Jackson Street Pier needs progress, not negativity

The City of Sandusky is tediously moving forward — with the public's input — on plans to revitalize the Jackson Street Pier.While we admire the process, we are concerned that if planners continue to try to please everybody, they will inevitably not please anybody when the work is done."Whatever the community decides to do regarding the Jackson Street Pier, we need to be sure that we get it right," Sandusky's ex officio mayor Dennis Murray Jr. said.Murray is correct on one point — the city does need to get it right. Spending public — and private — money on such a project demands that it is done right the first time.In the end, however, Murray and his fellow commissioners will decide as representatives of the people.This is not to dismiss the public's role or input. It should be sought out and listened to, and projects such as these should remain transparent. We're encouraged by the community's participation and interest in this project.But we're baffled by opponents. Some of the opposition, we think, fails to see the city with a bright future and prefers things as they always were.This is a minority of folks, we fear, having a megaphone moment. We don't understand why this group protests so vehemently to keep an unattractive, asphalt parking lot on the shoreline, when redeveloping the property into a family friendly destination is exactly what a progressive community should do.We also disagree with the naysayers' tactics in making it personal.City commissioners and city planners have worked diligently to keep the process open and have done so in a professional way. We've heard cheap shots questioning their motives.City commissioners, city manager Eric Wobser and his team have accomplished a lot in the past few years, and waterfront development is a cornerstone toward building a better Sandusky.We're declaring, here and now, they've earned our confidence in this process, and they are right to be developing a plan to rebuild the pier.The opponents might be loud, but they are, in our opinion, a vocal minority.Parked cars sit at the Jackson Street Pier on Monday, July 24, 2017. If a vocal minority had their way, the pier would remain as is.