Market Jamestown as a same sex marriage destination.
Wait.
What was that again? What did you say?
Yes, that was the best idea Jamestown City Council President Gregory Rabb came up with when asked what he would suggest to improve tourism in the city if budget limitations and other barriers were removed.
Rabb came up with that marketing idea initially after New York legislators voted to legalize gay marriage last June. We got it then, we understood what he meant - Jamestown is easily accessible to gay couples driving in from the west and we should capitalize on that.
But, really, what was a trendy comment a year ago is worn out and disappointing in a serious discussion today of what truly are possible improvements if only we had the money.
We got it, too, that Rabb is a long-time advocate for gay rights. You do not have to agree with him to acknowledge his consistency and persistence in the cause for which he so resolutely stands.
But he is a councilman at large and in the final analysis, we expect Rabb to have the best interests of the city as a whole in mind. Sticking to a one-issue tourism development agenda does not reach that goal. And it is especially a waste of time and opportunity given the controversy surrounding same-sex marriage.
We all know that there just is no way on earth that people in the city would ever agree to market Jamestown as the gay-marriage capital of New York.
If that is all Councilman Rabb talks about in terms of tourism, it is tantamount to taking himself out of the discussion.
What a wasted opportunity.