To the editor:

“Growing Manhattan attracts Lawrence economic leaders’ attention” is the front page lead story in last Sunday’s Journal-World. Good for Manhattan! They apparently have not had to deal with economic derailers such as a “no growth” coalition that dominated our last few commissions, a practically unused bus system that hemorrhages half a million dollars annually that could be used for infrastructure and growth, and moral crusaders like Clean Air Lawrence who decimated the growth of many businesses by denying Lawrence citizens and business owners their freedoms.

Together, this trio has helped turn Lawrence from a thriving economic entity into a city that is experiencing zero or minus economic growth. I have an idea. Let’s collect all of the “Em-Ts,” fill each one with “No-Growths” and “Clean-Airs” and ship them to Manhattan, where hopefully they can inflict their damage before the Kansas-K-State game.

That should bring our Lawrence economic leaders back. Then the headline will read: “Dead weight gone, Lawrence rebounds, economy on fire!”

Tom Conroy,

Lawrence