Preventing Tomorrow, Today

The Victoria Hallmark Society is at work to stymie another step of progress. Rogers' Chocolates on Government Street has had the same store design for 90 YEARS. They want an update to their retail space but this watchdog society is blocking that.
What does Rogers' want to do? Put in an automat or a teleportation pad or some other futuristic doodad? No: the renovation will include structural and safety upgrades. Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe is the project's architect so the council numbers will be diminished when Councillor Pam Madoff takes up the fight against a local merchant on behalf of people locked into the past. Maybe Rogers shoud give up on the space and do as Clara Beatrice Kramer does. Leave it to rot like the Janion. That's the core problem with an organization like the Hallmark Society and its sycophants on city council: if they spent more time reversing decay and less time stopping progress, our city wouldn't be a haven to crack addicts and riff-raff. After last year's incidents at the Janion, it's supposedly has gone up for lease. Good? Not according to the cryptkeepers:

The building has lain vacant for many years and requires substantial upgrading for any public use. Recently advertised as `for lease', the Society is concerned that any development be in character with the building's design and history, and remains concerned that the cost of upgrades may lead to proposals for demolition as an economic expedient.

But organizations are vessels, steered by those who make up the membership. Organizations are governed by rules-- rules that are ordered through a standard code: Roberts' Rule of Orders. If someone had a beef with the Hallmark Society, they could join the society-- they and their 50 like-minded friends. Then, use the bylaws to enact change-- put the society on a new course or disband the organization and liquidate its assets.