This is today's installment of the Olympian's series on redevelopment in other downtown areas in Washington State, and although the headline may make you think that the Mayor of Vancouver had an inspirational run in with a homeless man who made him realize the dignity and needs of all the citizens of a community, such was not the case. Here are the paragraphs that lead the story:

"VANCOUVER, Wash. — Mayor Royce Pollard credits a homeless man for sparking the revitalization of downtown Vancouver.

It was 1997, and Pollard was hosting his weekly Wednesday gathering at Esther Short Park, aimed at taking back a city park “overrun with trees and transients,” he said.

That day, a homeless man rammed the mayor with a shopping cart. “He said ‘Get out of my ------- park!’

“I said, ‘I want him arrested.’ ”

He was, and it was splashed all over the next day’s newspaper."

Hmm. No mention of whether the man was mentally ill or not, or had some other sort of chronic problem. Just a pure reactionary measure, the kind favored by people who like leaders who "Get things done" and "Make the trains run on time".

On a side note: what are some of the thing that the city has contributed to in the downtown area? One of the is "a nearly finished headquarters for the local newspaper, The Columbian."

Ah, I see.