A group of citizens in Hamtramck is tired of politicians trying to figure out how they are going to extract additional dollars from your wallet to fix our badly deteriorating roads. These folks have decided to do something about it and formed their own group called Hamtramck Guerrilla Road Repair.
They have raised their own funds and are going out and making emergency road repairs to some of the worst roads in the city. How are they raising dollars? Well, the group started a GoFundMe page. Their goal is $5,000 and the media reported that early last week they had raised over $900 to fix the roads.
You should also know that this is not a rogue, out-of-control group – they are doing this work with the full backing of the city, who like every city and county in the state doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of dollars needed to fix their streets. The mayor indicated that the money the city receives from gas-tax revenues is being targeted by the city to improve streets used as fire routes, but other roads need attention as well.
Some of this is personal for members of the Guerrilla Road Repair volunteers as several have spent hundreds of dollars on auto repairs due to the condition of the streets. They got tired of complaining about it and decided to take their energy and do something about it!
I, for one, applaud their efforts. While I am not sure it is a good idea for untrained citizens to be making emergency road repairs – and let’s be clear, these are short-term fixes – these actions are indicative of the community spirit, identity, and pride that these citizens have. They share these traits with other citizens around the region and state.
It is refreshing to see people try to improve their community with their own dollars in an apolitical way to just try to make things a little better for everyone.
I hope the legislature is watching – they could learn something from this.
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