The Future is Now

The Free Lance-Star has published “The Future is Now” vision document along with a brief argument in its favor by Mayor Bill Beck:

I have just proposed to City Council the most ambitious improvement plan in memory. It includes dozens of large and small projects that will burnish the appearance of our city and will enhance the quality of our residents’ lives. I call it “The Future is Now” because we can wait no longer. We are going to deliver on decades of unkept promises.

We will do this with money already available to us. How? First, many of these projects do not cost a lot of money (turning our riverfront into a public park for example, or using new techniques to calm traffic in our neighborhoods). Second, the city is in the enviable financial position to afford these projects. It’s time we got something for our money. And third, we will carefully phase construction of our projects and explore innovative public/private construction and financing options. Government, for too long, has failed miserably to innovate. Ten years from now that won’t be true of Fredericksburg.