I am deeply troubled by the ongoing tone of exclusion of the Fairwood Municipal Initiative supporters. Both in comments in public meetings and in Web site posts, proponents of incorporation speak disparagingly of people, organizations and businesses that do not LIVE in Fairwood.

Communities that exclude others no longer thrive in our democratic United States. Citizens are called on to work together to find solutions to concerns and needs of others who work, shop, or own business or rental property within a geographic area.

Proponents of incorporation seem to believe that business property owners, such as those who own the property upon which the Fairwood Shopping Center businesses reside, should not have a voice in the governance conversation currently being held in Fairwood. A sign on Petrovitsky refers to a “ring leader,” an individual who opposes incorporation and who does not live in Fairwood (but who does own rental property in the area and is vitally interested in and committed to our neighborhood.) Firefighters who risk their lives to save Fairwood citizens are criticized for participating in the democratic process that the current incorporation issue represents because they do not live in Fairwood.

What kind of leadership do the proponents of incorporation model for the proposed new city? Their leadership model appears to profess that only those who live in Fairwood have any say in the governance of this geographic area. No city can survive, much less thrive, by excluding a wide range of citizens and entities from having a voice in its future. The Fairwood area needs the influx of shoppers, workers, and property owners to supplement the small population that currently lives here but works everywhere else regardless of the decision its voters make on incorporation.

This ongoing tone of exclusion is one of the many reasons I am voting against incorporation. I do not want to live in a community that discriminates against anyone and everyone except those who currently reside inside the boundaries of the area trying to determine its governance future.

Marcia Holland

Fairwood