Scott Tibbs
Published in the Herald-Times
February 17^th, 2006

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Vote for diversity

I often disagree with city councilman David Sabbagh, but I have been impressed with him as of late. He injected some much-needed sanity into the city council's discussion of vacating an alley for a CVS store a few blocks north of downtown. The property CVS hopes to occupy is a blighted area with graffiti and boarded-up windows, right across the street from a porn shop. Instead of thanking CVS for making an investment in Bloomington's future, Democrats on the city council nit-picked and micromanaged the design of the building. Thanks to Sabbagh and fellow City Councilor Jason Banach for opposing a big government intrusion into private business.

What the CVS debate shows is that Bloomington has effectively had one-party rule for too long. In a Jan. 16 letter to the editor, Jim Sprague reports that Mayor Mark Kruzan justified the council's qualifications for deciding building design and architecture with the comment that "they were elected." This shows an arrogance that is unbecoming of a mayor. It also shows that we need more diversity in local government, both ideologically and with regard to party affiliation.

When it is time to vote, I urge this community to vote for diversity.