No room for malice at McEuen

If you're looking for someone who disagrees with something Mayor Sandi Bloem has voted for, voted against or decided on her own, count us in. We've criticized her decisions before, and we're pretty sure we'll do it again.

But we're not jumping on the bandwagon of those who are taking personal potshots at the mayor because of differences in perspective. We wonder how many people lambasting Bloem for the kind of person they think she is have actually sat down and talked with her, one on one.

Because McEuen Park is the municipal powderkeg of public opinion, and the mayor happens to have a very strong sense of what that property should become, she has somehow earned the title of Public Enemy No. 1 - more than all the council members who have supported a McEuen overhaul combined. It's an emotional issue, and strong feelings on both sides of the fence are easy to understand.

But somehow, citizens must keep their passion in check long enough to swallow words they could live to regret. We have heard the mayor called horrible names. Some have questioned her qualities as a woman and as a mother. And on more than one occasion we have seen or heard not just differences of opinion, but outright lies presented as fact.

We too wonder if there isn't a better approach to McEuen's parking problems than what's been presented, but that's an issue we'll discuss reasonably with the mayor and council members in the days and weeks ahead. We're determined to do so respectfully, even when we find ourselves at the peak of disagreement.