[Winona Online Democracy]
Responding to Janice Turek and Paul Double on their criticism of
using public money to promote the Farmer's Market:
I'm no expert on City government, but I think it's probably
simplistic to draw a line in the sand and say no to any tax-supported
promotion of private businesses. It certainly does happen all the
time at higher levels of government and I would think at the City
level too, whether it's in the name of economic development, job
creation, tourism, or some other appropriate buzzword. I don't think
that's a bad thing, as long as it's done equitably and is in tune
with what the majority of voters understand as the public good. Yes,
that makes me a political liberal, and I don't think that's a bad
thing either, but that's another discussion.
As for the equitable part...Janice, I think you raise a good
practical question about how the City could advertise for one
downtown business and not all the others. A couple of thoughts on
this. First, the Market is not a single private business but a
consortium of maybe 15 (?) businesses, if that helps with the
fairness issue.
Also, I threw out the idea about the market, hoping that it could
become part of an overall promotion of downtown, not as a separate
stand-alone item. I just think the lively existence of the Market
should be part of what travellers see or hear as they decide whether
to make that left turn on Huff Street and drive into town to do some
exploring. It's another identifiable feature, fitting nicely with
the historical buildings, the regional artistic activities, the
riverboat heritage represented by the Wilkie and the new museum, and
the natural areas of Aghaming and Prairie Island.
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sent by:
Scott Lowery
461 Sunnyview Drive, Rollingstone MN 55969
home phone: (507)689-4532
school phone: (507)454-9587 (Winona Area Learning Center)
home email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
school email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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