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West Mesa Neighors were successful in keeping another pawn shop out of their area, following a 5-2 council vote to deny the permit. I am not a huge fan of telling a business what they can and can't do, but I am also glad to see that citizen input is working and the council took a stand on something.
At least it wasn't one of those City of Phoenix deals, where the councilmember in question puts up the self-righteous fight only to get rolled by the other councilmembers in a carefully scripted ballet - the kind of thing you read about in blog entries like this.
Perhaps its time for pawnshop owners to reach out to members of the community and listen to the types of things that they would like to see. If nothing else, they should do a better job to educate them on the type of people who use pawn shops - because as long as perception is bad, they are going to continue this fight.
At the same time, neighbors need to respect property rights and start offering input and creative solutions for business owners. Mesa can't afford to allow the neighbors to continue to say no to business. We can't have these projects and others such as the Lowe's come back every 6 months or so because people don't want them.
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1 comment:
Read your blog everyday. Thanks for the even handed coverage of the issues. Great commentary.
West Mesa's best days still lie ahead.
Dave Richins
“If government tries to do too much, it often strips away the motivation people have to be engaged in their communities. If it does too little, citizens often do not have the resources or access to information to tackle their problems.” Stephen Goldsmith, former Mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana
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