Nearly two weeks ago I sent the mayors of Mt. Vernon and Lisbon, and all members of the city councils whose email addresses I could find, invitations to share their views on this site. I asked as well that they forward the invitation to members of the two planning and zoning commissions, as their email addresses are not readily available. No official has yet commented on the site.

With regard to that tiny minority of officials whose views overlap in some measure with mine, perhaps a lack of response is not so remarkable. But when it comes to to the rest, all of whom contend strongly that our towns “need” continual residential development, their silence is revealing. It seems they’re unwilling or unable to back up their rhetoric with evidence or logic.

But maybe that’s not the case. I therefore call on them again to pick any article here from the last month or so (comments have closed on one or two of the oldest) with which they disagree, and post their views. Let’s talk about it. (Maybe you can show me where I’m wrong about something! 8O) The citizens of Mt. Vernon and Lisbon deserve to hear the basis for your pro-residential-development stance. They deserve to see whatever logic or evidence you can provide to support your views. They deserve to see the issues discussed openly and freely with all relevant facets examined. We have the setup here to allow for ongoing discussion, and for discussion of multiple topics. Let’s take advantage of it.

An unwillingness to discuss the issues openly, for all to see, begins to prompt conclusions that perhaps the growth industry’s arguments are indeed just unsupportable propaganda. Let’s see if any of the more pro-residential-growth officials can show us they make their arguments in good faith and have done the research to back them up.