Take Two
This entry was posted on 9/20/2007 10:57 AM and is filed under Mayor,Madison,City Council.
We're at it again.
The last time this happened, the mayor, the alders, and the governor himself were bemoaning the fact that the governor was "forced" to sign the bill limiting government's ability to use eminent domain to seize property they wanted for their own projects; now they're supporting the Arbor Gate project as a back door to get what they were legally unable to steal take before. Note the mayor's quote at the end:
"It will bring jobs, vitality and is just the start of what we 're going to be able to do (in the area). "
Emphasis mine.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: They won't be happy until they've shut down the dirty porno store for good. This isn't entirely about driving out "unsavory" business, but that's a significant portion of what's driving this initiative. There are enough people in Madison who are opposed to adult establishments, because they're somehow "dirty" and need to be driven out of our otherwise vestal and pure town city, that there is support for projects like this. The irony here is that the same people who oppose Bush because of the damage he's done to civil liberties are also big supporters of taking away a legal business's right to operate in the way they choose because they don't like the business. (See also: porn stores, strip clubs, bars that allow smoking, etc.)
And the worst part about this: It's all supposedly for the "neighborhood," or for the "community." I don't know how many people out there have spent much time in the Todd Drive neighborhood, but exactly how many poor people and/or minorities (of which there are quite a few in the Todd Drive area) do you think they'll hire for the car dealerships and other upscale businesses they want to put in the newly-renovated business park? Chances are, none. Like so many other projects, this is (directly or indirectly) another way Madison is becoming more and more gentrified. Another reason to vote out our City Council in the next elections.
