Is it time to change our image of Decorah?

Decorah has seen its share of arguments in past years.

Let's see--there was the fight over the demolition of the East Side School, the fight over the construction of the new Walmart supercenter--and, of course, what seems like a yearly fight over race track noise.

All these public arguments gave Decorah a reputation as a community where "They fight about EVERYTHING!"  I always thought that reputation was somewhat undeserved.  People in Decorah are very involved in civic issues, which is a good sign.  People are also knowledgeable about civic issues, which makes it fun to be a news reporter.

There's no doubt there were some pitched battles in past years.  But it's fair to point out that eventually new school buildings were built; the downtown Decorah business district is still strong, despite Walmart; and--OK, we're still arguing about the race track!

Overall, though, I think Decorah no longer deserves its reputation as a contentious community.

I say that because voters in Tuesday's election approved a public communications utility referendum by a margin of 93 percent to 7 percent.  That's not a case of voting "yes"--it's a case of voting "Hell, Yes!"

So maybe it's time to abandon our self-image and adopt a new one--as a community where we work together and get things done.

That's going to make it a pretty dull place for news coverage, though!