If you were planning a vacation or relocation, would you rather go to Mexico where you are warned: "don't drink the water" or would you rather come to beautiful Salem so that you could sample the best water in the west? While water quality may be of some importance to manufacturing industries, other factors such as an educated workforce and a community's livability will weigh more when deciding where to locate.

$50,000 would have gone a long way towards maintaining the downtown flowerpots. The flowerpots (look around and you might notice there aren't any) were recently removed from downtown. Merchants, who had been asked to assume responsibility for their upkeep, hadn't been doing a good job. The City decided that no flowerpots are better than neglected flowerpots, and the pots were removed. Plans are to replace the 253 flower planters with a much smaller number of planters that will be placed in front of businesses that sign an agreement to maintain them.

I've brought many out-of-state visitors to McMinnville. Their hanging flowerpots bursting with color and historic buildings provide a scenic backdrop for a day spent wandering in and out of the galleries and antique shops. My visitors often comment that the town is quaint and charming. None have ever complained about the water.

An attractive downtown,in my opinion, will do more to bring tourists, new residents, and industry to Salem than the superiority of our drinking water.