I am a resident of Wetmore Avenue and, if Providence Everett Medical Center has its plan approved as presented, I would be facing a six-story parking garage. I am not a resident of the Donovan District, nor do I participate in the Northwest Neighborhood Association meetings.
As a citizen of Everett concerned with the proposed expansion and its impact on my property value, I arrived early for the recent City Council meeting on the matter so I could address my concerns. Before the meeting started, Council President Marian Krell advised me that she “made a deal” with Hilary Hager that if she allowed the Donovan District people to make a presentation, speakers would be limited. She then proceeded to hold up a binder and told me, “we already have all of this information.” Concerned, I stated that my voice was not in that binder, I did not know what was in Hager’s presentation, and I wanted to let my City Council know of my concerns with this proposed expansion.
Then I got it. She already had her mind made up. Nothing that I said, a mere resident of the city she is charged with representing, would matter.
What a tough decision the City Council had Wednesday evening. Four different voices for the hospital spoke of PEMC pulling out of Everett if the plan was not approved that evening. Neighbors presented viable arguments concerning traffic, safety and a generation of kids growing up in a construction zone.
I will continue the battle. I will fight in every way possible. There is no way that a four-story parking garage is or ever can be visually compatible with our neighborhood. And if the only reason that PEMC does not put the parking garages below ground is money, well, it’s time to come up with more money.
Angela Krisinger
Everett
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