Brookings Banter

The pending sale of DM&E to Canadian Pacific came as no surprise.  So much that at first I didn't understand why there was so much press, then I realized I was in a different place about the railroad then most.  As a city official I see the railroad as two rails, ties, locomotives, and rail cars.  We can't worry about who owns as much as how can we fund safety improvements and insure a good quality of life along the rails.

I learned from Reno's ReTrac project that if you don't have a bargaining chip they will not come to the table.  Don't get me wrong we need to develop a good relationship with the new owners but the city's focus should be on how much funding can we secure and how we can best use the funding to improve rail safety in Brookings.