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How governments prioritize expenditures is sometimes a head-scratcher. An example is the city of Columbus’ decision to invest millions in a new soccer stadium, while a segment of the west side continues to decay.

Two weeks ago, the Columbus Dispatch ran a three-day series, “Suffering on Sullivant,” about a three mile stretch of Sullivant Avenue that suffers from prostitution, drug use and other crimes. The landscape is marked by abandoned and dilapidated houses, trash and drug paraphernalia.

A week ago, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther referred to the area as a “top priority” for his administration. City Attorney Zach Klein acknowledged the elevated crime rate in the area, and City Council President Pro Tempore Elizabeth Brown recognizes the area needs more assistance.

Excellent! But wait a minute. Something’s wrong here.

While the woes of Sullivant Avenue may have been a newsflash to many Columbus residents, this had to be old news for the city’s administration. There’s no way city officials just became aware of the problem.

Sullivant has been in a steady state of decay—for how many years?—and the city is contributing $50 million to the development of a new Crew stadium and another $50 million for nearby development projects? What am I missing? Yes, I know the argument—the Crew stadium means economic development and more jobs, but I’m always skeptical of these tradeoffs. Exactly how many long terms jobs offering more than $15 an hour will the stadium and related improvements provide?

That point aside, what about the social costs that come with Sullivant Avenue? Drugs and prostitution result in additional criminal activity—and more broken lives—which requires more police and fire fighter activity, more emergency medic time and more emergency room services, all of which affect the city’s budget.

Then there’s the continuing cycle of poverty and how it affects the area’s youth. All they know is what they see on Sullivant Avenue—nothing else—and so they fall into the same hole of just barely getting along, as best they can—crime and all.

Build a stadium? No problem. We’re on it, right now! Tackle crime, drug use, lack of education and all the other problems that exist on Sullivant Avenue? Ah, well, that’s on the list.

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Jack D’Aurora write for Considerthisby.com

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