We're Still Here

Tuesday night's mess was a real blow to the gut. Two days later, a trailer was plopped down at the southeast corner of Delta and Rush. It was ugly, intimidating, and seemed to say "we're going to start the Wal." People were upset and angry.

Some of us went into that meeting Tuesday night thinking we'd won. Some weren't so sure. Some of us thought that something unusual was going to happen, and the vote on Wal-Mart might be pushed off a while. Nobody, I think, expected a surprise attack, a booby prize, the unveiling of a legal loophole. That attack would attempt to simultaneously stop any vote, and start development immediately.

Then, to add insult to injury... they added insult to injury! One Councilperson whipped out an old photocopied article and made a personal slight against an SOC leader. Then another one berated another leader for not finding the loophole (which that councilperson had not realized).

Where was the "representation" from the elected representatives? Why were they making personal attacks against us, when they have all the power?

But time heals all wounds. That hurt feeling had passed by Thursday night. We were still upset and angry, but posessed of the righteous anger of a people wronged.

There were too many petition signatures collected (over 5,000 total), gathered by too many volunteers, who had talked about this to too many people, to drop this issue. Too many cookies had been baked, too many boxes of candy bought, too many hats passed and stamps bought, to just give up.

We're still here, and we're still fighting. We're still going to stop Wal-Mart.