Residents should not be surprised by OPC process

Dear Editor:
It should come as no surprise to anyone living on the South Side, that the Obama Presidential Center is not properly taking into account the needs of the local community.
Wake up Hyde Park! Barack Obama loved to talk about the fact that he lived on the South Side, however in all his eight years in office, can you point to any single improvement to the South Side communities that were a result of his being in office?
Gun violence did not drop, schools did not improve, there are still food desserts and a lack of economic development. And the few improvements there might be, were the results of local Aldermen and nothing to do with Obama influence. Obama dropped the South Side like a hot potato. An opportunity missed.
I am not convinced that the Obama Presidential Center will do anything to improve the every day lives of black people living on the South Side, except drive up property values making it unaffordable and take away precious park land.
It is high time people stopped seeing Obama as some magical angel and began seeing him as just another politician. While he can make darn good speeches, he has done nothing for his own community and is primarily concerned for his own legacy.

Joseph Samuelson