City Council Minutes 1979 08 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes - page 7 August 21, 1979 Cederberg: I also have kind of a strange nostalgic feeling as I sit here tonight. This type of procedure and what we have seen in this community in the last year is an old story. It is a story that has been played on the battle fields of City Council chambers in many communities throughout this country in the last fifteen and ten years. It is something that I hear about, I heard. about, I saw it when I was a child. I read about it in text books when I was in college, but now I am experiencing it. Perhaps it is the way this matter was decided. I am convinced that most of the important decisions in this matter were made before the concept of the Centennial Valley Mall in the community of Louisville was ever brought before the public eye. I have learned that we have a City government that adheres to the letter but does its best to ignore the spirit of our laws. The people of this community were never allowed to vote and formally express their opinion in an educated reasonable fashion as to what they think about this project. That is a fact that cannot and will not be forgotten. The way this matter was decided was unreasonable, undemocratic, improper, and outrageous. The Councilmen who voted and who will vote tonight, I'm sure for this mall, many of whom were elected by less then 200 votes are making a decision which will irreversibly effect thousands in this community. I have learned that the City administration is saturated, the City administration and I should say many of the people connected with the developers effort to put this through, are saturated with inside dealing, with flagrant conflicts of interest. They are manipulated by persons both inside and outside the City administration who see Louisville, not as I see it, not as a home and a community, not as a place to raise ones children, but as an opportunity as a monopoly board, as a chance for personal aggrandizement and gain both financial and profess ional. But what about a City Council, City Council which permits such manipulation which makes such manipulation possible which issues the most important decisions that have ever been made in this town without a single word of public discussion, without a single member having the guts to stand up and ask the hard questions and a City Council which makes it easy to forget that the elected Council members and not the City Administrator are suppose to set the policy and the future of this cOTIIDlunity. I can only conclude that such a council has sold out our respect, and the respect of a very important segment of the popUlaCE! of this community. This Council has earned our strongest indictment and such Council deserves removal from office. Now you may think that I am standing here trying to make you feel guilty and to feel ashamed as you ruin our environment as you destroy our community. Well my response to that is you are guilty, you should feel ashamed and you should feel embarraSSE!d by what you are going to do here tonight. Since you are going to give me somethi.ng when you cast the votes that will set those bulldozers in motion, something that I can't forget, I would like to leave you with something that: you can't forget. Thirty minutes or an hour from now when you are over across the street some where drinking and celebrating with Mr. Kahan and Mr. Klarich, with Mr. French and Mr. Hillhouse, I want you to think then about what I said here tonight. When Don Kahan picks up the check for your celebration I want you to think about what I said. When you see the mess that is going to be created out there in just a few short months I want you to think about what I said and when Leon presents his next grand design for this community, I want you to think