Canfield residents should worry more about bullets than burgers in the city

Opinion: June 3, 2018 at 12:00a.m.

The city of Canfield has a local business crisis. That being, as the businesses around the Canfield Green stagnate, there are other business issues in play on the periphery of the Green.

Issue 1: There was a recent Vindicator article (May 22) about complaints in front of Canfield City Council regarding the local McDonalds being dirty and under par. Yes, it is true, citizens brought this egregious matter to the Canfield City Council. The whiners guised their real concerns to council by complaining about the exterior of the McDonalds. In my humble opinion, this outdated (or “retro”) style is part of what gives the place its charm. Plus, this location is one of the few McDonalds that still has a “party room/meeting room.”

Have any of the complainers been past the northeast corner of the Canfield Green, you know, where there is a tow yard with collapsed cars in the parking lot?

I believe the many market-driven conservatives of Canfield need to review the studies of Adam Smith, the father of modern capitalism. If you don’t like a place of business – simply walk away, or go to Arbys next door – you don’t bring it to the local mayor.

Issue 2: Sometime in April, on a neighborhood social network, I asked if my neighbors knew there was a gun store in Canfield. They got porky about the Second Amendment. I was chided by one giddy Canfieldian, with “Hey did you also know there is a McDonalds in Canfield?”

Why are the people of Canfield pestering their local government about burgers when they should be worried about bullets flying around their children? Are we that addicted to fast food – and guns? And if so, why do we want government to fix our fast food and not our gun issue?

Going back to the woman’s question: Yes, there is a McDonalds in Canfield but it just so happens to be regulated by the government, as are all other public foods. Unfortunately, it does not appear as “clean” as the rest of Canfield – excluding the junk yard on its major intersection. Yes, burgers are regulated and guns are not. And in this very same Vindicator article and in his report to city council, Canfield Police Chief Chuck Colucci noted that a police officer started working as a school resource officer at Canfield Middle School, bringing the number of officers stationed full time in the schools to two. By the way, this is the school a half mile from the clean gun store. The high school is a half mile in the other direction.

Robin Schuler, Canfield