Everyone familiar with the City of Kingston knows the sidewalk situation is a mess. Disparate materials, such as bluestone, concrete, asphalt, or in many cases no sidewalk at all are encountered on almost every block in the city. The conditions range from new or refurbished sections of limited scope and length to badly torn up and unmaintained sections, particularly Bluestone around mature trees that have heaved the surfaces over the decades. Under current city policy (and I realize and appreciate this is a County-based participatory survey), sidewalks are the responsibility of each individual property owner with adjacency to these public walks. The keyword here is ‘public.’ What Kingston has now is a Wild West style of Balkanized public circulation, with no standards that are in place or enforced for sidewalk, construction, safety, and consistency. When it comes to ADA accessibility, we cannot even begin the conversation due to impediments almost everywhere for wheelchair users, baby strollers, and anyone who is mobility impaired. What’s the answer? The city charter should be updated to transfer all sidewalks to its jurisdiction, with installation, repairs, maintenance, and improvements of all city sidewalks performed by the Department of Public Works. Following an internal assessment of all sidewalks, and using already completed reports sitting on various shelves in City Hall and the DPW, the city engineer and comptroller, with the involvement of the council and the mayor, can develop a budget and plan for a comprehensive city sidewalks initiative. It will need to be bonded, and would likely be eligible for some matching federal and state funds. All design standards from the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act will be engineered and constructed as part of this ‘Total City Accessibility’ initiative. And with the County’s help, its Seat can become a shining example to other Hudson Valley cities and towns seeking true, universal accessibility. This will only be possible through the transfer of sidewalk property, through a permanent easement or eminent domain. I am private confident property owners will be receptive to and relieved by this burden being properly placed where it belongs — in the public domain.