To the editor:

I recently saw the Michael Moore film “Bowling for Columbine.” Moore suggests that fear may be instrumental in creating America’s culture of violence. To be sure we are all afraid of something: the flu, unemployment, war, violence and a host of other private fears.

But it also struck me that many leaders in Lawrence act out of fear. It is my observation that these leaders fear saying no to out-of-town developers, listening to people with whom they might disagree, finding an appropriate place to house the homeless, saving green spaces for our children and their children, building new retail spaces in human scale, protecting the integrity of all the neighborhoods throughout the city that make Lawrence what it is. Most of all they fear finding solutions for the future of our city that do not begin and end with bulldozers and wider streets filled with ever-increasing traffic.

Facing these fears and acting in the best interests of the many, not the few, is the challenge of city leaders. Failing to overcome these fears will prove damaging to the longtime livability of the city.

David Schauner,

Lawrence