Letter to the editor:

I am very concerned that comments made by council member Jim Allen are very injurious to the city as a whole. Specifically claiming businesses are “predatory” and then naming any particular one could be slanderous towards those businesses. This could open the city up to lawsuits should a business apply for licensees or use permits and be denied.

Furthermore, the role of government isn’t to decide what businesses are “predatory” or any such biased conditions. As a small business owner, it causes me worry that my business could be targeted because a council person does not agree with any products or services I legally sell.

Additionally, as I mentioned during a recent city council meeting, this behavior is disgusting. I feel, as most constitutes I imagine feel, that the role of government is to foster growth in an appropriate and cautious manner, but that progress is vital to a vibrant business and residential community. Targeting a whole sector of business does not do that. The market will dictate how viable a business is based on their performance. We absolutely need more businesses to either lower the tax burden or expand city services.

I am hoping that the appropriate attention to this is given by all parties, including the city attorney.

I, for the first time in the 12 years I have lived here, have actually been excited and encouraged by the development in our city. It is the council’s duty to continue to pursue these opportunities.

One of the actions by Mr. Allen that bothered me the most is his reminder to wrap up or that I was approaching my three minutes of allotted time while other people who took far more time, which I believe was needed, were not given any such reminder. That becomes discrimination if it continues or if it’s based on “unpopular” public comments.

Ryan Oezer

Whitewater