GULF SHORES, Ala. — I attended a Gulf Shores City Council meeting on Feb. 23 for the purpose of stating my concerns for one of the issues before the council.

I also wanted to ask some questions about things I did not understand.

What happened was a nightmare; my comments were presented a totally different picture than the one that I stated very clearly (“Council receives mixed feelings on bringing in Publix”, Feb, 25).

My opening remarks to the council were that I was very much in favor of Publix coming to my neighborhood, and that I thought they were a wonderful store.

My remarks were taken out of context and I was very upset because that was not the message I delivered.

I repeated a comment that Councilman Jason Dyken stated. The comment I referred to was that Publix would not bring any new business to the city, but would share the same customer base that was already here.

I said that no new people were coming in and that many were leaving because they had lost their jobs and homes.

This concerned me because I did not feel it was the fair thing to take tax money from other merchants in our city and give tax dollars back to a new one, who would not be paying taxes.

I also stated that if the other stores lost business to Publix then their tax basis would drop, putting the city even further in the red.

I do not believe it would ruin the business at other grocery stores. They will, as I said, have to share all the business, and I do believe their business will probably be reduced.

I also said that I did not want to see the city turn away taxes or lose money on taxes because it already had to let employees go, and less tax dollars would only hurt them.

I next stated that I could not understand all of the legal terms stated in the legal description of exactly what the deal was that the city was entering into with Publix.

Carolyn Doughty gave a very thorough description of just how it would all work and how much monies were going where and when.

She answered my concerns and I could see that my interpretation of the information in the legal section was not exactly correct.

I was satisfied with her answer and thanked her. I see, after Mrs. Doughty explained the whole thing, that it was the best approach for the city to take.

I thanked her and repeated again that I looked forward to Publix opening in my neighborhood, and that I would ride my bike there.

Virginia “Ginny” Benintende

Gulf Shores