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Re: The Dock - Who Pays?
By Lynne Miller

 

September 22, 2005
Thursday PM


I do not understand the rationale of any opening statement wherein we all acknowledge dock expansion was voted down handily by the voice and mandate of this community via its election process and yet we are all supposed to accept now that the dock expansion issue will move forward. What is it that a majority of the people in this community saw and believed in, in regard to this issue that our city council driven "minority" is now hell bent to ignore? It can't be that the city council truly believes the MAJORITY of its citizens to be so stupid and ill informed that they approve of elected city council members paying for elections, advertising for public participation in fair and equitable election processes and then IGNORING every honor bound result of that same city council initiated process. The gall, indeed of this "city" and its government if that is the cold, hard fact at the end of the day.

In my home town of Portland, Oregon that city, the business community, its election bound city respesentatives as well as the public at large acted proactively to turn blocks and blocks of public dock space on the Willamette River into a vital, interactive city park named for Tom McCall, a visionary and POSITIVE public leader. The concerts, picnics, walking and biking paths, as well as the many diverse special events that occur to benefit the community in ways quantified not always by ECONOMICS are immeasurable - and greatly appreciated by Portland's citizens as well as its many visitors annually. What was once a commercialized, congested area of that city is now "space" - open and viable and accessible to the people, for the people. Maybe, for some of us, that is ALL the rationale we need to vote "no" on port expansion and to continue to vote "no" regardless of what "information" is provided to us into infinity.

Lynne Miller
Ketchikan, AK - USA

Related Viewpoint:

letter THE DOCK; WHO PAYS? By Chris Schelb - Haines, AK - USA

 

 

 

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