Stop the complaining, promote the center

After reading about the ShoWare Center (“ShoWare’s lofty losses create rift among leaders”, Kent Reporter, Oct. 17), I hope this is the last time I see our elected leaders run down one of the most positive things in our city.

Do they think the apartments that are being built downtown are going in because of them? Or perhaps is it because the amenities and entertainment options in the growing downtown have given these developers the confidence to invest in our city?

News flash, City Councilmembers Jim Berrios and Dana Ralph, the building is built and it is ours, so please find a way to speak positively about it before you drive every possible piece of business away from the city.

If I were a sponsor in that building today, I would call up and ask for my money back if I really believed the things they said in this article.

It is easy to run down what others have done, but there was not one positive idea to help attract business and traffic into this building by one of our elected leaders offered in this article.

The answer, it seems, is more event dates and more dollars through the door, so please get out and help promote what we have. Don’t simply complain and run down what we have without offering any ideas at all.

There is no doubt the ShoWare Center has added to the city. We have our own hockey team, a regional gathering place that hosts entertainment and draws people from all over the region. This building has put Kent on the map in many respects.

I hope in the next election we can find some forward thinkers to run for these positions who can promote our city and look for solutions rather than join the norm of simply grabbing headlines by criticizing what has been done.

– Bruce McDonald