We urge voters in Grand Junction to vote yes on funding a new downtown event center.

We need an injection of vitality into the local economy. We’re no longer a retail hub. We need something to draw people here to spend money. We’ve urged community leaders to dare greatly and they have, giving us a bold project carefully calculated to provide the biggest bang for the local investment.

Setting the table for business, we believe, is a legitimate function of municipal government. Government shouldn’t be in business unless it fills a void that private enterprise can’t or won’t fill itself.

This measure, to be funded by a quarter-cent sales tax hike, has already delivered on the promise of setting the table. There’s at least one downtown hotel ready to be built, possibly two, if voters say yes. The East Coast Hockey League, a direct feeder of talent to the NHL, has already signed a letter of intent to bring an expansion team to Grand Junction.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.