"Tolerance should be the top priority"
*snip*
Most alarming is the unofficial boycott that has cost Berkeley businesses thousands of dollars, with no end in sight.
The reason I'm writing this column is not to bash the City Council -- plenty of other people have done that already -- but to beg you please, please don't join the boycott.
Most of these businesses are mom & pop operations, and they were already taking it in the neck before the controversy began.
Scores of small businesses have closed over the past few years, mostly because of the lack of parking and the general decline of the neighborhood.
They got hit again by the CodePink demonstrations because their customers got scared away by the sound and fury.
Now comes this boycott to hit them a third time. Ironically, most of them think the City Council's action was a dumb idea. But they're the only ones paying a price.
So come back to Berkeley, OK? Please don't blame our local businesses, who are the real victims in this.
Reach Martin Snapp at 510-262-2768 or e-mail msnapp@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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Instead Mr. Snapp should be adressing the Berkeley City Council and appealing to the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce to rescind the Jan 29 Council resolutions in their entirety and formally apologize to the U. S. Marine Corps. They're at fault in this mess, and essentially invited the ire of patriots across our nation and in Canada.
If Mr. Snapp wants to help Berkeley businesses he needs to put his journalism skills to better use and report on meetings between the Berkeley Chamber and Council. We've not seen any reports of such meetings, or even IF they are happening.
