Apparently Tim Louis Macaluso has been out of town for the past two months. In the middle of his article, "Port Inching Toward Development," he writes that the "city is planning improvements... for dredging and repairing the (Charlotte) pier, which has started to crumble."

First of all, the pier is under the jurisdiction of the US Army Corps of Engineers. There has been a lack of maintenance to the pier for over a decade, which has resulted in an overall dilapidated and dangerous pedestrian promenade. Pavement is severely deteriorated, side cables remain broken, and there is no lighting. Graffiti, some of it gang-related or obscene, is everywhere, and algae collects, rots, and smells where the structure meets the beach.

This condition resulted in an ad hoc citizen's campaign which started this past June to collect signatures on a petition demanding that public safety repairs be made to the pier. I personally have spoken with individuals who have had serious falls and have observed people in wheelchairs unable to negotiate the crumbling promenade. The repeated response we received from the Corps of Engineers was that the pier was "not designed for pedestrians" or that there was "no money for maintenance."

However, despite the condition of the pier and the federal government's lack of attention, hundreds of people walk the pier daily during warm weather for the spectacular view of Lake Ontario. Our petition drive indicates that the pier attracts people from communities throughout Monroe County as well as visitors from places such as New York City, Toronto, California, Florida, and Arizona. While they enjoy the view, they also experience the neglect evident with the pier.

Yes, we applaud Representative Louise Slaughter's efforts to secure necessary funding for improvements to the pier and much-needed dredging of the Genesee River. And we appreciate the city and Monroe County's attention to trash and graffiti control. But there is no overall maintenance or public safety plan for the pier yet, or discussion of rebuilding the structure to correct design flaws that result in annual wave and ice damage or algae problems.

There has been extensive media coverage of our petition drive, but again, City missed the entire dynamic in reporting this issue.

Bill Condo, DeMeter Drive, Greece

The editor's response: Condo, who has been active in pressing for the pier repair, is correct. This is the Army Corps of Engineer's jurisdiction. We apologize for the error. As for covering the issue: As Condo notes, the campaign to repair the pier has been covered by nearly every local media. Our job is analysis, and while we frequently cover news that other media are focused on, we also look for topics and angles that are going unnoticed. If every local newspaper covered the same things, there'd be no need for more than one of us.