukon hunted deer with me and my father for 15 years. I have personally drug out of the woods at least a half a dozen of his kills.
My God, what has happened to my hometown?

Russ Martin
Not so proud alumni of Waukon anymore
Des Moines