In response to Kaye Fissinger's Open Forum Letter "City Council has made Progress", I think some clarifications are necessary. I'll try to be as little like Rumplestiltskin as possible.

When I read the title of the piece I thought it would lay out what, specifically, the City Council's Bloc of Four has accomplished to date. Instead I found a laundry list of their personal attributes and presumed qualifications, poetically touted from their steadfast friend, with nary a word to their accomplishments. I hope that statement wasn't too venomous. I'm still wondering how "the kind of expertise that only an innovative scientist can" bring will be helpful in balancing a budget and creating a flourishing tax base.

Since Kaye neglected to actually name the "progress" the council has made, let's take a look at the Bloc of Four's record. So far they've succeeded in letting Union, a huge tax revenue source, walk to the next community over where it looks to continue as its developers planned. Not only did the Bloc of Four give up the potential tax revenue, they also gave up any say in the planning process. What else? They've run off a reputable company looking to rehab our crumbling mall, which should be our number one retail tax base source, with their unrelenting unwillingness to cooperate with any reasonable forward movement by the developer. In doing so they even undermined getting a new theater, with the side-effect of a continued bite in the wallet the drive to another community's theater takes. They've effectively sold their council votes for campaign contributions by the national force attempting to unionize our police department, thereby leap-frogging the petition process. Oh, also, they've managed to oust the Chief of Fire and the City Attorney, and in the case of Clay Douglas done so in a manner of which they should be ashamed. City Manager, Gordon Pedrow, you must feel like you have a target on your back-- but please, hang in there, Longmont NEEDS someone with actual experience in running a city. Am I missing anything? Gee, Four Bloc, thanks a lot for all the "progress" Oh, I did forget their crowning achievement! They kept the skating rink open last winter! Bravo!

Ms Fissinger WAS right about one thing, however. Longmont has become a microcosm of a larger, national movement from the "progressive" left. And so, yes, we must be vigilant. We must no longer sit back on these small elections and allow the minority to determine the course of our cities, our states, our nation. No matter how they rattle their cages and threaten and stamp their feet that their new "revolution" is afoot, and anyone against them is merely outmoded, we must soldier on. The lesson is clear, and the time of apathy is over. Keep the pressure on, Longmont. One way or another the message to the City Council must be heard that we will not continue to let a virulently anti-business, anti-growth agenda hold court. For let's be honest, no growth means no progress.