Grateful thanks Yvonne Stewart DPPA member Letters to the Editor - Budgeteer - July 27 2000 I extend grateful thanks to the six Duluth City Councilors who had the fortitude to reject the request to lease the Congdon Trust land to the McQuade boat launch project. Since the night these councilors took this brave and responsible stand, they have had to put up with ``sour-grapes'' criticism in the newspapers from Mayor Doty and Senator Sam Solon, who have once more hauled out that tired old label ``anti-progress'' and tried to hang it on these councilors. They were democratically elected by the citizens of Duluth, and Doty and Solon insult us all when they claim that the councilors were merely listening to a ``vocal minority.'' They are doing what they are supposed to be doing: listening to the citizens of Duluth. Unfortunately, Mayor Doty and the McQuade supporters left until last securing the lease of the Congdon land, and that backwards approach has blown up in their faces. That is not the fault of the Duluth City Council. As I look around Duluth, I see many parts of our city that need our attention and could use some tax dollars. We did not need to spend $8 million or more on this boat launch and leave ourselves open for potential financial responsibility for it far into the future. Nor did we need to dishonor the agreement Duluth signed in 1915 with Chester Congdon. And the responsible vote by the six city councilors (Gilbert, Stewart, Stover, Hogg, and Fena) has paved the way for making sure we do not do either of those things. No matter how many times it's dealt a blow, however, the McQuade launch project seems to somehow come limping back again. We citizens had better keep our eyes peeled and our powder dry. 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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