If cities can die, then Trenton nears a final curtain. Cause of death — poverty, underachieving education system, illiteracy, food insecurity, rubber stamping government officials, prostitution, homelessness, apathy, lead contamination, undocumented residents, crime, limited access to quality heal thcare, public safety, human trafficking, corruption, poor leadership, etc. Those experiencing wonderful times in the capital city draw comparisons to persons enjoying an ice cream sundae on the Titanic. Personally, time spent on the 100 block of Franklin St. offers wonderful hours in a backyard garden. Stepping out into the community causes consternation as reality delivers heavy doses of dismay. Why, just last Thursday a step outside revealed that the Mercer County Improvement Authority (MCIA) had neglected to collect recycling items. Some of the distinct yellow receptacles stood atop mounds of snow being blackened by air pollutants. The scene injected another small dose of depression, anger, and disappointment, plus, realization that such disregard could not occur in those places identified as being “better” neighborhoods. Rushed back inside like Punxsutawney Phil, smelling the funked prognostication of six more weeks or years of debilitation — get up, survive the day, then assume the fetal position in bed. Amazing that a city with a litany of natural resources, rich history, and potential, offers next to nothing. A conspiracy theory suggests that Chambersburg gets overlooked or put on the back burner based on the number of undocumented residents here. Thousands of such identified persons have no legal status and virtually no voice to issue concerns about any grievance. It’s a rather simple formula — if you can’t vote or disengage from government elections entirely then you don’t count. An estimated 10,000 undocumented residents here swells the city’s population to 100,000.  It’s a wonderful number in terms of mathematics and statistics. Twenty-seven percent (27,000 city residents) live in poverty. Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous children are overrepresented among children living below the poverty line. More specifically, 35.5% of Black people living in poverty in the U.S. are below the age of 18, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). In addition, 40.7% of Hispanic people living below the poverty line in the U.S. are younger than age 18, and 29.1% of American Indian and Native American children lived in poverty in 2018. In contrast, approximately 21% of White people living in poverty in the U.S. are less than 18 years old. Furthermore, families with a female head of household are more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to families with a male head of household. Twenty-three percent of female-headed households live in poverty compared to 11.4% of male-headed households, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Positive change will require decades of initiatives focused on education in a capital city where just 70 third graders out of 1200 showed proficiency in state mandated tests; a city that stepped away from books, learning, and education when it closed four satellite libraries. This is not a cry of the sky falling although chickens come home to roost. Discussions of all aforementioned issues should be part of the 2026 mayoral election process. One crucial part of any potential city resuscitation involves construction of a full-functioning, profitable hotel. We have wasted eight years on this issue and only a person with PhD credentials could figure out who owns the downtown property. We will forfeit all the guests expected to visit Trenton for the 250th anniversary of the United States. We will miss out on the overflow of people visiting Philadelphia for the World Cup. Just these two events could have pumped lifeblood into a dying city, one being smothered by lackluster performances by powerful people and snuffed out by leaders without vision. If Trenton reaches the point of needing life support measures — DNR. L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at [email protected]. ...read more read less