Repeated often enough, misrepresentations become part of the historical song book sung by everyone. David Taber’s article (JP Gazette, June 25) on Mossik Hacobian’s transition at Urban Edge repeats the error of calling Mossik’s position on a Kmart in Jackson Square “advocacy.”
As an Urban Edge board member at the time, I followed this controversy from start to finish. Mossik’s position was only that any party interested in investing in Jackson Square—including Kmart— should not be excluded automatically without being duly heard. That is all he ever “advocated.”
To say that a “big-box” retailer such as Kmart should indeed have been automatically excluded was a perfectly legitimate position to take. But, in the politics of the moment, many taking that position—deliberately, I think—misrepresented Mossik’s repeatedly stated position. This has now been repeated—innocently, I’m sure—in the last issue of the Gazette.
During my 15 years on Urban Edge’s board, Mossik and I had many lively disagreements. But he is one of my heroes, and in the coming year I hope that his more than 35 years’ service to Jamaica Plain and Roxbury will be duly recognized.
David A. Mittell Jr.
Jamaica Plain