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While in a bank on the Golden Mile, a gentleman in a business suit approached me. He remembered I had been mayor.

"Mayor Gordon," he said, "we need help on this end of town." He was a struggling businessman on the West Patrick Street entrance to the city.

"No question about that," I said. "The Golden Mile has needed help from the city for a long time. You need to talk to the elected officials in office and candidates running for office to learn their plans for your end of town."

"I have," he said. "All we get is talk. No action."

"Your end of town is not the only area of the city that gets talk and no action by politicians," I responded. "One problem is the focus on annexation while ignoring existing problems in developed areas. Existing problems should be fixed before more land is annexed."

We often see city leaders animated when the subject of annexation is on the table, while looking visibly bored when faced with keeping commitments to existing areas.

The Golden Mile didn't tarnish overnight. It began to lose its luster more than a decade ago. Neighborhoods began to change as well. All the city did was tell residents and store owners that the issues were beyond their control, instead of taking proactive steps to offset the decline.

East Patrick Street neighbors continually challenged the city to control violation of city regulations by at least one industry in the area. They fought back as a Carroll Creek developer sought to impose taller buildings than originally proposed by the Carroll Creek Plan. Some politicians saw taller buildings as providing a greater tax base.

Rosemont Avenue area is drowning in traffic directed onto it from areas to the west by both city and county development. The city even allowed a major gas station, adding substantial traffic on a parcel re-zoned to accommodate it.

A master plan ring road that would expedite traffic flow away from Rosemont Avenue can never be built because a proposed major leg is on Fort Detrick property, and the county has refused to allow shifting a link slightly to the west.

The irony is that Fort Detrick's growth is a major factor impacting Rosemont Avenue traffic. Politicians praise the economic benefits of Detrick, but ignore the difficulties it imposes on existing neighborhoods. The traffic problem is almost beyond fixing, and growing.

Meanwhile city officials salivate over annexation of major areas and warn that if annexation doesn't occur, the parcels will be developed as county parcels. The city will lose tax revenue. The county's argument is that growth in the city reduces their ability to control costs, while city politicians argue that nearby growth in the county creates unfunded costs for the city.

Our mayor applauds his resolution to the Potomac River water line dispute between the city and county. Now he adds a caveat. If we don't annex, the cost of water under the agreement will require existing city customers to have higher water bills. Former Mayor Jennifer Dougherty argued against accepting the contract. She was rightfully concerned about the cost to residents.

City politicians have changed annexation agreements by requiring less investment by developers to encourage rapid development. The waived costs end up being paid by existing taxpayers. The Monocacy Boulevard area is one such annexation where developer requirements were reduced while the taxpayers assumed major costs.

Residents in the corridors of Rosemont Avenue and East Patrick and West Patrick streets want the city to find solutions for problems the city and county have created for them.

Annexing more land doesn't fix problems. It often adds to them.

Paul Gordon is a local historian, and was mayor of Frederick city from January 1990 to January 1994. His column appears weekly. You can reach him at prg202@comcast.net. To submit a letter to the editor in response to this column, log onto www.gazette.net, and click on the Speak Out tab.