I think it has become apparent one more time that the NRA waterfront is a political “third rail” if you will.

If I had Mayor John Moak’s ear, which I don’t, I would tell him that even trying to resolve the issue of the NRA waterfront that has been raging for over 30 years might in itself be overly ambitious. One of my favorite phrases is “baby steps get you to the top of the mountain.”

It might be prudent instead of trying to find someone to “make things happen,” which implies wrapping this whole waterfront thing up in an nice pretty bow, lickety split, that it might be a good idea simply to have the goal of moving this whole thing forward just slightly more. That alone would be huge and a major accomplishment.

I think we’ve experienced or are in the middle of experiencing the “two steps forward, three steps back” thing.

I would very much like to say to Mr. Moak, “inhale, take a deep breath, and step back for a moment.” The desire to finally see the waterfront issue wrapped up is an admirable one, but I’m still not counting on it happening in my lifetime. And I think if Mr. Moak relaxes and doesn’t expect it to happen in his lifetime either, that paradoxically my expectation would be that he might venture a little bit forwards towards having that goal realized, just on a smaller scale.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport