Letter to the Editor:"Luther decides the community shouldn't get $15 million in revenues"

Photo courtesy of Andrea Sartorati

(Editor's note: This Letter to the Editor originally appeared in Decorah Newspapers and is now being reposted on decorahnews.com):

Instead of "Decorah eliminated as a site for Mumford & Sons summer stopover," your headline should have read, "Luther College decides the community won't get $15 million in revenue."
 
Have you read the many excuses given by the college? One day it's because it doesn't fit their mission, another day it's because the time frame was too short. I suspect it doesn't have anything to do with any of those reasons and more to do with internal conflict and power struggles.

And then we heard those oh so common words ..."our attorneys ..." Perhaps Luther should contact the attorneys that Wartburg College has and find out if they are more competent or just more community-minded.

Our community lost a huge, golden opportunity. The city of Decorah and schools lost a chunk of revenue from sales tax. Our students lost the opportunity to learn from Grammy Award-winning artists. Local businesses will not realize the potential revenue an event like this would generate. Our local non-profits will not be able to capitalize on the potential revenues by participating in the event.

Every other community entity was on board with this event, putting time and effort into meetings. And then with one nod, Luther extinguished it. And because Luther is so entwined with the Decorah community, few will speak up to hold them accountable.

However, everyone will remember who was responsible for this lost opportunity.