McQuade decision Terry Brown DPPA board member Op. Ed. - Duluth News Tribune - Aug. 6 2000 (this Op. Ed. was written collaboratively by the DPPA board) In the last week of July, just as the hottest summer weather made its appearance, six Duluth City Councilors faced another kind of heat as they voted ``No'' to a request to lease Congdon gift land for the proposed McQuade boat launch. Since that night, councilors must have grown wary of picking up a newspaper or tuning in television news, considering the barrage of criticism that has been aimed at them. From Mayor Doty. From Senators Sam Solon and Doug Johnson. From the publisher of the Duluth News Tribune. But amidst the criticism, there has also been an approving chorus of everyday citizens who were inspired as they watched Duluth's elected officials stand up for the 1915 Congdon agreement that preserves this stretch of the North Shore for public use forever. And stand up, as well, for financial responsibility in choosing not to spend $8 to $10 million in tax dollars. Among those appreciative voices are the members of Duluth Public-Policy Alliance (DPPA), which extends its ``thank-you'' here to those six City Councilors: Gilbert, Stover, Fena, Eckenberg, Stewart, and Hogg. Why the thanks? Because, though this project had taken on a life of its own and collected the momentum of dollars and well-connected support, the McQuade boat launch proposal needed to be stopped -- and something better undertaken in its place. And it's not easy to stop such momentum, even when, as in this case, neither the location nor the process worked. Why didn't the location work? There is no natural shelter in the bedrock shoreline at McQuade. This stretch is open to the destruction of storm waves and is not deep enough to provide anchorage. Massive underwater blasting of Lake Superior rock would have been required, and a huge breakwater wall -- visible for miles -- constructed, at exorbitant cost. A good location, on the other hand, takes advantage of existing geographic features and works seamlessly with the land and water. Why didn't the process work? This launch -- and the commercial development that would doubtless have followed -- represents spotty land-use planning. As well, citizen input was stunted, with no truly representative surveys conducted and opposing views discouraged. Add to this a backward series of events that left obtaining the lease to the Congdon gifted land to the last minute, when it would be hard to say ``No,'' and you have a sour concoction destined to fail. A good process, on the other hand, might have included a North Shore Comprehensive Plan, the involvement of a wide range of citizens, and an up-front approach to securing land. It's been suggested that since the Councilors voted down McQuade, they should propose an alternate plan for that neglected area. While this stretch is dotted with unkempt buildings, this crumbling is to be expected when an area's future is uncertain, as this has been for a decade. Why spend money on maintenance when bulldozers might arrive at any moment? But since the gauntlet has been thrown, it's a good time to explore what we Duluthians want at McQuade. A proposal to build a Burger King on West Skyline Parkway was turned down recently by the City Council, in part to promote a more scenic entrance to Duluth from that direction. This could as well be the theme for McQuade from the east and Spirit Mountain from the west: Small parks serving as ``Welcome to Duluth'' gateways to our city. Such a theme would also remind us that special shore land is as beautiful as Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon and deserves the same protection. City officials would need to help inspire our citizens to share their visions for such Duluth gateways and then actually do something with those visions, not simply file them away. By doing so, we would not only encourage stewardship of these lovely areas -- and increase consciousness of such problems as shoreline erosion -- but also end these protection and land-use battles. And as part of this picture, we could support spending tax dollars on the harbors at Knife River and Two Harbors. That we are able to consider these ideas at all is due in great part to those six Duluth City Councilors, whose actions -- though vilified by some -- were an example of good democratic principles. This opportunity is also due to the citizens who attended and spoke at the Council that night. Though they have been dismissed by some as a ``small number of vocal individuals,'' these Duluthians, and others like them, are what open government and democracy are all about. Terry Brown is a member of the Board of Directors of Duluth Public-Policy Alliance, a group of citizens who work on issues of open government and responsible city planning in Duluth. These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.

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