Faust: Dover’s issues need more focus from officials

As a longtime resident of Dover, I am saddened by what my city has become. These days, I drive downtown with tears in my eyes from what I see. Dover has become another Kensington, Pennsylvania. For those who do not know about Kensington, it is a neighborhood in Philadelphia that belongs to the lower Northeast. As with all neighborhoods in the city, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time and are disputed among locals.

Anyone can go on YouTube or social media and see what the streets of Kensington are filled with. But I would warn you not to go there in person. The neighborhood has become a dump, overloaded with homelessness, an open-air drug market, prostitution, crimes of all sorts being committed and debris all over the streets. To many, it may resemble a scene from the TV series, “The Walking Dead.”

Sadly, Dover has become a Kensington. As you drive downtown, you will see many homeless individuals walking around, standing in intersections or on corners begging for money, as well as prostitutes flagging cars down to provide sex, drug dealers selling dope in clear view, drug addicts craving for their fix on the sidewalks, and trash and used syringes thrown all over the sidewalks and curbs. If you are lucky — and I say this in an adverse way — you may see a homeless person defecating on the sidewalk, while children walk home from school.

I hear some call it a “homeless crisis,” instead of a “drug addiction crisis,” but to me, it has the elements of both!

Whatever kind of crisis you want to call it, you can. But my question is why our city officials fail to address the matter after years of decay. I once respected our mayor, but now, he has become nothing more than an empty suit. Our police chief fails to protect our neighborhoods, and other leaders turn a blind eye, reminding me of what Michael Jackson said in one of his songs: “Don't walk past and pretend you don’t see.”

I always thought our city had the power to control what goes on within its own boundaries, but that does not appear to be the case. People are afraid to walk down the streets, in fear of being harassed for money or propositioned for sex and drugs. The Dover of today is not the city I grew up in and cherished. Should I be convinced that one really cares or hold on to what little hope I have?

As I close, I think back and remember so clearly what my grandmother used to say: “As long as a soul still has breath, there is hope.”

Bill Faust

Dover

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