RTP-area local music and culture

[<info AT durhamloop.org>]

Writing letters to the editor is EXACTLY how to get the larger issues across
to the press. They love it when letters reference recent news stories, such
as today's articles in the News & Observer and Herald-Sun. 

I urge those of you involved in this discussion to send off a letter. Many
of you have raised great points on this newsgroup. It's good for us to talk
about these things, but city council, the press, and the general public are
not on this list. Please write letters to the editor!

Thanks,
Caleb


Herald-Sun
letters AT heraldsun.com

News & Observer
forum AT newsobserver.com

250 word max, include name, daytime phone, and address (for verification)

(You should pick one or the other paper - don't send the same letter to
both.)

***

Possible topics for letters include:

- financial worries (see conclusion page of powerpoint
http://www.unc.edu/~hepler/durham/  )

- Durham Cultural Master Plan - fix our existing buildings and cultural
resources FIRST (see Alex's recent post)

... And my strongest suggestion (to be timely):
- Public process and transparency

Why did Mayor Bill Bell deny the public an opportunity to speak on this
issue Monday night at council? Over 60 citizens respectfully and patiently
waited four hours for an opportunity to offer public input on the proposed
theater, valid concerns (above and beyond Clear Channel) that council needs
to consider during the four month study extension -- before they make a
final decision.

This project has been moving forward quietly behind closed doors for years
with no constituency, no public will, no clear need, and no financial
viability. Mayor Bell's insistence on having a vote without hearing the
public reinforced the suspicious that this is a back-room deal that cannot
stand up to public scrutiny. What do they have to hide?

Council's unprecedented behavior Monday night is an insult to the democratic
process, and to the intelligence of the voters and taxpayers of Durham.





-----Original Message-----
From: ch-scene-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:ch-scene-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of alex kostelnik
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 10:13 AM
To: RTP-area local music and culture
Subject: Theatergate: (N&O,Herald letter)- we need a focus on bogus
financials

Dear Duncan

One way to get the financial evidence across is to sum
this up in a letter to the editor of the N+0.


--- Duncan Murrell <dvmurrell AT nc.rr.com> wrote:
> I offer these comments as a feeling-guilty
> bystander:
> 
> Having read this and the H-S article, I'd say that
> perhaps a little 
> more work could be done to get it across to the
> press that the 
> objections of that "young crowd" go beyond
> objections to the Clear 
> Channel. I read that PowerPoint presentation, and it
> deserved much more 
> consideration than the throw-away line buried in the
> second-to-last 
> graf of the N&O article, "a local technology manager
> ...  presented 
> data collected from theaters across the country to
> show they are 
> money-losers." I thought the presentation was much
> more nuanced than 
> that, and much more devastating. When the words
> "money-loser" and 
> "Clear Channel" get equal weight in these articles,
> I think the effort 
> will start to win over the people who, at the
> moment, aren't paying 
> attention.
> 
> If you all are still willing to put together a
> website, I'd help 
> write/edit some stuff.
> 
> d