To the Editor:
I pay $90 a month to park in the George Street parking garage. I used to have a parking space on the lower level but they moved me so that downtown patrons would have parking. No one hardly ever parks there. You can check it out for yourself if you like.
I now have a space on the up ramp off George Street. It is supposed to be a reserved area but people still park there anyway. The only reason they don’t park in my space is because I paid to have a sign made and then paid the city to put it up.
The DCBA (Downtown Cumberland Business Association) and the DDC (Downtown Development Commission) are always complaining about employees who work downtown taking all the parking spaces. In 30 years they haven’t figured out those same employees make up the bulk of their patrons and customers. I guess they’ve never heard of the old adage, that “You don’t bite the hand that feeds you!”
Our company has been downtown for over 20 years. First at 50 N. Mechanic St. and now at 111 S. George St. I do almost all my shopping downtown. I’m a regular customer at Ray’s Jewelers, Aber’s, CVS, DeWitt Camera Centre and Lifetime Eyecare Center, just to mention a few.
I eat at Queen City Creamery, City Lights and Wendy’s on a regular basis. Our company holds all of our functions at the Holiday Inn. My wife Judy and I have our retirement plans with CBIZ. We have our checking and savings accounts at First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union.
A lot of my disposable income is spent in downtown Cumberland. If the DCBA and the DDC ever manage to take my parking space away from me, they are going to lose a valued customer!
Marty O’Toole
Cumberland
