The world is falling apart and everything is broken: our hearts, our city and the clock in our Town Center.
Across from the north end QFC, a large clock is seen by a multitude of citizens each day, but the time it presents is inaccurate. Broken public infrastructure conveys a sense of carelessness that reflects poorly on the culture of Mercer Island; we have the resources to fix broken systems and certainly broken clocks.
The Islander reached out to Mercer Island Deputy Public Works Director Alaine Sommargren to determine who owns the clock. Sommargren told us that the clock is on “the current site of U.S Bank” and is “not owned or maintained by the City.”
When we raided the bank for information, a representative claimed that the bank is merely a tenant and referred us to the property owners upstairs. However, the owners denied possession of the clock and referred us to the City.
We then realized that there is a fountain below the clock with a water bill that must be paid by some entity. We contacted Sommargren March. 1 to no avail.
Thus, A&E Editor Kyle Gerstel, Opinions Editor Ashwin Krishnaswamy and Guest Contributor Connor Wood decided to take the issue to the streets and film Mercer Island citizens sharing what they think should be done about the clock. This is that film.
Jayce Madamba • Apr 5, 2023 at 12:56 pm
I question how the town or city will respond to this. Based on the information given, it’ll be unknown what will happen to the broken clock. Thank you, Kyle, Ashwin, and Connor for going out and publishing this article to the public for us readers to see.