Letter to the Editor: Kroger Opponents Cross the Line

The following letter was sent to Royal Oak Patch by Tom Regan, a Royal Oak resident:

Dear Editor,

The "Preserve Royal Oak" group has dedicated itself to stopping Kroger from moving into the vacant Fresard property downtown.  Many of the claims they make are patent nonsense.  For example, they claim a downtown Kroger store, within walking distance of several residential towers, would make downtown less walkable; this claim is plain silly.  They complain that having a functioning business at the now-vacant property would increase traffic.  Of course it would!  Nothing lessens traffic like vacant buildings.
 
And so on.  But Tuesday evening they crossed the line from silly into libel and slander with their personal attacks on Mayor Jim Ellison.  The low point came when hired PR flack Paul Condino actually insinuated that Jim Ellison, a profoundly decent man and public servant, is soliciting bribes from Kroger.  Everyone who knows Jim Ellison and is familiar with the thousands of hours of public service he has contributed to this community was disgusted and outraged.
 
The "Preserve Royal Oak" group should at a minimum disown Paul Condino and his cretinous, libelous remarks.
 
Even better, "Preserve Royal Oak" could disband and leave the issue to rational people.  I'm sure that reasonable people opposed to the Kroger proposal have sensible arguments on why Royal Oak should pass on this opportunity and leave the Fresard property vacant.  I've not heard these arguments yet; perhaps that is because they cannot be heard above the chorus of nonsense coming from "Preserve Royal Oak."

– Tom Regan