Greetings fellow Olympians!

I post this forum in order to obtain feedback. I have submitted my communications to Ms. Lindsey and to the Olympian's editorial staff. What do you think???

Dear April Lindsey, I am not certain if you read the editorial printed in the Olympian regarding you specifically, so I thought I would provide you with the “real” editorial submitted to the paper, as apposed to the chopped down version. I do this because my point was lost in the printed version and the editorial staff suggested that I take the matter up with you myself. So, this is what I will do. I am most aggravated by your parking tactics. I have spoken with several others who also agree that your behavior is unprofessional and frankly, rude. If you really care about downtown business, you would do your part to make parking available to shoppers. I respectfully request that you STOP parking in 90 minute free stalls through out the week, so that our customers (many who are elderly) can access area businesses. The rest of us must pay for parking, why don’t you?

(The following are the communications between myself and the Olympian)

Hi there, I have cut my letter down and would really appreciate consideration for publishing. Here is the scaled down version.

I felt compelled to write regarding an article in last weeks Olympian. The article covered the small fire in the ally off of Capital Way. Specifically, I was frustrated by the comments made by April Lindsey, owner of Hoopla!. She is quoted as saying, "Do we stay downtown when there are constant issues" and "I would just like us to do a better job downtown as a whole in making downtown a better place to do business." I work very near Hoopla and I find downtown Olympia to be a wonderful and charming place for business. The streets are clean, the people are friendly and love to support local businesses. Yes, Olympia has issues, some can be blamed on homelessness and criminal activity, but no more than most cities of this size. Other issues that affect business in downtown are business owners who make disparaging comments in the press, confronting passersby in a negative manner and not assisting with providing potential shoppers with adequate parking. April drives a bright red Hummer, a status symbol that she must be doing fairly well, but she refuses to pay for parking like the rest of us. She spends her days shuffling her Hummer into the next available 90 minute free parking stall, stealing them away from the paying customers. Does she park in front of her own business? No, she parks in front of every other business. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Lisa Hall Olympia (My original response to the edited version of my letter.) Letter..: This is a letter to the editorial staff at the Olympian. I write because of an editorial that I submitted and was posted in today's paper. (Oct. 26). I sent my letter in and received an e-mail that I needed to scale it down to the appropriate number of words, so I did. Then when it was posted, it was re- edited and a portion was removed. The portion that was removed was the entire point I was trying to make! The point I was making if you care to look back at my previous submission was that April Lindsey takes parking away from paying customers by shuffling her red Hummer from one 90 minute free parking stall to another throughout the day. All you posted was that she drives a red Hummer. This made my letter seem unintelligent and I hope that you will repost my editorial so that it says what I actually said. If you would like another copy of my letter, I would be happy to resend it. This is quite frustrating. Please do contact me at your earliest convenience.

(Response from the Olympian) Lisa: The end of your letter was cut because the editorial staff felt that the letter was becoming too much of a personal attack on April Lindsay, straying too far from her original comments about whether or not Olympia is a good place to do business. If you have yet to do so, perhaps you should talk to Lindsay about your concerns about her parking habits. John Dodge (filling in for Mike Oakland today).

-----Original Message----- From: Stevens, Tammy - Olympia On Behalf Of News (olympia) Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 10:58 AM To: Oakland, Mike; Tracy, Mary Subject: FW: Letter to the Editor -----Original Message----- From: training@infi.net [mailto:training@infi.net] Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 10:15 AM To: Online (Olympia); News (olympia)

Subject: Letter to the Editor * name....: Lisa Hall * (My response to John’s e-mail)

Dear John, I can understand your right to edit comments, but when they are edited it would seem that some thought would be given to how the final version reads. I wrote it very specifically because of her constant shuffling of her vehicle to avoid paying for parking. This is upsetting because it takes away the possibility for paying customers to park and take care of their business. Studies have shown that most individuals can take care of their required shopping within 20 minutes. Over a period of 8 hours, 24 paying customers could visit local establishments to support the downtown economy, but they can't because that many hours of parking are being taken up by April's vehicle.

This has nothing to do with a personal attack. So, your version of my letter makes it seem that I have a problem with April because she drives a red Hummer???? My entire point was lost! I referred to her comments because she was complaining about downtown being difficult for business. Her shuffling practice causes businesses to suffer. If anything, you made it appear as if I have something personal against her. I would be irritated at any business owner who takes part in this vehicle shuffling. I would like you to repost my entire letter and if it makes you feel more comfortable, you may edit out her name and exchange it for "a nameless business owner" and instead of stating "red Hummer" you may fill in "Luxury vehicle" or whatever else you deem appropriate.

You stated that the editorial staff felt that the letter was becoming too much of a personal attack on April Lindsay. This confuses me, because I have read numerous letters to the editor that have been very obvious personal attacks on members of the city council and others. I can't help but wonder if you chopped up my letter because she pays for advertising in your paper. Isn't the point of the editorial to give voice to members of the community, or is it more about politics?

Thank you, Lisa Hall

Olympia

April, if you have a response: dfocusfamily@aol.com