City would get nothing in return for mall

It is about more than closing a street. The medical mall proposal means Physicians' Clinic of Iowa expects the citizens of Cedar Rapids to give a taxpayer-built and maintained thoroughfare to a small private corporation for their corporate use. A cash-strapped city will get absolutely nothing in return for this largesse.

It sets an extremely dangerous precedent. What will be the next corporate entity to demand the city give them a thoroughfare? Will Rockwell Collins demand the closure of Collins Road, or C Street NE or Blairs Ferry Road so they can expand? Where does it end?

PCI offered no serious plan of a mall that would include skywalks instead of a taxpayer thoroughfare gift. I believe they knew from the outset that they have our surreptitious, dictatorial mayor and his lemmings on the City Council in their pockets. It is a done deal.

Hence, any kind of public hearing on the proposal will be a sham no matter if the majority of citizens are opposed to it.

Knowledgeable medical and hospital professionals have expressed great skepticism about the need for such a mall. It puts the viability of our hospitals at risk. Is that why St. Luke's is buying the properties for the mall site? Is it their strategic plan to put the competition of Mercy out of business?

The mall is a self-aggrandizing monument to medical megalomania that will raise the costs of medical delivery to its patients and create traffic gridlock.

Say no!

Vern Schueller

Cedar Rapids