To the editor:

Your editorial, “Nuisances are annoying,” did not correctly represent my comments and the request I made May 3 to Marion City Council.

 My purpose and interest is to encourage the city to improve the quality of life for all Marion residents. Whose well-being is enhanced when some businesses or residential property owners ignore and violate city code? Why should some bother to comply when others do not?

 Quite obviously, there are commercial and industrial properties within the city. City code requires fencing or screening be put in place between commercial or industrial property and adjacent residences. My request to the city is simply that this ordinance be enforced.

 I followed my comments to the council meeting with this e-mail: “Thank you for listening to my questions and comments about code enforcement matters.”

I was happy to hear from Mayor Mary Olson that I had given her something to think about concerning adequate screening around the industrial park.

As the code recognizes and mandates, it is right to protect residents in neighborhoods adjacent to commercial and industrial activities from noise, pollution, and unsightly conditions that people should not be required to tolerate.

Some traditions are beautiful. Others need to be changed to better fit current realities. Those commercial and industrial shops that have operated for years within the city with scarcely a thought to respecting the residents of the community that supports them are not acting in their own best interests. Undermining the well-being of the community serves only to discourage positive development.

I propose that Marion understand and adopt the view that everybody does better when everybody does better.

 Marcia Findeiss
Marion