Ten years ago, I returned to Pottstown as editor of The Mercury after working at another newspaper and a business newsletter company for seven years. I had previously worked here for 16 years.


At the time I returned, The Mercury had just published the award-winning reporting series by Evan Brandt, "Do or Die," a comprehensive look at the crossroads the borough of Pottstown faced in its efforts to become a revitalized town center. At the time I returned, there was hope and a lot of buzz about the borough's future and its potential.


Some in town blamed a perceived negative attitude at the paper for dragging down progress, but the change in management here was seen as a positive step. I wrote a number of encouraging editorials in the first few years I was back to herald any sign of progress.


But here we are 10 years later, and the state of the downtown is worse, if there is any change at all. Now, the editorials I write often focus on the lack of cooperation, the infighting, the waste of time over individual agendas instead of a community coming together to pull itself up.


I wrote another one of those yesterday, Mrs. Smith's vote showed no forward motion, and it has reminded me of how long it has been since an exciting idea actually came to fruition.