To the editor:

Thanks to the citizens who took their signs to Monday’s city commission meeting to make it clear that the commission’s auditorium is not a classroom where adults need to be told how to behave.

Now that Mayor Sue Hack has agreed to toughen her sensibilities and put up with forms of expression that may not be to her liking, perhaps the commission can consider the truth expressed on Sara Thorp’s sign: “WAL-MART SUCKS the life out of our communities.”

They might do so in the context of reviewing how their and the planning commission’s actions have created a taxpayer-funded mess at 31st and Iowa streets, have prevented appropriate development at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive by zoning one corner as a backup for Home Depot, are turning West Sixth Street into another 23rd Street and are creating the sprawl that will turn Lawrence into a replica of the worst parts of Topeka.

It doesn’t have to be that way. For someone to make as much money as possible on a chunk of undeveloped land doesn’t have to be the highest priority of the planning and city commissions. And to recognize that fact is not anti-progress. To incorporate other economic, environmental and community objectives into our planning in addition to maintaining a vital development community is simply smart growth.

But it’s difficult to fight sprawl when every proposal is accompanied by a cadre of paid, full-time advocates. It’s clear that what’s needed are more citizens willing to do the work of citizenship and speak up.

As we saw Monday, it makes a difference.

Walter Emerson,

Lawrence