Congratulations to officials of Downtown Lawrence Inc. for getting the message that their plan to gain exclusive control of city sidewalks for the annual Downtown Sidewalk Sale was a bad idea.

At the request of DLI, city commissioners last week deferred discussion of the sidewalk proposal to give the downtown association time to discuss the idea and consider other options. The item had been pulled off the commission’s consent agenda the week before because it seemed to warrant additional attention from the commission and the public.

DLI’s original request was to give the organization exclusive rights over downtown sidewalks for the annual sidewalk sale. The plan was to deny downtown businesses that weren’t DLI members permission to place merchandise on the sidewalk. The DLI rationale for that move was that only DLI members, who pay to promote the sale, should be allowed to participate.

Although the problems with this plan should have been obvious to the DLI officials who dreamed it, apparently they weren’t. It didn’t take long after the plan was revealed, however, for others – some of them DLI members – to point out why the proposal was unfair and heavy-handed.

First, we are talking about public sidewalks, on which any business can request a city permit to display merchandise any day of the year. We also are talking about an organization, DLI, which already receives significant public money – $47,500 from the city’s coffers for the current year. The combination of public property and additional public financial support presents a pretty strong argument against giving DLI the authority to exclude non-members from the popular annual sale.

It’s understandable that DLI would appreciate the support of and promotion by all downtown businesses for the sidewalk sale and all of the organization’s projects. But a carrot may work better than a stick. If downtown businesses aren’t convinced that it’s worth their while to join DLI or believe that they can sit on the sidelines and use the efforts and dollars of others for their own benefit, this organization has some work to do.

The DLI issue also is an important reminder to city commissioners not to hesitate to question items on their weekly consent agenda. The sidewalk coup might have glided through without comment if a commissioner hadn’t taken note and asked for further discussion. The consent agenda helps streamline their meetings, but commissioners should be vigilant in considering the potential impact of each of the items they are being asked to approve on a single vote.

There is plenty of time between now and July’s sidewalk sale to discuss other options for participating businesses. There are far better ways to try to sell DLI to potential members than the proposed sidewalk power play.