Reply #63: That 'tear down mall/run good local business out' thing is

[Rene]

happening now in our town. When the 9 local shops in the little mall signed their leases in 2002...there was a phrase about losing their leases if the mall were to be demolished. They were stuck..no place else in town to move to...they had to sign. Sure enough, the mall quickly sold and they were all evicted. Imagine..working 20-25 years to build a business and you have nothing to sell for your retirement. Citizens in our town waged a war against it.....caused 2 years of delay but the developers still won. They've torn it down and are currently building a crappy, cookie cutter, cheap constructed SHAWS. I won't shop there...no will many more in our town. Those store owners had worked long hours and were our friends. Out of the petition signing/protests about the mall grew a citizen's action group....the East Hampton Ciitizen Advocates for Responsible Development(EHCARD)...and an offshoot of that was the development of a 3rd party that fielded candidates for our Town Council in the last execution. The Chatham Party took 5 of 7 seats in a huge sweep where 49% of the town's voters showed up.
NOW the Dems and Repugs in town have joined forces and fight the Chatham Party TC members all the time. They've gotten their constituents out to defeat our budget 3 times....write false-info in LTTE, put up huge signs around town with false info...
These gal and guys from the CP have worked extremely hard to open our government.....stop the irresponsible development all over town. I just hope they have the energy and committment to run for another term. The incredible hours they put in, voluntarily attending so many meetings etc has been really draining on their families. It's horrid when lies are spread about them by this crew that wants to get back into power.